Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element

~19~

Friday passed quickly. I couldn't join gym class yet. When I put on my gym clothes, Tim noticed the bruises on my leg and wrist. I was allowed to use the stopwatch during the endurance run. The only plus about the bruises. I didn't have to participate in the endurance run.

During the break, Eva was talking enthusiastically about the game on Saturday. She hoped she would be in the starting lineup. She asked if I would like to come over for dinner on Saturday after the game. I could promise right away, because Dad had already said last night that he was busy working the weekend and wouldn't be around much.

Bas went to watch the match with his friends. He asked if I also wanted to come, after that we could all go to the Rondebal house to eat. Thinking that it would be good for me to have more contact outside school, I agreed as enthusiastically as possible. Hannah would be proud of me.

During dessert I wondered if I would see Lucas again. We only saw each other by chance, but when we saw each other it was good. I would love it if we really went out sometime. Get to know each other better.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Eva couldn't stop talking about her first real match. Bas was talking to a friend about Saturday evening that they were planning to go out. Bas's friend was called Eddie, he always sat at the dinner table with us. He was a nice boy. He had the same sense of humor as Bas. It was a little on the edge, but I loved it. Eddie was a slim boy, he had hip-framed glasses. It really was his trademark. I think his father or mother had foreign blood, Asian maybe. Because he had a characteristic appearance, I don't know, but had the idea that there was something foreign in it. At least he looked nice. He had dark brown hair with a bit of curl. He had roughly combed it back with gel. At the end of the day, his hair came out a little and hung next to his face. He could almost put it behind his ears. I always thought it was funny. He looked cheerful when he talked to Bas about tomorrow night. Well that was going to be something, they would go wild.

I thought back to the last time I actually went out. It was before the accident. I went to a big nightclub in town with my friends. We had been drinking and dancing all night, which ended in a big kiss with an older handsome boy. Stupid really, but yes, under the influence of some alcohol and having fun all night, you were just in such a wonderful intoxication. The feeling of lust then just surfaced. Especially with all those beautiful people around you. Anyway, I've never regretted it.

Good thing I didn't live here yet. I didn't know what was in the water here, but a lot of beautiful people lived here. Or maybe I looked more at the people now, because I was new. Not everything was self-evident anymore.

In any case, I have been lucky to have so many lovely and beautiful people around me. And maybe it was my hormones too, I don't know. I just let it go for a bit, see where it would take me. What was clear was that I got along better with the boys than the girls. Most girls saw me as some sort of threat as a newcomer, while the boys didn't see it that way.

I could just deal with that and talk. Maybe that was the difference, that I spent more time with the boys.

I don't know what I would be like now if I went out. I was always the happy girl who danced with everyone on the dance floor all night. I loved to dance, that's why boys came up to me. Somehow they found my way of dancing attractive. And I liked dancing with different people. Everyone had their own dance style. I liked to mix our dance styles into a whole. Sometimes it turned out great and sometimes not so much. I wondered how I would behave now. Maybe the same. I just had to try to put everything out of my head and enjoy it. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

I was brought back to reality by the loud buzzer that rang through the dining room. The last few hours of Friday's school were over in no time. Everyone was busy, looking forward to the weekend.