Ocean of Secrets

The week dragged on dully with unpleasant evening school sessions with my father, and because Aurora had begun to ignore me. I didn’t know what to do with myself, but I’m not saying that I wasn’t grateful for her not being around to torture me.

Bridget continuously pointed out that Malachai was the reason for this quiet, peacefulness. Truthfully though, I suspected that Aurora was just planning some kind of big revenge.

I sat in the lunchroom alone on Friday because Bridget had gone home early. She faked an upset stomach so that she could go and watch a show on TV, which meant that I was going to have to ride the bus home.

My lunch tray sat untouched on the table in front of me as I pondered what Malachai had planned for tonight. I was free to go because I told my mom and she said that she would try and take care of my father. She was really excited about my ‘date’.

I wondered if Malachai was the kind of guy to kiss on the first date or if he waited until the clichéd third. I hoped that he would try to kiss me, but I also was terrified of the same thing. What if we kissed and I didn’t do it right? Would he laugh or give me a funny look, or would he be a gentleman and just not go on another date with me?

A tray of pasta plopped down across from me on the table and I jumped in surprise. The cafeteria was full of senseless chattering so I didn’t hear him walking towards me, but when I looked up at him I smiled politely.

“Hey Adam,” Adam Banks was in my year and had been one of my close friends during middle school. We fell apart as he joined baseball and the jocks, while I created my own outcast group. His milky, brown eyes were sparkling and I could tell he was in a good mood. It’s funny how much you remember about a person.

“Lucy,” A smile was lighting his perfectly symmetrical face, and his brown hair was slightly disheveled in a cute, boyish way. “This is going to seem strange since we haven’t spoken in forever.” I quirked my eyebrows at him and he clasped his hands together, “But I have a question.”

“Go ahead.” I suddenly found myself comparing him to Malachai. To put it bluntly, Adam was adorable, but there was no competition in my mind.

“…with me?” I didn’t hear the first half of his question and so I asked him to repeat himself. “Would you like to go out, tonight, with me?”

I didn’t want to hurt Adam’s feelings because we had been friends, but I also didn’t want to ruin any chance I had with Malachai. “I would really like that.” The smile on his face widened and I rushed out the rest of my rejection, “But I’m going out with someone else tonight.”

I watched as Adam’s smile faded and I felt like slapping myself. Obviously I didn’t do that right or something. He looked around the cafeteria slowly and I felt bad for hurting his feelings. He then asked, “Does he go to our school?”

“He did,” was my reply, “But he graduated a couple years ago.” I answered without thinking and my cheeks reddened due to the fact that I had labeled my outing with Malachai as a date. I hoped that if he ever found out that he wouldn’t mind.

I looked over at the table with all of Adam’s friends. Aurora and her posse were over there and everyone was casting weird glances our way. They seemed to be confused, but Aurora looked angry. Looks like I’m still stealing the attention away from her.

I looked down at my tray and began to push food around while I waited for him to get up and leave, but he never did. Adam sat across from me, in his football jersey, and ate his lunch. He then proceeded to make small talk.

“How has your family been? Is your dad still trying to get you straight A’s?” I looked around us and, though they weren’t gawking, noticed that my peers were stealing short glances at the two of us every now and then. It wasn’t normal for anyone other than Bridget to sit by me; especially not the football team’s quarterback.

For a long moment I was quiet. I don’t even think that he knew Belle existed. “We’re good. My parents had a second child around six years ago, and yeah he is. We have nightly school sessions before dinner.” We shared a laugh and I was grateful for his good mood. I would have hated to make Adam Banks upset.

“That sounds awful,” I hoped he was referring to the school sessions with my dad and not Belle. “Is your sibling a brother or sister?”

“I have a little sister.” His question sounded a little idiotic and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Her name is Belle.”

Adam nodded his head as if that made perfect sense to him. “Is she as cute as you were as a kid?”

He stared directly at my face and his question brought a blush to my cheeks. “She’s adorable,” I realized that my right hand had unconsciously begun to twirl my hair. I placed my hands in my lap and intertwined the fingers.

Adam nodded again and the bell rang. Neither of us moved for a moment, but eventually he stood up. “I guess I’ll see you around?”

I nodded my assent but didn’t look at him. Malachai, even though my fantasy of us being together would probably never come true, was my main focus right now. I stood up and looked around the almost empty cafeteria. Today was going by way too slowly for my taste.

It was nice to know that Adam wanted to go out with me, and the thought helped to raise my self-esteem a little bit. Malachai was different from Adam though. He hadn’t known me for practically his whole life, and he was older and more mysterious. Adam was the all American boy with a few nerdy quirks. Just because Adam liked me didn’t necessarily guarantee the same with Malachai.