Dance With the Devil

When I walked into school on Wednesday, I planned to talk to Andrew as to why exactly he was so okay with me tutoring him when so many have failed on him in the past. I was going to ask him yesterday, but he wasn’t in school for some mysterious reason.

I hated to admit that Axel’s words had stayed with me longer than I would have hoped. The question of Andrew being so nice to me crept into my head on multiple points between then and now. It seemed like a lot of what Axel says stays with me longer than I wish, and it used to annoy me, when he made his little comments that just nagged at the back of my mind, but now, it doesn’t seem to irritate me so much. And I’m not sure how I should feel about that.

At the final bell of the day, I once again slowly packed up my notebooks and meandered down the hall to the room filled with desks and all too silent students. I felt like I was walking to detention rather than a tutoring session. I was walking silently when I heard footsteps approaching behind me. From how fast it sounded that the person was running, I guessed it was Andrew. My guess was confirmed when I felt a hand on my side. I didn’t have to look at him to know that Andrew had wrapped his arm around my waist. And again, just as I had with his hand on my shoulder, I waited for him to move it. But he never did.

“Hey Kar.” He sounded happy, like he was genuinely thrilled to see me. I turned my head only slightly towards him.

“Hey, where were you yesterday?” He laughed as we approached the door to the classroom.

“My alarm broke. I never woke up. And when I did, I didn’t see the sense in going to school for two hours. So I just stayed home.” I remember when my alarm broke, I woke up in such a panic and hurried to get over to school. It must be nice to live without worries. We turned into the classroom and sat down at the table we had before. The one in the back away from most of the students. I began to pull my books out. I spoke as I rifled through my bag.

“So, uh do you remember the things I've taught you?” He pulled his book out as well.

“Yeah, I actually understood some of what Mr. Lee was saying today.” I smiled to myself, proud that I actually had the ability to teach.

“That’s good.” I bit my lip slightly. I wanted to bring up the topic that was circling my head but I wasn’t sure how to. I tried to dig through my mind for clever ways to sneak it into conversation, but its hard to do that when there is no conversation.

“Yeah, and it’s all thanks to you.” He smiled at me, at to which I replied with a half smile. I eventually gave up on a sneaky tactic.

“Uh, Andrew? Can I be completely honest with you for a second?” He looked up from his book which was now situated right in front of him. He chuckled slightly.

“Sure.”

“You know, I always thought you hated me.” His face looked shocked, but not quite fazed. His lips curved a smile again.

“I don’t remember hating you.”

“Well, maybe hate isn’t the right word. I mean, you used to treat me like a nobody. And now you’re suddenly really nice to me. I just, I don’t understand.” He laid his book down and sighed.

“I’m sorry Karlee. It’s just, I guess I didn’t really know how to talk to you. Pretty girls make me nervous.” I tried with everything in me not to, but I couldn’t help but blush immensely. I looked down at the book so it wouldn’t be so apparent. I then heard him chuckle. “You don’t have to hide it. You’re cute when you blush.” I took a breath for a moment and tried to run my train of thought off its tracks and start with a new one. I looked back up at him, surely still beet red.

“Look, uh, I’m sorry I said anything. It was just on my mind.” He waved his hand at me.

“Don’t worry about it. It would have been on my mind too. Now, you know we have that big test on Friday, and I really need help on this stuff.” I stared at him for a moment. Something didn’t seem quite right around everything that just happened. And he seemed in a hurry to get off the subject. But there was no way I was going to bring it up again, so I simply swallowed my thoughts and began to help him.

It was Friday. I had rolled out of bed this morning with no motivation to do anything with my day whatsoever. But seeing as I am a teenager living in America, society dictates that I spend half of my day with obnoxious, rude people who couldn’t care less about me.

It was getting colder and colder with each passing day. And as I got out of my car in the school parking lot, I felt myself freeze all over again. I meandered my way through the people and to my first class, which had become a class I dreaded going to. Andrew had been nice about everything, whether it be tutoring, class work, or even just a simple compliment; something was still missing about it. And I felt myself becoming more and more uncomfortable around him, though at the same time I was growing used to having him around. The thing I dreaded the most about being in his presence however was the fact that he was always touching me. Whether it be hand on my shoulder or waist, or he would poke me or flick me. Some girls might think it’s cute, some would even say he’s trying to flirt with me. But no matter the cause, it still irritated me, leading me to dread staying after class as well.

