Life Like This

Anne
Sixth period wasn't too bad today. I came in class and so far found lots of unfamiliar faces. I took a seat in the middle of the room and waited for the bell to ring. Minutes later the classroom filled up and teacher emerged from his office.

“Okay class, settle down. I know it's second day of school, so I'll be easy on you guys for today.” Announced the old man. “Our text book wont arrive till the day after tomorrow, so we won't be starting lessons till then. Just let me get attendance done and I'll give you the rest of class to do other homework you have for other classes you might have or you kids can just chat.”

He went calling on names and marking them on his roster. I spaced out thinking again. I looked at our teacher and then around the room and felt a comforting vibe. Our teacher, he kinda gives me this idea of a fun, understanding, slightly tolerant uncle. Hopefully I think he is.

“Okay, you guys are free, just keep the volume to about a four. Six, tops, okay? Okay.” The teacher then walked back into his office. A minute later music started to pour out of his speakers, which I just now noticed. It seems that I was one of the few who weren't talking. I looked around the room looking for his speakers. I found on on the ceiling above my head, another by his desk and two in the back corner of the room. He was playing The Rolling Stones. Man I love this teacher already. I caught myself smiling up to the speaker above me. Oh god everyone else probably think I'm crazy. I decided to actually get some work done and so I picked up my bag off the floor and looked for my spanish notebook. It was when a voice came from behind me that I got startled.

“You have a really cute smile” Said a the guy behind my seat.

I had the look of confusion and turned to face him. “What?” I asked thinking I might've heard him wrong.

“You smiling.” He answered vaguely
“Oh my god, you saw that?” I sounding obviously embarrassed.

He looked down at his desk, half laughing then looked up again to speak.

“It's okay. It's Rolling Stones. It's good music you know. Worth smiling for If you ask me.” He said with half a smile.

I gave him a friendly smile and nodded, turning myself to face forward again. A second later I turned back again to find him already looking at me. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he held out his hand to me.

“My name's William Anderson. Will for short. Will The Great if you're one of those who likes to live on the edge.”

I shook his hand, slightly confused about the impression he'd given me.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Anne.”

“I know...” He answered, giving me the creeps. How would you know? Wait. Do I know this guy?
Just as I was to ask him, he continued his sentence. “...I heard when he called you.” He said indicating 'He' as in the teacher.

“Oh...”I said “...well, you have an impressive power of observation.” I smiled at him as he did to me. There was a silence and for a moment of two we held our gaze into each other's eyes. I was trying to see if he's a normal guy and perhaps he was doing the same with me. The bell rang and snapped me back from space. Quickly I took my notebook and shoved it back in my purse and I made my way to the hall. I was relieved to go to seventh period. Seventh period meant an hour closer to going home. It meant an hour of easy spanish class with people I actually know. My thoughts we're scattered again. I was oblivious to the people around me, the only thing I thought was about room 213, spanish class. I walked and saw only blurs of people, heard only muffled sounds of people talking and thought only of my destination. Suddenly I felt a hand grab me by the waist and pull me into a tight hug from behind. I turned quickly with the intention of hitting someone only to see Joel.

“Holy crap Joel, you scared me.” I said pulling him by the arms into a proper hug.

He chuckled and pulled away from me. “How many guys do you actually know that hugs you?”

“Uhmm All of you guys. If you hadn't notice there's quite a number of you.” I answered.

He smiled at me agreeing to my point. “Okay fine, yeah you're right. Here give me your bag, I'll carry it.”

“We're almost there, I can do it.” I told him, but still he insisted and took the bag from me anyways.

“Any plans for tonight?” He asked.

“John and I are going to the store to get some movies and then to pick up Pat and Garrett. We have movie night remember? You better be there or else.”

“Yeah alright, I'll be there,” He said as we entered the room.

Spanish class is awesome, at least it is for me. Reasons why are because the learning part isn't really that frustrating, my classmates composed mostly of my friends, people I'm familiar with and the a cool teacher. Joel and I took the vacant seats by our friends, me having to end up sitting in the front of the room. It was after a minute or two, just as the bell rang, that John burst open the door, entered laughing loudly. “Come on in, let go,” said Ms. Amesburry. John was still laughing, it wasn't till Victoria emerged from the door that I realized it was her he was laughing with. Suddenly I felt angry. I don't know why, but I just did. Questions then followed, bombarding my brain with pointless thoughts.
Why was John with her? Where did they come from? They we're late too, why? I forced myself back to focus on Ms.Amesburry as she start the class, passing out her class syllabus. I tried my very best to pay attention to what she was saying, but somehow I couldn't take my mind off of John and Victoria. The image of him laughing out loud with her as they entered the room kept playing over and over in my head. I still felt the restless anger in me. I hated it. “It's not like your his girlfriend,” I said to myself. “Stop acting like deranged psyco.”

