Good Times Never Seem So Good

I had prepared myself for the Spanish test today, even though I didn’t get much studying done with Noah. Needless to say, Spanish was the last thing on my mind. I had driven myself to school today since my dad had to be at work early. I had also decided to drive myself because Noah didn’t text me this morning, telling me to wait for him to pick me up. In fact, Noah was acting weird. Not that I could really say he was acting weird, because I didn’t see him all day. I had assumed that this ‘behavior’ had to do with what happened last night.

I felt used. Well, actually more stupid than used. I told myself that I wasn’t going to do anything with Noah until we were official, but instead I gave everything to him in the safety of my bedroom. Though if I told you I gave him everything I’d be lying. He didn’t walk out of my house with a V-card, but my pride. I had just become another girl to him. And that was the worst feeling in the world.

I walked through the hallways with my head hung low. When Artie rolled up beside me, I just mumbled. When Mercedes asked what was wrong, I lied and told her I was just tired; too much studying.

As I walked into Mr. Schue’s room, I saw Finn with his head buried in the textbook. Noah’s seat was empty, and I wondered if he was going to show up. While I flipped through page after page, the arms of the clock got closer and closer to ringing the late bell. My vision had blurred as I stared off ahead of me. I didn’t even notice Finn waving his hand in front of my face.

“You okay?” he asked, concern filling his face.

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” I lied again.

“Yeah, me too. Well good luck on the test, Brooklyn,” he smiled.

“Thanks, you too.” Mr. Schue closed the door and grabbed the stack of papers. He handed out the test and wished us good luck. I started filling out the small bubbles on the sheet. Since I finished before anyone else, I asked Mr. Schue if I could go to the guidance counselor. I needed to talk about what happened, but I knew I couldn’t talk to Mercedes about it. She’d either slap me, or go after Noah, and I didn’t want either of those to happen.

So I walked to Ms. Pillsbury’s office. I figured she could at least help me feel better and maybe tell me that I’m not a terrible person for doing what I did.

“So um, what’s going on?” she questioned. Her voice was really high and she spoke very quietly. “You’re new, so are you um, having trouble making friends, um, are you being bullied, or are you pregnant?”

“Oh, no, no, none of those. It’s just a guy,” I said

“Ah, I see. So did you break up, does he not like you, what’s bothering you?”

“Well, we did some things, and now I feel like I made a mistake, I don’t know, like I feel bad. But I just need to talk to someone, just not my friends here.”

“They wouldn’t understand?”

“No. They don’t really approve of what I did,” I said. Now that I was here talking with her, I felt like I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

“Well I don’t know if I have any pamphlets on being a better person or doing ‘things’ with boys, and I don’t have much experience, so maybe it would be best for you to talk to your friends or maybe your mother or maybe not your dad, but I’m sure someone will understand you. But if you’d like to stay here and talk, you’re welcome to,” she said, her brown eyes larger than ever as she confessed she didn’t have much expertise when it came to guys.

“Um, no, I think I can figure out what to do. But thanks anyway,” I said, standing up from my chair.

“Alright, have a good day,” she said, reorganizing the papers and other miscellaneous items on her desk. I walked out and headed to my last class. I stared at the board as the teacher wrote down the notes. My phone would’ve been on my lap, but I left it in my car. I knew I wouldn’t be getting a text from Noah, but I assumed that Mercedes would just let me alone.

When the bell rang, I booked it to my car. I avoided everyone in the hallway, including that crazy woman who threw kids against lockers and knocked their books out of their hands. I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet her, but I was kind of afraid to. She was scary.

I dug through my purse for my keys. I took them out and right as I looked up to see where I was going, I ran into Noah.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asked. He was propped up against my car, with his arms folded.

“No.”

“Why didn’t you answer my texts?” he asked.

“I left my phone in my car.” He nodded as I stood at least three feet away from him.

“Where were you?” I asked him.

“Out. Brook, about last night,” he started to say before I interrupted him.

“I know, I know.” I was ready for him to tell me it was a total mistake.

“Let me finish. Tell me what last night meant to you,” he ordered. Great. I didn’t want to tell him that it actually meant a lot to me, if it didn’t mean anything to him. So I responded to his question with a question.

“Tell me what it meant to you first.”

“Well it didn’t mean nothing,” he said awkwardly. The way he worded that sentence didn’t make any sense to me.

“What do you mean? Nothing?”

“I mean that it meant…” he stumbled on his words before saying, “It meant a lot.”

With my head hanging low, I smiled. “I thought you were avoiding me.”

“No, I sent you like ten texts asking you to meet me, but when you didn’t answer I just started looking for you. Then I saw your car and I knew you’d be coming out here.”

“I saw you this morning, why did you leave? And why weren’t you in Spanish?”

“I had something to do,” he said. “But will you come to the Glee meeting?”

“Why?”

“Just please come.”

“Noah, I’m not auditioning.”

“I’m not asking you. I just want you to come to the meeting,” he pleaded. With the way he was looking at me, I couldn't say no.

“Fine. I’ll go,” I said. But before we could go, I unlocked my car and threw my bag in. He waited patiently for me, in front of my car. I walked back towards the school, letting him follow me. I was still kind of upset because he didn’t explain much, but I was happier because last night meant something to him. But that could just be a lie. And I was getting bad feelings about this meeting. What could be so important about this meeting that I have to go?

Noah quickened his pace so that he could get in front of me. He opened the door and let me go inside before himself. The walk to the choir room was silent. I knew he wanted to talk, but I think he got the hint that I didn’t really want him to talk right now. I was mad that I was yet again being forced to go to a Glee meeting. When we got to the room, I slowly walked in.

“Brooklyn, are you auditioning today?”

“No, not today Mr. Schue,” I answered. Noah was right behind me, but he rushed ahead to grab two empty chairs from the back and sit them next to Mercedes. I smiled at him as a ‘thanks’ for being so considerate of where I wanted to sit. I sat down right next to Mercedes, and I thought Noah was just going to sit down too. But instead, he grabbed his guitar and stood in front of the small group of kids.

“Mr. Schue, I have a song that I’d like to perform, if that’s okay.”