I sat down in my seat, preparing myself for the test we were about to take when my light was suddenly shadowed out. I looked up and saw that Andrew was leaning over my desk, closer to my face than I would have liked.

“I haven’t felt this confident for a test in a long time.” He smiled at me with that award winning smile that meant as much to me as leftovers in the fridge. I smiled slightly at him.

“Good, I’m glad. I’m sure you’ll do great.” He chuckled.

“If I get above a B, I’ll hug you.” I furrowed my brows slightly and sighed nearly unnoticeably.

“Alright students, everyone take your seats. The test will begin shortly.” Mr. Lee’s voice bellowed out above everyone else’s small talk. I had never in my life been so happy to hear those words.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you after,” Andrew said as he got up. And right before he walked away, I swore I saw him wink at me.

Mr. Lee was much different than other teachers when it came to grading. Where other teachers prefer to collect tests and then grade them on their own time, Mr. Lee liked to take tests as soon as we handed them in and then begin grading them. He says that it give him less work outside of school. So, what we do is we go up to his desk and hand him the test when we’re done. We sit down for a few minutes, and then he calls our name once it’s graded. I think the other teachers should really start doing this as well. It takes pressure off them, and it takes stress off the student.

I had just sat down from handing him my test when Andrew got up to go give Mr. Lee his. As he was walking back to his desk, had I not been already looking at him, I wouldn’t have seen him staring at me the entire way back. I began to feel like I was being hunted.

It wasn’t long until my name was called. I walked up and got my test; though it wasn’t my grade I was interested in this time. I knew it was a passing grade anyway. Nearly as soon as I sat back down, Mr. Lee called Andrew’s name. Though just about everyone in the room was talking at this point, so if you weren’t listening for it, you wouldn’t have heard it.

Andrew walked up and I saw him exchange a few words with Mr. Lee, who seemed to have a smile on his face. He then turned around and looked straight at me, with a smile that could blind the sun. He began to walk over to me, at which I began to brace myself. However, I didn’t want to seem too cold, so I stood up when he got over to me.

“I got an A!” I smiled, though not for him. It was nice to know that I can bring someone up from failing to getting an A.

“That’s great!” I was happy for him, but I didn’t want him to touch me. However I lost that battle fairly quickly when he opened his arms and pulled me into the tightest bear hug, literally lifting me off the ground. My arms awkwardly hung at my sides.

“Thank you so much! I really couldn’t have done this without you,” he said as he placed me back on the floor. I readjusted my hair slightly, pushing my bangs back out of my face as I gave him a small smile.

“It was really no trouble.” He smile dulled.

“Well, then would you mind staying after school today? Just one more day, I really want to go over those atom things again.” I suppose one more day wouldn’t hurt. I nodded.

“Uh, sure. No problem.” He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then the bell sounded, and silenced whatever was about to pass through his lips. Instead, he just smiled and then walked back to his seat to get his stuff, while I hurried up and got out of the classroom before he had the chance to come back.

Throughout the entire week I had been keeping Aubrey and Eli updated on everything that was going on with Andrew. Eli, just like me, agreed that something didn’t quite seem right about what was going on. Aubrey had guessed that he wanted something out of it, but he had never asked for anything, nor given hints to wanting anything.

I was sitting at lunch with Aubrey when Eli came over, late as always. He placed his bag on the table, and looked over at me expectantly.

“So, did he pass?” I chewed for a moment so I could speak; I had a bite of Aubrey’s sandwich in my mouth.

“Yeah, with flying colors.” I rolled my eyes.

“You sound upset that you got a boy from failing to passing,” Aubrey piped in between bites. I wiped my mouth with a napkin.

“No, not upset. I just don’t like the whole situation. And he asked me to stay after again today, just to go over atoms one more time.” I saw Eli’s confused face out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s kind of strange,” he said.

