Notice Me

by Lili Lam

Spending the entire lunch period locked in a bathroom stall, sitting atop a dingy toilet was not my idea of a good time. I ran all the way to the freshman/sophomore wing to hide inside their bathroom. At least here, I stood less of a chance of running into any of those witches. Our school is split into a freshman/sophomore wing and a junior/senior wing.

  I cried for a good half-hour before I was able to calm myself down enough to stop the tears from flowing. I'm sure my eyes are all swollen, red and puffy. Unlocking the bathroom stall, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. "Stop being so pathetic." I mumbled to myself pitifully. You could say I was throwing myself an extravagant pity party, me being the only guest.

  Turning on the cold water, I leaned down into the sink and splashed some of it on my face. I look like I suffer from a bad case of rosacea, with how red my face is! The bell went off notifying me that lunch is over. I would have been relieved if it were the end of the school day and I could go home, but no of course not.

  There had to be one period left; Anatomy and of course Tristan is in my class. I'm sure they were sitting at lunch having a good old chuckle over me. Waiting for a few more minutes to pass by, I grabbed my messenger bag and made my way towards my last class.

  The bell rang just as I approached the door. Hopefully all the seats are full and I'll be forced to sit next to another loner. I didn't want to have to face him, I couldn't. I was still able to feel the knot in the back of my throat threatening to suffocate me at any second. Walking in, I did a quick scan of the already filled room. There were two seats left one at the front of the room next to a quiet smart girl named Angelica and one in the back next to Luke.

  Lord, why can't I seem to get away from these people! Luke looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. Almost as if he were trying to silently ask me what was wrong. I slid quietly into the seat next to Angelica in the front row of lab tables and began pulling out my binder. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I could feel his presence without even having to look up from my bag, nor did I plan on acknowledging him.

  "Lise, where'd you disappear to?" His voice came out gruff and a bit annoyed. "I came back with the food and you were gone. So I went looking for you in the library, I waited there for you the entire period and you never came."

  Pretending like I was still searching in my bag for something important, I completely ignored Tristan. This only seemed to cause him to question me even more so. Why can't the boy just leave me alone? Doesn't he get that I didn't ask for, nor want any of this attention. I'm completely content with being the unnoticed wallflower.

  "Lise?" He called out in confusion. "What's wrong? Did...did I do something to upset you?"

  Great, I could feel the entire class watching our every move as I continued to act like he wasn't there speaking to me. He kneeled down next to my desk so that he was eye level with me. Using his thumb and forefinger to gently grab a hold of my chin, he forcefully turned my head to face him. I tried with all my strength to fight against him, but it seemed like he had more power in his thumb and index finger than I did in my entire head!

  "What happened?" Tristan asked, his voice full of concern. Then he got a good look at me as I glared at him hatefully. It seemed as though he visibly swallowed a huge lump in his throat. "You've been crying." He stated extremely pissed off. "Who did it?"

  My eyes looked away from him towards the front of the room. I took notice that Mrs. Johanssen our Anatomy teacher still wasn't here yet. What does it matter who made me cry, why does he even act like he cares? He's the reason why I'm an emotional mess.

  "Tell.Me.Who.Did.It!" Tristan growled angrily, emphasizing each word as a separate sentence. It seemed that he was experiencing difficulty controlling his anger.

  Giving him the dirtiest look I could muster up, I grumbled "You did." Snatching my head out of his grip I turned to face forward just as Mrs. Johanssen entered the classroom. From the corner of my eyes I could see Tristan still kneeling there with a shocked expression on his face. His mouth slightly ajar from what I just disclosed to him.

  "Mr. Evans would you care to take a seat so I can begin class or shall I wait until you're done harassing Miss Foster?" Mrs. Johanssen said looking up from her attendance list. Mrs. Johanssen already knows who I am, considering she taught me tenth grade biology. It was just this year she decided to teach twelfth grade Anatomy.

