Tour Stories

I walked into the woodshop room and dumped my bag on the chair behind the random whiteboard with plans drawn up for the Woods I's first project of a shelf. Then I lifted my body weight up and balanced in my toes of my right foot, I spun around, easily sliding on the sawdust covered floor. I stopped turning at the safety glasses cabinet. Finding glasses number three I turned again and picked up a pile of wood that had been glued together making a thick square log. I then walked to my spot at the bench.

There were five benches and four people got assigned to each. A bench wasn't that thing you sit on in parks, it was a table with the top made out of wood and the bottom made of metal. There were little lockers in them too, but those haven't been used in years. People started to quickly pouring in as the bell was on the verge of ringing. I smiled at my boys. That's what I called them even though they'd never know that. I was the only girl in this class and they were like a family to me.

Soon one of the other members of my bench was standing across from me. He was tall and skinny with skin the color of milk chocolate. He was the most peaceful person you'd ever meet and had dreadlocks to fit the part. He was holding a plank of wood and smiled at me. Then he waved, making his hand resemble a spastic butterfly.

"Hi, Erica!"

"Hi, Nate," I said with a grin. I was being hugged from behind and noticed the arms right away, "Aloha, Cameron."

He let me go and said, "Ah, my native tongue." Then kissed my cheek and quickly he picked up my log and walked away. I lunged for him and my crush walked in with another one of his friends.

"Cam, stop being annoying."

"I'm not, Tom!" He protested.

Zach picked up the log from Cameron's hands and gave it to me.

"Thanks," I said trying to hide my blush.

"No problem," Zach looked behind him. "Hey, did someone carry your bag in here for you?"

I tried to avoid the question and talk to Nathan about his project, it was going to be a skateboard.

"Erica," Zach said with a knowing tone.

I turned back to him and my hair fell over my shoulder and rolled onto my back. His eyes left my curl and back to my eyes. In a low tone I said, "You know I don't like having someone else carry it."

"And you know someone has to."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this right now."

"Erica!" He didn't yell it, it was more of a little burst of energy that was released and telling me to listen to the doctor's note that was given to all my teachers.

Levz, our teacher, had been taking attendance and told someone to turn the vac system on. His real name wasn't Levz, but we called him that as a little nickname. He was an older man and came over and shoved Zach a little.

"Leave Erica alone."

"I was just telling her-"

"Don't give me lip. Go work on your project."

He made an angry face and stomped to his and Cameron's Adirondack chair. I went to the lave and set up. I got my chisel and started up the machine, the log shook and started spinning. I placed the chisel against it and sent wood chips into my hair and all around me. Slowly the spinning square started to shape into a rough cylinder.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder, I jumped a little and saw it was Nate. He pointed to the wrench next to me. I picked it up and handed it to him, before I let him take it I put my cheek out to him. He kissed it and then I gave him the wrench. As he walked away I thought about my relationship with the some of the guys in this class. They all kissed my cheek and were gentlemen to me. Yet at the same time treated me as an equal and had fun joking with me. I loved them; They were the brothers I never had. Except Zach. He too joked with me and kissed my cheek, but he and I always had this electric tension between us. It was weird. We were drawn together like a magnet to a refrigerator. Yet we weren't stuck together.

Soon Levz came over to me with Zach trailing behind him.

"Erica, you have to clean up soon and leave so you don't get caught in the halls. Zach will take you to your next class."

"But Nathan normally does," I said a bit confused.

"Yeah, but Zach's been bugging me this whole period and I want him out of the room before I throw a hammer at him."

I laughed and Zach grinned. Then Levz told him to help me clean up my area. After three minutes of us moving sawdust around we were in the hall and traveling to my locker. There was a reason I liked Nathan walking me. He knew what was in my locker and didn't mind it at all. There was pictures of bands I liked and waves and all the things I love taped on to the crappy metal. There was also the lyrics to a demo Nathan gave me to listen to when I was in the hospital. It was from the band he was in, Outerspace Politicians, and it meant the world to me. The thing was Zach was in that band and wrote the song with Nate, Tom, and this amazing British pop singer, James Bourne.

"So...." Zach tried to start.

"Hmm?" I snapped out of my worrying thoughts.

"When will you be able to carry things again?"

"December tenth."

He grinned and spun around and walked backwards so he was facing me, "No way!"

"Way."

"That's my birthday!"

"No way."

"Way!"

We chuckled and then I pointed to my locker. He stopped walking backward and I spun the combo. He watched my hand, but I didn't care. What would he take, my math book? I popped it open and he looked at the pictures. He didn't say anything but smiled to himself. I was about to close the locker but he pulled it back.

"Nate give you the lyrics?"

"Yeah," I looked down. Nate photocopied the page from Zach's lyric book.

