Escaping Truth
Prologue
All my life things have been exactly the same. I don’t know why I thought this year would be any different. The school year started off the same, lots of homework, ignorant kids and irritating teachers. Going to school has always been a challenge, because I was the ordinary, normal looking girl. My school is full of Barbies and Kens, but I am just Theresa. You know the other boring doll that no one really wanted to play with.
I’ve lived in Riverton, Nevada all my life. My home town is about ten miles west of Ely, Nevada. Once you drive to Riverton you get a pleasant surprise, because one minute you’re in a rural nothing but dirt town, and the next you’re in a nice community with fake grass, rocks and cement.
Riverton is like the Valley of Nevada. Every girl in my school is worried about their hair, their makeup, and clothes. It’s like having a brain isn’t in, and the boys are even worse. If you could bottle up their hormonal rage, Texas wouldn’t be big enough to hold it all. They are only concerned about getting laid. I look forward to seeing all of them working for the rest of their lives making minimum wage.
I’m the ugly girl in their eyes. I am, by no means ugly, but I’m no blonde hair, blue eyed princess either. Like I said, I’m a typical Theresa doll. I have long, curly ash brown hair. I don’t have a spray on tan, but I’m not pale. I’m tall, but not slinky, and I am definitely not a size two. I have curves, but I’m not overweight. I have the physical appearance that guys in my town don’t want. All they’re interested in are stick figures, and that is so not me. Oh, and to top it all off, I have a brain, and I use it. That’s a real turn off.
1. A New Friend
The sun ripped through my sheer, canary yellow curtains, disturbing my slumber. I don’t know why, but today feels like it’s going to be different. I was laying in my bed thinking about the dream I had last night.
I was in a brightly lit room, with a crowd standing in front of me cheering. They were speaking a different language, but I knew what they were saying. They were asking me to save them, and they were calling me their princess. The next thing I knew, I was wearing a beautiful gold corset gown with black lace trim and a tiara.
I finally decided to get up. I hurriedly shook of the dream and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I absolutely love the fact that I have my own bathroom. It really came in handy when I had an allergic reaction to my mom’s left over seafood last week. I was hugging the bowel all night.
I opened the medicine cabinet to get my brush and comb, so I could do something to my hair. After about fifteen minutes of trying different hairstyles, I just pulled it back into a pony tail. I brushed my teeth, and walked back into my room.
I rummaged through my closet for something to wear. I’m strictly a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. I finally decided that a blue tank top, with my favorite khaki pants would do. I grabbed my book bag, slid my feet in some flip flops, and headed down the stairs.
My mom was in the kitchen, pretending to cook. Her friend Jeff Canton came over every morning and she pretended to whip up a big breakfast for him. She would get up at five in the morning, just so she could drive to IHOP and back so she could get his breakfast ready, before he got there. Of all the extremes, she won the trophy. I mean she could just ask me to cook for him, but I would probably just tell her no anyway. I wasn’t going to contribute to her lying to that man. I don’t think he would have a problem if she couldn’t cook.
“Are you fake and baking again?” I asked her as I stole a piece of turkey bacon. I no longer eat beef and pork and I’m so glad that my mom changed her diet along with me.
“It’s not fake, someone made it, it just wasn’t me,” she sniffed.
I loved my mom, but sometimes, I wonder how I came from her. We are so completely different. We really don’t even look alike. Mom says I look and act a lot like my dad, but she doesn’t have any pictures of him. He must have had a different look, because my mom has straight strawberry blond hair and ethereal light blue eyes. They were so pretty, like the color at the bottom of Niagara Falls. My eyes were just plain ol’ green. Like I said, nothing in common. Sometimes I think my mom is from a different planet.
Just then, Jeff knocked on the kitchen door.
“Who is it?” my mom asked, like she didn’t know who it was. I was getting a real kick out of this. I tried to steal another piece of bacon, but she slapped my hand.
“It’s me, Jeff,” he answered.
“Just a minute babe,” she told him.
“Pam, can you please open the door?” he begged. “I have to use your facilities.”
