Eternity (Circle of Light)
Page 6
Students stared as we walked down the hallway to the office. I noticed that most of them were girls. They looked at him like he was a glass of iced-tea on a ninety degree day. I became slightly annoyed by them, but I understood the way they felt. Eric was sure something to look at.
The school secretary gave Eric his class schedule. I looked over it and every one of his classes are the same as mine. He seemed relieved that it turned out that way.
“Now I won’t have to worry about getting lost.” I smiled at him and a tiny whisper of a laugh escaped from my lips.
We walked to our first period class. Eric reluctantly walked in and sat down in the empty desk in the back row. Everyone was glancing back at him trying not to make him feel uncomfortable, but I don’t really think it did any good. He looked as comfortable as a cat on a hot tin roof. At least he didn’t squirm.
Several people went back and introduced themselves to him. I could tell he was beginning to relax a little, but the edgy look returned to his face every time a girl would come up to him.
Finally, Damien and Jared walked over to greet him. After a while I noticed that the three of them were deep in conversation about something. I couldn’t tell exactly what, but it seemed they were very interested in the topic.
Damien has very boy-like qualities. He still has the round face and dimples he had in the sixth grade. He was very striking in the looks department, nonetheless. He had managed to keep a 4.0 grade average the entire way through high school. I don’t think he ever studied. The job he has seems to take up the majority of his time. He works down at the grocery store in town. He works extra shifts in order to save enough money to buy a car. I remembered seeing him last week at a car lot outside town. He was looking at a pickup truck. Maybe, he had finally found the one he was looking for.
Jared was the exact opposite of Damien. A blonde hair and blue eyed devil. He wasn’t such a good student, but he kept his grades up to a low B level. He spends most of his time either with Damien or with his girlfriend and sometimes no one knew where he was. I guess that was just his thing.
His girlfriend had moved here from somewhere in the city. She was a quiet person. She didn’t socialize all that much. I took her for being a snobby drama queen. Damien was always trying to live his life around hers and what she wanted him to do. If you ask me, I wouldn’t be able to be with someone that was like that. But, of course, it wasn’t any of my business. The four of us had first period together. I followed the three of them into the classroom. They had been so involved in their conversation that Eric must have forgotten that I was still there. I took my seat not giving it another thought.
Through the entire class all I heard was bits and pieces of what the teacher had to say. Eric was all that was on my mind. Concentrating on anything else was a waste of time.
The dismissal bell for first period rang loudly. I gathered my things and met Eric at the door. He walked with me to my locker. He was happy that he had made a couple friends and I was relieved that he wasn’t looking so stressed anymore. We quickly made our way to the row of lockers that lined the hallway. Since Eric was only going to be here a week until he graduates I suggested that he and I share a locker.
“That sounds good to me.” he said. “Are you sure you will have enough room?”
“All the teachers are taking our textbooks up already. It shouldn’t be a problem.” I tossed my backpack in the locker and closed the door. The guidance counselor walked up to Eric and asked him to follow her to her office. She explained to him that there were some discrepancies in the transcripts from his other high school that they needed to get worked out. She had gone on ahead of him.
“Will you save me a seat?” he asked as he was walking away.
“Sure.” I called to him. He had made it halfway down the hallway and I wasn’t sure he had heard me. I knew it would make him feel better if he thought that I was waiting on him and I would. How could I not?
I walked quickly to my second period class. If I was late one more time I was sure to get detention. That wasn’t something I was looking forward to doing during the final week of school. I was sure that there were going to be several seniors there, but I was not going to be one of them if I could help it. I could think of a million better things to be doing after school. One of them was being with Eric.
I reached my seat just as the final bell rang. I smiled as the substitute teacher glared at me. Katrina wasn’t so lucky. The teacher immediately handed her a detention slip. Katrina just smiled at her and said thank you. Her response caught me off guard. It was nasty toned and very unlike the girl.
Katrina had become very distant and withdrawn lately. We had been fairly close most of high school, but whatever was bothering her made us more detached. She didn’t make any effort to talk to me, or anyone else for that matter, and I knew that whatever was going on in her life had to be something that she wasn’t prepared to talk to anyone about. That made me not want to know, really.
Katrina had always been a very fun-loving, sociable person. I don’t think that I could name one single person that didn’t like her. She was hard not to like. Every action that she made was purely for the benefit of the people around her and some people had tried to take advantage of that in the past. None of that mattered to her. She continued to be nice and help them if they asked her.
About thirty minutes into class Eric came back. He handed the teacher a note. I’m assuming it was from the guidance counselor. He walked back to his desk hastily. I could tell that whatever had gone on in the meeting had made him angry.
“What’s wrong?’ I asked him as he took a seat in the desk directly to my left.
“My old school failed to grade my final exams so I have to take them again here.” he whispered to me angrily.
“That just gives you a chance to make a higher grade.”
He laughed at me and said, “Only you Bailey.”