  Tristan stared at me for another Moment before mumbling a "Sorry." I wasn't sure if the apology was directed towards the teacher or me as he stood up straight and headed back to his seat next to Luke. Thank the high heavens Anatomy was short and painless. Seeing how my seat is the first one next to the door, as soon as the bell sounded I hightailed my way out of there.

  "Lise...wait!" I heard him yell out through the crowded hallway, but I kept right on moving. Running as fast as my little legs could carry me to my locker, I spun the dial with precision. Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have given him my combination.

  Now I have to worry about him breaking into my locker and playing pranks on me. Would he be that evil to do such a thing? I was finishing up shoving all the books I needed in my locker when he appeared right beside me. He grabbed a hold of my elbow softly as if to hold me in place. Those darn electric sparks sent tickling sensations down my arms.

  "Can we talk?" His voice broke slightly; he sounded so upset, causing me to hurt also. Why? I haven't the faintest clue. When you figure it out please, be sure to let me know.

  Ripping my elbow from his grip, I slammed my locker door shut and turned on my heels heading towards the exit. I faintly heard a low grumbling noise that sounded an awful lot like a growl with each step I took away from him. I plan on ignoring him for as long as it takes; maybe he'll just leave me alone.

  Ha, no such luck on my part...I thought as I walked my usual way home. I had a grand total of three peaceful minutes of walking before I was so rudely interrupted. Three minutes it took him to beat the traffic out of the school parking lot before he all but followed me home.

  "Get in the car, Lise." Tristan pleaded as he continued driving alongside me. "We need to talk." He begged for the hundredth time.

  Talk? Talk about what? What could there possibly be left to talk about? I mean it's not like he has to explain himself to me. We aren't in a relationship; I'm not his girlfriend. Hell, come to think of it I can honestly say we aren't even friends.

  We've only hung out a couple times, hardly enough to categorize him as more than an acquaintance. Besides, it's best if we leave things the way they are now. There's absolutely no need to complicate the situation any further. Not knowing what to say in response to his pleas, I just continued to ignore him.

  He crept down the road at turtle speed. What? I'm trying my best to walk as fast as I can, but let's be realistic here...he's in a car. Horns blared from behind him as he held up traffic, while cars swerved around into the oncoming lane to pass him. I heard a few colorful strings of curse words thrown at him as people drove by and threw him the finger. Wow, road-rage much people?

  As soon as we reached the end of our block, Tristan zoomed ahead. I could faintly see him pulling up and parking in his driveway. Good, maybe he finally gets the hint to leave me alone. I took my time strolling along the sidewalk admiring the nice weather. Now that he's not pestering me anymore, I don't feel the need to rush home and lock myself indoors. I can take my time and relax.

  My happiness came to an abrupt halt as I noticed someone sitting on my porch steps. He was blocking my entrance to the front door. A scowl immediately came over my face, my shoulders sagging in despair. Is he not going to give up until I finally speak to him?

  For a second I considered walking past my house, but I thought about it and decided that wouldn't be such a good idea. I had nowhere else to go. Besides, this is my damn house! Tristan was seated comfortably on the top step of my porch with his legs sprawled out long way so that he took up the entire walkway. His eyes skimming over my own. Coming to a halt in front of him, I put my hands on my hips and st
ood in a stance that asked 'why the hell are you on my steps?'

  "Why are you ignoring me?" Tristan inquired as so many different emotions passed through his eyes in that split second. I could see hurt, anger, and something else. "Tell me what I've done wrong, please?"

  My stupid body was betraying me. It was feeling all warm and tingly hearing the despair in his voice. It was taking everything I had in me to not throw myself into his lap. "Listen...Tristan." I began with a blank expression. I’m so dang proud of myself for suppressing the true amount of pain from showing. "Please just stay away from me and I mean it this time."

