Chapter 6: The Run In

- - - - - - TYLER POV - - - - - -

Kids filled the hallways, with their conversations and laughs as they rushed to leave, as the last bell of the day rang throughout the school. I walked to my locker, turned the combination on the wheel and sprung it open. The conversation with Jake and the awkward moment with JC were still replaying in my head. I stared at the pastel yellow lyric book and shoved my books in. I glanced at the book one more time, thinking about if I should open it up to learn everything I could about the girl who had me in this new, unfamiliar trance. “No, don’t do it,” I thought, thinking about all the privacy talks my Dad gave to my younger brothers when they went through his possessions. I mean it couldn’t hurt..could it? I grabbed the book and put it in my backpack and closed the door. If I wanted to figure her out, I had to start from the inside, and not just the pretty face. I thought about the situation as I made my way through the almost empty parking lot. It felt as if I was at my locker for hours, due to the silence. I unlocked the front door and slid in. “Damn,” I said to myself, staring at the steering wheel. I jumped at the smack I heard against my window, to see Jake tapping away at it. I rolled the window down, “Dude, scare the crap out of me, why don’t you.”
“Haha, my bad. I didn’t mean to, but yo, I need a ride. And I gotta fill you in on when I talked to your lady,” he said with a laugh, sliding into the passenger seat.
My heart dropped into my stomach. “You what?” I asked, getting rowdy.
“I talked to JC,” he said coolly, pulling his seatbelt to the buckle. I stared at him in disbelief because we never talked about him having a conversation with her. I tried to keep my cool, and smiled eventually, but he caught on.
“Oh, don’t trip. Nothing embarrassing or desperate,” he started, “I just asked some stuff about you.”
“Damn, you had me worried,” I said, starting the car, “Continue.”
“Well,” he started, trailing off, trying to sway away from the subject at hand.
My mind was racing with questions and anxiety, “Well WHAT?”
“Well, you know how being the star athlete of the school usually gets you the ladies and stuff?”
“Yeah? What about it?” There was a long silence.
“Well it’s not what she’s looking for,” he managed to blurt out. A frown formed on my face as I flew through an intersection.
“What do you mean?” I finally asked.
“She said she’s been in situations with the popular guys  before and it didn’t work out, and she doesn’t want any more bullshit. And then she asked why you were interested anyways if you had kelly and I explained how she wants you, and you don’t want her and she should talk to you cause you’re a cool guy. And  then I walked out, and she called back and said she’d think about it,” he said, taking a breath right after. “All you want in a nutshell!”
I couldn’t understand everything I was hearing. The reason she wouldn’t talk to me was because I was the star athlete? That couldn’t be the reason.
“So my being a ‘star’ athlete is the problem here?” I asked, with disappointment in my voice.
“Nah dude, I guess she’s been with other ‘star’ athlete kinda guys who were jerks. So I told her that those were other guys, at other schools and she finally budged.”
I didn’t have much to say, so I gave him a thanks and tried to focus on the road. The last thing I needed was to total a car and kill the only friend I had who made sense.
“Still thinking about her, huh?” he asked, when I pulled to the beige colored palace, which was Jake’s home.
“I don’t know, I’m just confused as hell. The whole Kelly situation has me stressed too, with the finals ” I started babbling, before I was interrupted.
“Its not like you two won’t have a chance, you just gotta talk to her. JC, I mean. and Kelly too. She’s new here, she’s still gotta adjust,” he said, getting out. “Don’t sweat it, you’re Tyler Giamatti, remember? Super fly, man, fly,” he finished with a laugh, waving and walking inside. I laughed and shook my head. He made a lot of sense, but that kid had his fair share of crazy moments too. I sighed and drove home, rushing to read what I could in the lyric book, hoping to soak in something from it.

