“Ah, Miss Larnex, how nice to have you back in class,” Mr. Kerrigan said when I walked into the room.
“Thank you, sir. It’s great to be back.”
I went to my usual back left corner desk and sat down. You could see the town’s horse stables from the theology windows. I couldn’t count how many times I’d ditched class to spend time in the stables. The people there were really friendly and let me ride and tend some of the horses owned by the stable. I was not an expert at horse riding by any means, but I had grown quite proficient at it.
A voice pulled me back from my daydream. “Well, I guess we’re meeting up a little earlier than anticipated.”
I looked away from the windows to see Viper standing next to my desk.
“Hey, Viper,” I said. “I didn’t know you had this theology class.”
“I do,” he said, sitting next to me, “I heard what happened in your English class.”
“Oh,” I said, looking down at my notebook. “Yeah, well, believe me, she deserved it.”
“Deserved what? You calling her a raccoon or you throwing a wad of paper at her broken nose?”
“Both. It’s really not in my nature to take that kind of crap from people.”
“And what, may I ask, did she do?”
“She didn’t
do
anything,” I said. “It’s just some things she said.”
“Take a seat, class,” Mr. Kerrigan said, walking into the room. “The bell is about to ring.”
The last few students took their seats.
“Hi, Viper,” Hannah said, bounding toward us.
She looked to the right of Viper and shot a threatening look at poor Michael Ragno. He promptly vacated the desk for her.
“Last week it was so nice to have this class with just the two of us,” she said, shooting me the dirty look this time.
I shook my head and opened my notebook.
“Okay, today we will jump right into reviews,” Mr. Kerrigan said to the class. “We have covered everything for the semester so Matthew is going to hand out review sheets and we’ll get right to it.”
He turned to the dry erase board and started jotting down notes.
“Hey,” Viper said. “Do you want to do something tonight?”
I wasn’t completely sure he was talking to me so I looked at him. He smiled.
“Sure, like what?”
“
Viper
,” Hannah said through her teeth.
“Shhh,” Mr. Kerrigan looked at our corner of the room.
I looked down at the review sheet sitting on my desk. I was reading down the list of historical dates when I felt a familiar warmth seep into my mind.
How about I meet you at your house around seven?
I turned my head to look at Viper, but he was writing in his workbook.
Are you in my head?
Yes.
You can hold conversations through your thoughts? I was trying to make sense of the situation.
Of course I can.
You said you could only read minds.
No, I said I could read minds. You didn’t ask if there was anything else I could do.
I see. Can I talk to you whenever I want? As long as you can see me?
A small smile turned up the corner of his lip. Unfortunately, no. I can talk to you, but there isn’t a way for you to be the one to start the conversation.
Oh.
I looked over at Hannah. She seemed content with the fact that Viper and I were no longer “talking” and was jotting down what Mr. Kerrigan was writing on the board. She cared about her grades a little more than the other two, I’d give her that.
So your place? Seven?
Yeah, sure.
I could feel my cheeks turn pink.
Cool.
And the warmth left me. I frowned to myself in disappointment.
* * *
“So what are we doing in art this week?” The bell had rung to end second period so Viper and I walked down the stairs to the art rooms.
“Bye, Viper,” Hannah called down the hall.
He looked at her and gave her a small nod. I smirked at him. He looked at me and gave me a little shove with his shoulder.
“All of this week we are going to be drawing still lifes,” he said. “Today we’re just warming up with some ornaments. On Thursday we’re meeting in the main hall to take on the Christmas tree.”
“They can’t give us anything better to draw than the Christmas Tree of School Spirit?” I said, frowning.
“At least it’s an easy class,” he said.
“True.”
There really was no easier class than sitting around and drawing either what we were told to or whatever we wanted. As long as we drew or learned to draw relatively well it was pretty much a walk in the park.
