back to the road. 'I’m sorry, Andi. I shouldn’t have pushed the issue. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bug you.' She smiled again, but it was a small, almost sad smile. Crap. Did I hurt her feelings? I wasn’t sure, and it didn’t matter now as she pulled into the driveway to my house.
Haley pulled the break, and turned to me, but said nothing.
'Thanks for the ride. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to the walk. It’s pretty cold out there.'
'Yeah, it is.' She looked out the window at the white wonderland that surrounded us, almost blinding as the sun beat down on it, but never with enough strength to really do any serious melting. 'Well, have a good night at work.'
'Thanks. See you later.' She only smiled as I got myself out of the car. I waved, then hurried to the front door.
As I sat at my desk, trying to work on the quiz, I couldn’t get Haley out of my mind, and my misplaced guilt. I had no reason, whatsoever, to feel bad, but yet I did. I imagine this was bothering me far more than it was bothering her.
I tossed my pen on the desk, rested my cheek against my hand. Why was I obsessing over this? Normally I was not one to dwell, but my thoughts were plagued. I didn’t want to lose the new friendship that was being created between Haley and I. I mean, I was probably kidding myself, and she didn’t think of me at all. Maybe I was just a distraction for her. Something fun to toy with for a while, to get her kicks off of.
Running my hands through my hair, I groaned. Those were horrible thoughts, and I really didn’t think she was capable of such callousness, but I didn’t really trust her kind. Her kind. What was she? A cannibal? Alien? I’m losing my mind.
Deciding to do my best to not linger anymore on a subject that just didn’t matter, and certainly I had done nothing wrong, I picked up my pen again and focused my attention on the quiz. Well, for the most part.
I tugged my backpack a little higher on my shoulders, the puffy ski jacket making it slide a little further every couple of steps. This weekend was supposed to warm up a bit, and that would be good. I loved the snow, and needed the cold weather, but this was getting to be a little ridiculous. Plus I hated to be all bundled up like Randy from A Christmas Story. The snow crunched under my hiking boots, a satisfying sound, as my breath came out in little warm puffs of white air, turned cold and crystallized before it even fully left my lips.
I glanced over my shoulder when I heard the horn of a car honk. Haley’s black car pulled along side me, her leaning over the passenger seat, glancing at the road every few seconds as she slowly drove at my pace.
'Plan to get very far that way?' I asked, but kept walking. It had been two days since I had talked to or seen her. I had managed to keep my distance, not sure if she was still angry with me, if she ever was. I had realized how much I had missed her; it was nice having someone to talk to, a comrade at arms.
'Well, I’d get farther if you’d get in,' she said, her voice just barely making it over the drone of the engine and howl of the mid-November wind. I stopped and looked at her. I had some shy, sheepish remark on the tip of my tongue, but decided to save it, and get in. At least it would be warmer in there. 'Why didn’t you wait for me this morning?' Haley asked as she pulled back onto the road, headed toward school. 'It snowed last night.' I shrugged.
'I guess I figured I’d just walk today.' I briefly glanced at her. She was looking at a group of kids who waited to cross the street at the upcoming corner.
'That wasn’t the most brilliant move thus far in your academic career.' She smiled at me to take the sting out of her chastise. 'Andi, it’s two degrees out there with the wind chill. Why on earth would you go out in this?'
'Well, I didn’t see you yesterday to ask you, and I don’t have your phone number.' Yeah, I know it sounded lame to me, too. I turned to see blue eyes boring into me. I figured she’d see right through it, but to her credit, she said nothing else about it.
'So, what class do you have right before lunch?'
'English. Why?'
'How about you meet me in the cafeteria and we can start at least talking about your project. Cool?' I nodded.
'Okay, sure. How fast can you get there?'
'My class isn’t far at all, so I can be there stat. You?'
'Well, as you know, I’m quite a ways from it, but I’ll run.' I smiled. Haley pulled into the school parking lot, and turned the car off. There were tons of cars already there, and kids running and talking as they made their way toward the building. Ordinarily a lot of them stood around in the parking lot or outside the building until the first bell rang, but even the most dense of my peers had sense to get out of this weather. As we walked I saw Kelly standing and talking with Meghan by one of their cars as Meghan got her bag together. Kelly looked at us, her brows drawn in confusion. Well, it was nice talking with you, Haley.
'Hey, guys,' Haley said, waving to them. Kelly raised her hand to wave back, a smile spreading across her face. To my utter shock Haley turned back to stare straight ahead and continued walking to the school. I looked at her, at them, then back at her, confused. 'I cannot believe how cold it is.' My attention was brought back to her voice as she hugged herself in an attempt to ward off the cold.
'Yeah, it’s definitely cold as hell.' I agreed, my thoughts still whirling around my head like little flies, buzzing at my brain.
'So, are you excited about your sparring tomorrow?' Haley smiled at me, pulling the front glass door open, and holding it for me.
'Thanks. No, not really. I enjoy trying to knock the little ones down. I am the Sunbae Nim, after all.' She looked at me quizzically.
'The what?'
'Senior member in the class, next to the instructor, of course. He’s our Sabum Nim.'
'How long have you been kicking butt and taking names?' I grinned.
'Eleven years.'
'Wow. Go, you.' We walked to a point where we’d have to go our separate ways. Haley turned to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. 'See you later, okay?' I nodded, then stared after her for a moment as she made her way through the crowd; just about everyone she passed got a hello or good morning from her. The bell rang, and I hurried to my locker.
I think there’s a reason why people who like English generally hate science, and vise versa. I hurried from my English class, shaking my head. Why on earth would I wish to take some dead guys work, then completely dissect it? Who cares what he meant by what he said in line 31 of paragraph 12. The dude is dead, and no one really cares.
Shaking my head, I made my way to the cafeteria, hoping that Haley and I would have a little bit of time before her friends showed up. I looked around as I entered the large room, and immediately saw Haley sitting at her table, munching on a bag of dried fruit. So typical.
'Hey.' I plopped my backpack down, not having time to hit my locker. She looked up and smiled.
'Howdy. Want some?' I looked at the dried apple pieces she held in her fingers, and my nose scrunched.
'You know, the only thing that looks more gross than dried fruit is jerky. Every time I see it I can’t help but think of King Tut’s mummy.' Haley glared at me.
'Thanks. I happen to love jerky.' I smiled.
'Oops.'
'Okay, so have you thought about this at all?' I sat, tugging the instructions my teacher had given to us for the project.
'No. Here’s what it has to be.' She took the packet from me, and began to read.
'So, she wants a comparison experiment of sorts?' She glanced up at me, I nodded. 'Okay, well, I really don’t think this will be too difficult, Andi. There are any number of different things you can compare and contrast from a psychological point of view. I mean, how about penis envy versus womb envy? It’s an age-old debate that no one can, as of yet, decide on. Right?' I nodded. 'Interested?' Again, I nodded.
'You’re going to help me with this, right?' Her face brightened, her body lifting as she sat a little
