The Spring

Chapter 3

I remembered to pick up Rebecca and Emma the next morning. Unlike the previous afternoon, all was quit in the car as I drove to school under a pale sky. This quit was nothing unusual, for I knew that the sisters were never in a mood to talk until they reached the campus. Today was my turn to select the music, and once again, I played One Direction’s song, but I kept the volume down, and the singer's singing sounded soft and sentimental:

“You're messing with my head

Girl that's what you do best

Saying there's nothing you won't do

To get me to say yes

You're impossible to resist

But I wouldn't bet your heart on it

It's like I'm finally awake

And you're just a beautiful mistake.”

Traffic on the streets was always heavier in the mornings than in the afternoons since I had to compete with the adults in the city who were on their way to work. In spite of this, our trip to school always took less time because I didn’t have to fight to get into the parking lot like I had to fight to get out of it in the afternoons. On this day, I found that I was running a little earlier than usual even though I had gone out of my way to pick up Rebecca and Emma. The time was almost 7:45, and there were lot of spaces available in the parking lot. I parked in a much better space than where I had parked yesterday. I stopped the car and turned off the engine. Rebecca and Emma lazily gathered their belongings and climbed out of the car. They closed their doors and silently walked through the parking lot towards the school. But I was in a hurry, in such a hurry that I forgot my mp3 player, leaving it locked in the car as I ran to catch up with Rebecca. I grabbed Rebecca’s shoulder and said, “Rebecca, wait a second.” Rebecca stopped, and I stole a glance at Emma, who kept walking. When she was a few feet further away, we started walking again and I said, “I guess your gonna have lunch again with that crowd you hang out with, huh?”

Rebecca smiled for the first time that morning as the loose stones on the pavement crunched and snapped under our feet. “Yeah, where else would I go?”

“Nowhere, that’s cool. Bu I was just wondering……….well, do u mind if I hang out with you and your friends today?”

Rebecca hadn’t been expecting this, but at the apparent end of mine and Keith’s friendship, it wasn’t a complete surprise. She looked in the direction of the table where she and her friends ate lunch, although she couldn’t see it from the parking lot. She shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s fine with me. If you want to be bored out of your mind, go ahead. I don’t think anyone will complain.”

I, who was looking at the ground, almost said that I’d rather be bored with other people than be bored alone, but I caught myself and asked instead, “Is that yes?”

Rebecca nodded. We approached the empty bus depot where a few kids stayed on a place aimlessly in a bunch, talking to themselves quietly. Emma had disappeared, and it was here that I and Rebecca parted, for I usually hung out with Keith in the morning and Rebecca went in search of her other friends. Since I wasn’t interested in looking for Keith anymore, I considered following Rebecca, but I didn’t want to look like some lost puppy so I went up to the school doors and stood by myself, patiently waiting for the bell to ring and the doors to open

Later that day, when the lunch hour started, I hurried through the crowded hallways towards Rebecca’s locker. I didn’t bother to bring my backpack (I still hadn’t realize that I left my mp3 player behind in the car). All I had was myself and some change in my pocket with which to buy lunch. I caught Rebecca just as she was closing her locker. I said hello and found Rebecca in amore sociable mood than she had been that morning. Rebecca asked, “So what’s the deal with you and Keith anyway? Why did she ditch you like that?”