The Last Dance: Continuation of previous post

Thoughts? Suggestions? Criticisms? All is welcome

The moment I woke up I knew I would be blinded when I opened my eyes. I could feel the sunlight on my skin, warming, reassuring. Sure enough my eyes opened to such a bright light, I had to shield my eyes to make out the features of my room. Getting up, I pulled my curtains across the window, cutting off the blinding light beyond. Although the memories from last night were still fresh in my mind I decided I didn’t want to consider the implications. Today was going to be a good day, if I had anything to say about it. I pulled a robe over my pajamas and followed the wafting scent of freshly toasted waffles downstairs.

“Oh hey honey, I was just coming upstairs to wake you.” My mom looked at me over her shoulder as she piled waffles onto a plate for me. She was tall, taller than me and she was the epitome of beauty. She had long lustrous black hair that had a subtle wave to it. She had high cheekbones, and when she smiled, her dimples stood out perfectly. She was slightly clueless but ever the caring parent. I loved her. I wished I could look more like her. Instead I was normal-sized, y’know, five foot five, no awesome features like pretty green eyes. With the thought of green eyes brought Cooper’s image directly into my brain. Great. Just the person I wanted to think about first thing in the morning. Shaking his vision from my mind I turned to the woman in the apron and said, “Thanks mom, those waffles smell delicious.” I grabbed my plate and made my way over to the bar stool at the counter. Sitting down, mom passed me the maple syrup and I generously poured it over my waffles.

“So how’s school going these days?” My mom looked at me and smiled. “I mean, are you doing well? Getting all your work done?”

Swallowing my mouth full of waffles I told her, “Mom of course I’m doing well, I’m like the smartest kid in the family.”

My mom laughed and said, “Yeah well that’s because you’re the only kid in this family.”

I smiled at her and continued eating my waffles as she cleaned up the kitchen. “You know baby, your father will be coming home next week. Have you decided how you’re going to treat him?” She was trying to avoid my eyes, trying to gauge my reaction.

My father, just thinking about him made my head hurt. He was such a slimy character and how mom kept letting him slip back into our lives was unbelievable. When I was five he had abandoned our family for two years, no calls, no emails, nothing. Mom was devastated and when he returned one day, unannounced she acted like he had never left. It had always confused but whenever I tried to talk to her about it, she pleaded with me that he was different. Just last year he forever ruined any chance at being the father figure in my life. He had missed not only my birthday, but Christmas, Easter and every other holiday. He never said sorry for it and he didn’t care about my life at all. I had yelled at him one day when he finally showed up back home after Christmas and he just stood there throughout the whole thing. I poured my feelings out, telling him how awful he made me feel, how unwanted, unloved. But never a word of remorse, not one tear, nothing. He just said, “ok” at the end of it all and then walked away. As if we were discussing the weather.

“Look mom, you married the guy, I didn’t. So what if were blood related, we have no other ties, no emotional connection, nothing. I hate him, he ruined some of the happiest days of my life and that’s something I can’t forgive. I have no father figure, I don’t really need one either.” The ashen look on her face was what did it for me. Sighing, I slid off my stool, went around the counter and wrapped my arms around her body saying, “Oh mom I’m sorry.” She wiped some tears away from her face and said, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry you feel this way. I don’t know why he act like that I really don’t.”

“It’s ok mom, really. I’ll try to be nice to him, if he does the same to me.”

“Oh he will honey don’t worry.” She hugged me tighter to her body before saying, “Ok well you better get ready for school, don’t want to miss your bus.”

Unclenching my arms from her body I shot her one last smile before running back upstairs to change and grab my things. Sure, dad will play nice, I thought, and I’m the Queen of England. Already I could tell this would be a long day, so much for my positive energy. Throwing on tight black tank and some jeans I grabbed my bag from where I had thrown it last night and went back downstairs. Mom was bent over the sink, clearly crying, and there was nothing I could do to console her. Instead I quietly made my way out the front door to the bus stop. Time to put on my game face, I thought, Jazz would not appreciate a grumpy Chloe. Hearing the squeal of the brakes of the big yellow limousine, I shifted my backpack up higher onto my back and climbed aboard. I made my way to my usual seat but noticed that someone was already sitting there. This made me a little more than angry, that was my seat, had been for three years now. Getting closer to the seat I noticed who it was and just stood there, shocked. No way he was on my bus, sitting in my seat, by coincidence. He looked like he knew what I was thinking too because he was smiling a dazzling smile at me.

