"Teresa's POV"
November's season had come upon us in an unexpected turn. The clock went back several hours, and it was now dark by six o'clock. Fall had really shown through than any other month with sunny skies, gust of freezing winds, and an endless supply of warm color leaves; but since my move to Texas, I have realized that the fall feeling I usually get, just wasn't the same. The weather here was always so unbalanced, it could be raining softball-size hail one minute, and so bright that you have to squint your eyes the next.
But, for this particular month, it wasn't the weather that scared me; it was homecoming. The time where people ask one another in sarcastic and joking ways, and others sit alone on that night and watch the entire series of, The Vampire Diaries, as thy sulk in silence. My sister told me the day after her first homecoming was pretty epic, she said that if she got to do one day over again, it would be homecoming. I asked Lola how she felt about it and she was ecstatic, although, Caleb thought otherwise.
As for me, I was excited.
The thought of getting my makeup and hair done and getting to wear a pretty dress made my fingers tingle, the only thing that I wasn't excited for was the fact that I wouldn't be able to go with Trevor. I face-timed Trevor yesterday, his first homecoming was the first week of October, but he told me he didn't go, it didn't feel right for him to go without me. I felt a little guilty since he missed out on his homecoming, especially since I wanted to go to mine. After thinking it through a little, I decided that I was going and I'm going to have a great time.
"Lame?! No, you're lame Caleb, Homecoming is sweet and fun, unlike your
culo aburrido." Lola frowned, throwing a fry at Caleb's hair. It was lunch time, and Homecoming seemed to be the topic everybody was talking about.
"What's the point of going if you don't have a date?" Caleb spoke, shrugging his shoulders. He calmly took a bite out of his turkey sandwich.
"I'll be your date." Lola smiled. Caleb stopped chewing and looked peripheral at her. "Lola," He whispered, smirking after his deep chuckle. "You're a nice person and all, but you're like my sister, and I don't want to date my sister." He laid a hand on hers, playfully consoling her 'broken' heart.
She slapped his hand away quick, "Not like that you idiota! Like, Friends hanging out for the night."
"Amigo, help me out with this!" Lola turned to me, giving puppy dog eyes. "I stopped listening ten minutes ago." I turned back to the homecoming catalog that my mom got me. Between school, babysitting Nathaniel with Henry, and face-times with Trevor, I have had no time to get a dress for homecoming, and it was just in two weeks.
"You just might be the worst amiga ever." Lola pouted, laying her chin on her balled up fist.
"Fine, I'm listening." I put down the catalog and looked up. "I was just explaining that Caleb has to come to homecoming, it's not optional!"
"I have to go with Lola here Caleb, homecoming will be awesome, you should go." I shrugged apologetically.
Caleb sighed, putting down his sandwich for the third time, "look guys, homecoming just isn't my thing, but if there is an after party that you know of, then call me, and I can bring the band over." He winked.
Lola rolled her eyes, "whatever."
"So, what are you wearing to homecoming?" Lola asked. She grabbed two fries and ate them at the same time.
"Don't know, still looking." Reopened opened the catalog. "Perfecto! I don't either! Want to go to the mall after school?" She smiled wide.
"Sorry, not tonight." I shook my head. I was helping Henry babysit Nathaniel while his family was out for country club, and I also had a math test to study for, and I really didn't feel like walking around anyway.
"Busy being with Mr. Hottie again?" Lola said with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, tell me again why Henry needs help with watching a 4-year-old?" Caleb folded his arm and raised an eyebrow, also looking at me with a knowing smile.
"It's not just that, I need help with some algebraic equations before the test tomorrow and Henry volunteered to help."
Caleb scrunched his face, "the 10th grader in a 9th grade class, volunteered to help you with math? Hm." Caleb sighed.
"What type of studying while ya'll be doing?" Lola moved her eyebrows seductively.
"The type of studying that evolves diving polynomials and Pythagorean theorems." I corrected her.