“You’re telling me. I’ll just be so happy when this whole thing is over. I never should have offered.”

“I told you.” I heard his voice from behind me, though I didn’t bother turning around. He came and walked up and stood at the edge of the table, so all three of us could see him. I looked over at Axel, a bit annoyed.

“Why do I keep seeing you everywhere I go? Do you have me bugged or something?” He snickered slightly, like a small child had just made a corny joke.

“Well, we do go to the same school. We’re bound to run in the same circles at some point.” He looked at me with a menacing touch to his eyes, though no, not menacing, but there was something very strong in his green eyes. “So, I heard your little student passed, huh?” I furrowed my brows.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“He’s basically letting everybody within a ten foot radius know. And considering that the halls are only about twelve feet wide, it’s kind of hard to miss.”

“He’s really that proud of himself?” Eli asked.

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s his first good grade since kindergarten. I’d be shitting myself too. Someone should give him a sticker.” Eli and Aubrey laughed, and though while I’ll admit it was humorous, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

“Hey, are you staying after for that history extra credit?” Aubrey asked Axel. He looked over at her, and when she did, her lips curved the tiniest of smiles.

“Yeah, I'm gonna have to. I’m on the verge of failing.”

“I could help you out a little bit, if you wanted.” Aubrey said a bit shyly. Axel looked at me.

“Nah, that’s okay. I’m not Andrew.” He smiled smugly before turning and walking away. I sighed and looked at Eli.

“He makes me want to do bad things to myself.” Eli chuckled.

“Don’t listen to him.”

“That’s what I'm trying to do.” I paused for a moment, and just stared at Eli. He had cut his hair at some point recently; it wasn’t completely falling in his eyes anymore. His hazel eyes were more exposed, and the light in the room was making them look a bluish color. “Hey, so I've been meaning to ask you, did anything ever happen with that girl you like?” He looked at me genuinely confused.

“Girl?”

“Yeah, uh, Lola I think you said her name was,” Aubrey said.

“Oh, uh no. Nothing ever happened.” I felt bad for Eli sometimes. He hasn’t had a girlfriend since Holly, and I think that made him scared to get into a relationship again.

“Well, have you done anything to show that you’re interested?” I asked. He looked up at Aubrey and I slowly.

“Eh, I’m just trying to be a really good friend right now. You know, show her how supportive I can be. Her and her boyfriend aren’t doing so well. So I’m trying to be comforting.” I patted him on the shoulder.

“Just hang in here. Any girl would have to be an idiot to not see how wonderful you are.” He shook his head slowly.

“I don’t know. I mean, I think she only sees me as a friend still.”

“Yeah, but if you can’t be her boyfriend, then the next best thing is to just be her friend.” Aubrey smiled when she spoke. She loved talking about relationships.

“What’s she look like?” I asked.

“Beautiful,” Eli breathed. He suddenly didn’t seem all here. He looked like he was lost in thought, thinking about this girl. “Her hair is really long brown, like a chocolate color, and she has the most amazing eyes, big and wide, and her smile practically sets off a firecracker in my heart. And I just get so happy every time I talk to her,” he paused. His smile drifted down his face, until it was no more. “But so sad at the same time, because I know she doesn’t feel the way I do.” I could see it in his eyes that it pained him to think about her, as much as it made him happy. I knew his feeling all too well. It was how I felt whenever I thought about Nick.

“Eli,” I said. He turned to look at me. “I bet that if you told her exactly that, that it would leave her speechless. In a good way.” He raised his eyebrows.

“You think?”

“Yeah, are you kidding? Girls eat that stuff up,” Aubrey said. I saw Eli smile just as the bell rang. Eli’s smile was something of contagious. When he smiled, I just couldn’t help but feel a little happy too. As he got up and began walking, I put my arm around his shoulder. He looked over at me with a small smile.

“You’re gonna be just fine, kid.” His smile brightened and he put his arm around me too. Eli was the only person I knew that could put a smile on my face no matter what I was going through.