  Inhaling a huge breath my entire body tensed up, I wanted to cry so badly. I could feel the tears threatening to come out again as I blinked rapidly trying to will them away. Deep down inside I didn't want him to stay away from me. I wanted to actually believe that he liked me for the person I am deep down inside. That he saw past the awkward anti-social nerd and was still interested in getting to know the real me, but I guess that was too much to ask for.

  "I need a reason why you want me to stay away." Tristan said seriously, standing up from the porch and taking a step in my direction. "Give me a good valid reason and I'll think about granting your request." Why is he so stubborn? It would be so much simpler if he just did as I asked without demanding an explanation.

  "What are we doing?" I asked waving my hand between the two of us. "It's obvious we come from two totally different worlds. Guys like you don't hang out with girls like me. You hang out with girls like Jewel." I left my sentence open-ended; maybe he'd realize what I was insinuating at and fess up to the spending time with Jewel. Am I giving him way too much credit?

  Do I even want to hear about them being together? No, I don't, but I know it would put my mind at ease hearing the truth from his mouth. A look of realization caused a sparkle in his eyes as something dawned on him. His eyebrows scrunched up a bit in between his eyes like he figured out what happened to me.

  "Did Jewel say something to you at lunch today?" Tristan asked taking another step closer to me. "If she did I swear..." His jaw was clenched tightly as his fists balled up as his sides. What difference would it make if she said something to me? If it weren't for her, I would have continued being delusional in thinking all this is real.

  Is he upset she spoiled his fun, I bet he's mad he didn't get to embarrass me in front of the entire school and make me out to feel like the village idiot. He probably lost the bet and a lot of money. The palms of my hands began to sweat; suddenly I began feeling like an innocent little animal being hunted by its prey.

  Shaking my head slightly, I answered. "No she didn't even talk to me." I confessed with a slight stutter. "Why are you so upset for?" I asked defensively glaring at him in the process. "Mad she ruined your fun?" I accused angrily shoving him in the chest. Tristan didn't expect my little outburst so it threw him off balance a bit. My anger level reached the boiling point. "Just admit it Tristan!"

  "Admit what?" He asked baffled grabbing a hold of both my wrists from shoving him again. His body was pressed dangerously up against mine as he stared at me in surprise.

  "Admit it!" I screamed loudly not able to hold the tears back any further as they began trailing down my cheeks.

  "You were with Jewel and this is all some kind of sick joke to you! I know you spent Monday and Tuesday with her." While I was home thinking of nothing but you, of course I didn't admit that part though.

  "Joke? You think this is some sort of sick joke? It's far from a joke." Tristan bellowed in my face. "Nice to know you think so little of me!"

  My voice broke as I tried to continue, "Why? Why couldn't you just leave me alone?" My heart felt like it was going shatter into a billion pieces. Tristan looked at me with a sorrowful expression; I could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down nervously. He probably didn't expect me to have a mental breakdown in front of his very eyes.

  "Yes, I was with Jewel Monday and Tuesday, but it's not what you think. Our parents had business to attend to with each other." Tristan admitted with a pained expression. "I told you there's a lot I need to tell you when the time is right and you already know it's impossible for me to stay away from you."

  He let go of my hands and grabbed a hold of my face, wiping away my tears. "Please, don't cry." Tristan consoled placing gentle kisses on each of my cheeks, trying to kiss away the tears. "It's killing me to see you hurt. I just need you to trust me..." Tristan pleaded. "Please Lise, I care about you so much. Do you trust me?"

  Do I trust him? The look in his gray eyes resembled the angry sky on a stormy day. Blinking a few times to clear my thoughts, I made up my mind. I don't like seeing Tristan so upset and technically he hasn't lied to me yet, as far as I know of.

  So, I nodded my head in agreement, "I trust you Trist." My voice came out in barely a whisper. Before I even finished saying his name, Tristan's lips connected with mine. This time around it was gentle and filled with raw emotion. This time around, it felt so right and I wasn't angry that he kissed me.

  Chapter 9: The Truth