I giggled back at him as he slumped back in his desk with a disgusted look on his face. I felt sorry for him and I knew I would have been just as mad about it if it were me having to retake those dreadful exams.
“Will you help me study?” he asked slyly.
“Really?” I became a beaming mess of excitement.
“It isn't like I really need to study for them anyway.” he boasted.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you.”
“I’m just using it as an excuse to spend the entire afternoon with you.”
“I’m glad to know I’m so loved.” I rolled my eyes.
“That, you are.” he replied.
Eric had said I was loved. Did that mean that he loved me? Probably not. It was more than likely an observation on his part. Nothing to get all worked up over, I told myself.
Class was over sooner than I realized. The day was going by so fast. It was time for lunch. The lunchroom was jam packed as usual. I went through the line and got a slice of pizza and an apple. I hardly ever got the full lunch tray. Most of the food was disgusting anyway. I’m not sure how they get away with feeding us this way and if you asked me it should be a crime.
Eric got two slices of pizza, an apple, and a carton of chocolate milk. I thought the whole milk thing was kind of cute. I don’t know why. It just was.
Eric and I sat at the table with Jared and Damien. A few girls were staring at Eric and I tried not to let them know that I noticed. They giggled and grinned like they had never seen a good looking guy before in their life. I understood it in a way. I mean, Eric is beyond the description of good-looking. He is heavenly, with just a hint of danger to him. The perfect balance of the good guy type and the bad boy.
After a while one of the girls got up from the table and came over to introduce herself to Eric. He was polite to her. She invited him to a party Saturday night. I’m not sure what I will be doing then. “I'll let you know.” he told her, still staring at his tray.
That was all it took. A simple invitation from that girl had made me so furious that I couldn
’t stand myself. I was sure that I was glowing bright green from jealousy and I was afraid to open my mouth because I knew that something ugly would come out.
Eric had not even refused her request, and I think that was the part that hurt my feelings the most of all.
Damien questioned Eric about whether or not he was going to go. Eric never gave him an answer either way. They went on and on about how pretty she was and how her body was the definition of perfection. I had heard all I could stand to hear, so I picked up my tray and took it to be cleaned off and stacked.
I looked back at Eric as I sat my tray in the stack for the lunch ladies. He had a hurt look on his face. He turned his head and stared down at his tray. I felt like a big idiot and I wasn’t about to go back to the table with him, so I left the cafeteria. I think it was mostly out of total embarrassment or shame. I couldn’t tell which.
The school day came to an end. I was still feeling the sting of jealousy and I felt ashamed of myself over it, but the anger I felt was the worst part. I was angry at myself because I felt like he was mine and that girl was going to take him away from me.
In reality, Eric is not mine. We are friends, but I wanted us to be so much more than that. I had laid claim on a guy that I wasn’t sure even liked me back and that was foolish of me.
I didn’t wait on him to walk home with me. I went ahead and left. I wanted some alone time to think about how I felt and how stupid I was acting. I had almost reached the park when my phone rang. Eric was calling. I hastily pushed the ignore button. Not even a minute passes before my phone beeped alerting me that I had a text message.
I opened the phone expecting one of those weird chain messages, but it was Eric.
Where are you? I considered not even texting back, but I did.
You seemed to have enough company so I figured I wouldn’t bother you, I replied so quickly that I probably misspelled some of the words.
Is this about that girl at lunch?
I didn’t reply.
Don’t be like that Princess, his message said.
I still didn’t answer him back. I was so upset and without a good reason. My temper can sure get the best of me sometimes.
I sat saw the park benches and decided I would sit and try to collect myself before trying to talk to him. I sat there trying to figure out what I would say to him. Several minutes passed and I couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse for why I wasn’t talking to him. My phone beeps again.
Bailey, talk to me. Please.
What?
Why didn’t you wait for me like you promised? He asked.
I was intending to sound as hateful as I could went I typed, I’m waiting on you right here on this park bench and I’m not going to be here in three minutes.
I knew it would take him longer than that to get here from the school and when that time was up I wouldn’t feel so bad about going on home.
I watched the time on my phone. Your three minutes are up big boy, I said aloud to myself. I got up off the bench, but before I could take a step I heard him call my name.
“Dammit!” I said probably a lot louder than I should have.
“Wait Bailey!” He pleaded.
I stopped and waited for him. When he finally reached me he was completely out of breath and had sweat pouring off his forehead. I couldn’t help but to laugh at him. He had actually run the whole way. From the look of him he had been determined to make it here in two minutes instead of three. The fact that he had actually ran all this way just to talk to me made me feel even worse than I had in the beginning.
“Bailey I’m sorry for not just telling her I wasn’t interested. I wasn’t aware that it would bother you so much. I didn’t even think she was even pretty.” He said as he gasped to catch his breath.
I stood there looking at him wanting to throw my arms around him and hug him.