No one talked for the rest of class other than those who were asked to read the from Ms.Amesburry's class syllabus. An hour passed and the bell went off, indicating another school day ended. I grabbed my purse of the floor and went straight to my locker. Twenty-five, seven, thirty and pop my locker opened. I shoved my textbook inside, grabbed my wallet and walking shoes. Without notice I was doing it again; the functioning but not really thinking thing. It was becoming a problem. I hated it. The part of me that does things and ignores the world. The part that lets my stubbornness take over. Fast paced, I began walking towards the door when a hand grabbed my by the wrist and pulled me to a halt. It was John.

“Hey, where're you going so fast?” He asked

I stopped and suddenly all the things around me became clear again. “Oh sorry I wasn't thinking.”

“Yeah I noticed. You forgot to close your locker.” He said motioning to the hall of lockers that span behind me.

I looked back at my locker, in which the girl who owned the one next to it pushed it close for me. I have her a smile and mouthed a thank you. “Hey are you okay?” John said capturing my attention again.

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?”

“Here give that to me and carry this.” He said grabbing my purse and handing me his textbook. “I think you need to take it easy now.” With his hand on my back he gave me a slight push towards the door and with that we began walking.

We met Pat at the parking lot. When Malachi arrived we drove up to the Best Buy that was closest. The whole way the three boys talked among themselves while I sat quietly staring out the window. Arizona was beautiful that I could go on for hours just looking and admiring it's beauty. Most people would say it's just another desert, but somehow it was different for me. Every red rock appealed to me. I loved the dry, warm air, the grainy dirt and most of all, I adored the sunsets. Sunsets at Arizona were to die for. Each day it was different. Sometimes it'll be blazing red and sometime iridescent pink with blueish hues.
“It's so beautiful,” I said thinking out loud, admiring the darkening sky.

“What is?” Pat asked capturing my attention.

“Oh, uh.. nothing. Just the sunset,” I said turning to face him.

“Oh okay,” Pat replied

The car halted and one by one we got out of it. “Let's go. This way,” John said placing his hand on my waist, motioning me to walk forward.

“Hey Guys!” greeted Dave, an employee we came familiar with after years of patronage to their branch.

“Hey! We're looking for good movies to watch. Got anything new?” John asked.

“Right by aisle fourteen,” Dave replied. “Try watching The Dracula movie for 1924, we just got those in from the restock batch they sent us.”

John and pat went straight on their way and walked towards aisle fourteen. I stayed behind looking at the shelf right next to me. “I'll be right behind you guys!”I called out after them. Both of them waved their hands indicating they've heard me and with that I began wondering around the store. I looked at horror movies to comedy to drama. Aisle by aisle I scanned for interesting movies to watch. After fifteen minutes in I decided only about five of those movies I looked at were interesting. Tapping the video cases I walked to aisle fourteen to catch up with the boys.

“Hey! You guys found anything yet?”

Pat stood up straight from the floor and turned to face me, handing me four dvd cases. “Uhh.. I think these are a little interesting.”

I took the dvd's from Pat and switched him the ones I was holding.”Here look at these,” I went through the small stack Pat had and flipped them over, skimming through the excerpt of synopsis on the back. “These are really good Pat!” I said commending his tastes for movies. The movies he picked were a bunch of thrillers; 'Devil's Pond,' 'Tough Luck,' 'Dark waters' and 'The hunted'. After I went through them I threw the dvd's on the shopping basket that was on the floor by John's feet. I was about to grab the small stack John had when a hand from behind him took them.

“Classic horrors and romantic movies!, Wow someone has good taste in movies,” said Victoria emerging behind John.

Hearing her voice and seeing her face gave me so much anger. The feeling from spanish class was back. All the sudden I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to ask her why she was here, how could she just walk in between me and John, who does she think she is, acting all close to John all the sudden? She seemed friendly, a little hot too if you take the time to look at her, but somehow something gave me such a godawful feeling. It was bad and I hated myself for it. Why can't I just stop being such a bitch? She was just being friendly. I wanted to yell at her, yes, but more importantly, I wanted to yell at myself. This is John we're talking about. It's not like she wants to associate with you or anything. I scolded myself over and over again, trying to calm down. I stood there like an idiot, watching them giggle as they exchanged opinions about silly movies and actors. Who cares god damn it?! Why are you guys even talking about it? Just get the damn movie if it's too good for you to stand. Ugh, I felt myself grit my teeth. I was struggling to keep my cool. Here I am suppose to be having a bonding time with two of my good friends then suddenly comes in this girl who just captures all John's attention while Pat walks away far from the situation. I wanted to grab John and hiss at Victoria, but even I knew I didn't have that right. I continued to look at them awkwardly when a hug came from behind me.

