Even Angels Fall

Chapter 4

                                                      ~~~~~Mike~~~~~

I was out the door before the bell stopped ringing. Classes this morning had dragged on and on. As I quickly made my way to my locker to change books, I didn't know or care about what I was supposed to have learned. I was only focusing on getting to mine and Christina's meeting spot so I could finally hear her say she'd go out with me, and I'd finally have some kind of claim on her. 

I couldn't believe I'd wasted so much time not even trying to be around her. I'd completely wasted the last ten years! I told her I'd been a stupid kid back then. Boy, was that an understatement! I must have been insane to voluntarily give up my friendship with her. Not to mention, to have hurt her like I obviously did. Idiot.

I'd forgotten all about our little falling out back then, until she reminded me. But now, I remembered it like it was yesterday. I was embarrassed by Amy's teasing, sure I wasn't ever going to like girls that way. I didn't even like most girls at all, but even then Christina had been different. She was the only one who didn't act helpless all the time or cry at the mere mention of a bug. She even put some of the boys to shame in that area. 

I couldn't help grinning, remembering the time David Robertson nearly wet his pants after finding a spider on his lunch box. Everyone laughed and started teasing him about screaming and acting like a girl. Just before David could redeem himself a little by smashing the spider with the shoe he'd ripped off his foot, Christina shoved him out of the way.

"Don't kill it!" she screamed, grabbing the bug and running over to the open window. After dumping one very lucky insect out the window, she turned and gave us all a "so there" look, which I'm pretty sure was in response to the comments about David acting like a girl.

I decided then that Christina was okay for a girl. That was right before I ate the first crayon.

She was also uncommonly kind for a little kid. She was always the first one to make friends with the new kid. The first one to stand up for the kid getting picked on. The first one to approach the kid deemed an outcast because of some faux pas on their part the day before. And even after I'd turned my back on her, I couldn't remember her ever seeming even mildly resentful. She would smile or say hi when we would cross paths, talk like nothing had happened when we'd get thrown together for a project here or there.

Man, I'd been an idiot. It would have been so simple to fall back into an easy friendship with her then. Probably without even an explanation or apology. Why did my stupid stubborn pride have to get in the way?

Well, that certainly wouldn't happen again. I wasn't giving her up without a fight this time. After a few dates, I could ask her to be my girlfriend...

Just then an awful thought hit me. What if she still didn't tell me she would go out with me? What if she was right and her dad really did tell her no? I felt pretty sure of myself yesterday when I was trying to convince her to ask. I mean, she was almost an adult, technically. Why shouldn't she be allowed to date by now? 

I wasn't so confident now, however. What if he really was that controlling? This kind of thing had never been an issue for me before. I'd rarely come across a girl with an overprotective parent. The few times I did, they didn't hesitate to sneak out.

But again, Christina wasn't like other girls. Even if she thought of doing that, I didn't think she actually would. Or at least, not on her own. Maybe she would if I pushed enough. But I didn't want to be like that. I didn't want her doing anything she didn't really want to do. As overbearing as her father apparently was, I knew that she wouldn't want to defy him like that. She was too sweet, too loving. Sure, she might do it, but she'd regret it.