I sat in my last hour of the day, confused. The weekends happenings still were hanging above my head. I wonder what had came over Coco that day. Images of her kissing me had flashed through my head. For the rest of the weekend I had been distracted and it was Monday and I still hadn't gotten over it. It wasn't just the kiss that had made me distracted though, it was the whole situation.
It was like she knew what those men were doing at the base. It was like she was scared, panicked. I had tried to get it out of her what it was about after we left the area, but she had returned to her normal self and she just looked at me confused. A new thought popped into my head. Did she have something to do with them? Were they looking for her?
"Jason?" a soft voice asked me. I looked to my left where Coco sat. "You okay? We have a class assignment to do." she handed me the paper.
I grabbed it and plastered a smile on my face, "Ya of course I am okay!" I had forced a little to much enthusiasm, luckily Coco didn't notice and began writing something on a piece of paper. She had been acting more normal lately. Which I guess isn't an awful thing.
I looked at the paper and sighed. "Okay we have to write a short story." I told her. I took a quick look at the clock. "We have twenty minutes. Any ideas?" I asked. Coco slid the paper to me, a half sheet of paper was already covered by her neat writing. I read over the words. It was a story about an outcast, a mutant as she referred to it. It had suffered long years of torture. That was all that was written.
"Wow, this is a really good story so far! How'd you come up with it?" Coco shrugged and I could tell she just imagined it. So I had her write down more and I completed questions on the sheet. By the time we both finished the bell rang and we handed in our papers.
We walked down the hall and passerby's kept staring at Coco, which I had gotten used to by now. I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turned, it was Nat.
"Hi Nat." I said expressionless.
"Hi Jason!" she gave me a pearly white smile.
"Oh hi Natalia!" Coco walked up to me.
Nat ignored her, "So Jason, homecoming is coming up, and I was wondering if we were going together?"
"We aren't a couple anymore Nat. Remember?" I sighed.
"But Jay! Who will you go with?" she sighed, "I have had such a rough time lately, and I need someone supportive..." her eyes gave me the puppy look. I held up my palm, silencing her.
"Nat. You told me yourself we aren't a couple. It was on your terms we break up, not mine. I loved you Nat, I really did. You meant a lot to me. But. You gave up on me to soon. I realize your true colors now and I do not like what I see."
"Homecoming?" Nat persisted.
"No, Coco and I are going, three weeks from now. So you need to find another date." I told her.
Nat stood straight up, frowning. She made a dramatic noise and left. I checked the time and I saw I had ten minutes before football started. I didn't talk to Coco until we got to the field. "Can you sit on the bleachers and do homework until practice is done?" I asked her.
"Sure! Have fun!" she ran to the bleachers.
I walked to the locker room and put my palm on my forehead. I am so confused. I loved Nat, and I still do... I think. But then there's Coco. She is always nice and just something about her.
"Jay!" Nathan walked up to me. "Ready for the game this weekend?"
"Ya, want to go undefeated this year?" I asked humorously.
Nathan laughed, "Ya totally." It was a joke between us because every year we go undefeated until the homecoming game, which we always, and I mean always lose. Somewhere along the line it had become an inside joke between us.
"Hurry up!" Coach yelled.
During practice I kept checking on the spot where Coco was. She sat there quietly. The heat didn't seem to affect her at all.
"Jason! Get your head out of the clouds!" Coach yelled at me.
"Sorry." I muttered and focused back on the drills we did.
I took a quick look again when when we got a break. She was gone. Panic rushed over me. Calm down. Bathroom break, no need to have a mini heart attack. Our break was over before she could return so I would have to wait until after practice.
I went to the bleachers after practice and she was getting her stuff together.
"Finish your homework?" I asked casually.
"Yup!" she smiled.
The sun was setting and the breeze had gotten stronger, so the long track to my car wasn't so difficult. I opened my car and blasted on the air conditioning. I sat back in my chair sore. I groaned.
"You okay?" Coco asked me. I looked at her and before I could respond I noticed a red substance on her face and clothes. It wasn't everywhere but, being this close I noticed all the specks.
"What is that?" I asked her. She looked down at her shirt.
"I don't know." she further inspected them. Feeling that I could get no more out of her, or at least that she could remember, I drove us back to our house.
"Can we order take-out?" I asked.
"Sure." she said half-heartedly, I watched her walk up the stairs limping. I wonder if she tripped on the bleachers or something. I flipped through the phone book, and found a Chinese place that I liked, and I placed our order.
Satisfied. I went up stairs to take a shower. "Coco if someone comes to the door answer it and take the food he has."
"Okay!" the response from Coco was faded by her shut door.