That set my mom off. She wasn’t expecting him so early. She hurried to throw all the containers away, as she yelled, “One minute hon.” I watched as my mom scrambled around our kitchen cleaning up and hiding the evidence. I will never understand how women can bend over backwards for men that don’t deserve it, or don’t even notice the trouble they’d gone through half of the time.
Finally she let him in. She went to give him a kiss, but he ran around her to hurry up and make it to the restroom in time. She grimaced in the direction he ran for a second, and then she turned to me.
“So, what are you going to do for your birthday?” she asked walking over to the table where I was sitting, and leaned over one of the chairs. My birthday was in a week. If I knew my mom, she was planning an extravagant party. Last year, she closed down a bowling alley, invited all my friends, and some not so friends, to my party. I just wanted a simple cake and ice cream party with my closest friends.
“Mom, the only thing I want to do is hang with Ash and Matt. I don’t want anything fancy. Just the guys and my mom,” I exclaimed, interrupting anything she was thinking.
“Melonie, this is your eighteenth birthday! It’s your coming of age party. Don’t you want to—?” she said as I interrupted her.
“No!” I snapped. She just didn’t know when to stop. “All I want to do is hang with my friends.”
“I will not have you talking to me like that, young lady! You watch your tone or you won’t have a party!” she snapped back.
That made me so mad! Take away my party just because I didn’t want it to be a big dramatic event? That is so stupid.
“I wish I didn’t have to live here anymore.” I said low, but not low enough.
She just stared at me with a funny look on her face for a minute and then turned around, and walked to the stove. She started making Jeff a plate (she put the food in cooking pans to keep up the illusion) as he walked in.
“Good morning guys. So Mel, your birthday is in a week? I know you’re excited. The big One Eight.” he smiled as he patted me on the shoulder.
He looked at me, then at my mom. You could feel the tension between us.
“Pam, what’s wrong? What happened?” he asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Damn it Pam, what’s wrong?” he begged, walking to my mom and grabbing her by her shoulders, and turning her around.
That’s when I noticed tiny streaks rolling down her face. I know we just had an argument, but this was nothing! We’ve had much worse. Plus my mom was tough, she could handle anything. This was so not like her. It must be deeper than just a fight over my party plans.
Jeff tried his hardest to comfort her, but she broke his hold, and walked to her room crying.
“What did I say?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it‘s really eating her up” he told me while he walked to my mom’s room.
I knew that something strange was going to happen today. Great, now I have to go to school knowing that my mom is upset because of me.
I grabbed my keys and headed out the door to my car. I loved my car. It was nothing spectacular, but I was just right for me. I had a 1995 green Dodge Neon, with cherry seat covers and mats. My steering wheel cover had little cherries on it, too. I loved my car! I went to my car to get away from everything. I would live in it, if my mom let me. It was a good place for me to think. I just don’t know what was wrong with my mom. I hope she’ll be ok. I think I’ll cook dinner for her tonight, to make her feel better.
I got to school in plenty of time. I parked my car in the senior parking lot, and walked to the main entrance. I decided to go to the library and get a book. The library was my favorite place in school. I’ve read most of the books in the library. Don’t get me wrong, the library selection is huge, but I just love to read. Most of the time it only takes me an hour to read a three hundred page book. Some people find that strange, but I just think it’s one of my many talents.
I was the only one in the library, besides Mrs. Collins, the librarian. She was a middle aged woman, but you couldn’t tell by her facial features. She had crow’s feet and wrinkle lines that looked like they’d come way too soon. She’s always kind of sad, but that’s because her husband is very sick, and there’s really nothing she can do.
“How are you doing today Mrs. Collins?” I asked her as I set the books on the desk.
“I’m fine dear. Mr. Collins is doing better. Just three books today?” she questioned, as I set them on the desk.
“Yeah, I’m almost finished with the entire library. I only have twenty books left to read,” I said as I gave her my library card. I wondered how many other people in the world can say that they finished reading twenty thousand books in four years, not counting the books I read outside of this library. That has to be a world record.
“Here you go dear. Have a good day. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mrs. Collins said as she handed me my card and the books.
“See you later,” I responded. That was a more accurate response. I would probably finish these books by the end of the day.
