Dark Hearts

by P. L. Midnight

  This class was going to be the most difficult to focus on with both Raven and him in my line of vision if I glanced to my right. The broad line of Vince’s shoulders and his messy hair wasn’t hard on my eyes either. I was actually surrounded by three cute guys. Interestingly enough, I believed that all three of them knew I was actually alive.

  It could definitely be the most interesting year of my life, I thought, as the teacher droned on about something or other. If only I knew then the direction my life was going to take…

  The bell rang and I was about to make a quick getaway. I was stopped by Raven’s voice as I got up from my seat. Vince looked up at me with a questioning look that didn’t mar his handsome features even though a slight frown quickly crossed his face as he looked at Raven and me. I imagine he wondered why Raven had stopped me.

  “Hi Emma, can I walk you to class?”

  “I’m going to study hall. Are you going that way?”

  “Actually, I’m going there, too. Let’s blow this class.”

  “I’m ready.”

  I could have sworn he’d said something like, “I wish you were.” I just couldn’t really hear him. I decided not to ask what he’d mumbled under his breath. Sometimes it’s better not to hear everything people say.

  We started walking side by side, his hand occasionally brushing against mine in the crowded hall, as we squeezed together to accommodate some large groups walking together. We stopped at Raven’s locker. He said he’d forgotten something. As he looked inside his locker to retrieve what he needed, Vince poked me in the lower back as he passed. I quickly turned around, pulling my gaze from Raven’s tight fitting jeans only to find both Vince and his new best friend, Alex, grinning at me.

  Vince made a point to remind me in front of Raven, “Don’t forget, Emma, I’ll be over about four. It sounds like Marcozi is pouring on the Biology homework already. Guess we’ll be dissecting a frog next week. Better learn those little froggie parts, Emma.” He grinned and I felt his finger as he ran it quickly down my back. That was strange. Vince never touched me other than an occasional poke. It had happened so quickly, maybe I’d imagined it. What was that comment about froggie parts? He knew that we both were ahead on our Biology studies. His voice had sounded odd, too. Who could figure out the minds of boys, or should I say men? After all, most of the guys were eighteen now.

  “That’s disgusting. Isn’t there another way to study body parts?” OMG had I just said that aloud? I wanted the floor to swallow me up, especially when I turned away from Raven, hoping he hadn’t heard me. Fortunately, he seemed to be occupied, looking through the clutter in his locker for something.

  Alex wasn’t and instantly grinned at me, “Oh, I’m sure we could think of a few ways, Emma.”

  Vince gave me another intense look as he studied my pink face, “Alex, I think we should get to class.”

  Alex didn’t look the least bit contrite as he spoke. “Just having a little fun. Sorry, Emma, but you look so cute when you get all girlie.”

  I grunted at him and turned to face Raven who was still offering a nice view of his backside as he rummaged through his locker. When I peeked around, they were walking down the hall. Yep, I’d done it again; put myself in a position to be embarrassed by Alex. I huffed after him and could hear their good-natured snickering at my expense. Vince took a quick look around and mouthed, “Sorry, Emma.” He shrugged and gave me that “innocent guy” look. Then he turned back around.

  I wasn’t sure I cared for Vince and Alex becoming friends so quickly. I didn’t want their friendship to put a strain on my relationship with Vince. We’d been BFFs for a long time. I didn’t know why I let Alex get under my skin.

  “See you later, Emma.” Alex said over his shoulder and winked as they made their way down the corridor.

  “I’ve got to tell Tom to remove his stuff from my locker. He asked to use my locker temporarily. He has more crap in here than I do. I can’t find anything. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Emma.”

  Raven hadn’t noticed Alex or perhaps he chose not to mention it. We walked to study hall unimpeded by any more interruptions or weird comments from anyone.

  “No worries, Raven. We’ve got enough time to get there without being late.”

  “You’re sweet, Emma,” Raven said as he reached over and took my hand. We held hands until we reached the study hall door.

  Raven and I sat at the same table. We both opened our books, pretending to work. Raven was the first to begin passing notes.

