Near Touch

Chapter 6: Invitations

The place inside a school where the most amazing things and scandalous events occur is often the longest corridor it has. Friendships are broken, alliances are made, and enmities are settled – among other life-threatening things. It's the closest thing to a Middle Eastern bazaar a teen in the western civilization can experience. Amy firmly believed the cheapest commodity was free floating gossip and actual intellect was the rarest. At least the girls wore tasteful outfits. Guys were beyond help.

Shame there were no camels. No four-legged ones anyway.

"Ms. Sexcapades two o'clock," Gemma nodded. They were strolling past an open courtyard housed in the longest and the largest building of Sirencester High School. Kristine caught sight of the pair and rushed forward, bursting through a group of appalled Jesus fanatics; her arms outstretched. She looked like a very toothy, smiley zombie.

She hugged Amy and Gemma tightly. "So, how are my two favorite lesbians?"

"We're fine," Amy said. "Barely hanging in there with French."

"Yeah, me too, Leftbreast's not a nice person. Speaking of which, mine still hurts after Jake Gillinsky went a little overboard with his enthusiasm; if you know what I mean ladies," Kristine winked.

"I know exactly what you mean," Gemma agreed, a tad more quickly than Amy would have preferred.

The three of them spiritedly discussed Kristine Nunez's colorful sex life on their way to Gym class. Amy liked Kristine. Despite her reputation speaking volumes about her, she was actually pretty smart and generous. She claimed that sex was her hobby. Some people did acapella, some danced, and some did weird art stuff with duct tape. Kristine had sex. And Amy respected that.

Her latest thing was nerds. She wanted Amy to hook her up with her friend Robin.

"He's cute. And not just cute-cute but cute," Kris explained. She had a way with words.

Kristine Nunez had classic Mexican looks. Straight jet-black hair, cool green eyes, the sweetest smile in Sirencester, and a funny and witty personality to boot. Amy couldn't see why Robin would mind. Plus, she obviously thought Robin was cute.

Kristine claimed that she needed to diversify her palate. Go for the mind or something.

"And did you know, they are like supposed to pack huge –"

"I think we can do without the visual, Kris."

Laughing was good. It served as an excellent distraction from Amy's eventful morning. The trio decided to skip Gym and just hang out near a sheltered glade behind the school dumpster. It was a spot infamously known as the 'it' place for the burnouts. The day was uncharacteristically bright and the trees gleamed golden, ochre and a burnished scarlet in the pale autumn sunlight.

Amy took a deep breath, letting the cool, fresh forest air fill her lungs. She felt light-headed and her jitteriness eased. Viewing the cottony clouds against a blue autumn sky as a good omen, Amy understood why the druggies liked the spot.

She hadn't seen Caleb since the quiz. He had disappeared, lost in a sea of retreating backs, before she could call out to him. In all honesty, Amy didn't mind because she wanted a healthy distance between them. Her thoughts became erratic whenever he came close. She didn't want to think about the little incident that had riled her up. But she didn't seem to be able to concentrate on much else either. Amy wished she could blame everything on her default adolescent programing.

"Amy, is there something going on? You look distracted," Kristine inquired, her cat-like eyes scanning her face. 

Amy paused before replying. Boy problems need girl talk. That was the truth universally acknowledged for the twentieth century.