'You do Tae Kwon Do?' I nodded as I rushed into the bedroom to grab my dobok, then hurried back into the bathroom to change.
'I’ll be right out.' I closed the door on a very surprised and confused Haley.
'Can you drop me off on the way?' she called from the bedroom.
'Sure,' I called back, tying my ti just right, all the stripes in the right place, the ends of the belt even. I opened the door to find Haley standing near the bed, the blankets in her hands. She looked at me, her face pale and eyes wide.
'I’m so sorry.' I looked to see where she was looking; my pillow had blue smudges all over it, including on the edge of the sheet. 'I’ll buy you another set, Andi, I promise.' I grinned, finding the entire situation incredibly amusing, and shook my head.
'No, that’s okay. You don’t have to, Haley. It’s no big deal.'
'Are you sure? God, I feel terrible. I’ve ruined your sheets.'
'Haley,' I turned to her, my face falling at the look of devastation on her face. 'Really, it’s okay. Alright?' I stared up into her eyes, waiting for some sign that she heard and understood. Finally she nodded, avoiding my eyes. I smiled reassuringly at her. 'Come on. Let’s get you home. Want to borrow some sweats, or something?' she looked down at herself and her wrinkled body suit, then grinned, shaking her head.
'That’s okay. I’ll just make a full-out sprint for my bedroom.' I grinned, nodded.
'Let’s go.'
God, had Tracy gotten better in the last twenty-four hours? She sure seemed to be a hell of a lot faster in her punches. I was having a heck of a time trying to keep up. I felt so dead, definitely not getting enough sleep last night. All I wanted was a bed, I wanted to go home, flop down on my bed, and-
POW!
I saw lights behind my eyes as my head hit the mat with a solid thump. Extraordinary pain raced through my head, centering in my right eye. I brought my hands to my face, expecting to feel something wet and sticky, but there wasn’t. Instead someone pushed my hand away, and fingers trailed along my nose and my temple.
'Can you breathe, Andi?' my Sabum Nim asked. I thought for a moment, then nodded. 'Open your eyes.' I did, then quickly slammed them shut again as the pain radiated out once more.
'Ah, crap that hurts!' I yelled, hearing a quiet round of chuckles around me.
'I’m so sorry, Andi. Oh, god. I’m really sorry.'
I reached out blindly, trying to find Tracy, and my hand was filled with hers. I squeezed it to let her know it was okay, and so was I.
'Can you sit?' I was helped to a sitting position, the pain coming with me. I heard the instructor tell someone to get some ice, and then that person quickly running out of the room. Sabum Nim kept a small refrigerator in the back room for this specific purpose. Within a few seconds someone handed me an icepack, and I had it on my eye. The other one opened to see the entire class standing or kneeling around me, and my teacher looking at me with concern and disdain. 'Why did yon lose your concentration, Andi?' he asked.
'I’m sorry. I didn’t get enough sleep last night.' I said, feeling lame.
'That is no excuse. I want you to go home and rest. You’re no good if you can’t focus.'
'Yes, Sabum Nim.' He helped me to my feet, and patted my on the back.
'We’ll see you next time.' I bowed to him, and turned to head to the lockers. My head was pounding, and I hoped I’d be able to drive. I could barely keep my eye open. I knew there would be one hell of a shiner there tomorrow.
I pulled into the driveway, the ice cubes already melting in the baggie they were in. I grabbed it from the passenger seat, and headed into the house. I walked to the kitchen, straight to the fridge. My mom was sitting at the table reading the paper.
'Hey, honey. Why are you home so early?' She looked up at me, and was immediately on her feet. 'Oh, Andrea! What happened?' she looked into my face, bringing her hand up to gently touched the red, puffy skin around my eye, her eyes narrowed in concern. 'Oh, sweetie. You’re going to have quite the bruise there.'
'Yeah. I’m so excited, too.' I muttered.
'What happened?'
'Just wasn’t concentrating.' I sighed. 'I’m going to bed.'
'Okay, honey. Oh, there’s a message for you on the answering machine.'
'Kay. Thanks.' She gave me a kiss on my forehead, and putted my butt as I walked to the living room where the answering machine was. I pushed the play button, and sat on the arm of the couch to listen.
'Hey, Andi. Um, well, I just wanted to say thank you for last night, and that I’m really embarrassed about it. Um, I don’t really do that often, and so, well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m really appreciative. Okay? Um, see you at school. Bye.' I stared down at the machine, a smile on my face. Anytime, Haley.
I turned the page in my book, my teeth crunching the potato chip I had just tossed into my mouth. I could hear the loud conversations all around me, most talking about what they had done for Halloween weekend, no doubt many of them had been at the party Haley was at. Haley. A grin spread across my face as I thought of her drunk Saturday night. The poor girl had been so gone, and so wiped out. She was always so cool and collected, so to see her so out of control was certainly new.
I glanced up when someone kicked my shoe. Haley smiled down at me, her expression shy and sheepish, it slid right off her when she looked into my face.
'Oh, god, Andi! What happened to you?' She knelt down getting a closer look. 'Oh, jeez. Does it hurt?' I shrugged, then nodded.
'Well, as you know I had practice yesterday morning, but, um, well, I blocked kick with my face.'
'Oh, Andi. Are you a beginner, or something?' I grinned.
'Hardly. I just couldn’t concentrate due to lack of sleep.'
'Oh, no!' She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes huge. 'Oh, Andi. I am so sorry. Oh, wow. Man, what can I do? Anything?' I shook my head.
'No. It’ll go away all on it’s own, don’t worry about it.' She swallowed, her eyes still on my eye. 'Haley, don’t worry. It happens, you know? This isn’t my first black eye, nor will it be my last.'
'Yeah, but you got it because of me.'
'True,'
'Oh, jeez.'
'I’m only kidding,' I laughed, touching her briefly on the arm. 'Really, I’m only joking. It’s no big deal. Hey, you got me out of practice and to bed, so that’s good, right?' She grinned weakly, nodding her head.
'Okay. Well, I just came over to say hi and thanks again.'
'Well, hi, and you’re welcome.' She smiled at me.
'See you later?' I nodded. With one last look, she stood and walked away.
The week flew by for me, the semester coming to an end, and Christmas break not far away. We had to get through November and Thanksgiving, and then were home free for a few weeks. I couldn’t wait.
I walked the halls of Winston High, ignoring the stares as people took in my shiner, looking at me in a way where I could read their minds. Yes, yes, I have a black eye, what do you know. Can we please try and state the obvious yet again? I shrugged my backpack a bit higher on my shoulder as I headed for the front door to the school, another week down, and another weekend before me.
The walk home was cold, so luckily I’d somehow managed to think ahead through my sleepy haze this morning. I was bundled up in a thick sweater and winter coat. Traditionally Halloween brought on the bad weather, but since the cold had come early this year, Halloween just brought on the really bad weather. Flurries just about everyday, some days all-out snow. Today was actually clear and bright, only cold. I marveled at the Halloween decoration that some people had yet to take down, pumpkins rotting on front porches, and plastic ghouls and goblins leering from windows and front yards.
I ran across the crispy grass of my yard, brown with gold tips, frosted white in the mornings. I was starving,
