Oh, Sweet Rhythm

It's only Saturday and I feel as if time is going slow, just for the satisfaction of torturing me. I can't get that girl out of my head! The girl was beautiful enough to take my breath away, make my stomach do freaking somersaults and I have absolute no idea who she is. As soon as I got home last night, I called Marcus and asked all I could about the girl, but his dad was was busy, so he couldn't find out anything for me.

"God, when will this end?" I ask him out loud. I'm not extremely religious. I don't pray or go to church, but I know he's up there for when I really need him. But, is he the kind of guy to get girl advice from? I could always call Marcus back, but I don't bother. I'm not sure his dad is allowed to tell me all that much about her anyway.

"In three days..." Comes an ominous voice. I sit up almost immediately, my legs tucked into my chest. Did God really just answer me? When I hear snickering from the door way, I see my dad. Not funny. "Can I come in?"

I nod and put my legs down, scooting closer to the headboard so he has some room to sit comfortably. He walks in slowly. He's dressed in faded jeans and a green tee shirt that says Welcome To The Gun Show. It's about eleven, so he must have the day off. I notice he's barefoot as he sits down on my bed. He places his palms on his knees and sighs.

"Is everything okay?" I feel thoughts of divorce surface in my brain, but I push them to the far dark corners of my mind. He nods and smiles.

"Yeah, I just want to ask how last night went. With Josette."

"Oh, that." What could I say? Oh it was fun, we rode rides, we ate food, hung out with friends, kissed- but I think I'm in love with some total stranger who walked by me; once. "It was fun. We had a great time."

"Not too great, I hope. That condom's still in your wallet, right?"

"And that's where it will stay for a long time," I laugh. "No, we had a good time. She even got me on some of the scary rides. They're actually not that bad."

"That's good. I'm glad you had fun." He gets up and walks to the door, but my voice catches him before he leaves.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Me and Josette kissed last night -which was great- but there's this other girl and I can't get her out of my head. What should I do?"

"If Josette likes you -don't even think about cheating- don't risk that on something you're not sure about."

"Dad, Josette is pretty and smart, but that's all she is. This other girl....she made my stomach flip." Dad smiles at me, a warm welcome one. It's genuine and the kind of smile that only a father can give.

"You'll do the right thing, son. You always do." He leaves the room and I lay down again, trying to think about the smart thing to do. I about it think all weekend. I think about her all weekend.



It's finally Monday morning. Over the weekend, Josette called me once. She told me that she had a dentist appointment today, possibly have to go to an orthodontist as well. I can't even imagine why- her teeth looked perfect to me! Though, we did make a plan to go out on Thursday night. I told her I'd take her somewhere really classy, somewhere that I'd have to wear a suit.

I get dressed and head down stairs. Dad must of had an early flight and Mom must of had an appointment with her current client because neither of them are home. The house looks kind of bare with only me inside. I have about forty minutes until school, so I skip the cereal and make waffles. The waffles were great, mainly because I haven't eaten them in awhile and it's nice to do something out of routine sometimes. When I'm done, I have a little less than thirty minutes to get to school- more than enough.

Leon doesn't meet me out our spot, so I call him. He doesn't answer and I fear for the worse, than just realize that he could get sick. It was the end of August and September would soon be on us- fall weather is usually when the colds start. Leon's a pretty healthy kid though, so a hint of worry outlines my thoughts for him. Sick or not, I decide I can't be late and just head directly to school, not taking any special route today.

The parking lot has hardly one in it, which is kind of refreshing. I'm only ten minutes early and usually the jocks have dominated this area by now. Where could they be? I wonder, but I chose to not over think it and I make my way to the front steps. As my shoe lands on the first step, a flurry of white hair made it's way into my line of sight. It's her. The girl. She turns, looking me in the eye. She wears a bright, neon blue tank top, tight skinny jeans, and a fedora. The part of her jeans that cover her shins are covered by neon pink leg warmers. Her tennis shoes are regular black Nikes but both the toe and heel have been cut out. She also wears a gold chain around her neck that droops to her waist.

"Sorry," she mutters. She hadn't bumped me, but she was close enough to have done so. She turned and I saw that on the butt of her jeans it said, If You're Reading This, Think Of Jesus. I couldn't help but smile and immediately think of the bearded fellow in the sky. This girl's voice made my heart pick up speed and made me feel light headed. Call it foolish teenage hormones, but I'm in as close to love you can get with a stranger.

By the time my senses catch up to me, the girl is already inside and out of my sight. I hurriedly scramble up the steps and race into the building. I'm engulfed in a sea of students right away, no white hair coming into any sort of view. After a moment of two of hopeless searching, I decide it's time to just head to class. When I get there, my chest feels empty and a frown is plastered on my lips. The only good thing I see is that Mr. Rill is back today.

I take my seat and when he tells us to start reading, I do. After five pages or so, the words just blend together and I'm just staring. Mr. Rill stands up behind his desk and clears his throat. He beckons me with his fingers as he speaks. "Mr. Robin, can I talk to you for a moment?" I nod and make my way toward him. The whole time I'm walking I can't help but think about how teachers call us formally by Miss or Mr. and then our last name, just as we do with them. It's like a mutual respect thing, right? Either way, I find it comforting. When I get over to Mr. Rill he leads me from his desk and out of the classroom, not speaking a word until the door is closed. "Are you okay, Christopher?"