  The first note from Raven read, Looking forward to seeing you Saturday night. What movie are we watching? We’re still meeting at Vince’s, right?

  I wrote back, Yes, we’re going to Vince’s house. I don’t care what we watch. It’ll just be fun to hang out.

  Raven’s reply, As long as you’re with me, I don’t care if we even watch a movie.

  I smiled at him and my face pinked a little at the implied compliment. He handed me another note under the table as the study hall monitor was walking beside us. His fingers grazed my knee as he placed it into my hand. The familiar tickling sensation filled my stomach. I couldn’t believe that I had gotten that feeling from two guys in one day. What was wrong with me? I never had feelings for anyone like that before. Of course, I’d never gotten to talk to many guys. My shyness had kept me from that, along with my wallflower status.

  I was feeling strange about Alex and Raven. At least Vince’s new appearance hadn’t made my stomach feel strange, although his light touch down my back had given me goosebumps. Could I actually be thinking about three guys and like two of them? That wasn’t normal, was it? I just wasn’t familiar with how to act around guys or how to handle attention from them. I wanted to talk to Tori about it, but with how she was acting regarding Alex, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. I certainly couldn’t ask my other best friend, Vince, about it after his looks at lunch. A teenager’s life was complicated and I hadn’t seen anything yet.

  The next note said, You really are pretty and nice, Emma. I wonder why we didn’t talk before now. I mean, I saw you, but you never gave me a chance to say anything to you. You’d just turn and walk away as fast as you could. I promise I don’t bite…not too hard anyway.

  I was about to hand another note to Raven when the teacher very pointedly cleared her throat. She walked towards us and said in a voice that was louder than necessary. “Unless you care to share what you’re writing, I would suggest that you start looking at your school books and studying.”

  Busted, I colored a bit at being caught. Raven just grinned as if he passed notes to girls all the time. The young teacher frowned at me, but she smiled a little at Raven. It was as if she too had been charmed by his captivating smile and sparkling lavender eyes.

  She turned and walked back to the other side of the room. We sat quietly for some time when a slight brush to my knee caused me to start. Raven was grinning at me and mouthed sorry. I think he would have said more, but the teacher was walking our way again as she made her way around the room. I instantly looked down and pretended to study.

  When she passed, I looked back up only to find Raven studying me with undisguised interest. I wondered how long he’d been looking at me. It seemed strange, but felt amazing to have the attention of someone I’d secretly crushed on for so long. The rest of study hall was uneventful except for a few exchanged glances between Raven and me.

  I noticed a few of the other students had started watching us as Raven’s hand came over mine while we were leaving. He held my hand for only a moment this time, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed. It would be all over school as one of the biggest gossips around had seen us holding hands.

  Raven bid me goodbye and headed in the opposite direction towards his final class of the day. “Talk to you soon, Emma. I’ve got football practice after school or I’d join you at Vince’s.”

  I made no comment. I just smiled a little shyly at him and said see you then. He had heard Vince earlier say we were studying, which I found i
nteresting. He hadn’t mentioned it. When had he and Vince become such good friends that he could join us?

  “See you Saturday, Raven.”

  “I’m looking forward to it, Em.”

  He’d called me by the name my father had used. Strangely, it didn’t bother me. Actually, I rather liked hearing him say it in his gravelly baritone voice.

  My final class of the day was English and to my surprise not only Tori, but also Anne and Vince joined me. In this class, as usual, we had assigned seats. This was one time it would’ve been nice to remain sitting next to my friends. It didn’t happen. It was a boring class for the most part, but I knew there would be some ghost stories eventually. Our teacher, Mrs. Webber was fond of sharing these types of yarns as the year progressed. Most of us had heard the biggest bulk of her tales, but it was better than a constant study of the confusing rules of the English language.

  The class was uneventful since I wasn’t near any of my friends. I did get to say hello to Vince and ask how the rest of his afternoon was going before we were moved. That was all. We got the usual first day homework and the day was finally over.