I flew through the door and made my way to the stairs, careful not to run into the rents. Just as I thought my James Bond moment would be a success, “TYLER LANDON GIAMATTI, GET DOWN HERE!” Perfect timing I had almost gotten away. She never uses my full name, so I knew what was coming.
“Coming Mother,” I said sarcastically, running down the stairs, “Yes?”
“Where have you been? You had no practice today, you were supposed to be home an hour ago,” she asked slyly,
“I’m sorry Mom, I had to talk to a teacher and Jake wanted a ride. It won’t happen again and to make up for it, I’ll make dinner or something,” I answered. Lame, I know, but I had to get up to my room.
The look of astonishment was enough for me and with that, I ran upstairs, locked the door and grabbed the book. I sat down by my computer with it in hand and though about it. “Okay Tyler. If you open it, you learn more about this mysterious girl. It could give you info to strike up a conversation. But then again, if she finds out, she could get mad and distance herself further. Damnit.” I thought long and hard; I decided to take the chance. I closed my eyes and then opened them and flipped it open, reading through the pages. One paragraph in particular caught my eye:

“I don’t know how to explain how we fell apart
Hearts are breaking in two, baby this is just the start
You’re twisting up my story, changing around my words
I once thought the world of you and that’s what hurts”

I read it over, and over and realized whoever and whatever the song was about, caused her a lot of grief. If it was one of the other guys she talked about with Jake, then maybe this is what’s holding her back. I looked up at the title of it, to see the word “Faded” sprawled across the top of the page. I read through the rest of it, feeling awful with myself, but intrigued at the same time; to read how she expressed herself and how much this person meant to her; how much care she had for this person. In a way, it made me jealous, but at the same time, anger and sadness was mixed in. I turned to another page and saw drawings and tickets to super motocross events. I had never met a girl who was into bikes or even dirt, for that matter. My interest was taking over me, as I turned to another page. “That Kind of Love” was written along the sides. I lied back into my chair and began reading.

“I want that kind of love, that no one can break through.
That hold me tight, never let me go kind of love.
That miss you when you’re gone, can’t get enough of you kind of love.
That cuddle on the couch, kiss my forehead kind of love.
That stay up on the phone all night talking about nothing kind of love.”

This one hit the heart, it talked about everything and anything she wanted in love. Something none of the other guys in her past offered her..that maybe I could. “Forget it,” I told myself. I had no idea if I could ever be the guy she was looking for but I wanted to be. I wanted to do anything I could to just get her to talk to me. I looked back at the delicate and powerful words that were filled with emotion and insight and thought about all the other girls I had interests in. They all had one thing in common: they didn’t want what I did. She was different, much different. Her smile always caught me, she had the smarts, the passion for something other than shopping and wasn’t afraid to get dirty. But being ignored by her irked me, knocked me down. The songs and drawings and tickets filled the void of not knowing what went through her mind.  This is the kind of girl I wouldn’t mind having my arm around. I knew she wanted something real; no games. And if I knew anything about me, I knew I was straight-up and real too.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The first 2 periods of the school day were a blur. A boring, slow, and thoughtful blur. I left 2nd period in a daze, thinking about her, wanting to have her, being next to her. She had me thinking about things I had never thought about before and it was all due to her lyrics. I snapped back into reality on my way to Edward’s and noticed the halls were empty. I was going to be late, again. I picked up the pace, almost in a jog. I turned a corner and slammed into someone hard. I fell onto the mysterious object and heard glass break and when I finally lifted my head up, I realized I should have listened to all my teachers when they said to never run in the hallways. It was her. She had her eyes pinched shut, with her hand to her head, in pain.
“Oh s**t,“ I thought to myself.
“I-I’m so sorry,” I stammered. “I was late and in a rush and--”
She tried to move and then wailed softly, “Ow!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked frantically, thinking about how much of an idiot I was. I  looked down at her and my eyes widened when I saw the blood trickling down her arms.
“I think I’m bleeding, I-I have to go,” she said with a frown, trying to get up. I looked into her eyes for a few seconds. She met my gaze with her hazel eyes, that were filled with pain. I felt awful, I had caused this. I tried to ease the tension and smiled a half smile. She looked like she was waiting for something and then I looked around and realized it.
“Oh yeah,” I said getting up, “I’m really really sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She got onto her elbows and I put my hand forward and helped her up. “I gotta get you to the nurse, c’mon,” I said grabbing her arm softly.
“It’s fine, I can go by myself,” she stuttered, staring hard at the ground.
“I caused the problem, I need to fix it, let’s go,” I stated starting to walk, her arm in my hand. She hesitated and looked at the blood and broken glass.
“What about the broken glass? And the blood?” she asked in a panicky voice.
“The janitor can take care of that,” I said, trying to get her to walk.
“Alright,” she whispered and we headed to the nurse’s office.