We sat down at one of the tables surrounding a smaller table in the middle of the room. On the table there was a box draped in a white cloth. On top of the box there was a little pyramid of circular ornaments. There were also different shaped ornaments hanging off the cloth on the sides. On the surface of the table were a few more ornaments scattered around.
The bell rang and Ms. Sterling shot through the doorway, slamming the door shut behind her. A fraction of a second after she did so, there was a large slam against it from the other side.
“You are late, Mr. Vance,” she said through the door.
Joshua Vance’s face appeared in the little window on the door.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Sterling,” he said.
“I’d think a football player would be quick enough on his feet to make it to class on time. Go to the office, get a tardy slip, and then I will let you in.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Joshua. His face disappeared from the window.
“Okay, class, draw what is in front of you. Don’t make it too detailed, just a quick sketch to get everything. I will be rotating the table about a quarter turn every twenty minutes, and I want you to draw the next view you have on a blank page. Draw the same area you drew during the previous turn. I want to be able to flip through them and see movement. And please make sure your drawing is proportional to the real model.”
She spun the table around and waited for it to stop. “And … begin.”
Everyone picked up a charcoal pencil and started drawing on the papers in front of them. Ms. Sterling walked to her desk.
I started drawing the top of the pyramid when she called me to her desk. “Miss Larnex, may I speak with you for a moment?”
I put my pencil down and walked to her desk.
“I trust you received your drawing assignments while you were away.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
“Excellent. Please hand them to me before you leave the class for lunch.”
“I’ll make sure to.”
There was a knock on the door; Joshua was back from the office.
“Thank you, dear. You can sit back down.”
I went back to my seat. She walked to the door to let Joshua into the classroom.
I felt a warm fuzzy blanket wrap around my mind.
What happened? Viper said.
She was just reminding me to turn in the work I did while out of class, I said.
Art was one of my favorite classes. I found drawing to be relaxing. It also helped that I was pretty good at all the media we attempted. I looked over at Viper’s drawings. As it turned out, he was a pretty great artist, too.
That was what I had always wanted to do when I was done with school—become an artist. Just paint or draw all day. I was so sure that was the life for me. I knew it would be a little rocky at first until I got my artwork out there and recognized. All of that was before I found out there would be other plans for me. But at that point in my life I didn’t know what was coming. I let my mind wander while I drew the ornaments. Then I watched the table turn and drew them again.
Before I knew it: “Ready for lunch?”
I looked up from my drawing. Everyone was putting down their art supplies and getting out of their seats. I put my pencil down so I could pick it up and continue after lunch. My stomach was rumbling even though I hadn’t heard the bell ring.
“Yeah,” I said, pushing out my chair. “I’m starved.”
* * *
We had just walked into the cafeteria when Emily started calling for Viper. She waved him over to join her at the table where she was sitting with Madison and Hannah.
“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m going to sit with Emma today.”
Emily’s face turned a violent shade of red.
“Oh,” she said with a shaky smile.
I could tell it was forced.
“But we saved you a seat…”
“Thanks for the thought,” he said, urging me forward.
We walked to the line of people waiting for their lunch.
“The hints don’t seem as bad as you made them out to be,” I said once I knew they couldn’t hear us.
“That wasn’t one of the worst ones,” he said.
I took a slice of pizza and a bowl of salad. Viper took a chicken sandwich with some fries. We took a seat at a table as far away from Emily as possible. I had forgotten to prepare myself for the stares. Everyone stared at him because, well, it was Viper. Everyone stared at me while they tried to figure out why I got to sit with him.
I looked over at him. He seemed somewhat out of place, like he belonged somewhere else. There was something in his eyes that told me he was missing something.
“So, what’s your last class of the day?” he said.
“History,” I said. “Something I never really look forward to.”
Before I could say anything else Emily walked over to us. I should have known that at some point she was going to take matters into her own hands.
“Well, that’s mostly because Larnex has trouble fitting in,” she said, pulling out the chair on Viper’s other side. “I thought you would have figured that out by now, Viper.”
