Mistakes

Forty One

Dale

"NO, I DON'T WANT TO!" I yelled, kicking my legs. "CALUUUUUM!"

"You have to, Dale. Please, stop kicking me!" Ashton said, holding tightly to my arms.

"CALUUUUUM!" I cried. "CAAAAAALUUUUUUM!"

My head was spinning, Ashton tried to pick me up, I couldn't find anymore breath to yell again.

"Dale, please, stop!" Ashton whispered.

I could here the front door open, Ashton hugging me tightly, restricting my movement. I started coughing, trying to get him to let go of me.

He did, and I took off.

I saw Calum ahead of me, so I sped towards him. He held his arms out and I jumped into them.

"CALUM, CALUM, Calum, oh my god." I sobbed.

"What, what, what?" He asked, his soft sweater warming me the second he held me.

"I don't want to go, Calum. I don't want to go. I don't want to-" I said, loosing my breath halfway.

"Shh, It's gonna be okay. Just calm down." He whispered.

I could feel his heart beating fast, mine probably faster. My hat fell off my head as I dug my face into his shoulder, my body relaxing as he softly hummed into my ears. It felt like the world was slowing down.

"Dale?" Calum called softly.

I slowly stood up, out of his safe, warm grasp. He looked tired, bags under his eyes.

"You have to go, you know." He said, picking up my hat and putting it on my head.

"No, please." I whispered.

He nodded, a sympathetic expression washing over him.

I gave up, turning around and walking back to the front door. I could hear him behind me, dragging his feet on the carpet.

Ashton stood by the door, tapping his phone screen. He looked up at us, annoyed.

"Come on, Dale." He said, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

I tugged on the straps of my backpack, walking out the front door.

I looked back at Calum, who had his back to the outside. He was walking back in, Ashton closing the door behind him as he got outside.

I thought he would get Ashton to rethink this horrible idea, but I was wrong.

Like always.

I wiped my face, walking towards the black bar standing outside the gates. I lowered my head, the driver opening the door for me. I crawled in and buckled my seat belt, Ashton sitting next to me.

"Why do I have to go?" I asked softly, my voice raspy.

"You're being immature." He said, putting on his sunglasses.

Who wears sunglasses in a car?

I groaned, covering my face with my hands. I felt like crying but I tried to keep it in.

After what seemed like forever, the car stopped in a small parking lot. There were bicycles chained to a fence and school busses parked in the first row. Ashton opened the door and stepped out, putting his hand on his hip. I didn't move, frozen to the leather seat.

"Come on, Dale." Ashton sighed.

I ran a hand through my hair and stepped out the car as slow as I could. Ashton tapped his foot impatiently, his sunglasses hiding what I knew was eye rolling.

He put his had out for me to hold but I didn't. After two minutes of waiting he started walking away. I followed him, anxiety washing over me.

We walked out the parking lot and into a lawn that stood before a humongous building. It was bigger than the orphanage, which made me even more anxious.

"Your little temper tantrum made us late." Ashton said.

There were some teenagers sitting in the lawn, smoking who-knows-what. Loud rock music blasted from a speaker, skateboards at their feet.

"Anyone can play guitar and they won't be a nothing anymore!"  The lyrics were.

We walked into the building, the front lobby empty. I followed Ashton to what I guessed was the main office.

"Good morning, sir. Welcome to St. Louis Secondary School." A cheery secretary greeted us.

"Hi." Ashton said bluntly. "My son is late, sorry."

"Ah, just sign here." She said.

She passed me a notebook open to a page that read "Name/Grade/Time."

I wrote "Dale Irwin/Year 10/9:03 a.m."

"Thank you." The secretary said as I gave back the notebook. "You can go to class now."

"Um, this is his first day." Ashton said.

"Oh! You're the new student we've been waiting for. Alright, what's your name? Um..." She scanned the notebook. "Dale Irwin?"

I hesitantly nodded.

She typed with a noisy keyboard and clicked what sounded like a broken computer mouse. Ashton started tapping on the table.

"Here we are." She said, smiling.

Something started whirring behind her. She stood up and walked into a door, leaving us alone.

"You better not be childish tomorrow either, Dale." Ashton said, his back to me.

I looked down at my feet.

I heard the woman come back, so I raised my head.

"Here you go. Now, get along. You're late." She handed me a paper.

It was my schedule. Seemed like I was missing homeroom advisory.

"We've already assigned Karen to be your buddy for the week." She said, pointing at behind me. "She'll direct you."

I spun around to see a work of art sitting in a uncomfortable chair. She had headphones on and she was staring down at a book. Her blonde hair was covering her face, but when she looked up it swiftly fell and framed her face. Her dark eyes literally shimmered as her happy expression brightened the room.

I'm sure my heart skipped a beat.

How did I not notice her sitting there?

She stood up, her phone falling off her lap. Her headphones got ripped off her head, so she bent down to pick them up.

I've never wished to have my camera with me this much.

She was wearing a t-shirt with the words "The 1975" on it and blue denim jeans with rips at the knees. Her Adidas were scuffed and dirty, but that didn't matter.

"Hi, I'm Karen." She smiled, putting her hand out in front of me.

I froze, my eyes glued onto her.

She had freckles that danced on her ivory skin, a silver septum piercing that I couldn't tell if was fake or not. Her hair looked like it had been braided, her roots showing.

"Um, okay." She lowered her hand to her side. "I'll take you to your first class since homeroom advisory should be almost done. Can I see your schedule?"

I gave her the paper in my hand and watched her scan it. I looked back at Ashton, who was on his phone again.

"That's so coincidental, we have the same Algebra 1 class. It's on the second floor, so we should get going." She said, handing me my schedule back.

I took it, my finger grazing hers for a millisecond. I swear my stomach exploded.

"Okay, then. I'll pick you up at 3, okay Dale?" I heard Ashton say behind me.

I spun on my heel, my face burning hot. He awkwardly put his hand on my shoulder, as if that was going to do anything.

I nodded, and he walked out the office waving.

"What's your name?" Karen asked.