When school comes the next day I dread it. Not only are all the stares driving me nuts, but now I have to face James all over again.
He starts early again too, waiting at my locker with Susan.
Susan grins, “How you feeling Del?” she asks.
“Annoyed actually,” I respond, and then shove my stuff in my locker.
“Well James and I were just talking about you,” she says.
I gasp, “Really? I am so surprised,” I say, and then slump to the ground in front of my locker.
Susan giggles and stares down at me, “James was saying we should keep an eye on you to be sure you are back to normal,” she says.
I glare at James, “How considerate of him,” I say, and then James is bending at the waist and knees, so he is near eye level with me.
“Did you sleep well enough last night?” he asks.
I grin, “Got a whole four hours doc,” I say.
“Why so little?” Susan asks, coming to sit on my other side.
I shrug, “I was restless I guess. Does it matter?”
“Yes, were you coughing as well?” James asks.
I narrow my eyes, “Maybe a little,” I say.
From there James is asking me questions every time he sees me, and they all seem to be my well being or something related to it, such as things about this summer.
At one point I tried to channel the unresponsive thing I had going for five weeks, but it doesn’t really work out.
James doesn’t give me that choice. I'm irritated to find out he may be even more persistent than I am stubborn, which is saying a lot.
By the end of the week I feel as if I'm a science experiment. I also begin to notice things about James.
He hates it when I cough. I don’t know why it bothers him so much, but each time I do it I see his jaw clench hardly. He doesn’t like to talk about himself, especially about his family.
I did follow him home once, though I know it is shameful and scary, when my mom finally started to let me drive again, and saw that he lived in some community neighborhood that all the rich people live in.
I notice he isn’t actually unbearably rude towards everyone. It seems he just saves it for me. To everyone else he is cool and collected, but friendly and even lighter. Then I cough and he glares, and then starts pounding me with more questions.
I'm so confused on why he is asking questions about my health, why I'm answering so willingly by the end of the week, and why I seem to notice my physical health decreasing rapidly.
By the end of school on Friday my every joint aches, my head is pounding, my eyes are practically closed shut even with the sunglasses, and I'm coughing a lung up.
I feel as if it almost is mental, and James bringing it up so much is actually making me think I'm sick.
I know he hasn’t used what the other guy at the party had though. I remember every bit of our conversations, and study his tone before answering every question.
The tone is always annoyed, agitated, impatient, but never like the other guy. That isn’t to say his voice isn’t melt worthy without the controlling aspect. It matches the rest of his melt worthiness body wise.
When it comes to his personality though, he is throttling material.
I almost come close at the end of school on Friday when he is at my locker asking Susan for my number.
“Why do you need my number James?” I ask, glaring at him.
“So I can call to make sure your doing okay over the weekend,” he responds as if that is a duh kind of thing.
I roll my eyes and listen as Susan complies, even after I ask her to keep quiet.
“Traitor,” I mumble, and then we start walking out. James is in the middle of us, eying me every so often.
I cough, but try to keep it quiet so I don’t have to watch James glare, but he hears it anyway.
“Maybe you should see a doctor about that cough Del, just to be on the safe side,” Susan says, sounding concerned.
I shrug, “It's just a cold Susan. I've had plenty of colds before.”
I don’t care if James doesn’t think it's a cold. He isn’t a freaking doctor, so he can bite me. I am all better from the incident this summer, and I just want to forget it now.
James sighs, “You shouldn’t risk it this weekend though, over doing yourself could intensify it,” he says, trying to sound nonchalant, as if he really just thinks it is a cold and I should take caution for that.
I'm not fooled, “Why do you care James?”
“Good question,” is all he responds.
I roll my eyes, “Goodbye James. Hope you enjoy kicking puppies all weekend, let me know how it goes on Monday,” I say, and then drag Susan to her car.
I'm staying at her place tonight, merely hoping to escape my parents for one night. I know they were scared the last five weeks before I snapped out of it, but I'm drowning in hugs and suffocating in concerned looks and whispers when they think I'm bed.
The night with Susan is just like old times, and it relaxes me from the James and then cough stress.
Sunday I spend with my mother’s side of the family for my cousins fifth birthday. James calls Sunday night at around six, and I ignore the heat building up in the bottom of my stomach when I hear his voice on the other end.
“Delilah?”
“No, Jessica Simpson,” I reply.
“You really aren’t funny.”
“So I've heard. If you weren’t calling for my jokes though, why are you calling?” I ask.
“I told you, to check on you,” he says.
“Since when did you become my personal doctor James?” I ask.
“Maybe since I am an idiot, Delilah? Since I can tell you are still annoyingly alive, I’ll just see you tomorrow,” he says, and then hangs up before I can insult him back.
“Cheater,” I mumble, and then go to bed, feeling extremely tired, even though it is only eight thirty.
YOU ARE READING
My Encounter With Boo Radley
RomanceDelilah went to a party at the end of the summer and met a guy. he doesnt tell her his name but he does share his blood with her. think this is about vampires? yeah right. Delilah would be so lucky. she is found later that night in a sort of trance...
