The Rout

Chapter 7: The Rout

 

 

 

               

 

Partially through the month he decided to see Michelle. Not the usual lunch room meet-up, but to find her in the halls. He had an idea of where she was usually around in the prime of the morning. The open section where the old library used to be. Most of the time it was crowded but he suspected class had already started, fairly convinced he arrived late. He didn’t really care today. About five minutes passed and he was just about to go-off to class when he was greeted from behind by a hand on his side. It was her, holding a shamefully soft smile. This seemed to be a strange way for either of them to be at 8 A.M.

            “Hey, glad to see you now, it’s been so long.”

            “Yeah, I had lots of work and projects to do.” He looked down reluctantly. It wasn’t personal. He just didn’t know what was going on in his life if anything. As his eyes rose, her smile dwindled. He paused before saying anything, and then. “What do you think about us dating?” He wasn’t really sure why he asked that question, but he’d already said it now. Waiting for an answer, she looked shaken. Like a cold breeze whipped across her face as soon as she stepped outside. “What do you mean? Why would you ask that?” He wasn’t sure why the question bothered her so much. It wasn’t like he’d said, “I’m leaving you.” The disheartening stress of her voice kept the same strange feeling he’d been having before he saw her. He knew this frustrated him. He just wanted to see what answer she would give him but she didn’t. “I mean, I’ve just never been through this before. I’m not sure what to do or even how to be” he said. “Just kiss me silly, and be happy.” She said.. He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. It started to all feel kind of unrealistic. But then, as he kissed her he felt more comfortable. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. All of a sudden he couldn’t stop kissing her. For what seemed like a few minutes without parting. He began to feel aggressing and hunger. Desire for feeling, touching, and writhing in her embrace. But, no. He broke the hold. She gleamed at him in what he suspected was mild shock. He decided to break the impending silence. “Sorry, I don’t know what that was. I didn’t mean for that to happen.” It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten to close with her simply just being near her. But, he liked the way calling her his girlfriend and knowing she would be around whenever they wanted more. Looking around to see if anyone was there, there wasn’t. She just looked at him and said, “You’re awful.” with a grin, and mock-condemnation.

            “See you later?” she said.. “How about after next period.” He wasn’t positive about why he wanted to see her again so soon. “I might be meeting up with Ashley, but how about after 3rd period.” She asked. “You mean before lunch?”

            “Oh right, yeah then.” He liked her crazy mannerisms. “If you want, I’ll tell Ashley you’re looking for her after class.” He offered. “Mkay.” she said with upmost cuteness. He walked in even stride and figured he’d give her her space after health. After class he went to a vending machine and popped out a drink called a Fruitable. “Chances are, it’s not healthy but, oh well.”

            “This is damn good.” He muttered. A girl drawing on the floor looked over at him like he’d opened the gates of Hell. He smirked a bit. Finishing the bottle in a fairly clean sweep, trashing it and walked back towards French. He liked the idea that he and Michelle would spend some time after class. He tried to think if they should eat lunch together or try to find something else to do. Basically limping to class as thoughts raced through his head reaching the classroom door a millisecond before the bell. Everyone stared at him when he came in. It didn’t really surprise him. “Not surprising.”

He ran away to the courtyard after class through the other side opposite the lunch room. He sat down on the benches and tried to come up with something to do. No avail. He spotted Michelle about ten minutes later coming in to the Cafeteria, waiting for her to sit down before making his way over to her. For about ten seconds she didn’t say a word, then started going on about her rides to school and talking to Ashley. He listened intently without much relation, mostly for the sake of her company. He wished they could go somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn’t somewhere they had to be. Following word for word, he decided intuitively he would say nothing and not downplay her with nodding and saying okay every piece of the conversation. The room around him began to dull and soon he forgot where he was. Suddenly he had an idea. “Let’s go to the library.” He insisted. “Why?” she asked. “Just because.” he said. It’s open for us at lunch periods. “I know, but… what for?” she insisted. “come on.” He pleaded.

As they walked in he panned the scene with his eyes in encompassment. He immediately took her to the aisle. There wasn’t really anybody in there. Searching through books he was looking for. Some of the ones he’d read that he loved the most sifting through ones he didn’t know looking for one with substance. She looked at some, gawking at titles of romance and the supernatural. He finally found one. Finding Places. Peering at descriptions on front and back cover, he set it down on the edge of the shelf. “Whatcha doing?” He asked. “Looking at books, dummy.”

“Oh, are you serious?” He teased. He sat down and grabbed her face and kissed her. They made out on the ground Indian style for several minutes. Trevor was thinking about this until he lay in his bed in the evening. He didn’t even open his book that he checked out after going on his first date with his first girlfriend.