Some Days - Part 1
Out of the seven days we call a week, Tuesday is the only one worth accolades and eternal praise. It’s a universal fact nothing bad can happen. It might be passable, boring, or quiet, but never bad, and when I’m getting my ass handed to me on six other days, the slight reprieve granted by Tuesdays is a welcome relief. I had my first kiss on a Tuesday, I was gifted a car on a Tuesday; the list can be traced back to when I was born on a Tuesday, and given enough time, I could probably convince everyone this is the only day worth enjoying.
The school I attended obviously agreed with my steadfast belief, for Tuesday’s lunch consisted of spaghetti and tiny, finger sized bread sticks with unlimited cheese dip. It was also the only day students crowded the lunchroom and walked out of it without tipping into the nearest trashcan, normally poisonous and indigestible school lunches magically transformed into something edible and non-gastric inducing.
I was eager for lunch, but escaping under the guise of a bathroom break would land me in detention. So with a heavy heart, I sagged against the desk, my stomach protesting nosily as it awaited its next meal. I glanced at the clock. Ten minutes. Six hundred seconds. Sixty times ten Mississippi’s – that was the yawning chasm separating me from my delicious cheese sticks.
I kicked the leg of the chair in front of me. If I was bored and hungry, the least I could do was drag someone down with me.
Mike glared over his shoulder. Despite how fierce he looked, jaw clenched and eyes flashing in warning, it lacked heat, and I smothered a grin before poking him with the rubber end of my pencil.
“Stop it. You know my grades for this class suck. I gotta concentrate,” He whispered, eyes flicking to the teacher pacing by the whiteboard. “Go organize your notes for the next class or something.”
I grinned. It was a god given right for friends to share their ups and downs, and there’s no better camaraderie than having someone suffer alongside you.
“I’m bored,” I dragged out the last letter and nudged the bottom of his seat, “I know you stink at Geography but I’m hurt that you’d rather hear about the mountain ranges than talk to your best friend,” I wheedled.
He flipped the bird. I flopped back into my chair with a dramatic huff, earning an exasperated eye roll. He returned his gaze to the teacher seconds later, who’d started reading off the textbook in a tone drier than the Sahara. I could feel the life evaporating from the class with each roll of his tongue as he picked his way through today’s chapter with agonizing slowness.
I did well in this class and could afford to daydream, memorizing was easy and Geography was only a matter of how much you could cram inside your noggin before regurgitating it. At least, that’s how it was for me. I know some people who’d be willing read a geography book because they enjoy it. Different strokes, I guess.
Without anything else to occupy myself with, I rested my head on the desk. It made my forehead itch but it was better than listening to Mister Preen – yes, someone had actually named their child that – read off the textbook like an automated text reader. It was a feat in itself to sound so inexplicably flat. If someone in the near future could harness his voice, they’d make a killing by marketing it as a painless alternative to anaesthetic.
Ten torturous minutes later, he finally concluded the class. I couldn’t lift my head because I’d gotten way too comfortable. “That’s all for today. Please remember to study for next week’s test, chapter one to five. Bring whatever you need before you arrive,” he told us, “I don’t tolerate cheating, and borrowing a pen mid test counts as such. Am I clear?”
The class mumbled something unintelligible, and Mister Preen let out an annoyed huff. “Alright. Class dismissed.”
Mike kicked the foot of my table, and I jolted up, rubbing my forehead. “Hold your horses, crazy. I’m awake. No need to get violent,” I stretched my arms over my head, yawning a little.
“Payback’s a bitch.” He smirked, “C’mon, let’s go. I wanna get a seat before everyone snaps up the cheese sticks.”
The bell hadn’t rang yet, so we made our way to the lunchroom without urgency. We stopped at our lockers to grab the books for the next class before continuing our trek. It was smooth sailing until we turned down the hallway.
