One Minute Till Tomorrow

Chapter Three

I woke up early for school just as Mom was heading out the door, ready for another day of job searching. I ate breakfast and brushed my teeth. I got dressed. Deciding to change it up, I put on a pair of blue tights and dark jean cut-offs. I put on my Blink-182 shirt (one of their albums, the one with the giant smiling face) and did my makeup. Black eyeliner on my bottom lids and white eye shadow over my top lid. Along the top lid’s lash line I put on a black eye shadow, an easier, thicker eyeliner, just for the top lid.

I put on blush and lip gloss and grabbed my bag, heading out the door. I put my ear buds in my ears and turned up the volume as much as I could stand it, blasting Green Day. As I walked to school, I thought through what I would write next in my book, a way to pass the time and something I often did before I was asleep and when I couldn’t write in my book.

At school, I hung around outside, waiting for Caleb to pass the doors and see me.  I zipped up my silver-white coat, trying to stay warm. My ears were about dead and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I dug around in my back pack for my brown knit hat. It came down the sides of my head—covering my ears—and ended in strings with puff-balls at the end.

The wind blew the pages around in the book I was reading, making reading impossible. My nose was starting to loose feeling and my eyes were cold. I had to get inside soon. Luckily, Caleb showed up in that minute.

“Have you been waiting for me?” He asked, seeing me shivering.

I shrugged. “I may have been,” I gathered my stuff quickly, happy for the chance to get inside. “I wasn’t waiting long,”

“Really? Because the blue in your face says otherwise,” Caleb held the door open for me. The warmth swallowed me, but I was still shivering, teeth chattering. “Come here,” Caleb hugged me, his heat warming me in ways I couldn’t explain.

I pulled away, more people walking through the door. “Thanks.” I took off my coat.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s this? You’re a Blink fan?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I like the songs on Take Off Your Pants and Jacket more, but Hot Topic didn’t have it.”

“Wait, you shop at Hot Topic?”

I nodded again. “That’s where I get all my shirts.”

“You just keep getting better and better. I was beginning to wonder if you owned anything other than long sleeves and vests.”

I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“Why? Are you planning something?”

“It’s called a conversation starter. You can’t just go off of Blink forever.” We stopped walking at Caleb’s locker. “Even though they are pretty cool,”

“One of the guys are having a get together. Beer, poker… it doesn’t sound like much fun to me. But I have to go.”

“You don’t have to do anything—except for breathe and drink and eat and other things to live.”

“I already said I was going, I can’t just back out now. I’d be better if I wasn’t going to be alone… Hint, hint,”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’ll come with you to the “get together” this weekend.”

Caleb smiled, then got serious. “So, about what I told you last night… No one here knows, and I’d kind of like to keep it that way. Okay?”

I nodded. “Totally understood. Same about me.”

One of the jocks came up to Caleb, shoving him slightly—friendly, but not the type of introduction I would think Caleb would like. “Still coming to the party Saturday?”