Covetous

Covetous- Chapter Five

We jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped. I looked at my watch. It was 9:10. It was still so early in the day. First period hadn’t even ended yet. I debated going to class for the last ten minutes. Then I thought about dealing with Caldwell and decided that I would dawdle at my locker. I wasn’t concerned about attendance. They knew me well.

I wasn’t the first person in the caf. There were a few grade twelves with first period spare that didn’t have cars, and would likely spend the first 75 minutes of every school day sitting in those exact spots. I sat down at the table that Simone and I had decided would be ours the day before. There is comfort in routine.

Lunch consisted of a banana and a bagel. I didn’t feel like eating anything. The thought of throwing it out before people came in crossed my mind, but I couldn’t be bothered to stand up and walk to the garbage bins. Besides, there would probably be someone standing there ready to guilt trip me about starving children. I didn’t need that on my conscience.

My mind was off with the fairies, at my grandmother would say, when someone sat down at the table opposite me. Expecting either Simone, Isabelle, Liana or Helena, I was startled when I saw that it was a male figure.

His mouth twitched with a smile when he saw my surprise.

“How are you?” asked Gerald. He leaned in towards me.

I wasn’t quite sure how to react. Gerald was my bus friend. We never interacted outside of the realm of the bus. Ridiculous as it seems, it felt like he was breaching some sort of unsaid boundary, which took me off guard.

When I regained my senses, I replied, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” he said. “You look like you’re not even there.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you like to be the pot or the kettle?” I said as I rolled my eyes. In the mornings, he was more vacant that a sketchy motel.

“Easy there. Just making an observation.” He opened his mouth, about to say something more. Then his deep blue eyes flicked over to something behind me. The shift in his posture was subtle, but it was there. “Morning Simone, Helena.”

He gave each of them the casual guy nod, and then stood up. Before he walked away, he turned back to me and looked me right in the eye.

“See you on the bus. And I’ll take the kettle, if that’s all right with you.”

I was baffled, but shrugged off the strange encounter. Helena wouldn’t though. She was determined to dissect every moment, certain that everything meant more than what it appeared. Simone wouldn’t speak to me. Liana was even worse than Helena when she showed up. Thankfully, she came with Isabelle. I had to restrain myself from jumping up to sit beside her for the security of her quiet presence and her disinterest in boy drama.

“You missed the excitement,” chimed Helena when they sat down.

“Does it have anything to do with the new tall dark and handsome that I’ve heard about? If not, then I’m not sure if I’ll be interested,” said Liana.

“No, but not everything revolves around things that are new. Sometimes it’s the things that have been around for a while in the background that deserve the attention.”

“Elusive much?” laughed Liana.

“Well, Alexis, would you like to tell them, or should I?” she asked me.

I couldn’t believe that she was blowing it so out of proportion. Then again, it was Helena that I was talking about. There was no such thing as small news, and certainly no such thing as an unimportant story that involved a boy.

“Calm down, it was nothing. Gerald just stopped by to ask,” I paused. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell them that my dad was in the hospital again. That would lead to questions and conversations and all things that fall under the label of ‘I don’t want to go there at the moment’.

“Ask what?” said Isabelle. Her innocent voice sounded curious. I suppressed a groan. I had thought that she would be my safety. 

“He was just asking how my schedule is, that’s all. Let’s just drop it, ok.”

“Fine. There’s no need to be so defensive, we’re just trying to take an interest,” said Helena. She was playing hurt, but she would move on in a few minutes.

“She seems to be making a habit out of snapping at her friends for no reason whatsoever,” chimed in Simone. The others looked confused. I regretted my decision to come, but I knew that I couldn’t call mom back and ask her to pick me up.

“Sorry, I’m just not having the best day,” I said by way of explanation.

There were a few more awkward moments where they balanced the pros and cons of asking me to elaborate. Liana saved everyone by starting a rant about one of her teachers. I didn’t pay attention, but got by with saying variations of ‘that’s ridiculous’.

Lunch took longer than it normally did. I didn’t like that Simone was mad at me, but I didn’t know how to fix it. If things didn’t clear up in a week, I resolved to make her a card. Cards were the ultimate of everything. They could say things that words couldn’t, and if anything could make someone smile, it would be a handmade card.

With that thought in my mind, things seemed simpler. I would just keep making cards until things got better. I would start with Simone and then make one for my mom, one for my dad, maybe even one for Kaitlyn. Then everything would be ok. Naïve? Definitely.