- - - - - - JC POV - - - - -

I stared at the ground as I followed him to the nurse’s office. I had to admit, my arm was throbbing. Who knew how many pieces of glass were in my arm. I wanted to handle this on my own, but having him take me to the office didn’t feel so bad. I looked at his hand that was wrapped around my arm and calmed down a little bit. I tried pushing the thought out of my head. I didn’t want to get into anything..at least not yet. I was drowned in thought when his voice broke my concentration.
“Alright, we’re here. You should sit down, I’ll go get the nurse,” he said, looking around. I continued staring at my arm, wiping the blood onto my shirt to get it to stop. He looked down at me, gave me a worried look, and walked into another room. He came back after a few seconds with paper towels and pressed them to my arm. I closed my eyes and tried not to think of the stinging.
“I’m so, so, sorry,” he began, “I’m in idiot. I shouldn’t have been running, I’m so stupid, I can’t apologize enough.”
I looked up and nodded, “Seriously, it’s fine. No big deal.”
“No big deal? You’re bleeding.”
“Good point. But still, it’s alright.”
The nurse walked in and silenced our worthless conversation. She was really tall and thin, and her white hair framed her face in a unique way. She had large earrings and dark red lipstick that definitely made her un-nurse like. She ran to me and ripped off the paper towels, to reveal the large cuts caused by the glass.
“Honey, are you alright? What happened?” she asked, gasping.
“I was holding glass for a ceramics project--” I began before I was interrupted by Tyler.
“And I was running in the hallways like an idiot to get to class and I..I ran into her and the glass broke and well,” he started, “I think you know what happened,” he ended as a look of guilt enveloped his face.
“You must be in so much pain, sweetie, come with me,” she exclaimed, leading me into another room.
“I’m not sure if you’re going to need stitches or not, I’m going to have to check them first, I don’t think it should be that bad,” she rambled on, searching for something. She was really sweet, but talked really fast so it was hard for me to understand anything she said. She wiped away the blood and looked at my arm in what seemed like 50 different angles, as if she was waiting for something to come out of my arm. I had to break the eerie silence.
“Is there anything wrong?” I asked, a little anxious.
“You’re fine,” she said, monotone. “I’ll go get some bandages, honey.” I nodded as she left the room. What a day. What I assumed would be a normal day, turns into a day where I leave this school with huge cuts on my arm. What would I tell my mother? She was definitely going to freak out and ask a million questions. I stopped to think for a second and then the anxiety set in.
“Oh god,” I thought to myself, putting my palm to my forehead.
“Oh god, what?” I heard a voice ask in the doorway. I looked up to see Tyler, leaning in the doorway.
I looked at him and hesitated before I began, “Nothing.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, hopeful to get an answer out of me. I nodded and looked away from him. He sighed and stared at the wall. He walked into the room and sat in the chair in front of me.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked, resting his chin on his hands, looking up at me. This was starting to get a little awkward. I nodded and looked around, avoiding his gaze; his green-blue eyes, with flecks of brown in them, “Do you hate me or something?” he eventually asked. I dropped my gaze and looked back at him. Anxiety invaded me at the question.
“Pardon?” I asked. Why would he ask me something like that? But then again, the vibes I was giving off weren’t so welcoming.
“Why are you so distant towards me?”
I looked down as the guilt invaded me. I recalled all the moments when he tried conversing with me and I either said a few words or ignored it completely. I tried to come up with the words to say.
“I-I don’t know,” I managed to let out in a whisper. From the corner of my eye, I could tell he was still looking at me.
“Was it something I said, or did, or what?”
“Well you and your buddies didn’t really make a nice first impression when I first got here. And..and, I‘m just trying to get through my senior year here”