"Erica," he said in almost an urging tone. I met his eyes. They looked like the middle of the ocean on a sunny day. His skin tanned from his days after school at the beach. His hair coffee brown with one skinny highlight from the sun in the back under another wavy chuck of hair. He gradually shifted toward me so my back was against the lockers and he was leaning over me separated by his arm pushing him away on the locker next to me. "Erica," he repeated.

I loved the way my name sounded in his mouth. "Yeah," I said as casually as I could, but I was pretty sure it came out as a squeak.

"Would you say yes if I asked you out on a date?"

"I- I mean I guess- guess if it fit in my, in my schedule."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing," I whispered.

"Can we go to the fair?"

I smirked and gave him a little nod, "That'd be nice."

"Erica, another thing."

"Yeah?"

"Can I..." he paused, "can I please..." He began to lean in. I wanted this more than anything. I'd been dreaming of it since he sat in front of me in seventh grade history class. I didn't care if I seemed to forward I finished closing the gap between our lips. For the first time in years I felt like the magnet had finally found it's metal. The bell rang and we were still letting our feelings pass through us. Students walked past, some whooping, others whispering to each other. I felt Zach's lips twitch into a smile before pulling away.

"Let's get you to class!"

He wrapped his arm around my midsection as if protecting me from further injuries. We walked to English and sat down for class. Nate was there and asked why we weren't there before the rush.

"This is why I take her here! You'll get her killed!"

"I won't die," I said with a grin.

"Yeah, and we had some business to take care of," Zach added with a grin and glance to me. "What time should I come and get you later?"

"I don't know, whenever. Text me when you're on your way."

He smiled then bit his bottom lip, "Okay." Then he went two rows over to his assigned seat. I looked back at Nathan who sat behind me. His face was twelve shades of confused and fourteen of bewildered.

"Are you guys dating now?"

"He asked me out on a date and I said yes. So if that constitutes as dating, yes. But if you're asking for a full relationship status, it's still undetermined." I looked around dramatically then leaned over my chair, "You didn't hear it from me, but I want this to go somewhere."

Nathan leaned back and sighed in his seat, "Wow." He was about to say something else but then Ms. Mills walked in and he quickly whispered, "Tell me on our walk home."

//// It was two months later and Zach was sitting on the floor of my room reading Macbeth. I was taking a break from my environmental science homework to study the way Zach looked intensely reading. One hand was holding the book a foot from his face, the other was curled up and gently pulling at his lip. The light flooding in from my window was making his skin radiate. His freckles stood out in the light and I wanted very badly to kiss every one of them. With an odd feeling of being watched Zach turned and looked up at me.

He leaned his head back on my bed and said, "What is it, Sunshine?"

I laid down so my stomach was flat on my bed and my head was level with Zach's. "I'm just thinking."

He turned his head and pivoted his body. He put one arm on the bed and gently played with my hair. "About what?" he said dreamily.

"College."

His eyes moved to mine and said, "What about it?"

"What are we going to do? I mean I know we'll be going together for a while but when you get signed..." I looked away embarrassed.

"Hey, hey, hey. Come on now!" He eased himself up and sat on the bed I sat up and scooted next to him. He wrapped an arm around me and held me close, "We'll make it work. We'll take it step by step. You'll study marine biology and oceanography, and I'll study media and journalism. And when Allstar gets signed, we'll handle it."

"I'll miss you," I said drawing waves on his chest.

He kissed the top of my head and said, "I'm still here."

Suddenly I jolted up. Zach rolled over and opened his eyes.

"What's wrong babe?"

"I just had the weirdest, most adorable dream ever."

He turned the lamp on and leaned back on his pillow. Then tapped his bare chest. I snuggled back down and laid on his pillow with him. My right hand was on his chest and my left was tucked under him.

"What happened?"

"We were back in school. But it was my high school only I guess in Poway because Nathan, Cameron, and Tom were there too and not Mikey. And we had wood class together and it was like after my car accident and you were all protective, which was kinda cute. And we were worried about separating after college."

"Wait, wait, wait. Explain in detail please."

I slowly recounted everything that happened in my dream to him. He smiled when I finished, "That is something we'd talk about."

"I know! But it's so weird!"

His smile flickered down for a moment, "Well, are you at all upset that you didn't get to go to college?"

I bit my lip and looked down. "A little," I whispered then I quickly added, "But I love being with you and I guess I'll go back one day to get my marine biology degree and I can work at the aquarium or something."

"I'm sorry."

I touched his jaw, "Don't be. I'm happy with you. And I still have my whole life to get to college. If I'm 50 and start but and happily married to you, I'm okay with that. Really."

He smiled weakly at me, so to give him more courage I leaned up and kissed him. Then went back down and placed my head on his chest. We fell asleep together like that. My next dream was about Zach and me with mermaid tails and discovering hidden treasures in a sunken pirate ship. And we were happy.