Lessons On Love

4: The Idiot Or The Other Idiot

            His body remained like a statue even when his friends from behind gave his back a light push. “One,” I said.

            He blinked, and then like a deer who suddenly realized he was going to get eaten if he didn’t make a run for it, turned around and ran. “Two.”

            I could hear him screaming as he pushed the people in his path aside. “Move it! Get out of my way!”

            I laughed out loud before turning to Todd. “Look at him go!”

            He only shook his head at me before holding up 3 fingers. “Three,” he grumbled. “You better go or you won’t catch him.”

            I shrugged, tossed him my lunch, and bolted down the hallway after Bambi. The students became blurry images as I passed and within seconds, I managed to have Marshall within my full line of vision. He wasn’t an athlete for nothing of course, and I admit I might have underestimated his abilities because I couldn’t get an advantage on him during our little game of tag. Still, the school was only so big, and it wasn’t that long until he ran out of space to run.

            Cornered into a dead end at the back of the school which was barricaded by a wired fence, he waved his hands at me to stop. “Time out,” he huffed. “Time out. I don’t want to play this game with you anymore.”

            I shrugged. “How about another game then?” I stopped in my place and watched him lean back against the fence to catch his breath. “Did you ever play that game in elementary school Marshall? The one that went, what time is it Mr. Wolf?” I gave him an evil grin and took a few steps forward just to scare him. “Lunch time.”

            His eyes edged out of his sockets a little. “Stop it,” he screamed. “What’s wrong with you!?”

            I heaved a long sigh of exhaustion. “Calm down,” I muttered. “I was only playing. Don’t shit yourself in front of a lady. It’s disgraceful. Besides, I’m not here looking for revenge so stop looking so pitiful.”

            My words seemed to put him at ease and he sighed in relief before standing up straight. “So then, why did you chase me all the way here?”

            “My answer. You didn’t give me an answer this morning – whether you’ll help me or not.”

            Marshall cocked one eyebrow before giving me a weird expression. “Do you even have to ask? The answer is obviously no.”

            I took a deep breath in and then a deep breath out. “Marshall,” I said. “I’m going to give you a second chance.”

            His lips broke into a nervous smile. “What? But I just said–”

            “No Marshall, just listen to me. I said I’m going to give you another chance.”

            His eyes widened. “I know! And I just said that my answer is n–”

            I clenched my teeth. “Marshall!! I’m generous enough to give you a second chance damn it!”

            He didn’t even listen to me. “Screw this!” He screamed and then quickly turned around and started climbing the fence. “You’re ridiculous!”

            I didn’t waste a second and quickly closed up the rest of the distance between us. Unfortunately, he had already made his way up the fence and I had one chance to stop him from escaping so I grabbed what I could grab – his jeans – and with all my might, yanked.