  Chapter Four

  “Hey Emma, aren’t you speaking to us peons anymore?” It was the voice of another one of my circle of friends. Sara waved as she walked towards me.

  “Hello Sara, how was your afternoon?”

  “It wasn’t as interesting as yours was, apparently. Sandy Smith told me that Raven Tafini and you are an item now. She said he was holding your hand in study hall. Wow, you’re a fast worker, girl. The first day of school and you finally landed your long-time crush. Maybe I should lose some weight and change my hair.”

  “Don’t ever cut your hair, it’s beautiful and if you lost weight you’d look anorexic. Your mom would be spastic if you cut your hair. As far as Raven and me, we aren’t exactly an item. He’s joining all of us on Saturday night, that’s all. Well, I guess he did kind of hold my hand for a moment when we were leaving study hall.”

  “I knew it. Raven likes the new you. He must really like you if he’s coming to Vince’s house. I didn’t even know that Vince and he were friends.” She just had to get back to the Raven and me conversation and said, “So, it is true that he was holding your hand. Janet Berning said one of her friends saw you two together in the hall, too.”

  “Actually, we weren’t exactly holding hands. He just kind of put his over mine.”

  “Really, I think that’s what holding hands is, silly girl. Well, it’s all over school. Wait until Vince hears it. He’ll have a fit. You know he is really crushing on the new you, too, and what about Alex? I heard that new guy has a thing for you, too.”

  “I’m not sure Vince will ever crush on a girl that isn’t a science exhibit. As for Alex, he is so not my type. Anyway, Tori likes him.”

  “Anne said that all Vince wanted to do was talk about how you looked. He’s crazy about you, Emma, even more than he was before. It’s also all over school that Alex dumped Brittany for you.”

  “I’ve never been with Alex and never will. I’m sure that he hasn’t dumped Brittany. She’ll see to that. Anyway, it’s just gossip. Its sweet Vince feels that way, but I’m still just me. He was never actually interested in me before. Why should he be now? I’m just a little slimmer and cut my hair, that’s it. We’re still just good friends.”

  “Really, we all thought you two were kind of an item last year. The guy has always had a case of the hots for you. No offense Emma, but are you that naïve that you can’t tell when a guy is crushing on you?” Apparently, I am, according to Tori, I thought, but didn’t say aloud.

  Did Vince really have feelings for me all this time? Perhaps I was too naïve, but I hadn’t had much practice getting to understand guys. How was I supposed to know these things?

  “Sara, Vince and I never kissed or anything. Don’t boyfriends and girlfriends kiss occasionally?”

  “Well, you know Vince can be kind of introverted at times. Maybe he was building up his courage to kiss you. I think he’s always liked you.”

  “We’ve been close friends for a long time. Even when we all started hanging out together, he never made a move to hold my hand or anything. Don’t you think that at least one kiss would’ve been normal if we’d have been an item, as you put it? I could get gray hair waiting for him to get the courage to kiss me. I’m not sure I really care about kissing him, anyway. You know he’s one of my best friends. I don’t want to ruin that with romantic feelings.”

  “Well, yes, I guess a kiss would’ve been expected, but Vince is, well, he’s Vince. You can’t rush him about anything.”

  “Well, Sara I’m just myself. I wouldn’t hurt Vince on purpose, but I can’t wait forever for him to decide to kiss me. Raven seems interested and you know that I’ve liked him for a while.”

  “Who wouldn’t like Raven? He’s dreamy in a dark, mysterious kind of way. I just hope Vince understands.”

  “I wasn’t really going to discuss it with Vince. Vince will always be one of my best friends, but whether I eventually date Raven or not is really not Vince’s concern.”

  “Even if you don’t tell him, he’ll find out and it could hurt him. You know that Raven and he are working out at one of the fitness centers and have become good friends.”

  “Frankly, I didn’t even know that Vince and Raven were on the same planet. I’ll be as careful not to hurt Vince as I can, but I really like Raven.”

