Ordinary Me

by June Sproat

  Steve sat me in a booth by the restrooms and mumbled something about that maybe I should go and clean up. Then he went to get some food.

  I headed to the restroom. Freshening up sounded like a good idea. A really good idea. I splashed some water on my face and used my finger like a toothbrush. Not the best, but it would have to do. I wiped off my face and headed back to the booth.

  Steve was already at the booth with coffee and what looked like toast. How did he get McDonalds to make toast? Okay, it was a toasted bun, but still.

  Silently he poured cream into the coffee and handed it to me.

  “I don’t drink coffee,” I said.

  “You do now. Just have a little. Trust me,” he said.

  And you know what, I did, trust him that is.

  “What were you thinking?” he finally asked.

  “I was just having fun.” Like I was going to tell him that the only reason I did the things I did was because I was so upset over the way I acted. How I accused him of something he didn’t do and that he wasn’t there for me to apologize and jeez…the list was way too long!

  I stared at him and wanted to disappear. How could I actually sit there and still be angry with him after all he had just done for me, which was now sinking in as I sat in the hard plastic booth at McDonalds. You’d think with all the money McDonalds makes, they could at least have more comfortable seats!

  What had I done? Oh, my God, what had I done?

  “Maybe a little too much fun,” he said.

  I put my elbows on the table and buried my face in my hands. I couldn’t even look at him.

  “Drink some more,” he urged.

  “I can’t, I hate the taste of coffee.” I pushed it away.

  “I thought you didn’t like the taste of alcohol either?” he said, “but you sure seemed to down that punch.”

  “But that was really good. I didn’t even know there was alcohol in it.” I didn’t. Okay, I briefly thought it did, but I figured it tasted too good to have much alcohol in it.

  “Well, that was obvious,” he laughed. Not a deep laugh, but like a, you’re a dope, laugh.

  “Was I that bad?” I asked. I didn’t really want to ask, but I had to know, because all kinds of images were in my head and some of them were not pretty.

  “Well, you were okay until you started to undress. Then I figured I should get you out of there. I knew no one else was going to do it. Then there was Josh, and I think he had his own ideas,” he said.

  I froze. Not because of what Steve had said, but because just then, my parents walked in the door.

  Oh jeez, this just keeps getting better! My parents thought I was at Becky’s. Now they find me at McDonalds with a boy they didn’t know, who had no shirt on, and I was drunk. Yep, this was bad. Very bad. Very, very bad. I hoped my sweater wasn’t on backwards!

  Steve saw the panic on my face and looked over his shoulder. He saw my parents head our way. As he snapped up his jacket, he looked over at me and gave me a wink and a look that said everything would all be okay. Like that was possible.

  “Kate,” my mom said, “what are you doing here? I though you were at your friend Becky’s?”

  “Um, I was, but…”

  “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Sterns. I’m Steve, Kate’s Chemistry tutor.” Steve appeared next to my dad. He stuck out his hand and my dad shook it.

  He looked really confused, but then again, it seems like I confuse my dad a lot lately, I guess I probably confuse Steve, too, but that is totally different.

  “Oh yes,” my mom said, “nice to meet you.”

  “I was at Becky’s house, too, and things seemed to be getting a little crowded there. Kate wanted to go home so I offered to drive her. I was hungry, so we just stopped for a quick bite. Did you want to join us?” Steve asked.

  I was so dead. Steve was so dead. I expected my parents to begin hollering, grab me and pull me out of there, much like Steve did at Becky’s. Only this time I don’t think I would be the one screaming, or maybe I would be.

  “Oh, no, that’s fine. We’re getting ours to go. Stacy’s waiting for us at home, but thanks. See you in a little bit then, okay?” My mom took my dad’s arm and walked away; my dad still looked very confused.

  They actually walked away. That was it. They walked away. No yelling, no dragging me out of there, they just walked away. Although it did look like my mom had to drag my dad, just a little.

  It had to be a hallucination. That was the only reasonable explanation. That or I had gone completely crazy. Either one seemed feasible, but not pleasant. I stared at the spot where my parents had been standing. I replayed the scene over and over in my head, but it never changed. I was so lost, I mean, who were those people, because they so weren’t my parents!

  “Um Kate, are you okay? You’re not going to puke again, are you? I don’t have another jacket to put on if you do.” Steve said, half laughing, half serious.

  “Oh, no. I’m fine,” well actually, I wasn’t fine. I was confused, really confused. There was something very surreal about the entire evening. I mean Steve managed to get me out of the party before I did anything stupid, well at least anything more stupid than I had already done. Then he managed to get toast, (okay it was a bun, but still) at McDonalds. He managed to put my parents at ease about me being out…with a boy…alone…who had no shirt on, although they probably didn’t know that. The no shirt thing I mean.

  I had trouble believing it was all real myself, that it wasn’t a dream. If it was a dream; I didn’t want it to end.

  “Steve?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “Sure, anytime.”

  We sat in that hard plastic booth—me nibbling on a toasted bun and Steve drinking my coffee for about an hour. It felt like I was in paradise having a feast.

