Secrets of the Harts

Two Opposites so Alike that

2 December 2010

“So, where you’ve been the past few days?”

“What are you doing here?”

It was Physical Education.

I had been concentrating on dodging the balls that I could and not making the effort to move away from the more difficult ones, since I was not supposed to be an exceptionally good athlete.

After a few rounds, he suggested that we’d combine with the boys, to make it boys versus girls. I had not heard of anything stupider (aside from making run laps) and quickly allowed myself to get bumped to sit out.

Then Dylan strolled over to the side where people who’d been hit sat and whispered that question into my ear.

“You’re not really answering my question, you know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and continued; his eyes fixed on the boys on the opposite side, “Where you’ve been? Even Luke hasn’t seen you.”

I had been with Tia most of the time, though she was a year younger (the same age as Luke) and we did not share any class together. She was easy to talk to and easy to handle. I never told her anything that would’ve been too much for her to handle, even though I had the strangest urge to share about almost everything and to prolong the amount of time I’d spent with her.

She had even come over to my room to visit once.

“I’ve been pretty busy, with something called homework.”

He smiled easily, acknowledging the fact that he never bothered with the work. But it wasn’t that he was unintelligent. He was simply lazy. “Do you want to come by and hang out sometime then?”

I stared at him until he gazed at me. “What makes you think I’ll willingly spend time with you?”

“You do like me, at least to some extent.” When I didn’t stop my staring, he bumped me with his shoulder and added, “It wouldn’t kill you to admit it.”

I shook my head and looked away, trying to distract myself from Dylan’s closeness.

“…funny how he…”

“I heard that she kissed him at Kieran’s…”

“…I know, right?”

I managed to catch a few words in the girls next to me’s conversation before they glanced up, saw me listening and smiled innocently.

It was very suspicious, which could only mean one thing.

“Are they talking about you?”

Dylan startled. “Who?”

“Those girls.”

“What are they even talking about?” He looked bemusedly at me and I slowly realised why.

I had been eavesdropping.

And I had just let him know that.

I pretended that I had not heard his question and added, “Something about Kieran’s party and a girl as well as a kiss.”

He flushed unpleasantly, which only convinced me of the suspiciousness of this subject. Dylan never blushed, not even during Biology when he had to give a presentation about the importance of menstruation. I had been convinced that he had no shame. Yet, here he was—blushing like a schoolboy.

“Uh, right… They’re not talking about me.”

I smiled. “I’m sure they’re not.”

“I’m serious.”