Shaded Beauty

Shaya sat at the kitchen table, completely and undisputingly bored. It was Sunday evening, and after a whole weekend of chores, homework, and reading. She was left a few hours of free time that she didn’t know how to fill. There was nothing on TV, but she didn’t feel like wasting her time watching some mindless show anyway, and her book had been finished earlier that afternoon without anything to pick up after.

She picked up her phone once more, only to see that the front screen remained blank. Lucas, why aren’t you answering me? Shaya hadn’t heard from her friend anymore that weekend, and she almost wondered if she had done something wrong Friday night. To her, it was one of the best nights they’d had in a while. Not once did he try and put a move on her, although she was sure it was because his brother Max was around them all night, and their light and playful conversations reminded her just how much she liked being around him.

She looked at her phone again. Sunday was almost always their catch-up day, and after two calls and a text practically begging him to hang out, she was getting worried. He’s never ignored me, so why is he not giving me even a hint of communication?

“What’s with all the pouting?”

Shaya looked up as her mom walked into the kitchen and made her way towards the fridge. “I’m not pouting,” She replied, but even as the words came out of her mouth she could tell she had just reinforced her mother’s thoughts. “Lucas isn’t responding to me.”

“So?”

“So he always responds to me. How do I know that he’s not dead or kidnapped or something?”

Her mother just laughed, “I think Kelly would let us know if something was wrong.”

Shaya sighed, knowing she was right. Lucas’s mom and hers were just as close as the two teenagers were. It was both a blessing and a downfall; they trusted one another to allow the two to roam around without question, but one slip-up and both of them would know before an excuse could be made.

“Well, I’m bored.” She continued, although she knew her mother wouldn’t hand her any sympathy.

“You could always go upstairs and help Sam clean her room.” Shaya crinkled her nose, although her mom didn’t see, “there’s dishes to be done, the bathroom could use a good scrubbing, you could bring out the mop-“

“Okay, mom, I get it,” She replied as she got out of her seat, and the victorious smile on her mom’s face was evident. “I’ll go wallow in my monotony upstairs.”

“Don’t forget,” her mom continued as she followed her out of the room. “I need you home tomorrow after school to take Sam to get her car.”

“Thank god,” Shaya muttered. She enjoyed her morning car rides with Lucas, but every day was a guessing game of whether they’d be late or not, and she really didn’t like taking the risk. I’ve got two tardies under my belt, I don’t need any more.

As she entered her bedroom, Shaya took another look at her phone, only to see it remained blank. What’s going on with you? She asked herself, knowing an answer wasn’t going to be available until tomorrow. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, she picked up the phone one last time. *don’t forget, tomorrow’s you’re last day to take me to school* She then hit the send button before walking to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

The next morning, Shaya gave a huge sigh of relief when Lucas’s car pulled into her driveway. He hadn’t responded to her even that morning and her worry soon escalated as the daytime minutes ticked away.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked as she climbed into the passenger seat. “I was starting to worry you were dead or something.”

“Sorry,” he replied as he gave her a quick glance, “had a busy Saturday so I passed out early last night.”

“Really? It looks like you got no sleep at all.” It was true. His hair was a mess, his shirt looked like it had been thrown on half-heartedly, and exhaustion was etched into every corner of his face.

“Yeah,” He gave a nervous laugh, “You know how you can sleep too much it feels like you got none at all? That’s what I’m going through.”

She wasn’t convinced, “Are you sick?” She reached up to place her hand on his forehead, and he flinched for a moment before relaxing into her touch. It doesn’t seem warm. Then again, maybe it’s something else.

“I’m fine, Shaya,” He looked over and gave her a friendly smile, although she wasn’t completely buying it, “Really.”

Defeated, she changed the subject. “So how was the game Saturday?”

That seemed to brighten his spirits as his grin grew wider. “It was great, and by great I mean I scored the winning touchdown and qualified us for the playoffs.”

Lucas’s excitement was uncontainable, and he replayed every detail of the game as they made their way to school. Shaya was glad too; as soon as they walked through the front doors, everyone swarmed to his side with congratulations and praise. Lucas basked in his glory, and as his friend she was just as happy. Hopefully this will drag him out of whatever funk he was in this morning.

“Can you believe it?” As soon as Shaya had entered her classroom, Katrina had pounced on her. “The ONE game I miss this year and it’s the best of them all. You have no idea how furious I was when Dean told me Saturday night.”

Shaya laughed, the cheerful atmosphere to infective to ignore. “Hey, this means you’ve got one more game to go to.”

“Hopefully. Dean said it’s in some little town over two hours away. Plus dance is getting more intense since we have a show late November.” She sighed, “I could kill Lucas for letting me down once again.”

Shaya tried not to roll her eyes. The whole school is praising him, and Kat just wants to murder him for making the missed game a great one. “Well, I will tag along if you decide to go. I think Lucas would kill me if I didn’t make his playoff game.” She turned around as a group of girls entered the room before noticing that something was off. “Where’s Mr. Rylander?”

“Huh,” Katrina seemed to notice their teacher’s absence for the first time as well. “That’s weird, he’s always here early.”