  “Well, if you’re feeling better, I should get you home. Your parents are probably waiting by the door for you.”

  “Um, yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said.

  We got back in his truck and he took me home. I jumped out of the truck

  “Want me to walk you up?” he asked, “You know, in case your parents are waiting for you. You don’t have to face them alone.”

  “Thanks, but I can handle this one,” I said.

  I stood at the door until he drove off. He was gone. I took a deep breath and opened the front door.

  “I don’t remember you mentioning you had a Chemistry tutor, Kate.” My mom said when I came in.

  Steve was right; they had waited for me. Well, at least my mom did. She said my dad went up to bed already. I had this image of my dad in their room surfing the news channels for the top story of his daughter out with a half dressed guy so he could just have a clue as to what was going on in my life.

  I was so glad Steve took me out to get cleaned up before coming home. That would have been even more difficult to explain. Score another point for him. However I couldn’t help but wonder how often he had done the same for other girls, like bimbolina?

  “Oh, the tutor thing was just for a week. I went during free time. It wasn’t a big deal,” I said, “and I won’t be going anymore.” I added.

  “Oh, no? Is there a problem?” she raised her eyebrows.

  “No, um, I just needed a little extra help, but I’m doing fine now.” I really didn’t want to get into it with her now. I was really tired and couldn’t wait to get into bed.

  “He really is quite cute. I’m surprised you were able to learn anything,” my mom said.

  It felt like my face was going up in flames. How could she say that? And what did she know about ‘cute boys’, and why was she looking at him? I mean, she’s old!

  “Um, yeah,” I forced a laugh. I so did not want to have this conversation. “Well, good night,” I said and went upstairs.

  For the first time that night I realized everything had changed. My tutoring sessions were over. I was sure I had just attended my last party, and now I had absolutely no rea
son to see Steve anymore.

  If I wasn’t so tired, I would cry.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I wish I could give Kevin a future full of happiness. Too bad we don’t always get what we wish for.” — Jeri Miller

  I woke up Saturday morning, or should I say Saturday afternoon, to total chaos.

  I heard voices. They were voices I didn’t recognize, and doors were banging downstairs, which wasn’t a very pleasant sound.

  My head hurt. Of course my head hurt. Not as bad as I thought it would, but it still hurt and the noise from downstairs didn’t help. Curiosity forced me to pull on my robe and head downstairs.

  If I thought last night was a surreal, this was surrealer.

  Um, is that even a word?

  Doesn’t matter. There were people, lots of people, going in and out of my house. They were moving stuff, hooking up these electric thingies, and talking on cell phones.

  I found Mom and Dad sitting in the living room with some police guy.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  My mom stood up and walked me into the kitchen.

  “Kate, honey, Roger Dawson escaped. Apparently he has been missing for about a week.”

  So I did see him at the school that night

  “So what’s that got to do with all this?” I asked.

  “Well, the police have some concerns. They want to make sure you are safe.” My mom raised her hand to my head and smoothed down my hair.

  “One of the officers thought they saw him yesterday. They were under the impression he was no longer in town. You see, when he was in custody, he made some threats, and now, well, no one wants to take any chances.” My mom brought her hand to her mouth and started to cry.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?” I asked. My dad came over and put his hands on Mom’s shoulders.

  “We didn’t want to worry you, Kate,” Dad said in their defense.

  “Well, don’t you think I should know if someone is threatening me?” I wanted to scream, but I knew I would be sorry later.

  “Kate, he was in jail. It’s not like he was out following you around,” my mom said.

  “Oh, you mean like now?”

  “Kate, be realistic. He’s not following you around.” My dad said.

  “Then what exactly is going on here?” I tried not to sound crazy, but honestly I was scared! “Precautions,” my dad said, “we’re just taking precautions until he’s back in custody.”

  “How long will that be?” I wanted my life back, my ordinary mundane life. The one that was not filled with criminals, cheerleaders, me acting stupid at parties, and really hot tutors! Okay, scratch the last one, really hot tutors are not a bad thing.

  “Honey, we don’t know; hopefully, just today,” my mom said.

  “Mr. Sterns, can you come here please?” An officer called over to my dad.

  Mom faced me and put her hands on my shoulders. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m sure it’s all for nothing; we just want you safe.”

  “I know Mom,” but I really didn’t mean it.

  The phone rang. A police guy stood by the phone and told my dad to answer it.

  “Kate, for you,” he said holding up the receiver. “It’s her friend,” Dad said to the police guy.

  “I’ll get it upstairs.” As I ran up, I stopped and looked back, “is this being taped?” I wanted to know, I mean I didn’t know which friend was on the phone, but I wanted to make sure no one was listening.

  “No, only if we need to,” the police guy said.

  I fell onto my bed and grabbed the phone. It was Jodi.

  “What is going on over there?” she demanded.

  “Oh hi, Jodi. I’m fine; thanks for asking. How are you?”

  “Fine! Hello Kate, how are you! Happy? Now what is going on over there?”

  I had to laugh; Jodi was so impatient.

  “Well, it seems that Roger guy escaped. I guess he made some threats, so the police are here.” I tried very hard to sound casual, even though I wanted to scream.