"Whatever choose him over us, it's not like we're you best friends, or anything like that." Lola pouted dramatically. "I will gladly hang out with you if you would like to take this test for me." I joked. I did feel a little guilty because I knew that Lola and Caleb were right, I do spend a lot of my time with Henry when I have it, but that's because we were trying to make up from lost time. Henry had learned why I moved to Texas and I learned more about his new family.
"Okay, you get this tally mark, but tomorrow night, we are All-," she continued as she looked straight at Caleb. "- going to the mall to get pretty dresses and a nice suit for homecoming, so make sure to bring money." Lola reminded as Caleb took our trays to the trash.
"Your studying excuse won't work on Friday night," I watched as Caleb threw away the trash.
"I'll be back." Lola said as she got up and moved back into the lunch line.
"Is she mad at me?" I asked when he got back to the table.
"Lola? Nah, she's just being extra today." Caleb said, more focus on cramming in late homework in the last five minuets of lunch we had.
"Don't worry, it's Lola, she can't hold a grudge for too long." Caleb tried to calm my nerves, but it didn't work.
I still felt guilty, Lola was one of my first friends here when I had nobody. She showed me my way through and became my new best friend in lest than two weeks, so after school I went into the gymnastic room to tell her that we could have a sleepover after the mall on Friday.
"Yah!" She cheered. She hugged me tight, her red bedazzled leotard slithered its way through my arms.
"Miss Lopez, back on beam, now!" Coach Hunter yelled. She nodded, running back over to beam and starting her routine. She looked so at ease as she did a hundred flips and tricks on the small beam. I left the second Coach Hunter gave me the stink eye, she scared me too much for me to want to stay.
***
I rung on Henry's door bell. The sound of the ring tone could be heard from out here as Henry opened the door. "Hey." He smiled, his hair was a little messed up and his clothes were wrinkled, but he kept a large grin on his face.
''Hey." I smiled back. Nathaniel pushed open the door more, running up and using his small arms to hug my legs. "Tewesa!" He incorrectly spoke my name. "Hi Big Man." I spoke as I lifted him in the air. Nathaniel made me happy and also Henry. I saw the gleam in his eye every time Nathaniel was around. He could be in the worst mood and Nathaniel could change it in a heartbeat.
"So, change of plans." Henry announced to me.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?" I asked cautiously as Nathaniel played with my necklace. "Were going running!" He cheered.
"YAHH!" Nathaniel cheered along. I chuckled, "what? I didn't bring any workout clothes."
"Well, don't worry you can wear my sisters clothes." He shrugged.
My mouth hung open. "I'm not putting your step-sister's clothes on without them knowing." I laughed at the bizarre comment he made.
"Oh, come on, they're in Philadelphia this week, they won't even notice it's missing, and look how beautiful today is." He gestured to the sky.
It was a ridiculous idea, but he wasn't wrong about the day. The sunlit clouds drifted through the clear skies, sounds of nature was evident as was its looks.
"Who's going to watch Nathaniel?"
"I might have lied about my parents being out tonight, but I did it for a good cause."
I huffed, "no, no" I smiled, shaking my head. But fifteen minutes later I was in Nike everything, including socks and shoes. Not only was I wearing their stuff, but I ended up riding Connie's bike up to hiking trail that Henry liked to run.
We biked up a steep hill, parking our bikes underneath a tree close to the beginning of the trial. I stood at a start sign as I waited for Henry to setup the timer on his watch. It was silent for a while as Henry's curls blow in the November wind.
I thought back to the conversation at the lunch table about Henry and I, and I had wondered what he would think about it so I told him.
"Talking about us? What're they saying?"
"They've noticed how I'm always with you, how we're always together." I watched as other people ran, following the trail.
"By 'they' do you mean Lola and Caleb?" Henry wore a smirk on his face. The same wet wood and light citrus smell had flown off of him with the help of the wind.
He scoffed, "I didn't know spending time together after two years was such a big deal." He spoke as he bent down to tie his shoe.
