The Girl Across the Street

The Girl Across the Street 15

Thursday, December 6th, 6:30 in the morning. My alarm beeps, waking me up. I climb out of bed and go into my connected to bathroom to take my morning shower. At 6:45, I trudge out of my bathroom, showered, teeth brushed and freshly shaven. I shrug on the button down shirt and white t-shirt I had laid out last night after coming home from Kate's. On my way down the stairs at 7:00, I glance in the mirror, run a hand through my short brown hair, spiking it up a little bit.

            My mom hands me my toast, I kiss her on the cheek and she smooths down my hair. I smile and roll my eyes at her but don't spike it back up.

            Beep beep. Simon hooks twice quickly as soon as I walk out the door. I jog over to the car and climb in the passenger seat. As we pull out, I glance over at Emma's house. Simon notices. "Sure you don't want to offer her a ride?"

            I nod. "Yeah, it's one of the few things I am sure of right now."

            Simon cocks his head to the side but keeps his eyes on the road. "What do you mean?"

            "Well, a little while after I talked to you, Kate messaged me asking for help on the math homework..."

            "Oh no."

            "Oh yes. I went over, solely with the intentions of just helping her with her math homework, but-" Simon groans. "Her top was low cut and she was leaning over and she started it but the. It almost got way too far."

            "How way too far?"

            "Almost all the way too far." He groans again. "But then her parents came home right before... So that stopped us and we just made out for a long time."

            "Dylan what were you thinking? I thought you said you were done with her for the last time."

            "I really, really thought I was. I don't know what happened, it just... Happened I guess. I don't know." I admit.

            We pull up to Nathan's house and he stumbles over to the car, nose buried deep in the end of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. "Wow," Simon says, "reading the same book two days in a row. What would Miss White say about that?"

            "I have a big test today in Spanish that I needed to study for. Plus, I'm almost done with it. I've got Catcher in the Rye in my backpack." He defends indignantly.

            Simons and I roll our eye sat him. At 7:20 we pull into the parking lot and pile out, heading for the gym. Simon and I take to the track by 7:23 and we run until 7:40. We head back to the locker rooms and by 7:45, we're dressed and heading out out the locker room.

            We make it to Homeroom at 7:50, five minutes before the bell. It's nice to have our routine back. Nathan finishes Huck Finn and is now opening Catcher, Simon is scrawling down his math homework due second period, Emma walks in three minutes before the bell and walks past my desk, opening a book.

            Mrs. Olivers walks in at 7:58 and looks down at us all, walking around and confiscating phones from people stupid enough to be checking their LifeTyme or texting. The grumbling ceases however as soon as the bell rings. Desks are cleared and talking stops immediately. Mrs. Olivers takes attendance, pleased to find no absences. At 8:00, the announcements buzz on. They make a few announcements about various clubs but nothing pertaining to me.

            At 8:05 they buzz off and everyone takes out homework or books to waste the rest of the period. I take The Fault in our Stars out of my bag and resume reading where I had last left off.

            The bell rings at 8:10 and we file out of the classroom as quickly as possible to avoid being stuck with Mrs. Olivers any longer than necessary. I can't imagine ever having her as a teacher for 45 minutes.

            My morning passes uneventfully. I don't talk to Emma at all but she doesn't talk to me so I don't feel too guilty about being rude. Kate meets me at my locker before lunch and we walk together, holding hands. I receive a dirty look from Chris, who moves tables to sit with a few of his baseball friends. Kate notices and apologizes to me again.

            A few times during lunch I notice Simon watching Kate and me but every time I catch his  eyes, he just shakes his head, almost in disappointment. Kate however, doesn't notice. She leans her head on my shoulder once she finishes eating. I wrap my arm around her waist and kiss the top of her head.

            At 1:15 the bell rings to begin drama and Emma isn't here. Going back, I don't remember seeing her in lunch either and I wonder where she went. At 1:19, she walks in with a blue note, the color of the nurse's notes. She is holding an ice pack to her head.

            Kate nudges me and gestures to Emma. I nod and shrug my shoulders, answering her silent question, do I know what happened? As Emma walks to her seat, she doesn't meet anyone's eyes, instead looking directly at the floor.

            Mr. Holmes begins class after Emma reaches her seat, one on the far side of the room away from any other people.

            We take more notes today and nothing interesting happened until the bell rang at two o'clock. I got up and went to talk to Emma but Kate pulled me back to her. She, quite loudly, says, "you don't want to go talk to her. She's a total taboo for your social status. Come on, let's go. Only one more period until we're free."

            "I have detention, remember?"

            Kate pouts. "I forgot about that. I can wait for you."

            "That's sounds great Kate, it runs pretty long though, I'm just warning you."

            "That's fine. I'll just work on homework or something. I'll see you after school." She kisses me and walks down the hall toward her last class. I turn left into a different hall and make my way to history alone.