“Um miss? Can you please sit down? I have to keep going,” the bus driver said a little impatiently.

“Yeah sorry,” I answered, resolutely walking past the creature sitting in my spot. I chose a seat far in the back where I could slouch down and he wouldn’t see me. Not five seconds later though I felt a presence beside me and looked over to see that brilliant smile once again.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What!” he said, still smiling, “this seat looked more comfortable than the one I was in before.” I looked at him in shock, seriously, who did he think he was? Did he ever hear of stalking? I wonder how hard it could be to get a restraining order.

“Why are you following me! Why are you irritating me! Can’t you just leave me along?” I was so angry, irrationally angry I know but it made me feel good, alive.

“Would it help that I’m not following you because I want to, but because I need to?” He looked at me with such intensity that it took a moment for me to grasp his words.

“What the hell do you mean you need to? You don’t need to do anything. If you haven’t noticed this is A-M-E-R-I-C-A, we have free will.”

He laughed and said, “Of course I know that, but this is in the nature of something more primal. I think you’ll understand soon enough.”

My mark suddenly burned with such heat that I gasped, bracing my hand against my neck. He looked at me curled over with pain and whispered, “come to me when you’re ready.”

I looked up and he was gone, off the bus that had already stopped at school. How had that happened so fast? Removing my hand from my neck, I noticed most of the pain was gone. Grumbling about stupid boys saying meaningless things I grabbed my bag and headed off the bus.

“Ready for another day girl?” Jazz jumped in front of me as I stepped away from the bus. God, she was always so enthusiastic, where did she get the energy?

“Um yeah I guess so,” I replied trying to move around her. She linked arms with me and it was hard not to smile as she bounced around.

“I can’t wait to see new-boy. He is to die for I’m telling you. And it’s such a good feeling to be able to say that he sat with us at lunch and not those hideous gossip girls. Do you know how mad they are? It’s actually quite entertaining. No doubt they show up today in micro-mini skirts and walk past him a billion times. Oh and then I can go up to him and be all like ‘hey wanna sit with us again at lunch today?’ and they will flip! I can see it now!” She was going seriously overboard.

Sighing I pulled her inside the building, directing her to our lockers. Yanking my locker door open seemed to wake her from the daze she was in and she said, “Oh sorry, did you say something?”

I glared at her and started grabbing books from my locker.

“Sorry Chloe! I was out of it I guess.”

“You guess?” I asked her, “You were on another planet.”

She looked pretty guilty as she grabbed her own books from her locker. We walked down the hall together not speaking and it annoyed me, this was my best friend. No guy was going to break us up! Turning to her I said, “Look Jazz I’m sorry I snapped, this guy brings out the worst in me, I guess I was just being hostile.”

She looked at me and said, “Well, I’m sorry too, I don’t even know the guy and I’m obsessing.” She looked at me seriously and asked, “Do you think I’ve gone off the deep end?”

I started laughing and hugged her around the shoulders, “No honey I don’t think you’ve gone bonkers, I think your just blinded by beauty.”

“Oh, Oh, Oh! So you think he’s be-yooo-tiful!” She was ecstatic, jumping in front of me, pointing, totally embarrassing me. I grabbed her finger and said, “Don’t do that! I never said I didn’t think he wasn’t beautiful, I just said I thought he was annoying as hell.”

“Who do you think is annoying as hell?” The perfect melody came floating up from behind me and I turned around to look at the source. I groaned outwardly as Cooper’s face came into view.

“Chloe thinks you are!” Jazz told him excitedly. Here we go again, I thought, looking up at Cooper I could tell he was vastly amused by the situation.

“Well Jazz, we will just have to change her mind about that now won’t we?” He smiled at her and she immediately leaned a little closer saying, “Of course we will, whatever you say Cooper.”

Turning on my heel, I walked away from them. Why had he come to my school, why had he whispered “come see me when you’re ready.” Ready for what? Why would I even go to him, of all people, with my problems. As if he could be any help.

“You know I could,” a whispered answer brushed my ear and I looked up in surprise. Cooper was talking to Jazz a few feet behind me. He couldn’t have possibly whispered that but when I looked back at him he gave me a side-long wink. This was so weird.