Considering all the idiots that attended my school, I really loved it. It was very old, but modern. The hallways were wide enough to hold three hundred students at a time. We always had the newest equipment. If anyone cared about wanting a quality education, this would be the best place to get it. Now something that everyone loves at this school is sports. All of our teams are fabulous. I'm the captain of the swimming team and the volleyball team. Not bragging, but I'm the best player on both teams. We’ll I guess I’m bragging a little. School is a fun place for me.
I decided to sit on a bench in the main hallway, and read, until it was time for school to start. I was reading for about twenty minutes, when it felt like someone was watching me. I finally looked up after two minutes of feeling awkward, to see who was staring at me.
It was some guy I've never seen in school before. Correction, I never saw him in this town before. He was very tall and fit. He looked like he worked out, a lot. His eyes were the color of deep emerald green. He was fair, but tan. His facial structure was so strong and chiseled. He looked like he jumped out of painting, he was so beautiful. He had curly fine, sandy brown hair. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a black and white stripe across his chest. He had on a black bomber jacket with light wash jeans and black hi-top gym shoes. He was the only guy that I have ever looked at with attractive interest in school. I’m sure that when he started talking, I would think otherwise.
He stared for a few seconds, before he finally came over and sat down next to me. I decided to ignore him. Anyone that beautiful had to be a complete idiot. I thought we were just going to sit in silence, until the bell rang, when he finally spoke up.
“I like Timothy Hatton too,” this strange gorgeous guy said to me. I finally looked up at him. I didn’t realize how close he was sitting, until I looked up. If he was any closer, he would have been sitting in my lap.
“Uh, yeah, that's nice. Not to be rude, but you’re a little close. Could you scoot over a bit?” I asked. He acted like he didn’t hear me for a second, but then he finally moved over. I knew he would be an idiot. Looks like I won’t date until college.
“I’m so sorry. It’s just that I never met a girl that is into that kind of reading. Most girls I know read Teen Magazine. I never knew I would find anyone who read about nature and its significance to the world as a whole,” he stated. I was in shock. I never met a cute guy who thought like me, let alone talked like me. I was stunned. I felt like an idiot. I was tongue tied for the first time in my life. He just looked at me like maybe what he said went over my head. Ok Melonie, say something. You are always talking about how girls at this school have no brain, use yours.
“Um, yeah, I like the way he thinks. Hi, I’m Melonie. What’s your name?” I finally got out.
He just smiled at me, I guess to make me feel better, and said, “My name is Jason. I just moved from Canada. I was skeptical about coming here. I thought that I wouldn’t connect with anyone, but I think I might have found a friend after all.”
Now, I knew that I was dreaming. I would just wake up any second and realize that I had made this beautiful man up. There is no way that a guy this cute could be that smart. Well, at least not in my world he couldn’t. What should I say now? If I keep looking at him like this he’s going to think that I’m an imbecile. His voice was just so smooth, and angelic. His words flowed over me like caramel pouring into a bowl. Ok, pull yourself together.
“So… what is your favorite book of his? Timothy Hatton, I mean,” I said feeling stupid. I don’t know what he is doing to me. Every time I say something, my words get all jumbled up in my head. Stop, take a deep breath, and talk.
“I really don’t have any favorite composition of his, but I would say that The War of Time: Nature vs. Nurture would have to be the highest one on the list,” Jason said thoughtfully. I could listen to him talk all day. I wonder if he plays sports, or if he looks good with his shirt off. No, I don’t think like that.
I was just about to tell him about how I agree with his favorite, when twiddle de and twiddle dumb, Erica Fountaine and Rosie McGowan, came down the hallway, and of course, spotted Jason. Erica and Rosie were like two peas in a pod. Whenever you saw one, you can rest assured that the other is close behind. They were co-head cheerleaders, and most likely, the dumbest girls in school. I tried to tutor Rosie once, and she didn’t even know what an equilateral triangle was.
They must have been checking him out for a few seconds, because they just stood there staring. I was just about ready to get up and smack them, when Rosie came over, after pushing up her breasts and hiking up her skirt.
