Nobody's Listening

T H R E E

The next day at school, I looked for James and couldn't find him. For some odd reason, this made me feel very sad. Even Cyd noticed at lunch that I was a little down.

“Hey, you’re not upset about Lucas, right?” she asked, plunking herself and her tray full of food down at the table. For such a small girl, she probably ate enough for a full-grown man.

“What?” I replied, looking up from spreading my mashed potatoes and gravy around my plate. “Oh,” I said, finally processing what she said. “No, of course not.” I smiled and continued to push my potatoes around my plate.

“A’ight, then.” Cyd shoved a large spoon of corn into her mouth. “Listen, my sister set me up on a date with this kid that goes to Southside for tonight. So I was wondering if you wanted to go with me and take Lucas?” She smiled enthusiastically, took me by the shoulders, and shook me. "This could be a fantastic opportunity!"

I shook her off and returned to mutilating my potatoes. "I don't know, Cyd…"

"Oh, c'mon! At least give him a chance." She suddenly got down on her knees and pressed up against me, hands clasped, eyes pleading. "Pretty please? Just one date?"

I sighed. "Fine, Cyd."

She smiled and leaped back up into her chair. "Thank you. I'm pretty sure he's coming to pick me up, I could tell him to pick you and Lucas up too."

I groaned. "What are you doing to me, Cyd?" I asked, grasping my pounding head.

"Oh, Dezzy." Cyd chortled. "Whatever I please!"



The rest of the day dragged on, which is pathetic because I only had sixth and seventh hour after lunch. But it also moved way too quickly. Soon, the final bell was ringing and everyone was clearing the halls. I dragged my feet all the way to my locker in West Wing Hall B. I admitted it; I was only depressed because I had not seen James all day. Not because Cyd had just set me up with Lucas, who I had ignored and ran away from all day.

When I got to my locker, I banged my head crossly against my locker's door. I was only slightly aware that someone else was coming down the hallway at the same time, but I didn't really care much. Everyone knew that a senior's year at Northside made them mental from all the pressure. It was acceptable to look crazy by day… two of the year? This incited another round of head banging.

"Desirae, I'd watch out if I were you. You'll need your brains for this tough and challenging time."

I looked up to find James sauntering towards me, a red and black checkered messenger bag bouncing cheerfully against his leg. I narrowed my eyes teasingly. "Since when did you get a British accent?"

"What?" he replied, shamelessly using the same accent. "Oh, my b, bro," he said, dropping the accent suddenly. "Totally forgot. I just finished presenting my summer history project for Grey, and I was pretending to be King Henry the Eighth." He grinned.

"Ah," I commented, taking off my glasses and rubbing my burning forehead.

"You okay?" He sounded concerned.

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just frustrated."

James suddenly was right beside of me. "Move your hand," he ordered. As if in a trance, I did. He took his beautiful pale hand and moved my bangs away from my face. "Your forehead looks all raw and red now," he commented, sounding slightly upset. He leaned forward and gently set his cool lips on my forehead. We stayed like that for a few seconds, him with his lips against my burning forehead and me with my heart beating like crazy. Then, his lips were gone. "All better?" he asked, smiling demurely.

"I-I g-guess," I stammered, putting my glasses back on with shaking hands. I took a deep, calming breath and opened my locker. "So, were you here all day?" I asked, trying to be cool and composed.

"Yeah. I have second lunch, and you have third, and no classes together." I looked over at him and saw that he was frowning exaggeratedly, moving his index fingers down his cheeks from his eyes in pretend crying. I grinned at him. "But seriously," he said, stopping to grin back. "Can I have a ride home?"

I shrugged. It was on the way. He only lived about two miles away from my own house. "Sure." I slammed my locker shut and hoisted my backpack up onto my back. "But we have to hurry, because apparently I'm going on some retarded double date thing tonight." I started to walk.

James laughed and began to walk along with me. "A double date? Sounds risky. With who?"

"I don't know. Cyd and some other guy are dating, and then she's trying to fix me up with Lucas Reynolds."

"Lucas?" He looked skeptical. "Can't see that working out."

"Same," I said.

We came to the double doors and he held it open for me. "After you, milady," he said with a flowery flourish of his arm.

I smiled and continued. "So apparently the guy is gonna pick me up at five or so."

"Do you know where you all are going?"

"Oh, I dunno," I replied, unlocking the Whale and getting in. "Probably the usual pathetic teenage date routine. Movie and dinner. It'll be boring."

James scoffed. "Probably. I like this song, by the way."

I smiled. "Space Travel" by Yellowcard was playing when we started out of the parking lot. "I love it. It's so sweet and sad."

"She moves like beams of light, straight through this universe in my head, where I get peace of mind. I'm free from stupid things that I said." I looked over at James and saw him smiling sweetly at me as he sang exactly like Ryan Key. "She's all in my head…" he finished.

I decided to pick up. "Did I get lost while I was gone? I traveled space for much too long. But there's a planet that I have found. And you are far away." I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel for the rest of the song, and at a stop light I looked over at James.

He gazed back. "You're a good singer," he said softly.

"Thanks," I whispered back. "You're great too."

He smiled and then looked up. "Green light. Go."

I sighed happily and continued to drive to our destination. And the whole time, James is moving through my head.