AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Because we need to ignore this behavior, whatever their motives are, and pretend like we have barely taken notice of them or their note.”
“So from here on we just pretend they haven’t scared the crap out of us?”
“Yes,” I said, not really certain if that was the best route to take. “I think it’s the best thing to do, for now, at least.”
“Alright Elliott, if you think that’s best..........but if things take even the slightest turn for the worse, I’m taking charge.”
“And I’ll be right there beside you.”
My Uncle Danny came back around and let us know that Jules’ parents didn’t take things well. They wanted to take Jules out of the school immediately but Danny had talked them into taking it easy and waiting to see how things turned out.
They reluctantly agreed and the next day we returned to school and acted as unbothered as we possibly could, albeit slightly more touchy-feely than usual, which was already borderline obscene. Jules held on tightly to me every second she could, said that it made her feel safer. I sort of liked that bit. If Jules felt more comfortable touching me, that suited me just fine. I witnessed Jesse and Taylor squirm a little bit at the sight of it, but this time it didn’t give me the satisfaction that it normally did.
I wasn’t one hundred percent certain Taylor was involved or not. I studied her reaction to see if it still fell under her normal crazy self but couldn’t tell. If I was a betting man though, I’d probably put all my chips on the both of them. I felt an uncontrollable rage to hurt Jesse, well both of them really, but luckily for them, Jules was the deterrent.
We reached the Friday before Thanksgiving break without incident and Jules and I felt a lot better about the note by then. We figured it was just a onetime thing since the entire school, its staff and the police knew the details. We felt confident that Jesse would stifle any plans for future pranks.
Early the next morning, I sat around my kitchen table and chatted with my mom while I waited for Jules’ parents to pick me up.
“So I talked to Danny last night,” she said.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, he thought like we did. That whoever did this thing is done.”
They didn’t want to point fingers at Jesse and Taylor. My mom especially didn’t believe it was Jesse. He did a spot on impression of Eddie Haskell with her, if you catch my drift. I didn’t argue with any of them. I knew the truth and thought that as long as they were quiet, there would be no need to taint any smallish reputation of being decent they still had, despite the fact that it hung by a thread. Their razor sharp indecencies would cut those on their own. I’ve found it’s always better for people to discover things like that without my help. I’ve found that when I did help things along, the shock would lose its potency and water down the needed reaction.
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
“Are you excited sweetheart?”
“Huh? About what?” I asked, my mind still occupied by the idiots.
“About Mauch Chunk, Elliott. Golly baby! What else? You’ve been counting down the hours and minutes to this trip since day one.”
She laughed. It sang through the house like a clear bell and touched every heart within a hundred foot radius. It melted away all the anxiety resting in my chest. Her happiness was always so contagious.
“Of course I am! It will give me a little glimpse into college life and it better be good because I’m gonna’ be there for awhile.”
The gleam in her eye flickered for a moment and she sighed.
“Yes, you are, quite awhile.”
“I’m going to miss you mom.”
“I will too son, but sooner or later a mother has to let her boy contribute to the world in the way they were destined to. That’s life.”
I laughed, “No mom, I meant over Thanksgiving.”
“Oh,” she cleared her throat, “yeah. I’ll miss you loads son. It won’t be the same without you here. What are the plans for her aunt’s house?”
“Well, you know, sex, drugs, rock’n’roll. Debauchery.”
“Keep that tongue wagging and you’ll find yourself sitting across from your aunt Becky instead of Jules at dinner young man.”
Apparently, not in her usually playful mood.
“Jeez, mom, relax. I was just teasing.”