He looked from her to me.
“Oh,” he said in a slightly sarcastic voice. “I guess I must have missed that about her.”
I pushed myself away from the table; the metal legs of my chair scraped across the floor. I got up and walked to the trashcan with my empty plate and bowl.
“The Winter Dance is this Saturday,” Emily said as I walked away. “I think it would be really great if you and I went together.”
I guessed that the time for hints had ended. To my surprise Viper turned a little pink in the cheeks.
“Ah,” he said, “that would be nice, but…”
“We would have so much fun together,” said Emily, taking the hesitation as an opportunity to persuade him further.
I reached the trashcan and frowned. I didn’t want to go back to the table, but I also didn’t want to leave Viper by himself. All I knew for certain was that I didn’t want to be around for the conversation taking place.
“You see,” Viper said. “The thing is…” He looked very nervous. Nervousness wasn’t a good look for him and I hated Emily for causing it.
I sighed and headed back to the table. Emily glared at me when I sat down.
“So, Viper,” I said. “What color should we wear to the dance?”
He looked at me. I nodded my head at him slightly in what I hoped was encouragement to go along with it.
Emily turned to me. “Excuse me?”
I smiled at her. “Didn’t you know? Viper asked me to the Winter Dance.”
My smile broadened at the look of horror on her face. But I should have known she wouldn’t go down without a fight. As dirty a fight as she could muster.
“Really?” she said, turning back to Viper. “Well, I hope you know you’re going with a freak.”
I didn’t know what to say. She’d been threatening to do just that. I don’t know why it came as such a shock when she finally decided it was time. Maybe I’d hoped it would never come.
Viper looked at me then back at her. “And what makes you say that?”
“Oh, she hasn’t told you about them?” she said. Her voice was so sweet and yet laced with so much venom. “The freakish lumps of God knows what on her back, I mean.”
Viper choked on the lemonade he was sipping and stared at her. “She has
what
on her back?”
I sat in silence knowing that nothing I could possibly say would keep my life from crumbling before my eyes. I wanted to disappear.
Emily on the other hand was barely able to contain her excitement about his reaction. “She has these two disgusting lumps on her back.”
“You’re kidding me,” he said, turning his head to look at me.
I was shocked to see that there wasn’t revulsion or regret on his face at hearing this information. There was a smile. Not a mocking smile but one of comprehension. He looked like all of his questions had just been answered.
“Um, no. I’m not,” Emily said, her glee diminishing. “It’s pretty gross.” It was obvious she didn’t like the look on his face.
Viper kept smiling. “Whatever color you feel brings out those green eyes of yours.”
I stared at him. “I’m sorry?”
“The color of your dress,” he said.
“Oh.” The look on my face started to change, too. His smile only seemed to grow.
Emily got up from her chair in a huff and stomped back to her table. We watched her walk away. Viper heaved a sigh when she had gotten back to the other table. He turned to look at me. I could see nothing but relief on his face.
“You saved me,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You saved me from having to take Emily to the dance,” he said.
He seemed to have forgotten about the conversation that had just taken place.
“It’s no big deal. You looked panicked so I thought I’d help you out.”
“And I am thankful for that.”
It wasn’t long before nervousness took over his face again.
“Are you okay?” I said.
I wanted him to know I was open to conversation about what Emily had told him.
“Yeah,” his voice cracked. “Listen, Emma, about the dance—”
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Well, yeah,” he said. “I would like to take you, but—”
I started to laugh. I didn’t mean to, but I really couldn’t help it.
“Viper,” I said, “you don’t have to. I said that to get you out of a tight spot.”
He looked at me.
“Oh,” he said.
The nervous look was gone. His face was completely devoid of expression.
“So you don’t want to go with me?”
“No, Viper,” I stopped laughing. “That’s not what I’m saying. I was trying to help you out. I’m not holding you to anything; you aren’t really obligated.”
“But if I did ask you, would you say yes?”