“Yeah, good one, Ara.” Ryan grinned.
“We should get moving on this right away,” Emily said. “I’ll talk to Mrs Hawkins about it…er, if you don’t mind, Ara.”
“Oh, yeah, Em, this is better your project than mine.”
“Great.” She beamed, rocking back on her heels. “Well, I’ll get things moving, and maybe have everyone meet in the auditorium at lunch if they want in?”
I nodded, shrugging.
“Okay.” She went to walk away, then stopped. “Way to go, newbie.”
“Yeah. You rock,” Ryan said before skipping off, looping his arm over Alana’s shoulder when she came out from the school.
And David and I were finally alone again. Or maybe just I was. He seemed distracted again, wearing a kind of smile I thought belonged only to me—the tight-lipped one that covered a set of gritting teeth. “David?”
He bent down to pick up his guitar case, his arched brows prompting my question as he stood up again.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
With a soft smile, the edgy concern lifted from his face and he nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.”
* * *
While Miss Chester prattled on up the front of class, I drew pictures of eyes all over my notepad; sad eyes, smiling eyes, secretive eyes, but all of them David’s eyes—not that they really looked anything like his. I doubted even a camera could capture the true beauty of his face. Even my memory did it no justice.
I tapped my pencil on the page, trying to see through the solid classroom door, hoping David was waiting for me out there. The clock on the wall sat at three minutes to lunch, but the corridors were already bustling with students, and I was in the only class whose teacher didn’t give early marks.
Then, almost as if it obeyed my command, the bell wailed loudly and the class broke into noisy shuffles, fleeing the room. I tucked my books under my arm and pushed my chair in, looking up to the sound of my name. “Yes, Miss Chester?”
“Can I talk to you, please?”
“Um, sure.” I glanced quickly at the corridor—to freedom—to David, leaning on the locker with his hands in his pockets, looking down at his shoes. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, just wondering how you’re doing?” she said softly, busying her eyes on some papers.
“Doing? Uh…I’m…fine.”
“Just so you know—” She looked up at me, her pale lips forming a smile. “I’m a good friend of your dad’s. If you need to talk—at any time—I’m always available. Okay?”
I smiled politely, hugging my books a little tighter. “Um, thanks.”
“Okay, and, Ara?” she said as I turned away.
“Yes.”
“Try to pay more attention in my class.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yep,” I said, feeling stupid after. Yep? What was I thinking? Yep?
“Everything all right?” David stood from his lean.
“Yeah. Fine. Why?” I let him take my books.
“What did Miss Chester want?”
“Sheee…just wanted to see how I was going.”
“Going with what?”
“Uh, homework?” I cringed at the tone of my lie.
David smiled warmly, keeping his eyes on the path ahead. “So…you’re not paying attention in class?”
“Um, no. Not really.” I looked down at my feet, half noticing the walls go from white to burgundy.
“Why not?”
“Why not what?”
“Why aren’t you concentrating?”
“I…I guess…I’m tired?” And there that questioning tone came again.
“You can talk to me, Ara.” David gently grabbed my arm, stopping me by the auditorium door. “You don't have to make up some lie.”
“Lie? About what?”
“I heard what she said.” He waited, looking right into me as if I’d just spill the beans. “She wasn’t just asking how you were coping with a new school, was she?”
“I uh—”
“Hey, you two.” Emily popped up out of nowhere. “Ready to start our first official meeting for the benefit concert?”
“Yup.” I stepped away quickly to stand beside Em. “Ready.”
“Great. Did you get lunch, yet? Cafeteria lines are out the door today.” She nodded toward her tray of food. “Mr Grant said we can eat lunch in the auditorium if we’re rehearsing.”
“Really?” I said. “That’s great.”
“Yeah, I know, hey. So, I’ll go reserve a table near the stage. See you in a minute?”
“Why don’t you go ahead, Ara,” David said, passing my books and his bag. “I’ll brave the cafeteria lines.”
My fingers tightened around his backpack, finally touching something that belonged to him. “Sure, thanks, David.”
He tried to smile, but his clearly agitated gaze kept drifting toward Emily. “Anytime.”
As he turned away, I squatted down and reached into my bag. “David. Money.”
“Keep it.”
“No way.” I stood up. “Take it.”
“Ara.” He held his palm against my outstretched hand, glaring down at me.
“David.” I glared back.
“Come on.” Emily grabbed my arm and dragged me gently away. “One thing you’ll learn pretty fast is not to refuse David when he wants to spend money on you.”
I turned my head slowly to look at her. “How do you know that?”
“David and I have been friends for a while.” She watched him walk around the corner. “We used to be closer, but…”
“But?” I probed.
“Nothing. We’re just not anymore—people grow apart.”
With a heavy sigh, I grabbed our bags and books and headed into the auditorium behind Emily. “I can’t let him buy me lunch all the time—when’s it going to stop?”
She giggled, walking ahead of me. “It’s not.”
Sinking into my quilt, I drifted, floating in that blissful moment between sleep and wake, where dreams mingle with reality, slowly and magically merging until everything in the now disappears. Here, in this halfway world, I could be with David in any form imaginable; friend, girlfriend, lover.
I drew a deeper breath and settled into the fantasy, angling my face to the warmth of the summer sun as it kissed my skin, lighting everything around me with a yellow glow.