“Hey lovey, you guys picked any movies yet?” said Rachel smiling.

Rachel was Garrett's girlfriend, she has been ever since they were fourteen. I loved Rachel. She was a sister to me. She balanced out my life from having to always hanging out with the boys. She'd always been there for me and I could not have been more grateful for that. Garret came after her, giving me a pat on the back. Their arrival was on timing. It caught John's attention back.

“Look who finally showed up!” John said giving Garrett their usual hand shake.

Victoria joined the conversation “Are you guys having a party of something?” She said looking at them.

They continued to talk amongst themselves again. I guess I'm the only one who didn't want to associate with Victoria. I turned my attention to the dvd's John picked out. I took them from Victoria's hands while they continued to talk.

John took Dave's advice and got Dracula. He also chose other classic movies: Gone with the wind, Of Mice and Men and some romance movies: The Notebook, and Fifty First Dates. The longer I heard them talk the smaller I felt. Get over yourself Anne, I thought to myself. You don't own them. I put my hand behind me, holding the dvd cases and looked down at the floor. I couldn't join their conversation. One because I wasn't familiar with Victoria and two because of shyness. I stood there and noticed every little detail about the carpeted floor; the stitches that's beginning to ravel, the bleak stain, and some traces of mud. Just like that I was gone. My thoughts weren't with my body. I stayed quiet until my attention was caught as I felt a hand grab mine from behind.

“You're doing it again. Come 'er,” John said pulling me close to his side.

“We were just talking about the movie night you guys are having,” Victoria said smiling at me. “Seems like you guys are in for a good night.”

Just like a little kid, I felt myself inch to hide behind John. She seemed nice. I just need to be friendlier.
John knew how I was. He gave my hand a squeeze, telling me that it was okay. Slowly I stood up straight and took a quick breath.

“It should be fun,” I told her giving a small smile.

The conversation felt like it ended long before I joined it, all of them just stretched it. Spatting slurs of words to avoid an awkward silence. One casual talk after another. Victoria kept hinting how boring her night would be, babysitting her neighbor's kid and watching cheesy movies. I guess it'd be a nice gesture to invite her. Before I could say anything though, John was a step ahead of me.

“Maybe you should join us then,” He said. He looked at me and suddenly the nice gesture I was thinking of didn't seem to mice of an idea. “If it's okay with Anne of course.”

What was I suppose to say? This bastard, like you gave me a choice. Refusing in front of her face just seemed to cruel. She seems okay. I just felt a little uncomfortable. I was contemplating with my thoughts and came to the conclusion of saying yes. It was just a movie night. Just give her a chance. Who knows? We might just become good friends, just like Rachel. Victoria then went on talking about how she felt wrong imposing on us and blah..

“What about Andrew? I don't know guys. I'd love to but I don't know,” She said whining about her neighbor's kid who she was to babysit.

“Just bring him with you, It'll be fine.” I suggested, beginning to feel annoyed.

After a few minutes of faking refusal, Victoria accepted John's invitation. We walked to the check out counter and payed for our items. John was still holding my hand as we walked to the car. He opened the door for us; Pat went inside first then me. John handed me the plastic bag filled with our things and just as he was to get insideVictoria approaches.

“Hey! I just wanted to say thank you to you guys. I don't know what I'd do if I had to spend another boring weekend.”

“Oh no, It's okay. We'd be glad to have you!” John replied politely.

Ugh, come on! No one wants to hear this just get in the car already. I looked at them impatiently, tapping my forefinger on the seat that was next to me. Just as I hear Victoria say bye I looked up at them, finally relieved to be heading home.

“Okay, I'll see you guys later!”

“Yeah! I'll text you Anne's address,” John said in reply

A second after I saw Victoria grab John's hand and give it a quick squeeze before walking away. Just as She did I had a flash of the dream I had. “...All those who wish to object, speak now or forever hold your peace.” Suddenly My heart began to pound and hands to tremble a little. I was isolated with my thoughts. Why does this dream keep coming up? What was about that exact part that scared me?