“Hi, Mike,” A mousey looking girl walked up to him, smiling and fluttering her eyelashes. I internally groaned and put some distance to give them a sliver of privacy. “See you in Chem?”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to mixing our chemicals,” he waggled his eyebrows, eliciting a startled laugh out of the girl. “See you later…” he gave me a side glance, eyes filled with what I recognized as muted panic. I mouthed her name with a roll of my eyes. “Grace.”
“I can’t believe you forgot her name,” I groused once she was out of our earshot.
Mike shrugged, squishing his books between his arm and chest to roll up his sleeves. “It’s not my fault I get girls lining up for me.” Ah, the woes of those with good looks.
“She’s been your chem partner since the start of the semester.” I pointed out.
“I know a lot of Grace’s, alright? And besides, I’d have remembered if I weren’t hungry as hell.”
“I’ve heard you come up with good excuses. That wasn’t one of them.” I mimed his previous eyebrow waggle, “And also, mixing our chemicals? Seriously? If I didn’t know you were a nerd for science, I’d think you wanted to be a porn star.”
“Laugh it up, Matthew,” Mike nudged me, “You’re just jealous the ladies are linin’ up for me. When was the last time you had a date?”
“You know what happened with me and…” I gestured aimlessly, “I don’t think I have it in me to start dating again. It still feels too soon.” I didn’t want to say her name, not when we were surrounded by gossip mongers and eavesdroppers. The school’s rumour mill could put Hollywood Paparazzi’s to shame. Some people could score a medal in it if it were a category in the Olympics.
“Yeah, yeah.” He looked slightly chastised at the reminder. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” I shrugged and mumbled a small “S’ok,” and let the chatter in the halls wash over us. It was just a sore subject for me. I’ve shed enough manly tears, and talking about it didn’t make my knees buckle like it did a year before. Fuck off, I’m a sensitive soul, okay?
We walked into the half full – or half empty, depending on your philosophy – lunch room just as the bell sounded. I spotted Thresh and his girlfriend, Anna waving at us, the pair already occupying the table to the far corner of the lunchroom.
“Hey,” I greeted, sweeping my gaze over their trays, “No delicious bread sticks for you, Anna? You’re missing out.” Thresh crunched on said snacks, high fiving me when I nodded approvingly at him. Anna groaned, poking at her pathetic looking salad like it’d personally offended her. It looked as if someone plucked it from the ground and tossed it into a bowl, without washing it I might add, and then decorated it with mayonnaise instead of an actual salad dressing.
“I have a health check coming up. I’d prefer not to look like a pudgy snowman when I’m getting looked over,” she stabbed a leaf and shoved it into her mouth. I winced. It looked like it physically pained her to chew it, and the absolute disgust painted on her face was enough to make me swear off cafeteria salad.
She uncapped her bottle and downed its contents, throwing her head back. “God, it’s like I’m eating leather,” she choked out.
“Don’t worry, I’d still totally date you, even if you were round and snowman like,” Thresh chimed, leaning in and pressing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. She squealed and slapped his arm as he backed away, laughing.
“Hey, you’ve got a little something…” I gestured to her cheek, grinning at Thresh when he winked at me.
She blushed and swiped off the cheesy crumbs with the back of her hand. Thresh scooted away to avoid her next arm slap, smirking as he shoved the rest of the bread into his mouth.
“Dude, let’s go.” Mike said, slapping my shoulder, “I’m not interested in lining up for thirty minutes, I’m going to collapse if I don’t get food into my mouth.”
I whipped my head to look at the steadily filling cafeteria. “Crap, my bad.” I shot him an apologetic look and followed him to the growing line of people. The queue moved quickly, though there was almost an incident when someone cut in front of us. Luckily, the asshole who stepped on Mike’s toes only grabbed a banana before he split. I shoved a tray into Mike’s hands to stop him from following and arched my eyebrows in warning.
Mike was three detentions away from a week’s suspension. I wasn’t letting him waste one on whacking someone in the cafeteria. He grumbled at my stare and looked away. I guess he knew what I was thinking, he’d usually kick up a fuss if I stopped him from exacting revenge. We grabbed our food – I got spaghetti and two plates of bread sticks, Mike having one plate more than I did – and returned to our table.
