Right By Your Side

Lennox’s P.O.V.

“Now that your one week trial is up, it’s time to get down to business,” Mr. David began as everyone walked in.

“I want everyone to look at their partner,” he instructed. I looked at Andrew and he stared back.

“This is the person you’re going to spend every waking moment with for the next eighteen weeks,” he said. Everyone’s eyes went big. Was he serious? Why on earth would we want to spend every waking moment with each other? Why would I? How could I? I’m always by myself. How am I supposed to deal with someone by my side, all the time?

“Andrew and Lennox, be my guinea pigs will you?” he called us and motioned for us to go to the front. We stood up and walked to the teacher as he brought something out from the closet.

“You two will be attached at the hip, literally,” he said holding a long sort of belt/rope looking thing out. This couldn’t be good.

“Oh joy,” I muttered.

“Each end will be tied to your guy’s hips. You are to stay attached at all hours of the day. That means you wake up attached, you go to bed attached, you shower attached. You guy’s will go everywhere together. Let’s put it on, shall we?” he went on. He had to be joking, right?

First, he attached one end to Andrew and then attached the other end to my waist, making it tight. In between us, we had about a three-foot gap. But that was as far as we could go.

“So is there some magical point to all this?” I asked.

“The point is that you are going to have to learn to put up with your partner through thick and thin. Just like marriage. Now inside the buckle is a tiny little sensor. If you untie your selves, it will send an alarm to my computer. For every hour you’re untied, we take away six inches of rope, bringing you two even closer together. You will also be docked points, bringing your overall grade lower. If you are apart for a minute more than six hours, you will fail the class,” he explained. Next, he brought out more ropes, handing one to each couple.

“Not only will you be tied together, you’ll each be given a small video camera, to capture any video diaries you may have. Any questions so far?” he asked.

“How do I switch out of this class?” I asked.

“You can’t,” he laughed.

“My mother would never approve of this!” a girl shouted.

“You see, I already talked to your parents long before you even knew you were going to be in this class. Each and every one of you were chosen,” he said.

“And what if I just don’t want to be here?” I asked.

“Then you can take a fail. Or you can complete the course and earn double the credit than a normal class,” he offered and a few people gasped. This was completely insane. I don’t think I’ve met anyone so insane! This is nuts!

“Now remember when I said to think about why you guy’s had all the same classes, well now I’m sure you can figure out why. It would be awfully hard to complete this assignment if each of you were in different classes,” he clarified. Just as he stopped talking, the bell rang and everyone stood up.

“Have fun!” he shouted as we all walked out. Without even thinking, I turned the corner to go my way to my next class, but I was jerked back. I looked at Andrew and gave him a ‘WTF’ look. I sighed and followed him to class. Great. Now my daily routine was being disturbed. So not fun!

The rest of school went by pretty easy. But once school was out, that’s when we started to have problems. I wanted to go home, while he wanted to stay for football practice.

“It’s pointless to stay for practice! It’s not like you can actually play! Not unless you drag me around like a rag doll!” I argued.

“It’s my senior year, Lennox! I have to play! You know that,” he argued.

“How?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s go talk to Mr. David,” he sighed. When we got to Mr. David’s room, he let us in.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“We have a problem,” Andrew began.

“He wants to play football while I’m still attached!” I said holding the rope.

“I hate to break it to you, but it’s not gonna work,” he laughed.

“I know that. Can’t we just untie ourselves for practice and games?” he tried.

“I’m afraid not,” he denied.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” I asked.

“Well you can either give up football for the semester or you can both take a fail. You have to choose between football and Lennox,” he told Andrew. I waited for him to choose football. After all, he barely knew me. There was no way I expected him to choose me. He barely knew me.

“I guess I should go turn in my uniform,” he sighed.

“What? You’re giving up football?” I asked shocked. Suddenly my sarcasm seemed to diminish. Was he serious?

“I’m not gonna let either of us fail,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” I said. And I truly meant it. In all my life, no one had ever chose me. Something else always came first, whether it be drugs, another person, or anything else. I was never thought about first. This changed a lot., and maybe even softened my personality a little.

*****

“So where are we going now?” he asked me as we got in his truck.

“Let’s stop by my place so I can pick up some stuff, and then we’ll go to your place,” I suggested. He nodded his head and looked around in the car for something.

“Here you can plug your music in,” he offered handing me a cord. I thanked him and plugged my phone in which held all my music. I turned on a song from Gloriana ‘Lead Me On’.

“You like country music?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah I do. Why?” I asked.

“I don’t anyone who like’s country music. I guess I never would have guessed you would like it,” he said shrugging his shoulders.

“I love it. It’s what I grew up listening to,” I told him and he nodded his head. When we got to my house, he pulled up in the driveway. I opened my door and stepped out but found myself stuck. I turned around to look at Andrew and saw he had done the same thing.

“One of us has to get back in,” he said.

“I can’t. Your car is to high. I would have to climb in but I can’t cause the rope is too tight,” I said.

“Alright I’ll climb in and get out your way,” he decided. Once we were out, we walked inside and set our stuff down.

“Where are your parents?” he asked as I shut the door.

“Uh- I just live with my mom, and I don’t know,” I answered, looking around and not finding her.

“My room is this way,” I told him, motioning to the back.

“Cool room,” he noted as we walked in.

“Thanks,” I said. He followed me around while I packed some clothes for a few nights. I grabbed a couple books, my laptop, and purse.

“I’m ready,” I finished and held my duffel bag.

“I’ll take it,” he offered and grabbed it.

“Thank you,” I said. We drove for about fifteen minutes until we came to a large house.

“This is your house?” I asked shocked.

“Yeah,” he said and we got out of the car. When he opened up the door, we walked into the foyer.

“Mom! Dad!” he called out. I heard heels clicking on the floor and a woman came up to us. Suddenly I became very nervous. What if his mom didn’t like me? What if she hated me?

“Hey honey! Who’s this?” she asked after she hugged him.

“This is Lennox, my partner for Relationships for Life,” he introduced me.

“It’s so good to meet you! I put some extra blankets in your room for you two. And Lennox, honey, help yourself to whatever you want!” she greeted, pulling me into a hug.

“Thank you, Mrs. Williams,” I said gratefully. She was so nice, I almost didn’t believe it.

“Oh call me Kate!” she said. I nodded my head and she soon left.

“Ready for the grand tour?” he asked me smiling. I nodded my head and he took me into the kitchen.

“Like my mom said, help yourself to whatever you want. Are you thirsty?” he asked me.

“Yeah, water is fine,” I replied. He handed me a glass of water and I thanked him. I followed him out and he showed me to the dining room, the living room, and the rec room. Next, we went upstairs and he showed me his room, that’s also attached to his own bathroom.

“I’ve never met a guy with a clean room. Hell, my room isn’t even this clean,” I laughed. Hours went by, and we were getting along pretty well. I was actually starting to like it here better than at home.

“So you can sleep on the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor,” he said putting some blankets right next to the bed on the floor.

“This is your home, I’ll sleep on the floor,” I said shaking my head.

“Don’t be silly. You’re a guest and girl. You’ll sleep on the bed,” he said smiling.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Positive,” he said confidently. He was really surprising me. I never knew he could be so sweet. But he chose me over football, let me put on my country music, held my bag for me, and is sleeping on the floor so I can sleep on the bed.