Blue Mirth

Hypnotizing

John Kenneth

We get out with plenty of time for the first break to start. Before I do, though, I tell Ivy to go and check if there's anyone in the hallway. She takes one whole minute and then peeks in, saying, "Sorry, Oscar was around. I told him I saw a knocked-over trash-can three corridors away. All's clear." Oscar's our school janitor. He's around forty years old, and looks like he works out. I smile at Ivy's little lie and make my way outside. It occurs to me that we only have fifteen minutes till everyone comes out of their classes and I meet Kylie and her friends. I don't know why, but I kind of like this. "Hey, Ivy?", I verbalise. She turns around. She was just standing there, probably confused as to how she should spend her last fifteen minutes of peace, like me.

"Yes?"

I don't know what I was going to say to her. It's like I blanked or something. I shrug, and she turns back, with a funny smile on her face. "Here.", I say, taking out this note I wrote to show to the Principal, stating why we weren't in our first two classes. I wrote that both us needed to be out of school for the first hour due to an unfortunate incident involving my non-existent cat. Apparently, my cat died due to a car accident, and Ivy witnessed the whole thing. Therefore, both of us had to stay out of school in order to give my cat – I think I'll call him Pete – a proper funeral. Clever, I know. She looks at the note and tries not to laugh. And for the first time ever, I think, 'she's hypnotizing'. I push that thought away, reminding myself that I'm going to see my dazzling girlfriend in just a few minutes.

She takes out a pen from her bag she'd been carrying around – which I'd managed to clean, because it wasn't as affected as the rest of her when she'd fallen – and asks, "What's your dad's name?" I'm a little baffled. Why would she need my father's name? "Quentin.", I say, still bemused. She senses it, but doesn't say anything. And then she does a nifty thing. She signs my dad's name it an unclear, untidy handwriting. This makes me giggle.

"Sign Ruth. In cursive."

"Your mom writes in cursive?"

"Yeah, and it's all jumbled, too."

"There."

We admire our handiwork. The bell rings, and we make our way to the cafeteria. We aren't exactly walking together, but I'm still following her. And why wouldn't I be? We're both going to the lunchroom. I spot Kylie come out of one of the classrooms, and try catching her eye. By this time, the hallway had become crowded, and it takes her a solid five minutes, but she finally sees me. I gesture for her to stop and wait there until I can reach her, and look at the person in front of me, to give closure to our two-period-period long meet, but I'm disappointed. She's gone. I wonder for a moment where she might have gone off to without saying anything, but then I decide that maybe she's in the cafeteria. I walk over to Kylie and see her friends beside her, Savannah Trinity as calm as ever, and Jordan Vivian with her signature scowl.

I smile at the three of them, anyway. Kylie's on her phone, talking in her smiling voice, and I wait for her to get off so I can greet her. She gestures at me, showing me her pointer finger, indicating that I wait a minute, and continues talking. I move on to Jordan Vivian. I mouth a 'hi' and she just stares at me. "Hi...", she drags, as if she's trying very hard to make conversation. Maybe she's not fond of me. I can change that. "What music do you like to listen to?", I ask, enthusiastically. Zest usually works. Unfortunately, it seems like Jordan is immune to my skill – if I might say so myself, in the humblest way possible – of making people come out of their shy-shell. She answers in a noncommittal voice.

"I don't really like a lot of music."

I'm speechless, but then I decide that I shouldn't judge her. Everyone has their interests and drudges. "Okay, do you like movies?", I question, next, keeping my smile consistent. She thinks about that for a while. "Um. No.", she declares. This is going to be harder than I thought it would be.