“Hi, I’m Rosie McGowan, and this is Erica Fountaine, and we are from the welcoming committee. And you are…,” she looked down at the paper she had in her hand, because she didn’t have enough intelligence to remember his name. “Um, Jason, right? Welcome to Riverton High, home of the panters, no I mean panthers.” She was such a dummy. I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. Rosie was about five foot two. She had short blond hair, straight from a bottle, and a California tan from a can. She was thin, I mean really thin, and she has this squeaky irritating voice that makes you want to stick your ear right by an air horn rather than listen to her speak.
She went over to him, and put her arms around him, so she could give him a hug. He hugged her back, and turned to me with this confused look on his face. She finally let him go, and started asking him about his life. It was gross, all that flirting and giggling.
I had about enough of this nonsense, so I stood up and started to walk away, when Erica said, “Aww, isn’t that cute. The new guy was talking to the socially inept Melonie. Jason, you really should watch yourself. Talking to her is social suicide.”
Erica was just as short as Rosie. She has natural blonde hair, but she isn’t as skinny as Rosie. She used to be overweight, but she went to fat camp after 8th grade. Now she has a Shirley Temple face, with a Kristen Stewart body.
She used to be nice, but she came back and started hanging out with Rosie. Now, she’s just a dumb ass. The sad part about it is that Erica is really smart. She was in my Physics class, until Rosie told her it wasn’t cool. She dropped the class the next day.
“Melonie, don’t you have something self righteous to do?” Rosie asked me. I wanted to ask her to spell self righteous, but I just gave her the finger and walked off. I didn’t need her getting into my head making me mad this early.
As I was walking off, I heard Erica’s and Rosie’s cackling all the way down the hallway, to my AP Physics class. I don’t know what I was thinking about being interested in Jason. He was just as shallow as any other jock in this school.
I sat down in my usual seat at the lab table in the front by the door. There aren't that many people in this class. There were twenty-five students at the beginning of the year, but now there was only ten.
Just then, my best friends Matt and Ashley walked in. Ashley was two inches shorter than me. She had long blond hair, which is now short and dyed black as the night sky in Nevada . She's slim, but shapely like a coke bottle. Her face reminded me of a young Kirstie Alley. Guys would say that she was hot and would date her if they didn’t think that she was weird.
Today she had on a purple and green plaid mini skirt with fish net leggings and knee high combat boots. She was wearing a light green leotard with a zebra print short waist jacket over it.
Ashley has been my friend since the sand box. We’ve been through everything together. First tooth falling out, kindergarten graduation, and middle school graduation. We got our periods at the same time, laughing about our first kiss, and dealing with the torture of high school together. Anything, you name it, there was nothing that I couldn’t rely on her for.
Now, I’ve known Matt since the eighth grade. He was the new kid in school, and no one really wanted to talk to him. So Ash and I sat by him in homeroom and we’ve been friends ever since.
Matt’s six foot three and very muscular. He has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and he works out a lot. He has the prettiest grayish, green eyes. The kind of eyes that if you looked into them too long, they would make you melt. He has a very muscular, yet baby face. His hair is sun beam gold and he has the same haircut as Johnny Depp in The Secret Window. I’ve always loved that about him.
Matt’s look is very simple, shirt and jeans with shoes. It doesn’t get any deeper than that. Today, his shirt said “I’m Here, What More Do You Want?” He always wears shirts with a different saying on it, for each day. It was like his trademark thing. This is why I loved my friends. They're different and they didn’t care what people thought.
“Hey Mel Bell, what’s up with you today?” Mel Bell was the nickname my mom gave me when I was five and it just stuck. “The planets are all aligned, so today should be a good day,” Ashley said as she dropped her checkered book bag, and walked over to give me a hug. She was big on astrology. One time she told me the planets were aligned and I ended up winning front row tickets to a Paramore concert. I don’t think today would be as lucky.
“Hey Ash, hey Matt, I’m bummed. I had a fight with my mom this morning over what I wanted to do for my birthday,” I told them as they sat down at the lab table behind me.
“Wow, she’s arguing with you about your party, what the hell is wrong with her? Maybe, Jeff isn’t a good friend after all,” Ash laughed.
Matt shoved her with his elbow. “That’s not the right thing to say to Mel. It’s wrong in so many ways,” Matt snapped at her making a face.
“All I was saying is that, it’s his job to keep Pam happy,” Ash snapped back.