Thresh and Anna were halfway done with their food, chatting between bites. Anna had abandoned her salad and was now stealing from her boyfriend’s tray.
“Did we miss anything?” Mike asked, settling down beside me. I left them to talk and dived into my food, barely muffling my satisfied groan when I shoved a bread stick into my mouth. Now that’s the good stuff. I picked up another and dredged up a generous dollop of cheese, before biting into it. Hoo boy. This shit was better than crack, not that I’d ever tried it, the cafeteria probably earned more on Tuesdays than the entire week combined.
The place was overflowing with students now. I could see a large group of jocks congregating on the other side of the room, predictably joined by the cheerleaders. The rest of the groups were split between the regular folks, the ones from different clubs, and so on. No one attracted more attention than the former, though, mostly because of the eye-catching uniforms and the raucous laughter erupting every five minutes.
I picked up a fork and started on my spaghetti. Mike and Thresh were flinging bits of bread at each other, cackling like crazy whenever they hit their mark. Anna tried looking pitiful as she pointed to my remaining plate of bread sticks. I rolled my eyes and pushed it in her direction. She tore into it and ignored my teasing laugh. So much for that diet.
“Damn. Don’t look now, but the King and Queen of McCross are gracing us with their presence.” Thresh muttered as the noise in the cafeteria tapering off into a respectful silence. Two of the most popular students had just walked in, and everyone paused to look at them. After a beat, a couple of footballers laughed, and the murmurs resumed.
Thresh nudged Anna, “I almost confused them for the second coming of Moses,” he joked, when the crowd parted like the red sea to let them through.
I could feel Mike’s gaze burning into the side of my face. I looked at him and shrugged, returning to my food with a moody sigh.
“Don’t be rude,” Anna said, “They’re not that bad.”
“That’s cause your parents know theirs, babe. Clark and his pals stuffed me into The Closet on the first day of school because I wore a pink shirt.” Thresh folded his arms, scowling a little, “That place smells like a thousand skunks took a dump, then exploded.”
Anna rubbed his arm apologetically. “Sorry, I’d forgotten about that.” He smiled at her and said something mushy in reply. Mike fake gagged and yelped when she kicked him under the table.
“Matt, you okay?” Thresh said, waving a breadstick in front of my face. “You’re looking sort of pale. Is it the spaghetti?”
I looked down at my half-eaten plate and sighed again. My appetite had disappeared. “Must have been something I ate this morning,” I said, swiping Anna’s bottle and ignoring her squeak of indignation. I nudged the soggy pasta towards Thresh. “You wanna finish what’s left? I think I’ll stick to the sticks,” I swallowed a mouthful of water.
“Sure. I’d never turn down free food,” He shrugged and began polishing off the remainder of my lunch. I sent the bottle sliding back to Anna and ducked when she flung a mayo-covered leaf at me. “Missed me sucker,” I teased.
Her expression turned fearful. Beside her, Thresh looked up and adopted a similar look. I slowly turned around and found myself wincing.
“Holy shit.” Mike mumbled.
A slender figure stepped into view, the girl holding up the piece of soggy lettuce between her manicured nails. My eyes darted to the dark stain on her cheerleader uniform and moved back to Anna’s face. She looked like she’d just swallowed a frog. A nasty, barf inducing frog.
“Nice aim.” Virginia Masson flicked her wrist. The limp leaf landed in the centre of the table with a pathetic ‘whap’ sound.
“Uh, sorry,” Anna hastily apologized, ducking her head in embarrassment. Virginia huffed and turned towards me, hand extended. I dug through my pockets for a napkin and breathed a sigh of relief when I found one, handing it to her with a sheepish smile. Mike was torn between leering at her and shrinking away at the flat expression she pinned us with.
