Midnight Shadow

Chapter 17 - King and Queen

The rest of the night passed quickly. We decided to retire to our separate rooms and not make any more late night excursions for a while. Just until things blew over and Mr. Hill came to his own false conclusions. I was going to keep tabs on him though.... very close tabs.

The final day of school before the holidays, and the winter formal, was nothing more than a huge party. Most of the classes were disrupted every few moments by students completely incapable of staying focused. There was a lot of laughing and planning for the two week vacation going on. Mia and I ambled down the hallway to the lunch room after fourth period, hand in hand. People still stared but I was getting used to it. I didn't like being noticed but with Mia there it was impossible to focus on that.

We sat at our "private" table in the corner of the lunch room, side by side, chatting about Mrs. Hill's great great great great grandmother when a small voice called me from the other side of the table. Instinctively I looked up to see, of all people, Jennifer. She stood there, looking down at the table, blushing tomato red, waiting for me to respond. I was shocked... so was Mia. She recovered faster than I did.

"Good Afternoon, Jennifer. Would you like to sit down?" Mia asked in a polite, but cool, voice. I could feel her confusion at her sudden appearance.

"Um... no thank you" Jennifer practically whispered. Mia's confusion mingled with Jen's apprehension made concentrating more difficult by the second. No one else in the cafeteria seemed to notice the conversation. "I just wanted to say something. You know, if I don't see you before the holidays" Jennifer continued, barely whispering as her eyes remained glued to the faux wood grain of the lunch room tables. She looked very uncomfortable and her feelings confirmed it. I could see her struggling to find the words she'd come over to say.

"You ok Jennifer?" I said softly to her after a few seconds. She looked up, very slowly and sighed.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say.... Merry Christmas.... to both of you. That and... I'm sorry about the other day." Mia's eyes said everything as she stared wide eyed at Jennifer.

"You're welcome Jen. And we hope you have a very Merry Christmas as well" I responded with genuine sincerity.

"Yes Jen. Merry Christmas and I hope you're ok. Thank you for saying that" Mia added. I could feel her conflict melting away. She was ashamed at her original reaction to Jennifer's arrival and was trying to make up for it.

"Thanks" Jen finished and turned to go. She almost made it before she stopped and looked at us both again. She spoke even more softly than before. "I just wanted you to know, what ever it was you did for me. I didn't tell anyone it was you. I didn't and I won't" she said, the words rushing out of her. Her eyes flickered from mine to Mia's as if trying to look at both of at the same time.

"Thank you again Jen." I said with a nod to her. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to sit down?

"No, thanks though. I need to get back to Matt" she said and with a small wave, hurried away.

The rest of the day was a blur. Economics and English seemed to take mere seconds and then Mia was leaving me for Gym. Again, with a small peck on the cheek she whispered her good bye and I headed into the art room. The final class of the day took forever. Mrs. Deavers had dreamed up a ridiculous little activity designed for only a single hour.

"It's time to remember that art can be fun! Not always so personal and focused!" she sang as our small group of seven students stood around a single table eyeing the materials apprehensively.

"Macaroni art?" Lisa asked appalled.

"Yes! You have one hour to make a Christmas decoration out of green and red construction paper, macaroni, glitter, paint, yarn and anything else you have on this table!" Six sighs echoed around the table.