“And I’m sorry for being such a jerk about it. I wasn’t thinking and I guess I overstepped my boundaries a bit.” I said truly feeling sorry about how I had acted. “It’s not like I’m your girlfriend or anything and I’m definitely not your mother so you're free to do as you please.” I said.
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” He asked still breathless.
“That's beside the point Eric.”
“Ok. Let me rephrase that question. Will you be my girlfriend?”
I felt like I was back in grade school. I certainly did, but I didn’t want to say yes quite yet. So, with a smile, I told him I would let him know later.
“I'll be sure and hold you to that.”
The walk home was in silence until we reached the corner where both of our houses were. I was still rolling in myself inflicted humiliation. We said our goodbyes and we each went in our different directions.
My Dad’s car was in the driveway. He had finally got back from the conference. I ran up the walkway as fast as I could. I hardly get to see him anymore. “Dad!” I shouted as I went through the door.
He was standing in the kitchen looking over the mail. “Well, hello, my baby girl.” he said.
“I sure have missed you, Daddy. How was the conference?”
“It wasn’t the greatest time I've ever had.” he laughed as he scooped me up into a hug that brought my feet off the floor. “I’m glad to be home.”
He said that he was going to be able to be home more for a while now. He asked about school and about how my final exams had went. I told him I passed them all.
He wasn’t surprised. “You have always been a great student.” he complimented me.
“I have a friend coming over to study.” I could feel my cheeks turning red.
“Anyone I know?” he asked.
“Nope, he just moved here I told him.”
Dad gave me that funny look he always gives me when I mention a boy. It was almost cute, but scary at the same time.
“When is he going to be here?” He asked as the doorbell rang.
I smiled and said, “Now.”
I opened the door and let Eric in. He automatically went to Dad and introduced himself. Dad seemed to be pleased that Eric didn’t wait for me to introduce them. I could see the light in my father s eyes shining. He acted like he might be able to tolerate Eric.
Eric and I excused ourselves to go to the living room. I pulled my textbooks out of my backpack and put them on the coffee table.
Eric looked at them and grinned. “I said this was only an excuse to spend time with you and I really wasn’t kidding.”
“Yeah and my Dad is home so you better make it look believable.”
“Why did you get so angry at me today?” Eric asked.
“I wasn’t so much as angry as I was jealous, I guess you could say.” I replied.
“There is no reason for you to be jealous. I’m not interested in her at all.”
I saw Dad walk by and I started reading out of the textbook. I didn’t want him to be upset with me. I couldn’t stand that.
“So, are you going to answer my question?”
“Which one?” I asked.
“The one about being my girlfriend.” he said seriously.
“What’s in it for me?”
“I guess you'll just have to say yes so you can find out now won’t you?” He said confidently.
“Ok. You twisted my arm. Sure.” I answered happily.
I heard Dad walking around upstairs. Eric leaned over and kissed me. I wasn’t expecting him to do that. He knew it too. I was stunned. His kiss was a mere peck, but it left my lips tingling. I couldn’t do anything but sit there and look at him.
“I’m sorry. I guess I should have asked you before I done that.” he said as he stared at the floor.
“Don’t be sorry. I just wasn’t expecting it is all.” I whispered.
He leaned in to kiss me again and I was more prepared for it this time. I gently kissed him back. The smooth motion of our lips soon became as natural as walking. We responded to each other automatically. Almost as if this wasn’t our first kiss.
After a brief time, I noticed a sensation coming over me. It was almost like I was dizzy again, but floating at the same time. High above my own body.
Eric placed his hand on my arm. It was like he knew because it was happening to him too. Or I thought it might be. I sure hoped that it was.
But the comforting feeling his touch gave me was unexplainable. Every worry I had vanished. Nothing else seemed to matter.
Eric backed away from me suddenly. I was out of breath, but still wanting more. I heard the front door open. I was still stunned from our kiss. It was my mother.
“Bailey?” She called.
“In here, Mom.” Immediately, I straightened my hair.
“Can you come help me carry in some bags?”
Before I could get to my feet, Eric had already met her at the door.
“Hello Eric.” she said.
“Hi. I can help you with your things.” he said being the gentleman that he is.
“Thank you.” she said. “That is so sweet of you.”
We all went out and brought the bags in. Mom had gone to the grocery store after work. From the looks of it you would think she had to feed an army. I usually did most of the shopping, but I guess Mom had plans to fix something special for dinner.
We helped her empty all the bags and put the food away.
“Need some help?” Dad asked her as he walked in the kitchen. Mom gave him a loving glance and smiled.
It was hard not to notice the excitement of them seeing each other. Even after all the years that they had been together, they still came across as a pair of love struck teenagers.
Dad enjoyed helping her cook. I think it was just another way for him to escape the growing pile of patient files on his desk. He was always looking for excuses to ignore his work when he was home. Not that I thought that was a bad thing. I’m glad he does that.
Eric and I returned to the living room to put away the books from our phony study date. I turned on the television hoping to catch the evening news. The reporter was talking about a shooting that had occurred earlier today.