“Did you finish your part of the assignment?” Virginia asked as she furiously scrubbed the stain.
“Yeah, it’s done.” I thanked whichever gods watched over me and pulled out the double sided paper from my file. I made doubly sure to pack everything last night. I heard Virginia made the math teacher cry during freshman year, and the poor man had quit a week later. He was a shoddy teacher, but it was a bit much.
I handed the paper to her, “Are you going to turn it in before class?”
“Of course,” she left the crumpled tissue on the table and started flipping through my part of the assignment. She was apparently satisfied because she tucked it under her arm and spared me from her all-consuming wrath. People were staring at our table with pity written on their faces, their gazes sometimes shifting to Virginia where it transformed into blatant staring. I swore some even drooled.
She whipped her head around and glared at the surrounding tables. Everyone returned to inhaling their food and chattering like chipmunks.
“See you in Spanish?” I offered, not knowing what else to say.
She turned back to me and tilted her head. Her stare unnerved me, and I fought the urge to swallow. After a beat, she finally said, “See you,” and left, returning to her table. She was the only cheerleader who sat with her own clique at lunch. It was considerably smaller than the main group, consisting only of a handful of cheerleaders and one or two jocks. The rest were a random mix of people I didn’t recognize.
“How can someone that hot be so scary?” A visible shiver ran through Mike as he watched her go.
“I think I just lost ten years of my life,” Anna whimpered. Thresh patted her back consolingly.
“I hereby ban foodball during lunch.” I raised my hand, “Those who agree, say I.”
A chorus of ‘I’s’ rang out. We resumed our respective conversations with less gusto, still reeling from our near death experience.
After lunch was Chemistry, then Spanish. My partner for lab was out sick, and Mike was busy talking (read, flirting) with the girl from the hallway, which left me bored. I tried to follow what the teacher was saying and absentmindedly took notes. I barely kept my head above water last year, netting myself a C minus for this subject despite studying regularly. I hoped this semester wouldn’t see a repeat, so I did my best to pay attention.
Before I knew it, it was time for the last class for today. My friends took French, and I was the only one who took Spanish. Thresh almost took it, but he opted out once he learned Miss Raine was the only one who taught Spanish.
She was a middle aged woman, loud spoken, with the tendency to target people with brightly coloured hair. Thresh told me about his freshman year of hell where he’d been stuck with her as a substitute for English. He’d ended up with detention after arguing that his red hair was natural (it wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to admit that) and swore never to see her again.
I stepped into class and made a beeline for my usual seat. I was alone for the second time today. I wouldn’t call it unbearable since Spanish was pretty cool, but it was trying to be in a class without a friendly face. I couldn’t count Virginia as a friend and we never sat directly beside each other, anyway.
I preferred to sit near the windows at back of the class, mostly because sitting up front made me paranoid that someone was making fun of me. Logically, I knew no one gave two shits about me. I was your average high school wallflower, not that I didn’t wish I had Mike’s devilishly good looks, but I’m a teenager, which means I’m allowed to be self-conscious as I want.
The class slowly filled up. I watched as the students trickled in, meandering to their seats as Miss Raine glared at their backs. Virginia walked in with two of her friends and took her usual seat. I dipped my head in greeting. She replied with the barest of nods and continued chatting.
Two minutes before the last bell sounded, our school’s celebrity couple stepped through the door. I instantly looked away, staring out the window instead. They were going to head to their usual seat in the middle of class, surrounded by their admirers. Or at least, they should have. When my eyes started burning from sunlight I turned back to survey the class, I was greeted by a faintly smiling face.
I was too stunned to reply. Elisa was smiling at me? Why?
Her smile faded when I stared blankly in response. Luckily, her boyfriend turned to look at me, looping one muscular arm around her shoulders, stealing her attention with one swift movement. I felt like my insides were burning. I stamped out the irritating feeling and settled for a polite smile.
“Hey, isn’t he your neighbour? The one from the house with the shitty garden?” Jefferson Clark guffawed. I tried not to glare since I happened to like having my head attached to my neck.
