As I passed, I glanced over, stopping dead in my tracks. Haley stood in front of a weight machine, her arm draped over the bar as she spoke with Ryan, from the party. He was dressed in a tank and shorts, apparently both were in weight-lifting class. My eyes trailed to Haley. She also wore shorts and a tank, I could just barely see the straps of the sports bra underneath. I took in her entire body, legs long and supple from soccer in the fall, and then track in the spring. The clothes she usually wore, though fitted or even tight, belied the true shape of her body. Her arms were toned, the shoulders nicely defined, though not large. I imagined she had nothing of a stomach, either.
I was absolutely transfixed by the picture she set. She was stunning.
As my eyes drifted back to Ryan, I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. Haley was smiling and nodding her head as Ryan talked, gesturing wildly with his hands. Haley’s head fell back as a loud spurt of laughter escaped her. It was a nice sound, high-pitched, but not shrill A contagious sound as I found myself smiling.
Watching them, I realized I was jealous …but not jealous of Haley talking to the guy who liked me, or had to some degree at one point.
No, I was jealous of Ryan.
Shaking it off, I hurried off to class before anyone saw me.
I tried to avoid my booboo as I stuffed books into my locker, taking out my take-home quiz to do later, after work. Teachers were starting to pile up on work as Thanksgiving was only two weeks away, and finals would be a mere week and a half after it. I could not believe how quickly this year was flying by.
'Hey.' Nearly jumping out of my skin, I closed my locker door a bit to see Haley standing behind it, a large grin on her face.
'Well, aren’t you in a happy person place.' She grinned wider.
'Of course. It’s Wednesday, hump day.'
'Ah.' I finished with my books, slammed my locker shut, sliding the padlock into place to snap it shut. 'So why are you in such a happy person place? Hump day can’t be all that exciting.' I turned and started to head down the hall, Haley walking next to me.
'Well, no, but it is when you get a 97 on a physics test.' I stopped and turned to look at her, my mouth open.
'You didn’t.'
'I did,' she squealed, turning in a circle, hands in the air. People walking by stopped to stare at her.
'Go you.' I smiled, truly proud of her. She had done that one completely on her own. But then, wait a second. Suddenly I felt kind of sad. 'Well, I guess my services have become obsolete.' I gave her a smile, which I did not feel. She glanced down at me as we started to walk again.
'Well, I wouldn’t say that.'
'No?'
'No. I don’t just use you for your brain, you know.'
'Oh, really?' I pushed her away from me. She grinned as she made her way back to walking beside me. 'Would it make you feel better if I had a class that I suck at?'
'Oh, definitely. I want all the gory details.' She rubbed her hands together as she leaned her head closer to catch my every word.
'Man, you just are not a nice person, you know that?'
'Yeah, yeah. Come on, out with it!' I grinned, shaking my head. What was she on, anyway? Part of me felt guilty as I walked and talked with her, as if I had been a voyeur earlier, and seen something that I shouldn’t have. Granted, everyone in gym class today saw her, but they didn’t stop and stare. I couldn’t even really explain how I felt. I didn’t like that very much.
'Well, in psych,'
'You’re taking psych?' Haley asked, her voice high and excited. I nodded. 'Oh, yay! I’ll help.' I looked at her like she’d just gained a third head.
'What makes you think that I’d ask for your help? Or, that I even need help?'
'I know you won’t ask, so I’m offering. And, I don’t imagine you’d even bring this up if you didn’t really need help.' She looked at me with raised eyebrows. 'Right?'
'Yeah, yeah. Anyway, it sucks. I have a project to do by Christmas break, and I’m freaking a bit. I hate psychology.'
'Girlfriend, psych is my specialty. Aren’t you a lucky girl?'
'Yes?'
'Ye of little faith and analytical ability. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.' We burst through the front doors to the school and headed toward the student parking lot. 'You work tonight, right?' I nodded. 'Okay, well I can’ t really get together tonight, I have plans. But, later in the week? Maybe even the weekend?' She looked at me to see my response. I nodded my head.
'Yeah, that sounds good. Oh, um, well, speaking of this weekend, you were asking me questions about Tae Kwon Do that one night, and well, Saturday morning is belt trials, so I was wondering if you’d like to see what I actually do?' I looked at the passersby, not daring to look at Haley. I didn’t want to see the rejection on her face, or annoyance in her eyes that I would dare ask her to do something so simple and lame.
'Definitely.' Wait, what? I looked at her, surprised by the grin I saw there. 'I’d love to. Will you be fighting?'
'Yeah, but only as an opponent. I go for my next belt next year.'
'Oh, well, as long as I get to see you in action. Oh, and promise me you’ll use your feet or hands or whatever to block all incoming punches or kicks, okay?' I glared.
'Funny.' She dug her keys out of her purse, and unlocked the car. I quickly climbed in, the almost overpowering wind, which brought the general temperature down at least ten degrees, was getting the better of my hot bloodedness.
'You know, Andi, if you would wear a jacket to school that actually did something more than this thin wool thing, you’d be much better off.'
'Thanks, mom.' With a chuckle she started the car.
The entire drive to my house consisted of me listening to Haley ramble on and on about the test, and how easy it was comparatively, and how grateful she was that I had helped her, and how she owed me big time. I enjoyed her excitement and enthusiasm. It was a nice change.
'So, Ryan asked about you today.'
My thoughts came to a screeching halt at the change in topic, and choice of topic.
'What?'
Haley glanced over at me. 'Ryan? Ring a bell? Ryan Pritchard?'
'Yes, what about him?'
'Damn, where did you go? I said he asked about you today.'
'What did he ask?'
'If you’d died. He’s still interested in talking to you, getting to know you. I totally sang your praises today in weight lifting. He’s more interested than ever.' She smiled at me, and I tried to respond in kind, but was having a bit of trouble with the corner of my mouth. 'You don’t seem so happy about this. Andi, I’m trying to get you out a bit more, you know? High school is meant to be fun.'
'I’m enjoying myself quite nicely now.' I almost felt angry, betrayed. What part of ‘I’m not interested’ was she not getting? I didn’t need some angel to come down, tap me on the shoulder, and turn me into the cookie- cutter high school girl who goes gaga because some cute guy notices her. Now, how to put this without sounding like a bitch. 'Haley, I’m really not into dating right now, okay? I had my fun over the summer, and I certainly had enough stud stew to last me for a while. Ryan graduates this year, and he’ll be gone, and I certainly don’t care enough to carry on a long-distance thing with him.' I glanced over at her to see if I could possibly read what she was thinking. She looked straight ahead, chewing on her bottom lip. 'Ryan was nice and very cute, but I didn’t find him very interesting, nor could he hold much of a conversation about anything save for his car and sports.' The tiniest bit of a smile curled up the corner of her mouth.
'I guess I should have figured you’d need the book type.' She glanced at me for a moment before turning