"You do know this is high school, right? practically looking at each other is a big deal, never mind that I've been at your house this entire week, and besides, I thought you would be more worried about this than I am." I folded my arms. "What do you say when people ask what you're doing after school?" I asked.
"I tell them that I'm busy babysitting or I'm too sore to do anything else." He reached down and fixed his sock for the Nike symbol to be on the correct side. "What do you tell them? Stretch." He commanded me.
I grabbed my arm and pulled it to the side. "I tell them I'm busy, with you." I replied.
"That's probably why they think we're dating."
"I didn't say they thought we were dating, I said that we've just been spending a large amount of time together, I mean I haven't even seen you and Hallie like I usually do." I said beginning lounges.
"She's in Canada right now, which is why I want to take as much time with you as I can before she gets back." He said, doing lounges with me.
"Why? Because she'll kill you for beginning with me?"
Henry chuckled, "No, because she'll kill you for being with me." My playful smile vanished at his words. He softly pushed my shoulders to indicate a joke, but I really did think she was capable of something like that.
He fiddled with the watch one more time and finally it beeped.
"Alright we'll be running three and a half miles." Henry spoke. "Try to keep up." He teased with a cocky smile.
He went off before me, his form and technique was definitely all learned form he new hobby of football. If you were to have seen how he ran or did anything remotely sports-like he would fail almost all the time, but it was different now. I took a few deep breaths before running off into the grassy trail.
***
My heart hammered like a machine gun as our sneakers trampled over the plush grass. Short, raspy breathes puffed out of my dry mouth as we continued to let our legs carry us.
"Alright, there's another hill. Are you okay?" Henry asked me. He looked perfectly fine, barely sweating after the fifteen minutes we have been running. I, on the other hand, was sweating bullets and my calves burned and my body ached. The hill seemed to go for miles as I could hear Henry's footstep and his steady breathing while mine resembled a dying animal. We ran by chirping birds, and daffodils.
"I think we've ran enough today." Henry stated, abruptly stopping.
"Yeah." I managed to speak out clearly. I put my hands on my knees as I took several seconds to breath.
"You've got a leave stuck in your hair," he pointed out in between pants. his eyes were glued to the side of my head. I tried to search for it, but I could only feel my damp hair.
"Here," he stepped a few inches closer and immediately the space between us was non-existent. His fingers slowly moved to the side of my head, and they pressed against my scalp.
"Got it." He said, showing me the leaf that had been in my hair the whole entire time. I laughed.
"So, why did we run?" I asked. I was still at an unbalanced breathing.
"Want to get that body ready for homecoming, right?" He nodded his head, smiling.
"Sure."
"Just give me a minute." I said when I notice Henry grabbing his bike.
We sat at a near-by bench and talked about how school was going, until I notice something familiar, a voice that is.
"Yeah, I'll be there in like five minutes, alright? Bye." A familiar voice spoke. It was Caleb.
"Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Henry asked.
"Caleb," I pointed to the blurry figure walking our way, "he thinks I'm at your house right now, he'll think I lied to him and Lola." I explain to Henry. "I mean, but you are with me, so technically-"
"Really Henry?" I glared at him.
"Go hide behind that tree." Henry gestured for me. I stood up fast and jumped behind just on time before Caleb's body came closer.
Henry sat there calmly, not phased at all. Caleb noticed him as he passed by.
"Hey, Henry, right?" Caleb asked. He stopped to talk to him.
"Uh, yeah." Henry nodded his head.
"Thought that you were hanging out with Teresa today? I'm one of her close friends." He scratched his head.
"I was, but... we're not anymore." Henry stumbled over his words.
"Okay, well, see you some other time." Caleb said as he left. When he was perfectly out of my view I came back out.
"Well, isn't he fun to talk to." Henry joked. I giggled with him as we climbed back on our bikes and rode bac to his place.
AUTHOR NOTE
_______________________________________________________________________________
Hey Guys! Thanks for reading!! This is probably my first writing that I am really excited about. I think I wrote with good descriptive writing and so I hope ya'll appreciate my put in work.
QOTC: "We didn't realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun."
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