Knowing You're There

Chapter 3

The first day back was rough.  It didn’t help that I wanted to collapse from exhaustion after my five-page paper kept me up until four, when I needed to catch the bus at seven.  I placed my books in my locker, thrilled that I could rest my brain for a half an hour at lunch. 

Behind me, I could smell apple conditioner coming closer.  After ten years of friendship, Sarah was still using the same hair products.  I would’ve been more joyful to see her if I didn’t hear the clanging of a leather jacket zipper.  As usual, her man Nathan was at her side.  After two weeks of going steady, the two were practically inseparable. 

My nails dug into Star’s harness.  I loved seeing Sarah happy, but the fact that the guy she was with bullied me since kindergarten completely ruined the situation.  Every time he came near me I couldn’t forget all the times he called me the “no-eyes freak” or “monster face” when we were little.  He’d been pulling off my sunglasses since I started wearing them in fourth grade. 

He was practically the reason I started wearing them in the first place.  Granted, the name-calling and sunglass-theft stopped once she got together with Nathan, but I was still not a fan.  Sarah’s excuse was the classic “he’s matured,” or “he’s changed,” or “that was just in the past.”  If it was years ago, then it would be a different story.  However, two weeks wasn’t a very far past to go off of.   

Even though Nathan was infuriating, I tried not to let it get to me.  My best friend was happy, so I decided that my mouth should stay closed and I should let her enjoy her idiot boyfriend.  Her antics were just making things worse, though. 

As if it wasn’t bad enough that she was with him, Sarah always tried to fool me.  She knew I couldn’t stand the guy, but she walked around with him anyway.  She thought that she could come up to me with him, and if he stayed quiet, I wouldn’t notice.  After knowing me this long, it amazed me that she thought I wouldn’t know he was right there with her. 

Suddenly, the clanging started to slow.  Sarah’s furry boots maintained their speed.  Was she really trying to do this to me again? 

“Hey, are you ready to eat yet?” Sarah asked me. 

“I don’t know.  Is Nathan?”  She was silent for a moment.  I could smell Nathan’s spiced body spray.  “I know he’s with you,” I said. 

“No he isn’t,” she said.

Usually, I just said “hi” to him, but for some reason I thought of a different way to make Sarah realize that it was easy to tell when Nathan was around.  I sighed, balled my hand into a fist, and punched Nathan right in the gut.  When the pain shot through my fingers seconds later, I regretted it.  

“Nice job.  You hit my belt buckle,” he said. 

I exhaled and shook the pain out of my right hand, then grabbed back on to Star.  Aiming higher would’ve been a much better idea.  My palms were sweating.    

“Sorry,” I said.  “You guys can go ahead.  I’ll be there in a few.” 

“Okay.  We’ll be in the back by the window as usual,” Sarah said. 

I heard her sigh and they walked off.  I patted Star’s head and reached for my trigonometry binder. Due to my wet, embarrassed palms, it slipped right out of my hand and onto the floor.  A group of guys walking by laughed and continued down the hall.  I knelt down, trying to feel around for my papers on the ground.  My ears were lost in the sea the footsteps around me. 

My hands moved across the floor quickly, hoping that no one would get footprints on my notes.  My fingers skimmed across three sheets.  I gathered the papers and picked them up, swearing that I would punch holes in everything the next time around.  Of course, I was too lazy to get out a hole-puncher and put any of the papers on the actual binder rings. 

I stood back up and patted Star to make sure she was still there, then got back down to the floor.  There was a huge stack of papers in my binder pocket—at least fifteen sheets that still needed to be found.  That was before I heard, “Here, I’ve got them.”   

It was a guy’s voice.  I got back up and felt him slip the papers into my hand.  My fingers skimmed over the edge of them, counting.  There were ten.  That was probably close enough. 

“Oh, thank you so much,” I said. 

“You’re welcome,” he replied, and somehow I knew he was smiling.  At that point, I expected him to walk off, but for some reason he stayed.  “I like your dog.” 

I backed away. “Thanks, I guess.”

“I-I’m sorry,” he said, his voice trembling.  “I don’t mean to come off as weird or anything—it’s my first day here and I’m still kind of lost and I’ve never been the new kid and—” 

“Whoa, slow down.”  I reached my hand out to him.  “I’m Lia.” 

“Oh, you’re really pretty,” he said, and I heard him slap his hand over his mouth instantly. 

I keeled over, laughing so hard that my stomach hurt.  This guy was a riot.  I never thought it was possible, but there was a person in the world that actually seemed more anxious than me.  However, I was too busy laughing to comprehend what he just said, and I froze.  Wait, did a guy seriously call me pretty?  That was a first. 

“Man, I like you!” I said, trying to slow my laughter.  “That’s pretty funny.” 

“I-I mean, it-it is true.” 

I leaned against the lockers, laughing again.  “You’re terrible at being smooth.  I need to know your name.” 

“Kurt,” he said with a sigh. 

“Okay, Kurt, nice to meet you,” I huffed.  “So, since you’re new, let me know if you need help getting around ort anything.  Believe it or not, I do know my way around this place.” 

“Oh, well thanks.  I appreciate it.  I’ll search through all the thousands of people in this place and see if I can find you the next time I’m lost.” 

“I’m not hard to find,” I said.  “You’re from a small town, aren’t you?” 

He chuckled.  “I was homeschooled on my family’s potato farm before this awesome thing called ‘recession’ put us out of business.” 

“No way.  Really?” 

Okay, you got me,” he said.  “Went to a prep school and my parents ran out of cash, so here I am.”

“You should’ve stuck with the potato story.  It was a lot more interesting.”  I paused, hearing the bell ring for the next period. 

“Oh shoot—I’m totally late!  I’ll catch you later Lia!” he said, his voice fading as his sneakers clonked into the distance.    

I took Star’s harness and sped down the hallway to the cafeteria, but my hand slipped right off her bar.  Why were me palms still sweating?  I rubbed them off on my jeans before feeling a bead of sweat drip down my forehead. 

“The school must have the heat on too high again,” I muttered.