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“Yeah. Right.”
She refused my hand. Apparently, she didn’t need my help. When she stood, her honeysuckle-orange scent drenched my senses and I nearly fell over Mrs. Kitt.
“Thanks for the compliment, though,” she contritely conceded, knowing how impolite she had been and trying to remedy how obviously uncomfortable that had made her.
She bent to help Mrs. Kitt while I stood dumb and disabled by her unconscious yet incredible assault on my senses.
Scrambling, Jules apologized, “I’m so sorry Mrs. Kitt! I wasn’t paying attention and........”
“Oh darlin’, it’s no big deal,” Mrs. Kitt sang.
Jules’ voice woke me from my catatonic state. I threw myself down onto the floor next to both women and helped them with the spill, purposefully reaching for the same paper Jules was in order to graze her hand. Little did I know the literal and figurative cataclysmic results of such a touch.
A potent, electric shock raced through us and we yanked our hands away. Our touch sent a warm blaze of sparkling flash from our connected fingertips, spreading a tangled mesh of lit pressure that briefly painted the walls around us. It lasted only a second yet permanently altered me. Something huge and very unexplainable had definitely just happened.
When all the worksheets were gathered, Jules and I straightened our backs but settled softly into our own bodies once our eyes met again, the anxiety eroding from our chests with each second that passed. We stayed knelt on the floor just staring at one another like idiots. We were dumbstruck by the physical reaction of our very physical touch and bewildered beyond belief at the lack of reaction from our classmates. What were we supposed to do though? Ask everyone why their lack of response was about as dull as watching bread bake?
The entire class was already seated and Mrs. Kitt had to clear her throat to ask us if we would mind sitting in our own desks. That was the rest of the class’ cue to laugh hysterically. I playfully slapped the back of my buddy Matthew Tanen’s head as I walked by. We chose desks next to one another, but kept our gazes toward Mrs. Kitt to avoid anymore suspicion. If Jules’ thoughts had been anything like mine, she had to have been scared out of her mind.
When class was over, I gathered all of my things and waited for Jules to gather hers, assuming she and I were going to talk, but to my surprise she bolted for the door instead.
I chased after her in the hallway.
“Jules!”
“My name isn’t Jules. It’s Julia,” she said over her shoulder, picking up her pace.
“Julia, stop running will ya’?”
“Why?”
“Because it’s hard to run and talk.”
“Well, you see, I don’t want to talk. I guess that means I can run all I want.”
“Wait a minute!”
I pulled her body short by grabbing her arm. The lightning bolt cracked and whipped its way around us, darkening the hall, only jagged shards of electricity illuminating our faces. I pulled my hand away in a slight daze and watched as she fled toward the lunchroom. Crap.
I walked into the cafeteria, nodding to those who said hello, never allowing my stare to stray far from Jules. I sat next to Jesse and the other varsity seniors on the football team. To my dread, five of the cheerleaders, including Taylor Williams, shared the line of tables we all sat at but I did my best to ignore them.
Conversations erupted around me but I was in my own world. Jules sat on her own. She looked relaxed but I knew it had to be an act. Her legs rested on the chair next to her and she was reading a book. A tiny, rapid bounce in her right knee exposed her true feelings.
Anxiety. That’s what it is. Jules shakes her head. Are you sure about that? No, not anxiety, she hates you dude. Can you blame her? You never bothered talking to her before. Why now?........Wait, wait, wait. Whatever that was in the hallway and classroom definitely meant something. Stupid, she’s just scared, frightened is all. It’s an amazing thing, our shared zap.
Be honest with yourself, you’re not really that alarmed by it. It feels natural. Maybe she’s concerned about what it means. Yeah, shaken up. It’s got nothing to do with you personally.
Did you see how quickly she ran away from you though? She genuinely can’t stand you man. Every chance she got she pushed you away. She hates you. I sighed out loud. I need her not to hate me. What can I do to get her not to hate me? How can I get her to stop detesting me and start listening to me? How should I approach her?
Jules looked up and caught me staring. I smiled crookedly and raised a weary hand but she rolled her eyes at me and returned to her book. She shifted her chair so her back would face me. Wait a minute. Wait just a gosh darn minute! What is wrong with you dummy? Why do you need her not to hate you? Why should you care?........Yeah. I don’t care! She doesn’t want to talk to me? I don’t want to talk to her!
I folded my arms in resolution. She leaned her elbow on the table beside her and started looping a strand of hair through her finger. She sighed and sat up straight. Her hair slid across the top of the chair and fell across her lovely back............I really, really need to talk to her.
I confirmed it was all an act when I took note that she hadn’t turned a page in ten minutes. I would have given anything to know what she was thinking. I readied myself for the rebuff I’d get when I walked over to her in three, two, one......
“Dude? Where are you?” Jesse asked, wrapping his knuckles on my head.
I tossed my head back from his reach and looked his way. He was really starting to annoy me lately. Maybe I was spending too much time with him. The difference between medicine and poison is in the dose right?
