Tangled up in you

Things were moving slow today, I could tell as the perk left the eyes of every person in the parking lot that edged closer and closer to the school while the bell broke the brisk morning air. Something seemed out of place as I walk towards Trig, something was missing. It wasn’t but five minutes into Trig that I realized what had been missing. As my eyes roamed the room avoiding Mrs. Daniels lecture on the intercepts of Y multiplied by some other confusing equations I found my self giggling at a frantic Jason in the thick wooden doors small wired window. “Is there a problem?” Mrs. Daniels screeched turning away from her muddled dry erase board. “N-not at all” I tried to stop my fit. A knock on the door pulled her attention away from my outburst. “Its for you” she glared as I made my way into the hall. “what?” I whispered shutting the door behind me. “I’ve got a surprise” he neglected the other ten or twelve class rooms, as his voice reverberated through the school. We stood there in silence before I finally cracked and asked what it was. “you have to wait till lunch” I was annoyed that he didn’t say that before the minute of loitering. Before I could ask anymore questions about this ‘surprise’ the door behind me had pushed and opened putting me at Jason’s side. “You both can wait till lunch to discuss lovers quarrels, but for now” she tugged at my elbow “I have a class to teach”. She had left Jason standing awkwardly in the hall and practically flung me back into my seat.

Time seemed to whirl by faster than the wind as lunch drew to a start. I stood in the motionless line for rancid chilly dogs alone until a tap on the shoulder brought a pulse, a beat and movement. Jason stood with a welcoming smile as I waited for this illustrious ‘surprise’ of his. Before I could even ask he shook his head and led me through the line and back out towards the tables. We continued walking slowly to the back corner table and a smile erupted on my face as I saw what this surprise was. There were four boys that seemed to be waiting for our arrival as they fiddled with the seemingly edible food on their mint green pigmented trays. They all looked up at attention when Jason stood at the head of the table, ushering me to have a seat. “Surprise” he smirked sliding into the seat opposite of mine. I returned the grin, I wanted this and dammit I got it. Jason took one look at the boys around the table and they immediately introduced themselves. “Tyler York” the first boy, a Freshman had a cocky laid back disposition and flipped blonde . I nodded and the next few made semi-formal introductions. ”Caleb”. “and Logan” the set of Sophomore twins answered simultaneously. They smiled raising the nearly visible freckles that graced their pale skin, both faces framed by shaggy hair, much like Jason’s, but stained with a light ginger red. I turned to the last boy closest to my left. He was quiet and had a very lethargic look about him. He reached out to shake my hand I willingly took it in mine. “Demetri Collins” the black jacket he downed folded back over his wrists as he pulled back into his chair. The table was silent as we all probed and poked at our food with the metal forks provided. “I think mine just squirmed” I desperately tried to break the ice. The twins laughed and started carrying on jokes about the grotesque meal. Demetri snickered under his breath while Jason and Tyler were preoccupied, one with the girls in the almost too short shorts and the other with something across the sizable lunch room. “What’s on your mind?” I laid a hand on Jason’s shoulder as he turned back around. Before he could answer Tyler busted out with “probably Er-” Jason shot immediate daggers shutting him up quickly and striking what seemed like fear in his eyes as he went back to girl watching. “It’s nothing” he smiled and I left it at that.

The bell rang as we all headed out. I opened my door and watched Jason and the boys pile into his car. They quickly pulled around to where I was parked and into the spot beside me. I threw my bag in leaning against the door ready to see what they wanted. They got out and laid against the car in my same position. “What are you doing this week?” he came forward. The first thing that popped into my mind was, ‘uh, school’ but recalling the announcements we were being let out the rest of the week for Teachers Appreciation or some shit, I couldn’t think. “No clue” I pulled out my cell phone to check the time. “Seriously, you carry one?” Tyler stepped forward blocking Jason’s line of sight. “Don’t you?” I questioned his smartass attitude. “Yeah, but its not like your going to get reception out here” he pressed. “Just imagine all the people missing because of the lack of frequency” he moved closer. There was an apprehensive look on the rest of the boys faces as Jason coldly intervened. Tyler stepped down. I continued our conversation. “Do you have plans?” Jason perked. “well, there’s a bonfire Friday near the old park grounds” I picked up on what he was asking. “guess I’ll need an escort then” he smiled. “be ready at six”. With that we all parted ways.

I arrived at work with minutes to spare as I changed into my ‘uniform’. I talked to Ronnie whenever I wasn’t bussing or serving. He was a Freshman in college and was more of the dorm rat stoner guy than the scholarship football jock, which I was completely ok with. As the night wound down I started cleaning and taking stock. I went to the back locker room shutting the door a little looser than I had thought. I was halfway undressed in the motion of pulling off my shirt as I heard the doors hinges squeak. ”Hey!” I shouted trying to pull my shirt down. “sorry just me” Claire halfway covered her eyes as she buried her head in her locker. I breathed a sigh of relief, “Thought you were Ronnie for a second” I laughed. Claire stopped and relapsed a second then started again. “you ok?” I asked concerned. “Fine” she smiled, “Hit the lights when your don ok?” she walked out the back door. I shook it off and continued to change. I pulled my shirt over and heard another hinge creek. “Forget something Claire?” I questioned but obtained no answer. I quickly spun around and saw Ronnie at the door. “S-sorry, just left something in here” he sauntered over to his locker and pulled out a necklace. The actual necklace was a tethered brown leather but the ornament hung around it was a handcrafted metal piece in the shape of some tribal symbol. “Did you make that?” I got a closer look. “yeah, took me awhile but its worth it” he smiled at my interest. “Not just a pretty face and bad ass hair huh?” I teased turning to face my locker pulling my bag out and getting ready to leave. Suddenly I felt warm breathes on the back of my neck and a hand beginning to lay itself on my hip. “Want to find out?” his soft voice invaded my ears. My eyes shot open wider than the moon as I jerked away and spun around him towards the door. “I have to go” I walked out the back door. As soon as I heard the door behind me latch I sprinted to my car quickly getting in and locking it. My breathing was anything but steady and my pulse must have been over 300 beats per minute. I turned my head and saw that his car remained empty and pulled out. It was 11:00 as I sped down the highway, I was in no mood to talk, hell I wasn’t even in the mood to listen. Slowly I started to calm down but everything fired up again as I spotted Garry’s car in the driveway. I reluctantly opened the door to reveal what I feared, he was home and he had brought friends. They were completely drunk and falling all over themselves as they watched some sweat-act comedian on TV. I hurried up the stairs fast enough for them not to notice me. I quick shower and stepped out in to the freezing temperature of the room. I pulled on my clothes and as I reached the spot were his hand had laid, I stopped. It burned and felt so wrong in a way I couldn’t extrapolate. Even the warmth of three heavy blankets and a fleece shirt couldn’t save me from the chilling temperature of the room, but I grinned and bared because the thermostat was downstairs. I sighed and rolled over facing out the window, watching the wind make the brown and crackling leaves dance like puppets in mid air. My eyes began to droop and slowly shut before only a thin crescent of light from the bright and shining moon was my send off for sleep.