“Come one guys, really. Can we stop talking about my mom’s sex life? It’s not yours and definitely not my business,” I said just as I heard someone call my name.
I turned around, and to my surprise, it was Jason. He walked right up to me like we have been friends for years and said, “Why did you walk away? I thought we were having a good conversation. I don’t know what that whole “welcoming committee” speech was about. Do they do that with every new student?” I didn’t know what to say to him. Not because I was tongue tied like before, but because I was mad. Did he really think I would believe that bull? I know he got one of their numbers and will be going out her tonight.
“Well Jason, I thought you could handle yourself. It seems like you have a brain, but then again I could be wrong,” I snapped at him as I turned back around to face my friends. They just gave me a look like “who is this guy, and why is he talking to you?”
“I really don’t have any interest in Erica or Rosie,” Jason said to the back of my head. I would have stayed that way, but the bell rang and I had to turn around.
“I don’t care who you have an interest in,” I whispered, “and you might want to get to your class. Do you really want to be late on your first day?” He was about to say something when the Physics teacher, Mr. Brendan, called the class to order.
“I would like to introduce you to our new student, Jason Taylor. Let’s give him a Riverton High welcome.” As soon as he said that everyone said “Hi Jason” in unison. Mr. Brendan gave Jason a Physics book and directed him to sit next to me. Great.
Mr. Brendan was very tall, had dark hair, and a funny accent but that's because he’s Arabian. He absolutely loves Physics and always says that the day I stop teaching Physics, is the day I die. He’s my favorite teacher and he’s also my next door neighbor. We live two houses down from each other.
“This is Melonie Handler,” Mr. Brendan beamed, “she is a straight A student, so if you need any help, just ask her. Melonie make sure to catch Jason up on what we’ve been working on.” He smiled at me and walked back to his desk.
Jason leaned over to me and said, “I guess I’m not late to class, am I?” Not only was he cute and smart, but he was a smart ass too. I couldn’t deal with this for another four months. I just rolled my eyes at him and turned around to Matt and Ashley. Matt mouthed what’s going on, and I mouthed back, I’ll tell you later, before I turned back around.
I tried my best not to look at Jason, but it was harder than I expected. Knowing that he was sitting right next to me aggravated and excited me at the same time. I finally folded at the end of class and turned to look at him. To my surprise, he was looking at me. He didn’t even look away when I caught his eye either. We just stared at each other for about fifteen seconds. It would have been longer, but the bell rang. He smiled, grabbed his books, and pushed in his chair. He did all of this while still holding my gaze. He finally said bye, and walked out the class ending our staring match.
I felt dazed. I grabbed my books and walked over to my friends who were waiting outside the classroom. I started walking down the hallway to my locker when I turned around and noticed that Matt and Ash weren’t following me. They were just giving me these dumb looks. I sighed, and started walking back up the hallway. I thought they would at least wait until we were by our lockers to talk about what happened.
I finally reached them, gave a strained smile, and said, “Hey, why are you guys just standing here? Let’s go!” They both looked at each other and then looked back at me. I was wondering who was going to say something first. As always, it was Ashley.
“I know you’re not gonna walk off and pretend none of that just happened. Do you think we’re stupid?” she snapped. She hated when I just ignored things. I thought that it wasn’t a big deal.
“Ok, the short version is I met him earlier, we talked, but then he totally ignored me when Erica and Rosie came up to him,” I told them. They looked at me for a second and then we started walking down the hallway.
“So you like this guy. He’s cute and he seems interested in you.” Ashley smiled while nudging me. That made me smile a little, I think I kind of want him to like me. “Plus,” she went on, “he’s smart. No one can just get into AP Physics. You better talk to him.” She was right. I was going to talk to him again, and I wasn’t going to let some idiot chick get in my way.
We were at our lockers now. I put up my Physics book, and pulled out my AP Calculus book (AP means advanced placement) and my art pad. We were working on a huge project in art. We had to draw a portrait of someone and I haven’t quite decided who I wanted to draw.
“I’ll see you guys at lunch,” I said as I closed my locker and walked away. I wonder what lunch period Jason had. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I have never acted like this before, especially not over a guy. I just had to get him out of my head, remember school comes first.
