Mind Games.

chapter 24: Number 3.

Jean woke me up at 3:00 am so I could be back at the campus in time to take a shower and get breakfast. We got in the car, me still in my pajamas, and started out towards the campus. We sat in a comfortable silence as we watched the sun come up over the horizon. It looked absolutely beautiful as it illuminated everything in light. The whole thing, Jean in the same car as me, the silence and the sunrise, reminded me of a poem by Robert Frost called, 'Nothing Gold can stay.' It seemed to fit the scene perfectly. But it started to make me think of other things in my life that would apply. Dixie, Clark, the twins and Libby.....and Mr. Marsh? We're they meant to stay, or is it all only temporary...
Temporary until I mess it up for myself. Before they're sent away from me like my parents were, and I'm left with nothing bright, nothing pure...nothing gold.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jean asked me, prying me from my thoughts. I nodded without looking to her.
"Yes, it is."
"I remember when I was your age. Clark and I would wait up all night on the balcony of his studio apartment, just to watch the sunrise together." She smiled at the memory. I stared at the road ahead of us, smiling.
"That's sweet."
"Yes, it was." Then, she looked at me and smiled herself.
"Maybe one day, you'll have someone to watch the sunrise with you." She reached over and tucked some hair behind my ear. I decided to leave it down until we got to campus. My dirty blonde locks kept gathering around my face, and it was starting to bug me. She giggled.
"Well, it might have to be sunsets, Jean, because I really like sleep." We laughed together and settled back, watching the sun go higher and higher into the sky.
We pulled up to the dorm at 5:00 am, three hours before my first classes. I was going to try and sleep a little, but my phone started playing 'pretty fly for a white guy.' Norman. I yawned and picked up, smiling into the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, uh, it's me, Norman."
"Yeah, I heard the ring tone I set for you." I replied. There was a brief pause and then he said,
"Oh, yeah, sorry."
"It's fine. What do you need?" I questioned. He cleared his throat and said,
"Well, remember how you asked about the color printer?"
"Yes?" I said.
"Yeah, well, I printed the stuff you wanted." This news made me smile wide.
"You did?"
"Yeah. I just thought, you know, that we could hang them up together. I mean, as friends, of course-"
"I'll be at your dorm in 10 minutes." I said into the phone.
"Oh, uh, ok. See you then." I hung up and grabbed an out fit, sprinting to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I put my hair in a ponytail and threw on my outfit. Today, it was pair of blue jeans with an over sized white t-shirt with a light pink scarf and brown boots.
I grabbed my school bag and ran to Norman's dorm room, smiling the whole way there. I hope you enjoyed your last prank, stone. Cause this one is going to suck!
I knocked on the door, only to have it opened at almost the same instant. Norman stepped back in surprise, then blushed because it was me. He looked down at the stack of papers in his hand.
"Here they are, where should we hang them first?" He questioned. I grabbed half of the stack and said,
"The lunchroom and the library."
"Ok." We started to the lunchroom. No one was there at this time, so we went straight to work. He held them up while I taped them to the wall. Once the lunchroom was done, we went on to the science building. While we hung one on the main billboard in the middle of a wall, I sighed to myself and said,
"Thank you for doing this, Norman. I couldn't have done this without you." He blushed in a bashful way and shrugged.
"You're welcome, Alice." We finished and started to the mathematical building. While hanging them up on the outside wall, he said,
"You look really pretty today." I looked down at him, smiling slightly. He blushed and wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Thanks." I replied quietly. Then he tried to make the situation less akward by saying,
"Uh, I don't know if you know yet, but the twins are taking us to lake Carnegie this weekend to camp, if you'd like to come?" He smiled and stared up at me for a response. I shrugged and nodded.
"Ok, it sounds fun. I'll go."
"Yes! I mean, uh, thanks? Or...ugh. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like a doofus-"
"It's fine, Norman. Everyone stumbles over their words every now and then. You don't have to be embarrassed." I said, trying to make him feel better. It seemed to work a little, but he still blushed.
"Well, I guess we had better get going to class, huh?"
"Yeah, that should be it." I said, smiling. He nodded and checked his watch.
"Well, I'm going to get some food, I'll see you in class, Alice." He said, starting to walk away. But he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell onto the grass. I giggled and helped him to his feet, him blushing really bad. He mumbled a small, "thanks," and started walking away, not tripping this time. As he did, I tilted my head to the side and thought, maybe Norman is gold, too.
As I walked down the hallway to physics, I noticed a small crowd gathered around one of the posters I had hung on the wall. My face filled with joy as I walked to the back of the group, an evil smile of victory on my face. Students were mumbling to each other,
"The nerve of some people."
"How does this guy sleep at night?"
"Why would he do this?" They asked, as they looked at the poster. Norman and I had created something that was unacceptable to society. We had a blown up picture of Connor's frat house picture, only the bottom half was filled up with an advertisement for an anti-homosexual club. We had little pieces of paper with Connor's number on it, and people were quite furious as they read what the advertisement said;