As I walked through the sea of people at the end of the day, I felt a smile crawling up onto my face. This was the last day I would have to be one on one with Andrew. And I felt somewhat bad thinking about it that way, because he was a really nice guy, but a little too nice. And something still felt very strange about the whole thing. But this was the last day so I wasn’t going to worry about that anymore.

As I walked down the halls I somewhat expected Andrew to run up behind me and grab me or lift me off the ground, but no one appeared. There wasn’t even as much as a sound from behind me.

When I turned into the room, I was slightly surprised to see that Andrew was already at the table in the back with his book out. I stood in the doorway a little dumbfounded. I knew that he was excited and happy that he had passed, but I never thought he would be taking school this seriously now. I proceeded inside quietly, and I didn’t say anything when I sat down across from him either. However, he looked up at me with a big smile.

“Hey, there’s the girl I wanted to see.” I grinned, but only slightly.

“So, it’s just atoms you want to go over?” He seemed a little taken back by how business I was, but I really wasn’t in the mood for small talk. He nodded, and I grabbed his book and slid it over towards me and began to explain the things in the book to him. All was going as usual, except for the fact that I noticed that his head, and eyes, didn’t quite seem to be in the book. He was staring at me intently, like he was trying to figure out what I was made of. Or he was trying to catch my scent so he could hunt me down later. Though, as animalistic as it seemed, I tried to ignore it and just simply teach him.

“Okay, so atoms are made up of what?” I asked him, trying to keep my mind on what I was doing.

“Uh, molecules,” I smiled hardly.

“Right.” I was about to ask him another question when I felt something on my hand that shouldn’t have been there. I quickly looked down at my hand, which had been palm down on the table, but was now covered by Andrew’s hand. Every part of me that was trying to concentrate just burst into a thousand pieces. “Uh, Andrew?” He smiled at me in what some girls would call a sexy way; however it just made me want to puke. I tried to slip my hand out from under him, but his grip tightened.

“Oh, come on; don’t tell me that you don’t feel it too.” I furrowed my brows at him.

“I don’t know what you're feeling, but all I'm feeling right now is sick.” He moved his chair closer to me.

“Well, then maybe I should take you back to my place; nurse you back to health.” I looked around the room for someone who could help me, or at least lend me a distraction. However, there were few students here today considering it was a Friday, and the teacher had stepped out for a moment. I was trapped. He moved his face closer to me, like he was going to try to kiss me, but I moved my own head back and put my hands on his chest and tried to push him away. I wasn’t that strong though. “Oh come on, don’t make this hard for me.” His voice had grown rougher, though not in a sexy way; in a hunter kind of way, like he was legitimately getting annoyed with me. “Stop being so difficult!”

“Andrew, stop! What are you talking about?” He finally stopped pushing towards me, though he still looked like a snake that could pounce at any second.

“I just,” he stopped himself. He then took his hands off of me and moved away a little bit. He didn’t look defeated though, just annoyed. “Look, I'm just trying to win some money here, ok?” I stared at him like he was speaking a different language.

“Money?” He sighed irritated.

“Yeah. Me and the boys heard about everything that happened to you, with the whole break up and the forest and everything. And, hey, don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t my idea, but they boys were wondering, since you were a freak in the head, if you’d be a freak in the bed too.” He smiled smugly, like it was some great accomplishment. I had no words. “And if I did get to sleep with you, my buddy Ronny said he’d give me a hundred bucks. And I could really use that money Kar, the stereo in my car could really use a nice tune up.” I stared at him. There were so many things and thoughts running through my head at once that I couldn’t seem to move my mouth or operate my vocal cords. Instead, I stared at him. I noticed everything about him, his eyes, his hair. He looked like such a nice guy. But I more than anyone should know that looks mean nothing.

Without a word I picked up my bag from beside my feet and ran out of the classroom. It was like as soon as I moved, I set off an alarm in my body that triggered my tears. I tried with everything within me not to cry horrendously, but I could still feel them pricking at my eyes. I wasn’t sure where I was running to, all I knew was that I wanted to get away from Andrew. I ran down the hall towards the main doors of the school. I saw Axel in the doorway of one of the classrooms I ran past.