It gives me chills to be called by my first name by a teacher. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You seem kind of out of it this morning. If you're really alright, do you mind if we talk?"

"Yeah, sure. What's going on?"

"Well," Mr. Rill starts with a unsteady breath. "I want to thank you for last week. I was in a dark place and you- you were the only kid that day who even noticed or cared. You offered to talk to me. I needed that. I took Friday off to think things through."

"You're, uh, welcome?" I'm not really sure what to say. I was never put into these touchy-feely moments in my whole life, so I'm a little nervous. Isn't this the part of the movie where the girl admits her feelings -as Mr. Rill just did- and then the guy kisses her. Was Mr. Rill going to kiss me- or did he expect me to me to kiss him. If either were to happen, I'd sue his ass.

"To be frank, I was going to kill myself. It was that bad. But, I think I can trust you enough to tell you that I think of you as my own child. Who knows? Maybe you will be one day soon," Mr. Rill continued to talk, but that's when I toned out. Maybe what he said had only just slipped out, but it was enough to assure me that my mother really was seeing another man. I stood there with a blank expression for a moment, but something pulled me back into reality. "So, I want you to know that I trust you and you pretty much saved my life. I'm here if you ever need anything."

"Uh, yeah, same here." We stepped back into the classroom and I just stared at my book for the remaining ten minutes of class. When the bell rings, I bolt out of the classroom. I hurry to my locker, switch out my books, and speed walk to my next class. You just need to focus on something else. You're just scaring yourself, Christopher, I tell myself.

I stroll into Mrs. Levatte's classroom, sitting down quickly. Modern Government wasn't exactly interesting to me, but I needed something to distract me right now. In Mrs. Levatte's class, we sit at tables of two, though the desk beside mine is empty. The teacher gives a chapter too read and then we -if we have a partner- have to write a list of pros and cons in the chapter. I read through the chapter quickly, but not as quickly as the girl who has taken the seat next to me has. She must be new.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" She asks. I pull and extra one off my desk and turn to the girl- the girl with white hair. My hand trembles as I drop the pencil into her hands and my heart picks up speed, and then slows down, as if it's confused. Her gray eyes force a feeling of compassion into my body and I feel like I need to touch her. I refrain from doing so, but the desire is still there. "You look funny when you're nervous."

"What?" I ask in disbelief as half her mouth curves up in a smile and she cocks her head to the side. She then starts to giggle- a marvelous sound that fills me with delight.

"You look funny when you're nervous. You were all shaky and you looked like you were about to faint and then have a seizure." She pauses and cocks her head to her left side now. "Do I make you nervous?"

"I, uh, yes."

"Boys," she laughs and sticks out her hand. "I'm Rhythm."

I take her hand firmly and shake it before letting it drop. "Christopher Robin. What's your last name?"

"I don't have one. It's just Rhythm." I mull this over. This girl is strange to begin with, but having no last name is bizarre. She has to be lying. Everyone has a last name. Or at least I think they do. As if she read my mind, she says, "It's true. It's kind of a long story."

"I'm a good listener."

"I said it was a long story, I never said it was a story I wanted to tell." I frown, but respect her boundaries. I nod and try to think of something to change the subject too. The assignment.

"So, what would you think that the pros were?" I ask. She laughs and pulls out a folded piece of paper, handing it to me. I unfold it delicately and read it. It's the assignment and it's done perfectly. The only thing that's missing is my name.

"I did it already. Do you know that compared to the average American, you read really fast, but compared to me, you read really slow?" She laughs and I blush. I'm not sure, but I almost feel as if putting my name on this is cheating. I shrug and carefully write my name. We now have thirty minutes left and we're done. Then, it occurs to me.

"How could you have already written it? You asked me for a pencil-"

"That was just an excuse to talk to you. You seem like an interesting boy." She smiles, obviously seeing no embarrassment or shame in the fact that she finds me interesting. She then tucks a strand of her beautiful hair behind her ear -something I've seen Josette do quite often- but I've never seen it done so beautifully. Rhythm has tiny, delicate fingers and flawless skin. I'm truly breathless from her beauty.

"Not many people think so, so thank you."

"See that's their problem- they think. Me? I quit thinking a long time ago. I just do what I want and hope for the best. So far, I have no regrets."

"That's a good way of looking at things." She's pretty and a philosopher?

"Did you're parents do that on purpose?" She asks.

"Do what?"

"Name you Christopher Robin?" I laugh. I guess it was only a matter of time before she asked. I nod. A moment of silence passes between us and I can't help my eyes as they meet hers. Her eyes just make me feel lighter, like I can do anything. Finally, I break the silence.

"You're very pretty." She doesn't blush, but I can feel that she liked the compliment. She looks me deep in the eye and bites her lip.

"Do you want to do something tonight?" The question catches me off guard, but I nod- Josette in the far corner of my mind. It's not really cheating if nothing happens, right? "Meet at the zoo at precisely 6:38. Not a moment late or early. I want to see the pandas first, so meet me by the panda pin."

"I, uh, I- Yeah, sure. I will meet you there." I smile big and she does too, her teeth as white as a movie star's. She truly is stunning. I'm almost afraid of being stood up tonight, but something tells me that she is going to be there. Something tells me she likes me.

"Don't be late."