“Yeah,” Elise smiled at him. I discreetly rolled my eyes and quietly bent down to take out my books. My mind was mess. My movements were jerky. I nearly sent my pen flying down the aisle. God, all it took was a smile, and I was halfway to becoming a jello.
Miss Raine rapped her knuckles against the desk to get our attention when the bell finally rang.
“Roll call,” Miss Raine drawled, her earrings rattling with each tilt of her head. “Adams.”
“Here.”
Her pencil moved across the brown manila file. “Abram.”
“Here!”
The process went on for a while before she called out, “Clark.” A couple of heads turned, straining to look at the boy diagonal from me.
“I’m here, Miss R.” Jefferson chuckled. The girls swooned, while the rest of us mortals merely sighed.
“I can see that,” the teacher returned dryly, “Next… Clark with an E?”
I raised a hand, doubly focused when I muttered “Present,” to ensure my voice wouldn’t crack. She nodded and went on to the next name.
“Clements?”
“Here.” Elisa called. My world flew off its axis when she threw a glance over her shoulder, lips quirked in a familiar, flirty smile. I reacted on instinct and returned it in kind, only realising my mistake when Jefferson shifted his chair. He pinned me with a fierce stare and only looked away when Miss Raine began scribbling on the board.
We delved into conjugated verbs and the nuances of grammar, the class silent as we tried to soak in the information the teacher was bombarding us with. To my dismay, I couldn’t concentrate. Every so often, Elisa would sneak looks at me and flutter her eyelashes, and by the half hour mark, I was gripping the pen hard enough to leave an indent in my finger.
My head buzzed with questions. Why were they sitting there? Why was Elisa looking at me like that? What the bloody hell was going on?
The last straw came fifteen minutes before Spanish concluded. I barely stopped myself from tumbling out of my seat when a tanned hand skirted across my notes. I looked up, forcing myself to look as neutral as possible.
“Can I borrow a pencil?” Elisa asked, lips stretched into a polite smile.
My eyebrows rose in panic when her boyfriend pinned me with his scathing look. I recognized it, because I’d frequently gotten those looks in middle school. This was one three times more potent, and promised a beat down at the back of the school. I never registered on his radar before, but Elisa’s flirting had apparently set him on edge. I quickly looked down at my notes once I handed her the pencil.
Needless to say, I was the first one out of the classroom by the end of the lesson, pencil be damned. I skipped putting my things into my locker and flew out the building. I cut across the parking lot and jogged through an empty clearing. A minute later and I found my leaf-covered car under the thick shade.
A rusting vehicle sat a little ways away, half-blocking the exit to this abandoned trailer park. I always parked here because it was free, and also because I liked soaking up the silence before braving a school day. Mike liked to joke that I was a complete weirdo, but I knew he always took his dates here to make out when he borrowed my car.
I fumbled with my keys before I finally managed to get the door open. I threw my bag into the backseat and sent a text to Mike, telling him he’d have to hitch a ride with Thresh today. I fidgeted impatiently as I waited for his reply. I finally got his message after several minutes of painful silence and jammed the key in the ignition. The car sputtered to life.
I sped out the field. Or I would have, if Elisa hadn’t flung the door open and climbed into the passenger’s seat.
She shut the door, buckling in despite the ‘WTF are you doing’ look I was definitely wearing.
“Is there something on my face?” She smirked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. My traitorous eyes followed her movement, and I looked away with a furious blush when she licked her lips.
“Why are you here?” I gritted out, feeling like someone had set me on fire. “Your boyfriend has a car, doesn’t he?”
“He’s busy. I told him I’d be riding you today,” Elisa ran a hand through her hair, eyes going dark for a split second. Oh no. I was going to die the next time he saw me. “Well? Shouldn’t we get going?”
