The Boy Who Fell (COMPLETE)

Just Another Saturday

We fell into a familiar pattern soon enough. We ate lunch together. Sometimes with Trisha or Luke, or both. Sometimes, I got lucky and it would just be the two of us. We'd also meet up after class. I waited for her when she had drama club stuff. She waited for me whenever I had football practice or debate training. Since we lived in the same village, we usually went home together.

But weekends---weekends were the best. On weekends, I got to visit her at home, and we'd spend most of the day together. Her mom, Tita Jane, and my mom had been friends forever, so we were always welcome at each other's house. Our moms wouldn't admit it, but I think they were pretty thrilled when they realized we were hanging out again. Our mothers were probably wondering whether their little in-law in-jokes were going to come true. I was wondering when I'd get to kiss her again.

* * * * *

One weekend took me by surprise. I dropped by the Coronels' after lunch, expecting another usual Saturday, just hanging out watching a movie or doing homework in their den. But when Sam opened the door, I knew it was far from the usual. 

"Sam?" I asked, dumbfounded, as she held the door open for me. It was Sam, but there was something different about her. Something different that made her even prettier than usual.  "What did you do to your hair?" 

"I went with Trish to the stylist this morning," she replied, self-consciously fluffing the ends of her hair. "You hate it?"

"I like it," I said. And I really did. It was still the same length, as far as I could tell, but it looked so soft, airy and infinitely touchable. 

"I wasn't sure if it would suit me---" she added shyly, but I stopped her.

"No, no. I love it. It looks great on you." I reached out to touch her hair, but a voice from the corridor stopped me. 

"Is that Nathan? Tell him I refuse to kiss Joel. His breath stinks. He'll need to write it out of the script." It was Trisha, carrying a bowl of chips. She had a haircut too, a super short one that looked almost boyish. "Oh, it's just you, Ben. Chips?" She held out the bowl before she headed back to the TV room. 

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. My friends from the drama club are here." Sam looked apologetic, especially when she noticed how my face fell. "I hope you don't mind. Nathan found a DVD of a the Broadway production of Evita, so we thought we'd watch it. You know, so we can get ready for our own production."

"It's all right. But will it be okay if I hang around, too?" Hanging out with the drama club kids was hardly my idea of fun, but if it was the only way I'd get to spend time with Sam, I was willing to take it. 

The den was dark when we got there. The lights were off and the only illumination came from the TV. I was greeted by a chorus of greetings, ranging from Hey, Ben! and 'Sup, Hidalgo?! After weeks of hanging out with Sam, I had gotten to know the drama club members, the same way Sam had gotten to know the members of the men's and women's football teams. But other than Trisha, I wouldn't really call the drama club kids my friends yet. 

The couch where I usually sat was already taken, so I headed for the oversized beanbag by the wall. "I thought you guys were watching Evita," I mentioned, noting that the movie playing didn't look like a broadway production.

One of the senior girls, Lena, replied, "Nathan's supposed to bring the DVD, but he's not here yet, so---"

"Ten Things I Hate About You is a modern classic," Trisha declared, putting the movie on pause. "Haven't you seen this yet? It's The Taming of the Shrew set in high school. Shakespeare, Benjie! Shakespeare."

Trisha called me Benjie whenever she wanted to annoy me. She heard about it from Sam. For her part, Sam was apologetic about letting that story from our childhood drop. 

"Knock it off, Trish," Sam said, walking over to the beanbag. "And press play already, I love this part." There were no other free seats, since the couch and arm chairs were already taken by the other drama club members, so she walked over to where I was. 

I thanked all the theater gods for gathering the drama club members in Sam's house as she sat primly beside me on the beanbag, trying not to lean on me, but still sitting much closer than she ever did when we'd be on the couch. "Sorry about Trisha," she murmured over Heath Ledger's character singing Can't Take My Eyes Off of You over the football field's sound system. "You know she likes messing with you."

"It's all right," I say, using the excuse of the movie's volume to lean close and whisper in her ear. She smelled different than usual. Mixing with the lightly sweet cotton candy scent of her cologne, today, she smelled of apples as well. Her hair smelled like apple pie and cinnamon. 

A few minutes into the movie, I stretched my arms and yawned. Nobody reacted as they were all busy watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt go to high school. Earlier, I dared ask, "Is this a Batman / Dark Knight trilogy pre-reunion? A preunion?" but everyone just shushed me. 

Instead of folding my arms back across my chest, I extended my left arm across the back of the beanbag, right behind Sam. I felt her shoulders tense up, but she didn't do anything. She was just a few inches away, but I was hesitant about draping my arm over her shoulders. She fidgeted a bit, easing back an inch closer to my arm.

I sneaked a glance at her. Her eyes were focused on the TV. A bit too focused, I thought. I bent my elbow so I could lift my hand to touch the feathery ends of her hair. As I suspected, it was so soft against my hand. I looped the strands through my fingers, playing with them. I didn't realize that I was inching closer and closer to her, until she turned to face me. Our faces were mere inches away from each other. If I could just shift forward a bit more---

"Hey guys, sorry for making you all wait," Nathan rushed in. "I had to pass by Karla's to borrow the DVD, and the commute took longer than I thought it would." Amidst all the catcalls about his tardiness and complaints about him interrupting the movie, Sam and I awkwardly looked away from each other, knowing what could've been if Nathan arrived just an inch later.

Damn. I hate these drama club kids.