Math is my favorite subject, partially because it just comes natural to me. My Calculus teacher's name is Ms. Schwartz. She's twenty- five and she's from Romania. She’s a great teacher, but she has a serious problem. She talks about herself too much. Trying to have a conversation with her is like talking to a parrot. She repeats everything you say, but with her name in it. I once told her that I loved to draw. She flipped the subject, and the next thing you know we were talking about her boyfriend drawing in Paris.
All the guys in my class, correction, all the guys in the school like her. She is five foot ten, with a very nice rack as the guys would put it. She is pretty, but that’s the only reason they fawn over her. She even flirts with them. She should be encouraging them to study, instead of putting sexual ideas in their heads.
She was sitting at her desk talking to a student, who had his back to me. She was flirting with him, and it was so obvious. Gross! I found a seat in the second row. The bell rang and I opened my book to the section Ms. Schwartz wrote on the board. I’d just started working on the problems, when I felt someone standing next to me. I looked up, and of course, it was Jason. He sat in the seat next to me and opened his book.
I leaned over to him and whispered, “Are you following me?” He just laughed and started doing the problems. After a few minutes, Ms. Schwartz got up from her desk.
“Hey class. How is your day? Oh my God guys, I’m so happy. I just got a cat last night. I named it Kitty, he’s black and white. I thought about naming him zebra or cow, but those names weren’t cute.” Ms. Schwartz gawked. She kept going on about the damn cat, but I just tuned her out. I was thinking about my mom. I wonder what’s wrong. I hope that by the time I get home she’s in a better mood. I can’t understand why we had that argument. I went over it again and again in my head, but I just couldn’t figure it out.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, that I didn’t hear Ms. Schwartz ask me to answer the next problem. She must have asked me like three times before I finally snapped out of it and looked at the book.
“Today Ms. Handler,” she sighed. She was looking at me like I was doing drugs. It would seem that way, because I usually don’t act like this.
“The answer…oh the answer is one over pie,” I finally got out. That’s when I heard a muffled laugh. It was Jason. I shot him a dirty look and looked back at my book. What an ass!
The rest of the class period sucked. I was so bored and time seemed like it was going so slow. I can’t wait until my birthday! I’m just going to rent some movies, eat some popcorn, and hang with my friends.
The bell finally rang. I grabbed my stuff and walked out of class. I was headed to art when someone grabbed my book bag and pulled me to a stop. I turned around and I saw that it was, who else, Jason.
“I’m starting to think that you are stalking me. Are you even a student?” I questioned him as I snatched my book bag away from him. I didn’t want to look at him. I might get tongue tied again.
“No, I just like talking to you. What class do you have next? I have art,” he told me. I stopped then and turned to look at him.
“I have art too. Let me see your schedule,” I said shocked. This has to be just a coincidence. There’s no other explanation. He handed me his schedule, and sure enough, we were in every class together. This is so weird, it’s almost like he knew we had exactly the same schedule, but that can’t be possible. I handed him back his schedule.
“We have every single class together,” I told him as I started walking away. It’s just a coincidence. Stop tripping. He didn’t know me before this morning. He didn’t know what my classes would be.
“Wow, that’s weird,” he said laughing. Something was definitely up. “I’m glad I do though. I really like talking to you.” I’m not like most girls. I’m not going to let him charm me out of my clothes. I kept walking until I reached the art room. I sat at an easel and started drawing. He put his things down next to me, of course, and went to talk to the teacher. Mrs. Latore was a sweet lady. She was petite, but didn’t take your bull. She had short dirty blonde hair and she dressed like a bohemian. I liked her style. It was different.
I overheard her telling him what we are working on in class now. I really need to stop paying attention to him. He was starting to make me crazy. I just ignored him as he sat down.
He picked up his pencil and started drawing. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his hand moving really fast. I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t stop myself from seeing what he was doing. I turned, and to my surprise, he was drawing a portrait. I couldn’t quite make out who it was, but when I looked harder, I saw that it was me! It was a portrait of me, and I had on the outfit that I was wearing in the dream I had last night, crown and all! I mean, the gold dress was exactly the same right down to the hem. Now I am really freaked out!
