Breathe Me

Publications

Just as I had found the book corresponding with Mr. Byardson's Freshmen year, I was interrupted by Randa's hollering.

"Dani?"

I sighed, wondering why I would even assume I could actually get some uninterrupted work done this period, grabbing the next three years'l books as well before I left the closet. "Yes, Randa?"

"I got to ask something of you but it's really important, so please don't get mad. Okay?"

She looked at me with the best puppy eyes she could muster, opening her baby blues, perfectly accented with some well thought out make-up, as wide as she possibly could. It wasn't so much that the look she gave was irresistible as much as I did't want to continue to listen to her whining for the rest of class. "Promise. So what do you need?"

"Well, I was just hoping you could- you know," she spoke slowly, dragging out her request like a production.

"Randa, just spill it."

"Ineedyoutomarkmepresentandpretendyoudidntseemeleave."

she spoke so fast that I almost had to ask her to repeat herself before the words registered in my mind. Upon realizing what she meant, I gave her a look. It was the first week of school and she was already trying to ditch.

"What?" she exclaimed, getting defensive.

"Nothing, just curious as to why it is so important for you to leave?"

"Marcus just got back from Oaktown and i promised I'ld come see him as soon as his plane landed."

Marcus was Randa's boyfriend, so to speak. They hadn't seen each other in a year, and only spoke on rare occasion. See, Marcus was shipped off to an all boys reform school after a bad run in with the police. It was either that or spend some time in jail. Needless to say, they chose school over a cell, and off he went. I never did get he full story on what he did, but knowing Marcus, I wouldn't put it past him to do anything just shy of killing a man. Still, Randa was in love with the guy and he hadn't done anything to hut her so I was unopposed. And while I didn't feel comfortable covering for someone, I could see in her eyes that their supervised phone calls during his time away were not enough to keep her from missing him.

"Please? It's important!"

"Go ahead," I caved,"Just don't do anything stupid!"

I suddenly found myself realizing the irony in my statement when it was already too late to retract it as I brought the stack of yearbooks over to the scanner. Randa was already doing something I'd consider stupid, ditching school. On top of that, she was meeting up with a guy who had a criminal record. I guess it's all on perspective; and for Randa, picking up a guy from an airport was about as tame as you could get.

I quickly forced myself to stop thinking about what she'd end up doing because even an ounce of what was sure to ensue would probably keep me up at night. Instead, I worked on scanning the four portraits in, dragging the files into the Newspaper drive so that they'd be accessible. I let out a sigh of relief, throwing the old note in the trash and taking up a new one to let the staff know the pictures were on the drive. Feeling accomplished, I decided to spread out on one of our couches to sort through some of our jumbled files and enjoy having the rest of the period to myself.

Time seemed to disappear when I didn't have the interruption of a compliant to keep me on my toes, but rather the peace of being able to get things done at my own pace with the comfort of some music. Looking at the clock, I realized there were only ten minutes left of class. With nothing left on my agenda except to type up my column, I decided to call it a day and pack everything up. It was amazing how much one could accomplish when left undisturbed, proving my point once again why the alone policy is a good policy to maintain.

as I was the only one in the publications hall this period, I took it upon myself to lock up and leave to my locker a few minutes early so I could just head out as soon as the bell rang. Unfortunately, my plan of trying to save time backfired before O even had my locker open.

"You never called."

I swung my locker door open, not even needing to look to see who it was.

"Hi, Asher," I replied, just an ounce of care away from my words coming out as a groan. I slipped my Physics book in my bag, still not facing him, hoping it would magically make him disappear. Unfortunately, it didn't, and Asher stayed leaning against the locker next to mine, waiting for a real response. "Look, I don't have a lot of time but I wanted to let you know that I won't be in class today. Something came up and I can't really get out of it, so enjoy having the table to yourself!"

I shut my locker closed and gave him a quick smile before heading out towards the parking lots.

I felt a tug on my arm as a hand wrapped around my bicep turning me around. "Dani, wait, you never answered me."

I looked at him pleadingly. "Look, Asher, I really got to go. I'll explain tomorrow, okay?"

"Do you still have the paper?" His expression was desperate.

"Yeah," I finally sighed, looking down at my shoes.

"I'm not waiting 'til tomorrow then. Call me tonight."

"But, Asher I-"

"No. I'm not asking you to make a life commitment, Dani. It's just a phone call. One simple phone call. I'll talk to you tonight."

I finally looked up and met his eyes, realizing this wasn't really a question. My mind was a racing mess but the words and my voice seemed to disagree and I was just left standing like an idiot in silence.

"Oh, and, uh, hope it all goes well. Whatever you're doing," Asher added before disappearing back down the hallway he came from. I just closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I never thought of the consequences that would result in me not making that decision.

A car horn interrupted my thoughts. Time to depart from one level of hell to another. I love my life.