  “Anne introduced the two of them at some sports thing last summer that her brother was competing in. They just seemed to have a lot in common. Strange as it sounds, Raven and Vince have become good friends, according to Anne.”

  “I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t even know that Anne went to any of her brother’s sports events.”

  “Her brother probably had a track meet or something and her parents made her go. Her mom is big into sibling support and all that stuff.”

  “Well, at any rate, I’m glad Vince has some friends besides the science club members and us. I just hope he doesn’t get mad at Raven or me for that matter.”

  “He won’t, but I bet he’ll ask you out now that he knows he has competition. Maybe he’ll get brave and finally kiss you.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about anyone kissing me, even Raven. I’ve crushed on him for a long time and now that he’s interested, it seems surreal. I hope it isn’t going to become awkward to see Vince and Raven at the same time.”

  “Who knows, as tight as they are, maybe they’ll be cool with it. It’s the twenty-first century after all and it’s okay to date more than one person. Just because you go on a few dates with a guy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an item, as you yourself said. I don’t know why you couldn’t hang out with both of them if you wanted. Guys date more than one girl all the time, and that seems to be acceptable to the masses. Why shouldn’t we date multiple guys?”

  “I’m not sure I could do that. It doesn’t seem fair to the guys and the word Brittany comes to mind. She did that crap to Raven.”

  “She did it after they’d become exclusive and probably did the act. She also did it behind his back with that other guy. That was cheating. You better change your thinking about dating more than one guy, because I think Alex is interested in you, too.”

  “Now you sound like Tori. Anyway, like I said, Tori likes him. I’m not sure if he’s interested in either of us, but he seems to be developing a friendship with Vince. Therefore, I’m sure he’ll be around. It could get weird if he ever asks me out. Not that I’m interested or anything, like I said, I’ll never date Alex.”

  “Never say never, girl. I think he’ll ask you out and you’ll eventually go. He seems damned charming and pretty determined. I think he’s just getting to know you better before he asks you out. It’s your new look, Emma. Even Brittany is jealous. The witch just keeps giving you the evil eye. Everyone’s talking about how green-eyed she is. You had better watch out for her. She’s pretty vindictive, as you know.”


  “I guess I’ll worry about Alex if he asks me out. As far as Brittany, I told Tori this morning, I just don’t want to talk about her. I don’t like the witch and never will. Right now, I’m going to fantasize about my imaginary dream date with Raven. If she comes after me, I’ll deal with her then. I’m not afraid of her or her minions. Really what can they do to me?”

  “They can make your life pretty miserable at school, as well you know. Hey, remember we were speaking of the guys becoming friends? Look over there.”

  Across the schoolyard, walking towards the football field were Vince, Alex and Raven. Vince was flipping his hands through the air as he did with me when he got excited. I’d never seen him talk that dynamically with anyone else. He was being himself as he did with only his closest friend, which was me.

  Our group seemed to be expanding. I had a feeling that I’d be seeing more of Alex than I wanted to see. However, it might be nice to see Raven more. I had a feeling that our group was definitely expanding, as I watched the friendly comradery between the guys while they walked across the practice field.

  Just like this town, I wondered if my life could get any more peculiar…the three guys that seemed to notice me today were becoming good friends. How strange was that?

  One was a good friend of mine, one was a long-time crush for most of us girls at Graham, and one was a handsome new annoyance.

  We reached Tori’s car. Sara waved goodbye and walked on to her vehicle at the other side of the parking lot. Tori and Anne were already inside the car waiting for me.

  “Holy shit girl, you’re already popular.”

  “Thanks, Tori. I thought you were trying to stop swearing by the way. It seems that you did mention it’s not ladylike and all.”

  “I know, but it’s too exciting, Emma, and hell if you don’t know it. It’s all over school about how Alex ignored Brittany for you and Raven held your hand in the hall. Am I right, Anne?”

  “Yes, it’s the most exciting thing to happen to any one of us on the first day of school. Heck, it’s the most exciting thing to happen to any of us. Maybe I should change my look too, but I’m not sure I want three guys interested in me. I don’t have time for that much attention.”