Assisting Victoria

Part Twenty-Four

                “You two on good terms now?” Lauren asked as I sat down.

            “I suppose. What in the world did you say to him to get him to be nice?” I asked.

            She smiled.

            “I told him I wanted the truth. I told him I thought he liked you and he admitted, after I may have threatened him a little, that he did.”

            “What?”

            “Turns out he’s actually had this crush on you for a while, but he knows you’re not straight and it bothers him.”

            I laughed. So Tori had been right when she suggested that in the first place. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. I hated him for so long because he was so mean to me, and now I was finding out that he had this huge crush on me. Well, one thing’s for sure, my senior year was turning out to be one hell of a rollercoaster for me.

            “Well thank you for talking to him,” I said.

            Throughout the conversation I had managed to miss the meaning of what I was saying to her, about ten minutes in though, Lauren figured it out and I wanted to slap myself.

            “Oh my god. You called him nice for telling her? You’re not mad? You’re actually happy?” She paused for a minute to keep from flipping out. “She likes you back doesn’t she? No way! Are you two together?”

            I held my finger up to my lip, hoping nobody was hearing this.

            “Shhh. Its’ not exactly something people are supposed to know. Not even you.”

            So much for keeping it a secret. Looks like I was sure doing a great job of that. Although, in my defense, I hadn’t actually told either one of them. They just guessed and I couldn’t find a way to say no.

            “So what happens now?” she asked.

            “I have to graduate. Until then, NOBODY else can find out.”

            “I promise I won’t say a word.”

           

-

            The next few weeks were difficult for me. It was really starting to sink in that I wouldn’t be coming back next year. Part of me did mind, because I was with Tori now, but there was still that part of me that knew most of the people I had grown up with for the past 13 years of my life were all going off to universities in different directions.

            Our last band concert of the year I turned into an emotional wreck. Well, in my eyes anyway. I was embarrassed to be crying in front of people. I did get this really beautiful bouquet of flowers in pretty shades of pink, purple, yellow, red, and white. The card held no name, but I knew exactly who they were from. That definitely lightened my mood.

            After that we only had one week left. One week to say good-bye to people I would probably never see again. One week to help Tori out after school. One week to make sure my grades were up high enough for me to graduate. One week to enjoy high school while I had the chance. It was a little bit stressful though. That one week almost ruined a very good thing I had going.

            I remember I was at Tori’s house again. This time, because she actually invited me. We were sitting on her couch curled up with a blanket and watching a movie. Eventually, I had fallen asleep with my head on her shoulder and her arm around me. I woke up when there was a knock on the door. It was Heather, she walked in without even giving Tori the time to get p and answer the door.