“Who are, why are you in every class with me, and why are you drawing the exact picture of what I was wearing from a dream I had last night?” I snapped at him, as I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to look at me. He just looked at me like I was crazy. I swear that I am going crazy. This doesn’t make sense and I wanted some answers, no matter how crazy it sounded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sorry for drawing you, but you are beautiful, and I thought you would make a good model for a portrait. As for the classes and the dress, that’s just a coincidence,” he said looking at me, before he smiled. I’m starting to think that I must have lost my marbles.
“Um, I’m sorry. I think its stress from the fight that I had with my mom this morning. I'm sorry Jason,” I apologized. He seemed to except it, because he just smiled at me before turning around to finish drawing. I had to admit, it was a really good picture. He could really draw. I shook off any idea of him following me, and turned to finish my drawing, too.
The bell rang and I got up and grabbed my stuff, but instead of running out the door, I waited for Jason. He saw that I was waiting for him, and smiled at me.
“So, I guess we have lunch next,” he said and smiled. I was beginning to really like his smile. It was a real room brightener, and he had such pretty teeth. They were so straight and startlingly bright. It looked like he had a row of diamonds in his mouth. I smiled back, and we started walking to lunch.
We were walking and talking about his life in Canada. We talked about his friends and his family. His parents are still married, lucky, and he has a sister and a brother. His sister Aimee is twelve, his brother Marcke is six and Jason is eighteen. His parents are in real estate, which sucks, with the economy being so bad. He misses his friends and he had to leave his dog, Rowdy, with his grandma in Canada.
“Why didn’t you stay in Canada with your grandma? I would rather do that, than have to start all over my last year of high school,” I said as we went through the lunch line
“If I’d stayed in Canada, then I wouldn’t have met you,” he answered. He was a good sweet talker, but I knew every trick in the book.
“Ok, Rico Suave, let’s go sit over here,” I said rolling my eyes. I just noticed that while talking to Jason, I forgot to wait for Matt and Ash. They were sitting at our usual table. They both had different looks on their faces. Matt’s look was angry, and Ash’s expression was shocked and amused.
“Hey guys,” I said as we approached the table, and sat down in front of them, “This is Jason. Jason, this is Ashley and Matt.” Ash stuck out her hand towards him to shake, but Matt just looked at him. I gave him a dirty look.
“So, Jason, this is the second time today that I have seen you with Mel, am I sensing some chemistry?” Ash asked with a huge grin on her face. I just wanted to reach across the table and smack her. I mouthed shut up to her, and she gave me the finger, by pretending to scratch her nose.
“Yeah, I think there is some chemistry, at least on my end. I don’t know about her. She keeps giving me mixed signals,” he answered smiling right at me. I blushed, bright red. He seemed to like that, because he scooted closer to me. I was glad that he did.
“Mel, do you like him too?” someone asked, but I was too busy looking at Jason to see, or care, who said it. “Mel… Mel… Mel Bell!” the voice yelled. I snapped my head up, and to my astonishment, it was Matt. He never asked me questions like that. To him, relationship talk was girl stuff, and he wanted no part in it. I just looked at him for a second. He looked aggravated, but it couldn’t be because I took too long to answer.
“I think that’s between me and Jason,” I told him. “So, what are you guys getting me for my birthday next Friday?” I said that specifically so Jason would know the day, “I don’t want anything stupid, like flowers or candy.” I hate gifts that don’t last.
“Next Friday is your birthday? What are you doing?” Jason asked overly interested. He seemed like he really wanted to know. That’s a good sign.
“Matt, Ash, and I were just going to hang at my house. Do you want to come? We are going to watch movies and stuff. Nothing fancy,” I asked, hoping to God he would say yes. The worst way to get rejected is in front of your friends.
“I would love to come,” Jason smiled. I could look at his smile all day.
“Do you really want to invite him to your house? You just met him today,” Matt snapped. I just looked at him in shock. Before I could say anything, Ash leaned over, and smacked him the back of the head. I’m glad she did, because I was going to curse him out. This was the first guy I liked in, well, forever. Maybe he thought that if I have another guy friend, I wasn’t going to hang around him as much. That was so stupid.
“Don’t be stupid Matt. Mel knows what she’s doing. She has good instincts, and plus, I’m getting a good vibe from him. His energy is very positive,” Ash said shoving him with her elbow, to show she was joking about the slap. She was good at erasing the tension in the room.
