“Well, we both know my schedule is pretty free now,” I said just as the bell rang. I wasn’t sure how the time had flown by so quickly when I could have sworn that we had just sat down for lunch. We stood again and I threw our trash into the nearby can.
“Friday it is then,” he answered, before repeating the scene at break and pulling me into him. I could smell what I was sure had to be some sort of cologne, and I put my arms around his neck, resting one hand on his soft blond hair. He placed his forehead lightly against mine and smiled. “I’m glad we got that cleared up,” he whispered before kissing me once more. I was definitely an addict. Even though the occurrence was becoming more and more frequent, kissing David never ceased to make me feel dizzy. I knew there had to be some sort of social no-no about kissing in the middle of a crowded high school where everyone could see you, but I truly didn’t care. David didn’t seem to either, since our kisses were becoming longer and more involved every time they happened. When he pulled away to go to his last class, a thought struck me, and I grabbed his hand to stop him.
“Why did you take me out so late on our first date?” I asked, genuinely puzzled and curious. A grin crept across his face, making my heart skip a beat.
“I was pretty sure I would chicken out, and I just wanted to give you plenty of time to bail so I wouldn’t have to,” he said simply, and then he released my hand to go to class.
I shook my head with a smile, watching him go. At least I wasn’t the only one who was out of my element.
Trying to pay any attention to my math class was simply out of the question. Not only did I not understand a word of what my teacher was saying, but I was too focused on my upcoming date and the little talk I needed to have with Karen to concentrate on anything else. I tapped my pencil on my desk absentmindedly, playing the confrontation out in my head. Okay, so maybe confrontation wasn’t the right word to use. It really wouldn’t be too difficult; I simply had to ask why she wanted to break up with Nate when they seemed to be so completely attached at the hip. She didn’t even seem to be faking her affection as some of my more kind clients would do to their soon- to-be ex-boyfriends. I went over the situation in my mind until it seemed like an abstract concept, and finally the bell rang.
I walked slowly to find Karen, feeling that this was a conversation I would need to have in person rather than on the phone. She was in one of the long hallways where a row of brown lockers stood. She had her back to me, and I felt a bit like a lion on some nature show, creeping up on my unsuspecting prey. I tapped her shoulder lightly and was met with a drained-looking Karen. Her face was pale and her eyes were red rimmed. Even her constantly blushing cheeks seemed completely lifeless and pallid.
“Karen, are you all right?” I asked automatically, true concern filling my voice. As a rule I never cared much about clients, and they never cared much about me. What I did was strictly business and that was how I liked to keep it, but Karen was such a sweet girl that I couldn’t help but feel genuinely worried about her.
“I guess I won’t have too much trouble faking sick tomorrow, huh? I didn’t think I looked that bad,” she answered, a joyless smile on her pale lips. “And I’m fine. I just don’t feel well. I think I’m getting the flu or something.” She shrugged this thought off and coughed into her hand before shutting her locker. I kept my eyes trained on her, afraid that if I let her escape my line of sight for a second she would just fall over right on the spot.
“Do you need help getting to your car?” I asked apprehensively.
“No, my mom picks me up. I’ll be just fine.” She began to walk away with a weak wave of her hand before I stopped her. I didn’t want to stress her out when she was so obviously in pain, but I needed to know that she really wanted me to end her relationship tomorrow.
“I just have a quick question about the job tomorrow,” I said as neutrally as I could. She nodded, urging me to continue, and obviously wanting to get home to rest. Her eyes looked so tired. “Are you sure you want me to do it? I mean, I’ve been watching you and Nate, and you two seem really happy together.” I tried to keep my voice even and sound as uninterested as I could. Karen simply sighed and let her gaze fall to the ground.
“I really do love him,” she said in a voice so resigned I wondered if my Romeo and Juliet theory was right after all. “I just can’t be with him right now. It’d be better if we were just friends.” She said all of this in a mechanical way, as if she had rehearsed the answer to this exact question in her mind so many times that saying it had become redundant.
“You love him?” I asked, registering that she sounded as if she meant it. I’d only heard a handful of my clients use the word
“I really do,” she answered, still sounding resigned. “It’s just… well… my mom won’t let me have a boyfriend. She’s so overprotective and I know she does it because she loves me and she’s worried, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Karen’s voice cracked slightly, and I could tell she was trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. “She said that if she found out I was dating someone, she’d start homeschooling me again.” A single tear slid down Karen’s ashen cheek, and she looked up at me with her big green eyes that looked so much like David’s. “If I get taken out of school, I won’t be able to see him at all. At least if we’re broken up I can see him around school, even if it means I see him with another girl or completely over me.” Her words had stunned me into silence. The Romeo and Juliet theory was just a musing in my mind-I hadn’t thought Karen and Nate’s relationship was actually some sort of forbidden romance. I tried to clear these thoughts from my head.
“Why don’t you just tell your mom that you don’t have a boyfriend but continue to see Nate?” I asked. I was pretty sure lying to your parents was not the kind of advice I should be dispensing, but it seemed to be a semi- desperate situation. Besides, no mother would dislike Nate, I was sure of it.
“I can’t lie to my mother,” she said with so much disgust in her voice that I instantly regretted my words. It was true that I never lied to my mother. I just stretched the truth a bit. But then again, my mother wasn’t around enough for me to lie to her.
“Well, then how about just telling Nate exactly what you told me? I’m sure he’d understand if you let him know that you weren’t breaking up with him because you wanted to.”
“He wouldn’t understand. He already knows my mom doesn’t want me dating anyone, but if I broke up with him because of it, he’d just try to reason with me and talk me out of it.” She looked at the ground again, looking more fragile than when I’d first walked up to meet her. “I’d see his side of the argument and stay with him. But that’s not an option, so I need someone else to do it for me.” Another tear trailed down her cheek. “It really is for the best,” she added, more to herself than to me.
“If you’re sure, Karen,” I said sympathetically. I’d never run into this situation before. It just figured that the day I met someone who actually had a legitimate caring relationship, there would be no way for me to save it. Some marriage counselor I was going to be.
“I’m sure,” she whispered. And with that she was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
My mom wasn’t home when I arrived from school, which didn’t surprise me too much, though it was always a disappointment. I found some leftover steak and potatoes from one of her “client dinners,” so I reheated it and made that my dinner. I spent that night trying to figure out how to woo Nate when I was supposed to be someone as sweet as Karen. After my little conversation with Karen earlier in the day, I had found David waiting by my car and had asked his advice on the situation, thinking he’d have a bit more insight than I did. Sadly, he couldn’t think of an easy way around the whole mess, so we parted there with the promise that I’d see him the next day.
I was so exhausted by the day’s events that I didn’t even feel like painting, let alone doing homework, when I trudged to my room. I figured that everything that was due the next day I had already done, and all of my other homework could wait until tomorrow. My entire body felt tired from the emotional ups and downs of the day, and I began to wonder if maybe there was some sort of bug going around, and if Karen had given it to me. I concentrated
