Behind Closed Doors (Erik Menendez)

Two

The next morning, my eyes popped right open at the sound of my alarm. I knew that today was my chance to tell Erik I'd gotten his note.

I had thought about him far, far too much. Something about the moment he had turned around, shooting his daggers of eyes right through me, really left me intrigued about him. I was confused, too. I couldn't tell if he was an asshole big shot or just some nice, random new kid. I wanted to know him. I had to know him.

In homeroom, I sat in my window seat again waiting for his arrival. My friend Kelsey had come and sat near me today, and began talking to me. I responded mindlessly, my eyes darting between her and the door. Before I knew it, the second bell had rung. Another 30 seconds rolled by, and he was a no-show. Just like yesterday, I decided to give up and give Kelsey my full attention now.

After Mrs. Lewis took attendance, she decided to put us all in alphabetical order, just like I had predicted. Her small frame stood at the front of the room, directing us all as to where to sit and looking back and forth between us and her attendance sheet. Of course, Erik was right in front of me. Not literally, at this point, though.

Then, that rush of wind through the door. Erik hurriedly strides in the room, and Mrs. Lewis doesn't even wait to grab him by his collar to keep him from sitting down.

"Mr. Menendez, where do you think you're going?" She asks. The room gets quiet and people begin to laugh.

"My seat," he responds very matter-of-factly.

"It's a little late for that. 5 minutes late. Go to the office and tell them you're here. I've already taken attendance." She releases her grip from his shirt collar, and to my surprise, he glares back at her with red cheeks. No one glares at Mrs. Lewis. His expression is a mixture of anger and pure embarrassment, and it's clear he wants to say something else. He strides back out of the room.

Fortunately, she doesn't notice and instead just walks back to her desk. I sit at mine, pissed that I didn't even get to have homeroom with him. He's not making a very good first impression at this school, so far. At least not with Mrs. Lewis.

At the end of the day, I open my locker and feel disappointed that I didn't get another note. I'm not sure why I had been expecting another one. I was becoming a little too fixated on this guy; something was drawing me to him. It seemed that I always became fixated on things that were mysterious to me. The less I knew, the more I wanted them. I always was curious like that.

"Jo!" I hear Steve holler from behind me. He's walking up to me with another kid from the tennis team, David. "What's up?"

I shrug. "Just heading home. Only the second day and I'm waiting to graduate already."

He pats my cheek. "Oh, Jo, always so optimistic. I don't have much time before we gotta get to practice, but I wanted to fill you in on that Erik kid."

David chimes in. "Oh, god." He murmurs under his breath.

"He's amazing, Jo. We were all just watching him in total shock. We scrimmaged yesterday and he beat us all."

"Steve almost beat him," David chimes in again.

"Pfft, barely. It'll look good for Beverly, but he's just gonna outshine us all. Not to mention, his old man showed up. To a fucking practice. Kind of ridiculous. He didn't say much until after - started lecturing Erik. Not sure what about; his son had just embarrassed us all!" Steve heaved a heavy sigh.

"Jeez, he seems like a big deal," is all I say.

"He is," Steve responds. Then David says they'd better leave before coach kills them, and they hurry out the front doors. I meet Di and Laur in the parking lot, make plans for them to come over later, and then head home.