WANTED: Love of my Life

14. Sneezing Punk

When I reached my locker in school I opened it like every other day. It hadn't even been intentional. It was routine. And routine was the only thing my brain could manage had managed since my fatal meeting with him.

Immediately, I wished I had left the metal container of horrors sealed. For inside, I could see my books: piles upon piles of worn paperbacks, all with juicy romantic titles and explicit covers. The offensive images stabbed into my eyes like a hundred hot needles. I slammed the locker shut. They were stupid books anyway. I didn't know why I had ever bothered to read them. Trying hard to hold back the tears, I hurried towards the classroom.

In social studies, we had moved on from the fate of the unfortunate unemployed to the role of the modern woman in society. Miss Ellis tried to impress it very forcefully upon us: we-did-not-need-men! A woman, nowadays, could function perfectly well on her own without clinging to a man or being forced into some sexist stereotype. The way Miss Ellis made it sound, the male part of the population was more or less redundant. Surely, the world would be a much better, cleaner, healthier, safer and nicer place without them. Sounded convincing. If only I could make myself believe it.

“Ange! Hey, Ange!”

Somebody kicked me on the shins. I looked up from the squiggle in my exercise book I had been staring at, expecting to see Jen. Instead, Sandra was sitting beside me.

“Where's Jen?”, I asked in a low voice.

Sandra stared at me suspiciously. “You've only just noticed that she isn't here? Ange, what's the matter with you?”

I forced a weak smile.

“Nothing. I'm all right.”

“Have you been crying?”

Hurriedly, I rubbed my eyes. “Of course not! I'm all right. Now tell me where Jen is!”

She still looked suspicious, but did as I asked. “She's caught a cold; had to stay at home.”

“A cold? In the middle of summer?”

“I don't understand it either.” Puzzled, Sandra shook her head. “Anyway, she's pretty down. You know how much she hates being inactive.”

That was one way to express it. You also could say Jen would be biting her ass off right now. And probably wishing she could kick somebody else's instead.

“I.. I thought that perhaps you could go over to her place and keep her company for a bit?” Sarah asked, timidly. Translation: Please, please, I don't want to get my ass kicked.

“Sure, I'll do that,” I said. It would give me something to do, at least. Bless Jen for falling ill just at the right time. “I'll bring her the new Manowar-CD.”

“I'd ask what that is, but I'll probably don't want to know, right?”

“Right.”

“You two!”

Miss Ellis tapped her hard knuckles against the blackboard to gain our attention. “If you don't stop gossiping and start listening, I'm going to write you up.”

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

After school, I avoided Sandra's questions about my odd mood by using Jen as an excuse. From a nearby pay phone, I called my mother. Normally, I would have been annoyed at having to use a pay phone and still not having a cell phone of my own. Normally my head and heart would have belonged to myself. But now I just didn't care.

There were three pay phones beside the school. I went to first – but then I saw the big red heart some graffiti artist had sprayed on the side of the phone booth. No, no, no! Quickly, I sprinted over to the next booth, wiping off a renewed rush of tears with my sleeve. It took an eternity for me to get the number right, my fingers were shaking so much. Finally, someone picked up.