  “It sounds like you are feeling better,” I said.

  “Yeah, a little bit. How long are the police going to be there?” Jodi asked.

  “Until they catch the guy, I guess.”

  “Are you scared?”

  “Not as much as last night.” I teased.

  “Why? What happened last night?”

  “Oh, I went to a certain party, and a certain someone brought me home.”

  “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “OH, MY GOD! TELL ME NOW!” Jodi demanded.

  Suddenly, I remembered the police guy downstairs, and even though he said this wasn’t being taped, he could still be listening.

  “Um, I’m not sure now’s a good time,” I said.

  “You have got to be kidding me. You can’t leave me hanging!” she pleaded.

  “Well, I have to tell you in person. Do you think you can come over?” I asked.

  “I’m already at your door,” she said and hung up.

  I went downstairs to let her in. I mean she lived across the street and since she was so interested, I knew she would probably be there by the time I got downstairs. I walked into the living room and the police guy looked at me. I bet he was listening. My face got all hot and I was sure I was ten shades of red. I reached for the door just as the doorbell rang.

  “Don’t touch that!” the police guy yelled.

  I jumped back, more than a little startled. My mom came running out from the kitchen.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked nervously.

  “We have to check first,” the police guy said.

  “Oh jeez, it’s just my friend, Jodi, from across the street.” I reached for the door. “You should know,” I looked at him with his little headphones on.

  This would have been a perfect time for me to use the raised eyebrow thing.

  He looked at me all confused like. I shrugged and opened the door.

  “See,” I said, “she’s safe. You’re not packing are you, Jodi?” I asked her sarcastically. Jodi just laughed.

  “Kate, that’s enough.” Even though my mom’s tone was stern, I saw the corners of her mouth turn up just a little bit.

  “Whatever!” I said and headed upstairs with Jodi.

  I closed the door to my room and turned to Jodi who moved to sit on my bed. I sat across from her.

  “So, what’s up?” I asked casually.

  “Spill it!” she glared.

  So I did.

  Chapter Twenty

  “I wish to remember my friends just the way they are, caring, loving, would do anything for me, people. I promise to never forget you.” — Sue Faber

  Roger still wasn’t in custody by Sunday afternoon, so my parents decided I needed extra protection while I was away from the house. I offered to miss school for a while, but that didn’t fly.

  Enter Bob. I don’t know where Bob came from— the police, the feds, or just a private company—but Bob would now be my shadow. This made my parents happy. Happy, however, is not the adjective I would use to describe how I felt!

  The last thing I needed, or wanted, was this six- foot official like guy following me around. Although he was really not too bad to look at, it was still very embarrassing.

  I didn’t take the bus to school on Monday; Bob drove me. He pulled up in front of the school.

  “You aren’t going to follow me around, are you?”

  I asked wishfully.

  “No,” he said.

  “Good. Thanks for the ride,” I said and opened the door to get out.

  “Just so you know, I’m not leaving the grounds, so don’t think I won’t know if you leave,” he said.

  “Um, great, thanks.” I slammed the door.

  I met up with Jodi in the cafeteria and totally avoided even looking at the jock table. I was way too embarrassed to face them.

  “Hey, where’s Bob?” Jodi asked. She was the only one I told about Bob.

  “He’s
outside. I guess he thinks I’m safe as long as I’m in here.”

  Jodi and I sat with our usual—James, Ellen and Peter.

  “He’s coming over,” Jodi whispered.

  “Who?” I asked. I glanced over and caught Steve out of the corner of my eye. I stood up. Panic ran through me. I could feel the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. What was wrong with me?

  “Kate,” Steve said.

  “Yeah,” I said trying to remain calm. Was he going to say something about Friday? About what a fool I had made of myself? Oh why couldn’t he just pretend I didn’t exist like two weeks ago?

  “I wanted to talk to you,” he said.

  My heart dropped into my stomach. I felt the need to run.

  “Um, now is not good; we have to get to class,” I grabbed Jodi’s arm.

  “Oh, yeah, we need to get there; good thing you came over and made us aware of the time,” Jodi laughed.

  Why couldn’t she just shut up for once? “Bye,” I said and we hurried out of the caf.

  Jodi didn’t say a word until we got to our classroom.

  “What’s wrong with you? You’re shaking.” Jodi held my arms.

  “I don’t know?” And really, I didn’t. I just couldn’t face him right now and I wasn’t sure I could face him anytime soon.

  We sat down. It seemed that now that Steve wasn’t my tutor anymore, and I didn’t have a reason to be with him, I was too nervous to talk to him. The whole thing was totally crazy because he was just being nice to me because of the whole tutoring thing.

  He only wants to be friends with me, or at least he said he did, and I think I totally love him.

  Okay, I did not just think that!

  Okay, yes I did. And it was true. After everything he did for me Friday, I realized how stupid I had been. I was so confused about how I felt that instead of going with my feelings, I fought it and him every step of the way. It is so one-sided now that I’m afraid if I’m alone with him, I would say something to embarrass myself, like the comment I made about the bimbolina thing. I have to add I still do not understand what he sees in her.