“I tried making that up when Shane was being a jerk to you..or at least I thought it did,” he trailed off. I thought about everything and glanced back at him.
“I’m not the jerk you make me out to be. If you weren’t so distant, maybe you’d be able to see that,” he said, getting up to leave. I could see the anger and sadness on his face, his brow line, his eyes. He made his way to the door and turned around, and pulled something out of his backpack. “Oh here,” he said, handing me what seemed like my lyric book, “you dropped this the other day.” And with that, he headed for the door.
I thought about it for a few seconds and looked at the door. He was right, he wasn’t a jerk. If anything, I was the jerk in the situation and being a jerk wasn’t who I was. “Wait,” I said, looking up. He turned around and looked at me. “I’m distant because,” I began, trying to figure out what to say. “It’s just, I don’t know, it’s something I have a hard time talking about..it‘s complicated, a long story. And it‘s just everyone around you.”
“I’m sure I got time for the long story,“ he began, “and what do you mean about everyone around me?”
“Well when I sum up enough courage to tell you, I will. Maybe.“
“And the people around me part?” he asked, anxious, sitting back down.
“They seem like they have a problem with me talking to you, so I try to stay away from you. I don’t want any problems here.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Your friend who was being rude to me, and this other blonde girl,” I said, looking around for the nurse.
“Shane,” he whispered to himself, “and Kelly.”
“I guess so.”
“Forget them, they aren’t important.”
“Isn’t he your best friend?” I asked, shyly, a little surprised thrown in, at the fact he said his close friend, or what seemed like his close friend, wasn’t important.
“He was,” he said, emphasizing was.
He looked away. There was an awkward silence, as the nurse walked in with her basket of bandages, peroxide, and some other concoctions. Before I could say anything, I heard a “Move it!” coming from the other room. I leaned in to see Robbie trying to make her way into the office, with Jake right on her tail.
“Move out of the way!” she shouted, walking in.
“Alright, princess,” Jake murmured to himself, putting his hands up as if the cops had just busted him for something.
“What’d you do now?!” Robbie asked, shifting her eyes towards Tyler. He looked down, almost saddened by her words and glare.
“Hey! This isn’t lunch, get back to class,” the nurse said loudly, trying to shoo them back to class.
“We will, hold on,” Jake stated.
“It was an acci-” he began, before I interrupted him.
“Robs, it was an accident. He didn’t mean to do it,” I started. “He w-was,” I didn’t know if I should say it aloud “nice enough to bring me here.”
He looked up and smiled a soft smile, as the nurse started cleaning and bandaging my arm, while Jake and Robbie headed for class.
“Here, hold the top of the bandage and try to lift your arm up so I can bandage you up,” the nurse ordered. I tried lifting my arm up to hold it in place, but whenever I did, the bandage I was instructed to hold would slip.
“Here, I got you,” Tyler said, getting up and holding my arm in place. His hand was warm, his fingers very soft. His touch calmed me down slightly. I looked up to see a smile form on his mouth.
“Hold still.” I smiled and watched the nurse, move the white fabric around my arm in an intricate fashion.
“I have a pass for you to go home, honey,” the nurse said quickly, handing me the pass and some ice. “You’re excused for the rest of the day.” That was the good part of the day, I needed to just chill and think about things. I got up and walked out of the office.
“Well it’s your lucky day,” Tyler said laughing, walking out from behind me. “You get a day off.”
“Thanks for telling me what I’ve won, Alex Trebec,” I replied back. He walked in front of me and gazed down at me. He was a lot taller than I thought he was.
“Listen,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m really really sorry. About the accident and Kelly and Shane. I just wish none of that happened.”
“What accident? And whose Shane and Kelly?” I asked, smiling.
A look of confusion took over his face, but he smiled shortly after, “Ah, I get it.”
I shook my head and chuckled, “I think that fall has you a little slow right now, but that’s okay. Well I gotta go, I’ll see you later.”
“Better rest those arms, doc‘s orders.”