“What do you mean ‘we’?” I snarled out the last word. Elisa didn’t even flinch, still wearing that infuriating smile of hers that made me want to kiss the daylight out of her. “In case you’ve forgotten, there hasn’t been a ‘we’ for a long time. One year, to be exact. So forgive me if my reaction isn’t exactly friendly.”
“Yeah, it’s been a year since you broke up with me.” She said, sounding nostalgic. “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”
“You were the one who asked me to. You said you wanted something new, something fresh,” I couldn’t help the bitterness which seeped into my words. “Someone who better. You wanted Jefferson, and you got him. So why the fuck are you here?”
Elisa ran a hand up my arm. Her touch was comforting, familiar, and I felt myself craving her when she pulled away. “I want you back.” She stated, “Jefferson is nice and all, but he’s really tiring to be a girlfriend to. It’s always, ‘you gotta look pretty for my friends,’ or ‘wear this skirt because it makes you look hot,’ and it pisses me off.” She clicked her teeth. “I always want to slap him when he kisses me in front of his friends. I hate it when he does that, I’m not a show dog.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t see you breaking up with him.” I folded my arms. Shit, I can’t believe I was really thinking about getting back together with her. She’d trampled on my feelings and left without a second glance, and now she’s telling me she wants me back?
“I can’t do that. I’m convinced Mom loves him more than I do. Dad adores him, Jefferson’s like the son he never had,” Elisa laughed, her eyes crinkling prettily as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
I gave her a look of disbelief. “Do you even hear yourself? How are we supposed to be together if you can’t break up?”
“Silly. There are plenty more ways we can be together, than just boyfriend and girlfriend.” Elisa’s words came out as a throaty husk. I shivered when she leaned into my neck, her breath ghosting over my skin. Her tongue lapped against my skin, lightly sucking and nibbling. My hands fisted the material of her cheerleader’s uniform.
It was all the encouragement she needed before she was kissing her way down my neck. I shuddered when teeth scraped against my collarbone, her hands going under my shirt to draw circles over my chest.
“God, you are adorable,” she said. I whimpered, my breathing harsh as she continued planting a trail of hot kisses on my exposed skin. I’d forgotten how good this felt… the eagerness of her tongue, her wandering hands, and the delicious scent of her mango conditioner.
The smell always reminded of the shaved ice we shared when we were younger, or the fruity diets she went on during the time we were together. I felt like I was drowning and floating all at once, adrift in a sea of desire with nothing but her touch to guide me. I was deathly afraid, but each stroke of her hand added to the blaze inside me, and I felt more alive than I’d ever been since our break up.
Elisa was straddling me now. I gripped the curve of her hips, groaning when she grinded into me, her heat pressing against mine. I was getting painfully hard, it was almost embarrassing. She withdrew her hands from my shirt and threaded them through my hair, lightly tugging my head back so my eyes would meet hers. Her pupils were blown, black completely overwhelming the exotic green. Her lips hovered over mine. I ached to feel them. It must have shown on my face because Elisa giggled breathlessly.
“I did say I’d be riding you today,” she whispered.
There was a surge of anger, molten and searing, and I threw her off me. She fell into her seat with a surprised gasp, and I kicked my door open. The sting of fresh air slapped some sense into me, and I rounded on her with a glare. This time, she shrank back, the blue of her cheerleader’s uniform clashing with the soft browns of the car seat.
“Get out.” I said, running a hand over my face. “I…I refuse to be your goddamn sidepiece, and I’m not helping you cheat on him. You can’t waltz back into my life like we never broke up.”
Elisa straightened her uniform. “I don’t understand you sometimes,” she said, “It’s obvious you want me. I’m just going to put your reaction down as shock, I understand it’s a lot to take in after going a year without me,” she smiled into the mirror, running a hand through her mussed hair. “Come find me once you’ve gotten over… whatever you’re going through.” She shrugged.
I sat silently as she opened the door and stepped out. I watched her leave through the car windows, my excitement quickly turning to nothing. I felt cold. I shut my eyes. After several deep breaths, I closed my door, started the car, and left.