Don't Go Into The Woods

Chapter 13

My feelings for the guy did not change one bit as the next few weeks seemed to pass by with me avoiding and ignoring Dimitri every chance I got. Art classes was a breeze for me these days as I simply pretended like he did not even exist. I got pretty good at doing so. It was also made so easy when every so now and again, Dimitri missed class all together. Though even Ms. Jennings found that to be totally out of his character. I did not care much about it. Those days were the best. A full desk to myself which helped me excel completely in art. By the time the first few snow flakes began to fall, I actually started to enjoy being at this school. The strange dreams were not even able to deter me from handing in excellent pieces of art work. I used the dreams as inspiration and I managed to produce pretty good sketches. That was not the only strange thing happening. Having an annoying loud mouth roommate did not seem so bad anymore! I thought I would ever think that. Maybe I was actually starting to enjoy her company. If that was the case, I surely was not ready to admit it. Just like I was not ready to admit that I genuinely liked Roman’s company. Every chance I got to spend with him, I did. And we seemed to make the most of it. Although no official kiss had been laid on my lips, I could tell that Roman felt something for me. Just like me, he was hesitant to admit it. Everything seemed to be going well for me again and as I sat there in a pair of black tights with a blue tight gym t-shirt on in the gym hall on the podium inside, I was forced to worry about what would happen when the holidays came and the school was breaking up. I really did not want to go back to my mom and Rick and pretend like we were a happy family. I adjusted my black sneakers before letting out a heavy sigh at the thought of that. It was a Friday afternoon and instead of spending my afternoon doing what I wanted to do or even do some research on my laptop for my assignment due by Monday, I was stuck with Carmen who persuaded me into going with her to the cheerleading trial. Of course there was no way that I was trying out for cheerleading. I was solely here to support Carmen. At least I was forced to do so. Carmen was so excited that she was utterly blinded by the truth and the truth was that she could really not dance. I just hoped for a miracle. She had been practicing all week for this in our bedroom so despite my desperate attempts to assist her in a few good dance moves, I knew Carmen was ultimately doomed when it came to dancing. She couldn't dance to save her life and of course there was no way she was going to listen to anyone trying to talk her out of this. I tried in a subtle manner to tell her that maybe she should rather just focus on writing articles for the school newspaper as she seemed good at that, but she just refused to listen. Apparently her parents told her she was a natural at dancing and she believed them. There was nothing I could do to change her mind on that. Yet still, I felt this powerful urge to protect her somehow.

“Next!” Candice called from the her throne at the center of the table. It was the judging table where only the captain of the cheerleading squad and her two deputies were allowed to sit. Of course Candice was the captain and I had no clue what the names were of her two deputies. Some red head girls who possibly could be twins. Maybe they were. I was not sure. I never bothered to get to know any of them. They were just too stuck up for me.

Candice and the two girls erupted into hysterical laughter after a performance of an eighth grader did not blow them away. The girl left the floor in tears. Clearly this whole early selection process for the upcoming season was nothing more than an opportunity to laugh and publicly mock others. I tried not to let it bother me as I sat there chewing my lip from the nerves. I actually felt nervous for Carmen. Was she going to be able to handle the rejection? In the corner of my eye, I noticed the gym door open and in came walking Roman accompanied by a few of his friends which unfortunately included Dimitri. Roman spotted me almost immediately and smiled, even giving me a wave to say hello. I was so glad to see how quick he was to notice me sitting here. I was also pretty pleased at the fact that he was so willing to acknowledge me in public. I smiled and waved back at him. Kacey and Dain were a thing of the past for me.