Lamia's Dream

Chapter 10

My aunt came in my room the next morning to get me up for school.  I told her I was already awake but wasn’t going.  She didn’t argue. 

I spent the whole morning in bed.  I didn’t want to move.  I didn’t want to think.  Eventually, the hunger pangs got to me. 

I got a text from Phil.  I didn't respond.  Later, one from Jack.  I eventually replied to them both.  I wrote I got sick and stayed home.  I didn't know if they'd heard anything.  I didn't know if I wanted to tell them anything, either.

I got a text from Valerie later that evening.

"Can we talk?"

I didn't respond.  I wanted to.  But I wasn't ready to talk to her. 

I got around to it the next morning.

“Hey, sorry I didn't reply yesterday. I want to talk with you, just not right now.  I'll let you know when I'm ready.  Is it ok if you and your friends sit somewhere else?”

At least I was honest.

***

“So back to normal, huh?” Jack asked.

We went through the lunch line.

“Yeah, more or less.”

I had gotten a few lingering glances in my first few classes of the day.  In the end, people treated me the way they always had- with mild neglect.  I did my best to avoid their attention.  This last week made me a blip on their radar.  This week I would fade back into obscurity.

We met Phil at the table.  He greeted us with a smile, his half-eaten turkey and cheese sandwich in route to his mouth.

“Missed you, bud.  You feeling better?”

I wondered how much he’d heard.

“More or less,” I said again.  I didn’t feel like to coming up with a better response. 

We ate.  Someone initiated a conversation about video games to fill the empty air.  Phil talked about some RPG game he was replaying for the umpteenth time.  It was one by Shin Megami- something I couldn’t remember.  I liked RPGs, but one time thru was enough for me. 

As I dipped my Salisbury steak in the bland dark liquid meant to be gravy, I admitted to myself that I missed Valerie.  Her laugh, her smile, her touch. 

What had I done?  Why had I gone through the parking lot right then?  Why hadn’t I stayed and listened to what she had to say?

Because she betrayed me.  Point blank. 

I was sincerely concerned for her health and she took that as a chance to go running back into Tyler’s arms. 

Had she ever really liked me at all?

Yes.  Maybe.  I don’t know. 

But she had tried to explain something.  Maybe I-

“Miles,” Jack said. 

“Hm?”

“I was saying we should get together at my house this weekend.   Have another Dude’s Night In.  Snacks, video games, maybe another lame B-rated film,” explained Phil.

“I’d like that.”

It seemed like the right thing to say.  I had lost the battle for Valerie.  I didn’t want to lose my friends, too.

The bell rang. 

“Shall we gentlemen?”

We collected our trash and disposed of it.

“Are you going to sit with Samantha?”

I cursed.  Somehow I had forgotten about that little fact. 

***

We arrived at my class and diverged at the stairs.  Samantha was already in class in her usual seat.  My seat for the past week remained unoccupied.  I made my way to my old seat. 

“Miles,” Ms. Arundel called.

I stopped dead in my tracks.  “Yes?”

“I have the work you missed yesterday.”

It was unbelievable.  But still, I reluctantly made my way over to her desk. 

“We did some new work on irrational numbers.  There’s a test tomorrow, so I suggest you read over this while everyone else is working on the review.  That way you can ask me any questions.”

She flipped through some stacks of paper on her desk.  None of those were it, so she turned and went looking in drawers to her bottom left. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled as other students poured into the class.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.  Can I go put my stuff down while you keep looking?”

“No, no.  It will only take a moment.”

She couldn’t find it in the drawers.  Finally, she returned to the stack of papers on her desk.

“Ah, here it is.”

She gave me two sheets just as the tardy bell rang.  And, surely enough, most of the seats had been filled.  There were two seats in the front.  But that meant being closer to Ms. Arundel.  Occasionally, she would ask the nearest student to go fetch her something from the office or to go fill her water bottle.  I had no desire to be her go-for.  I’d accept my punishment.

I sat down, and then pulled the necessary materials out my bag. 

"Hi," Samantha said coyly.

"How about we don't bother today?" I replied swiftly, bluntly. 

Emotion got caught in my esophagus.  I coughed to clear it.  That had come out much harsher than I had intended it to be.  I doubted that anyone talked like that to someone as gorgeous as she was.  But today was not the day for me to be bothered with the games of the popular girls.

Samantha went back to working on the warm-up, without saying anything.  And that was how the rest of class proceeded.  Our pencils and erasers scurried across papers.  The air between us remained stagnant and uneasy.  In the middle of my work, when I grew tired of doing it, I actually wanted to talk with her.  But I didn’t. 

The bell came later than I willed it.  But I was grateful nonetheless. 

“At the risk of you biting my head off again, Valerie did want me to tell you she wants to talk with you whenever you’re ready.”

My heart sank. 

“I-”

“Save your apology.  I’ve heard worse.”

She tossed her things in her bag and walked off.

I waited until Samantha was out the door, then got up and proceeded to my next class.