I couldn’t take anymore of the awkward silence, so I got up and emptied my tray in the trash. I turned around to see that everyone at my table was looking in different directions. I could see that this wasn’t going so well. I walked back to the table and grabbed Jason’s hand.
“Come on. Let’s get an early start to French,” I said giving Matt a dirty look. “Bye Ash, I’ll see you after school.” I wasn’t even going to acknowledge Matt. If he was going to act stupid, then so was I.
Matt and I have gotten in to it before. Mostly over the girls he dated. They were all so superficial, but I was never rude to them. I, of course was always right about them. He would come to me afterwards, telling me how shallow they were. This couldn’t be the same thing, though. Jason wasn’t superficial, a little weird maybe, but not shallow. Could it be that Matt is jealous? No, Matt doesn’t think of me like that. Well, at least not anymore. When I first met him, he used to have a crush on me, but that was a quick crush, because I crushed it, quick.
I’m not going to rack my brain about this any longer. Jason and I started walking out the cafeteria. When we got to the door, I threw a slight glance over my shoulder. I saw Matt looking at us, with a sad puppy dog look on his face. He would get over it.
“Do you think your friends like me? I know that Matt has a problem with me, but what about Ashley?” Jason asked when we reached my locker. This was a question you asked when you were dating someone. Jason and I weren’t dating. We just met.
“Doesn’t this feel weird? I mean, we aren’t dating. We just met.” I said as I got out my French book. I turned to look at him, and saw that he was frowning. I felt bad automatically. Maybe, he did want us to start dating. “I mean, do you want to date?” I couldn’t really read his signals.
“Um, I think that it would be best if we stayed friends. I really do like your company,” he answered as if he had a revelation in two seconds. I just looked at him. I don’t need this kind of drama. I just rolled my eyes, closed my locker, turned the corner and walked up the stairs.
The rest of the day dragged. Jason and I ignored each other. Well, I ignored him, so he had no choice. Maybe, Matt was right. By the time History (which was my last class of the day) rolled around, I was ready to go home and go to bed. The bell finally rang, and I jumped up and hurried to get to my locker. I was supposed to have volleyball practice, but I really didn’t want to go. I grabbed my French book. I had homework tonight. Great.
“Hey, what’s up? Where’s your hip attachment?” I heard Ash say from behind me. She had a big poster in her hand. It said Save the Whales. She was always in some type of animal or human rights protest. I admired her for that. Most of the time, she dragged me with her.
“If you’re referring to Jason, we had a difference of opinion,” I said sourly. The difference was that I liked him, and he didn’t like me.
“What happened?” she asked turning me to look at her. I hate when she does that. She knew when I was lying. If I look away from her too much, I’m lying.
“Short story is, I like him, and he just wants to be friends,” I answered. She just looked at me sadly. I guess she could tell that I really did like him.
“Well, forget him. I know how you can drown your sorrows. Come with me to my Save the Whales rally. Please, I could really use another hand with things,” she pleaded. I can’t say that I didn’t see that coming. She was always dragging me everywhere she went. I just wasn’t in the mood today.
“I’m sorry Ash. I’m just so tired, and I want to mend things with my mom. Next rally, I’m there,” I told her as I closed my locker, and gave her a hug. “Call me Ash. Tell me how the rally goes,” I said as I walked down the hall, to the doors to the parking lot.
It seemed like driving home took forever. I finally made it home. I parked my car in our little driveway. I noticed that my mom’s car wasn’t there. I walked in the door and went straight to the fridge. Before I opened it, I saw a note. “Hey Mel, I had some running around to do so I’ll be home a little late, Love Mom.” I’m glad. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her yet. This buys me some time to think about it.
There was nothing in the fridge, of course. I hope some of her running around consisted of going to get groceries. I closed it back, and went up the stairs to my room. I dropped my book bag on the floor, and put my keys on my desk. I turned around, staring around at my room for three minutes. I sighed, and sat on the edge of my bed. I don’t know what to do. I think I should take a nap. Maybe, that will help me think of what to say to my mom. I lay back, and started dosing off, thinking about Jason’s smile.