“Karlee?” I heard him call to me, but I just kept running.

I burst through the front doors of the school, and was slapped in the face by a wave of cold air and sprinkles of snow. I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself, and collapsed myself along the curve and just cried. I had known that the entire school was laughing at me but I didn’t know they had turned it into a game show too. I suddenly felt so vulnerable, so open, and so unprotected. The only thing I felt like doing at that moment was crawling into my bed and never coming out. Though, I don’t see how I could even have the will or motivation to do that when I couldn’t even bring myself to get up and drive home. I have never in my life felt as weak as I do now.

I heard the doors open, and I grew scared thinking it was Andrew. I lifted my head up, with red watery eyes, praying for mercy. I had never in my life been so happy to see Axel. He looked at me for a moment, probably taking in my appearance and everything that had just happened. He was breathing a little heavy, and I could see his hot breath in the air again. I turned my head back down and sniffled, trying to get a hold of myself.

“Go ahead, laugh,” I said as loud as I could get my voice to go. The only thing I heard was his breathing above me.

“Are you ok?” His voice sounded different than I had ever heard it. He didn’t sound sarcastic, or mean. He didn’t sound irritated or annoyed. He sounded like he was genuinely concerned about me. I wiped my nose.

“Yeah, great.” I wasn’t looking at him, and I heard his feet moving, so I figured that he would just walk away. However, I was greatly surprised to see that he sat himself down beside me. I looked over at him, not as many tears in my eyes this time, though still red. “What are you doing here?” He looked at me but didn’t say a word. His eyes looked like glass marbles in the falling snow. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for walking out of class?” He looked forward, staring through the snow it seemed. Small little flakes were getting stuck in his hair and on his eye lashes.

“I suppose that doesn’t matter. I’m good as suspended anyway.” I furrowed my brows slightly and sniffled again.

“Why?” I shook my head slightly and rustled my hand through my hair to get the snow out.

“I punched Andrew.” I looked at him. He didn’t look at me and nothing in his position changed nor his voice. He spoke as if he had said nothing of importance, but it meant more to me than I wanted it to.

“Thank you.” I spoke extremely softly, like I didn’t have the ability to make my voice any more audible. He finally glanced over my way, a soft touch in his green eyes.

“Hey, no one should be treated like that. Even if it is you.” I couldn’t help but smile slightly, though it quickly disappeared.

“But, how did you know what happened?” He began staring out through the snow again. There was a large forest close to our school, and it looked absolutely beautiful in the wintertime, when it was sprinkled with the little pieces of ice.

“I don’t know exactly, and you don’t have to tell me.” His eyes made their way to mine again. “But when I told you that you shouldn’t tutor Andrew, I wasn’t trying to insult you. I was trying to warn you.” I glanced down; mad at myself for not listening to him. I heard the shuffling of him next to me, and I realized that he was getting up. I looked up, expecting him to walk away, but he surprised me by staying right where he was. And even more so, he offered me a hand to help me up. I took it, and he pulled me up seemingly without effort. Once I was up, he didn’t release my hand right away, and I couldn’t help but get caught by his features. But it wasn’t his eyes that caught me right away this time. It was his hair, sprinkled with little specs of white, with his bangs falling nearly perfectly over his eyes, which looked like a glossy jade in the snow. His skin was pale, though his lips were faint pink, and I could still see his breath in the cold air.

He then nearly suddenly dropped my hand and turned and began walking to his car. I watched him walk away, nearly disappearing into the fog the snow had made, when he abruptly stopped. He turned and looked at me, and then motioned for me to go to where he was.

“Well, come on.” As I walked, I called to him.

“Where are we going?” He shrugged when I reached him.

“I don’t know.” I stared, confused. He must have read my face because he put his hands in his pockets and shrugged slightly again. His eyes met mine with certain sincerity. “I just, don’t think you should be alone right now.” Without another word, he closed the space between him and his car, and got inside the driver’s seat. Just the same, wordlessly, I climbed into the passenger seat. As he pulled out, I wiped my eyes. I hadn’t even noticed I had stopped crying.