Impavid

The Cops

     I closed my locker door and moved in the direction of my fourth class of the day. As I settled into my seat, I opened the notebook before me. As class started, I scribbled down practice trigonometry problems that Mr. Westin was writing on the board. About ten minutes into class, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Westin froze, glancing toward it, as it opened slowly. Luke walked in, holding a schedule, and a notebook. He looked embarrassed.

     After some quick explaining and a few class introductions, Luke settled into the empty desk in the back of the room. I glanced over my shoulder to look at him, feeling slightly guilty with how short I was with him yesterday. We made eye contact, and he smiled. I felt my cheeks heating up as I turned my attention back to the newest problem.

     As I was gathering up my stuff at the end of the period, just as the bell was ringing, I heard him speak. The room was practically empty now, only the two of us, Mr. Westin, and two other kids. "Carson," I turned my head, "When do you have lunch?"

     "Next period." I stood up and walked toward his desk. 

     He stood up too, nodding, "Me too. Will you show me where it is?" I nodded, leading the way out of the room. 

      "I have to go to my locker first, do you?" I questioned, turning in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. 

       He shrugged, "I don't know where it is, actually. Will you help me?" I rolled my eyes a little, realizing this was his way of flirting. I nodded anyway.

     After a quick stop at mine, and a slight delay as he struggled to find the paper with his locker number on top, we finally made our way to the lunchroom, each carrying a brown bag. I slid into the seat next to the enthusiastic blonde. "Soph, this is Luke. Luke, Sophie." I opened my lunch as he slid across the table from us.

     Lunch was filled with mostly polite smalltalk, discussing where he had moved from (an hour south), what he liked to do in his free time (play basketball), and his family (it was just him, Max, and his parents). He did mention he had been reading one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare, King Lear, which I tried to ignore, while Sophie nudged me under the table.

     "What do you think of it?" I questioned. I was actually impressed by his analysis, in which he mentioned both satire and symbolism. The bell rang, then, and I moved on to my next class. I didn't see him until we got home. My parents had gone out to some dinner with friends, and Melanie had invited Dave over for dinner. As usual, I had invited Sophie. I wasn't fond of Dave, honestly. He had always given me a weird vibe.

     Luke was outside when I came out to greet Sophie, meeting her car in the driveway. He waved, and a sudden need to be nice washed over me. "Do you want to eat with us?" I shouted across the street. He shrugged, suddenly giving off more of a bad boy tendency than he did earlier that day talking about Shakespeare. Sophie's car pulled up and as she got out, she waved at Luke. 

     "He should come," She suggested, "It won't hurt. Especially with Creepy Dave there."

     "I just invited him," I told her, and as we made our way toward the front door, I heard him jogging across the street to catch up. 

     Dinner was fine. Dave made a few of his creepy sexual comments and kept leaning over to kiss Melanie, keeping his eyes on Luke as he did. After Dave decided he was full enough, he grabbed Melanie's hand and led her upstairs. Luke took this opportunity to narrow his eyes in confusion. 

     "He's..." He started, looking to me for help with this thought. "Creepy," I finished, and Sophie grunted in agreement. He laughed, and I saw the soft side of him that I had earlier in the day. I couldn't help but wonder how many more of these moments we'd share together over the next however long. I came to find that the answer, at least for the rest of March, was zero. 

     The rest of the month passed with little eventfullness. Melanie's acceptance letter came, which called for a fancy dinner out one Saturday night. I hadn't seen Luke around much more. He kept quiet in math class, and started sitting with some guys from school at lunch after the first three days. I would wave when we were in our front yards at the same time. I didn't always get a wave back, however. Max had left for school shortly after the initial couple of move-in days. Dave was still Dave, leading Melanie up the stairs when my parents were out for the evening, his eyes fixed on Sophie and I as he did. I focused on school and doing more work around the house, hoping that I could convince my parents to let me go to the camp.

      One night, during the first week of April, I noticed police lights outside my window as I was just about to fall asleep. I tugged the curtains aside and watched as an officer tugged a handcuffed Luke from the back of the patrol car and toward the front door. I kept my eyes on the front door, where his mother answered in long pajama pants. She turned back into the house for a second, and suddenly, his father was at the door as well. He looked angry, as the officer uncuffed Luke. Luke's dad put his hand on Luke's shoulder, tugging him inside. The officer left after talking to his parents for a few minutes, and I noticed a light turned on upstairs. I saw Luke's face appear, looking down at the flashing lights, before his eyes found me. He held up his hand, which I initially thought was going to be a wave. He did wave something: a finger. I stepped back, surprised, and I let the curtain fall closed.

     I didn't wave to him when he was playing basketball anymore, although it was a rare occurrence to see him outside anymore, anyway. I ignored him in class or during the few times I passed him in the hallway. I stayed busy with Sophie and school. I couldn't help but watch, however, as I saw another cop car pull up three weeks later. This time, however, his mother was crying in the driveway, and the officer was taking Luke with him instead of bringing him home.

     The next day in class, Mr. Westin asked me to stay after class. He told me how Luke needed some tutoring in math, and how he thought I'd be the perfect girl to help, considering we live near each other, and I was earning an A. I told him I'd have to think about it. I discussed it with my parents, leaving out the fact that I'd seen Luke involved with the police lately. They encouraged it, saying tutoring would look good on college applications. The next day, I told Mr. Westin I would do it before class. Luke and I both stayed after class while Mr. Westin had us exchange numbers and plan on beginning that evening.

     I wasn't looking forward to it.