Love, Your Secret Admirer

Chapter 17

A week has gone by since I found out that Tom is my secret admirer.  The cast on my foot is gone and replaced by a boot, so I’m off the crutches.  My arm is still in a cast, my ribs are still bandaged up, and the bruises all over my body are starting to heal, some more than others.  My hair is starting to grow back, but it’s just short and spiky, so I continue wearing the curly blonde wig I got.

            I still haven’t told Tom that I know he’s my secret admirer.  I know how I’m going to tell him but I just don’t know how I’m going to lead up to that moment.  Everyday when he helps me to all of my classes, I just look at him and know how he feels about me.  And everyday I realize how sweet he is.  Like the way that even though I don’t have crutches any more he still carries all of my stuff to my classes.  And how he opens the door for me every time.  And how I can tell that he’s always looking at me from the corner of his eye.  Everyday I realize that I’m starting to feel the same way about him that he does about me.  I’m slowly starting to show Tom that I care about him.

            Our calculus teacher, Mr. Fally, has been going over parabolas in class.  When Tom and I got to class I sat in my usual seat.  Both seats on either side of me were taken, so Tom sat in front of me for a change.  Mr. Fally wrote an equation on the board and gave us one minute to solve it.  When the minute was up Mr. Fally yelled, “Pencils down!”  You could feel the uncertainty circling around the room.  I looked around the room and could see people trying to finish the problem in their head.  “Who would like to come up to the board and solve the problem?” Mr. Fally asked.  Everyone just looked down at their papers, trying to avoid eye contact, and praying that they don’t get called on.  “How about you, Mr. Johnson?”

            Tom’s head snapped up.  “Uh, I actually didn’t finish it.”

            “Really?  Why does that not surprise me?”  Before I knew it Mr. Fally was on a full blown rant.  “You never finish these problems Tom!  Do you think that you’re just too smart for this class and don’t have to do class work?  Well let me tell you something, you need more than just homework and test scores to pass this class!  You need to stop thinking that you’re better than everybody and start doing you work!”

            I have never seen Mr. Fally yell at anyone before.  I looked up and saw that Tom was slouched over with his head on his desk.  I wanted to comfort him.  I just wanted to get up and hold him in my arms and tell him that everything is going to be okay.  But I wasn’t be able to do that without getting in trouble.  I leaned over and put my hand on his shoulder.  When he sat up I slid my hand down his arm until I reached his hand.  As I intertwined my fingers in his I could feel him relax.  We held hands for the entire class period. 

            Now, I’m sitting at lunch by myself.  Stephanie has a pick up show for the plays that she does.  Larissa is at the orthodontist, getting her braces off.  Tiffany started hanging out with different people who hang out at a different part of the school, which is fine.  I know that we’ll never grow apart and we’ll always be there for each other.  I’m just playing with the sandwich that my mom made for me this morning.  I start to laugh to myself because I’m a junior in high school and my mom is still making my lunch for me.  Then again I do I have a Batman lunch box.  Now I’m laughing out loud and people are starting to look at me because I’m laughing at a table by myself.

            I almost don’t notice Tom taking a seat next to me until he looks at me and says, “Are you okay?”

            I gain control of myself then answer, “Yeah.  I was just thinking how funny it was that I’m a junior in high school and I still have my mom make my lunch everyday and put it in my Batman lunch box.”