Panic began to rise within Shaya’s chest. What if he’s gone? He didn’t always look the happiest here, but I can’t imagine we’d been terrible enough to make him quit after a week. Was I not even enough to make him stay?

Suddenly Dean skidded into the room two second before the bell rang, and Shaya let go of the monstrous breath she was holding as a disgruntled yet present Mr. Rylander followed suit. Thank god.

“Yes!” Dean cheered as he put his hands up, “Don’t worry everyone, there’s no need to panic. I’m here.” Shaya and Kat shared a knowing glance. It’s obvious the attention has gone straight to his ego.

“Thank you, Mr. Kunkel, now could you please sit down so I can see who else is here?” Mr. Rylander asked, and Shaya felt a glimmer of pride as Dean’s grin faltered and he sulked over to his desk. I could definitely get used to this.

It seemed that the good mood of the weekend had transformed itself into classroom enthusiasm, because everyone was more than willing to dive into discussion that morning. Even Mr. Rylander seemed pleasantly surprised as a cluster of hands shot up once class had begun. Not only did it provide for an entertaining period but a short one as well. Before anyone realized it, the bell had rung and nearly every student was scrambling to put their books away.

“Oh, Shaya, a moment please?”

Shaya’s heart quickened as he called her up. What could he possibly want? I haven’t done anything wrong…have I? She turned to Kat, who was giving her another one of her patented inquisitive looks. Shaya just shrugged before nodding to her friend to head out without her.

“Yes?” Shaya asked as she approached his desk.

Colton smiled at her as he looked up, “Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong. I was just in the office this morning and they talked to me about Thursday’s open house.”

Shaya nodded her head in acknowledgement. So that’s where he was this morning.

“Now they told me you had agreed to help Mrs. Greely when she was here, and well…I don’t have a single clue what I’m supposed to do.”

Shaya resisted the urge to laugh at his admitted helplessness. Still, she couldn’t ignore the excitement about spending more time with him. “Of course I can help.”

“Are you available after school tomorrow?”

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Thank you,” He replied genuinely. “I’d offer you extra credit for your help, but to be honest I don’t think you’ll need it.”

Pride and accomplishment filled her, and she couldn’t help but grin madly. “It’s alright. I signed up to help anyways.”

“Here,” He quickly scribbled on a note of paper before handing it over to her. “An excuse if I make you late to your next class.”

“Thank you,” She replied before hesitantly heading towards the door as other students began to file in for class. “See you tomorrow,” continued, and he nodded at her before she entered the hallway.

******

“So what did Mr. Rylander want?”

It was lunchtime, and both Dean and Katrina had swarmed Shaya with questions as soon as they sat down. She tried to act annoyed, but deep down she was gleaming with the attention.

“It was nothing. He just wants me to help with the open house Thursday.”

“Wow,” Katrina slumped back in her seat, a wicked grin covering her face. “Looks like someone’s become a teacher’s pet.”

Dean snorted, “Shay’s always a teachers pet.”

“You’re both wrong,” Her eyes narrowed. “I had signed up to help Mrs. Greely before, it’s not like he singled me out.”

“But I bet he would have.” Shaya glared at her friend, and the other girl laughed as she put her hands up. “Hey, I’m not judging here. I would have signed up in a heartbeat if he’d have asked for it.”

“I’m still not sure if I like the guy,” Dean continued. “He’s lightened up, I’ll give him that, but I still think he wishes torture upon us all.”

“That’s not true, you just don’t know him.” She immediately regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

“Tell us Shaya, how well do you know him?”

“Is there something you’re not telling us?”

“What are you hiding?”

“Nothing!” She nearly shrieked as she felt her cheeks burn, “Look, he’s just been more relaxed in detention. It’s his first teaching job, give the guy a break.” Dean and Katrina shared a look but didn’t say anything else. “Where’s Lucas?” She asked both in an attempt to change the subject and an honest inquiry to his whereabouts. A quick scan of the lunch room told her he was nowhere to be seen.

“Who knows,” Dean shrugged, unfazed. “He better hurry up, though, or he’ll miss lunch.”

“He wasn’t looking good this morning when he picked me up.” Worry began to rise in her as she began to pack her things. “I’m going to find him-“

“Shaya, Lucas is a big boy,” Katrina tried to calm her down. “Knowing him, he’s probably having a tryst with some blonde in a closet somewhere, thanks to his newfound fame.” That image didn’t do anything to relieve her anxiety. “You’ll see him next period. Now tell me more about this open house…”

Katrina was right, and Shaya did see Lucas next period, although it wasn’t for long. He rushed in right before the bell rang out of breath and as soon as the lights were dim and the teacher began his monotonic drone, his head hit the desk and he passed out. She tried as hard as she could to pay attention, but worry-filled questions filled her brain as she shot continuous glances at the boy sitting next to her. Sure, he slept through Physics nearly every day, but with his previous actions she wasn’t sure this was normal.

‘Maybe he is just tired’ she tried to rationalize. Everyone has those days, maybe this was his. Plus, if Kat was right, he probably is tired with all the attention he’s received. By the end of the period, she had decided to let the subject slide. If something was going on, he would tell me. He always does.