Monday morning came with the unstoppable eventuality of all dreaded things. Funny, when we'd first moved here, I'd have paid good money for the distraction of assignments…lots of them…but my sheltered, safe, almost dreamlike summer had brought on the realization those assignments would be paired with countless unfamiliar faces. More people to treat me like I didn't belong? Or would Canada somehow, magically differ from my past school-year experiences? For that outcome, I didn't hold much hope and found the prospect of getting out of bed to be quite the hefty challenge.
"Come on now, Mink." Caelyn was finally reduced to physically rousing me from my bed, coming into my room and ripping the blankets away from my pajama-clad body. "I cleared the first part of my morning, so I'll drive you." I didn't move and eyed her with disinterest. "I'll even walk in with you if you like?"
I mulled over her suggestion for a moment and mulled over the thought not much could make me less popular than I'd already been all of my life to date. I figured I was entitled to a little comfort. "Okay," I agreed and skulked off to the bathroom to get ready.
After a quick shower, I dressed in a black-velvet dress with matching leggings and went in search of eggs and meat. After, I returned to the bathroom to add a bit of powder I really didn't need to my alabaster-pale cheeks, calling forth my lashes with a bit of black mascara and brushing out my long, dark hair. Caelyn had trimmed the ends up a few inches at the beginning of the summer, but at present it was long enough for me to sit on again. It had continued to gain luster and shone darkly under the bathroom lights, falling into meandering waves. I was amazed. My hair had never been so luxuriously beautiful before. My reflection made me smile as I pinned the front-most locks out of my eyes with Hello Kitty clips Caelyn had found at the mall for me. A moment later, I remembered the throng of strangers I'd have to face and quickly pulled them free, letting the thick strands fall forward to better hide my face.
It turned out, though, high school in Canada offered experiences completely unlike my past years in Pennsylvania. The classes were made up of a mix of kids from all over the world. The faces didn't all blend together, and it seemed almost everyone was different in his or her own way. Of course, I got the usual 'new-girl' stares, but I reassured myself with the reminder I was someone they weren't used to yet. I had several people approach and introduce themselves, but no one stood out. Ron weighed too heavily on my mind all day.
I wondered how his first day of classes was going. Then, deliberated whether or not Caelyn would let me change our Skype night so I wouldn't have to find out bit-by-bit over the course of many texts. Strategizing a way to bend my mother to my will filled up the last couple of hours of school, although I did manage to scrawl down my list of assignments… My new Canadian teachers weren't wasting any time. I couldn't even get all the books I needed into my backpack.
The school was only about a half hour walk from our apartment building, so I decided to ditch the bus and get some fresh air. The weather was perfect—one of those mild September days announcing the arrival of fall. Ron had an evening class, so I had time to kill. I sent him a text on my way home, letting him know I'd try to convince Caelyn to let us 'see' each other that night. He immediately sent back a little smiley face. I felt the urge to text again, to ask if he was having a break from class, but managed to restrain myself.
Once home, I busied myself with housework and the preparation of spaghetti, with huge meatballs, and a pan of garlic bread, trying to fill in the hours until my mother arrived home from work and Ron from university.
At times, I was distracted by the noises in the building. The walls must have been thin in places, because I could hear voices and other household sounds emanating from the other units. The sounds echoed on top of each other, coming from the apartments next door, across the hall, overhead…very strange acoustics indeed. At one point, I would've sworn our next door neighbor was in the same room with me, singing her hushed lullaby to her infant daughter. The remainder of the hour was spent with the volume cranked on the latest Final Fantasy game—I'd acquired a PlayStation pity upgrade from my mother—shutting out all the overwhelmingly-close sounds bearing down on me.
As soon as Caelyn sauntered through the door, I pounced, begging with unrivaled conviction that finding out about Ron's first day—and recounting my own—was of vital importance. My mother's mood had drastically improved since we'd moved to Vancouver. She was actually beaming down at me…clearly amused by my frantic attempt to sway her decision…during my whole argument, leaving me hanging in silence when I'd finally finished. I was certain she was doing so on purpose. I widened my eyes to emphasize I was awaiting a response.
"Sure, go ahead, why not." She waved a hand carelessly in the air.
I was immediately suspicious. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, of course. Just a very productive day at work. We got the contract for that fancy new hotel." She looked extremely proud of herself—she'd been schmoozing that client all summer. That explained her upgraded mood. Lucky me for wanting something on exactly the right day!
"Congrats!" I gave her an enthusiastic hug before running off to my beloved laptop. "Oh, do you mind to turn the sauce down in five?"
"No problem!" Was that a giggle? From Caelyn? Oh well, strange behavior aside, at least she was happy.
Once settled at my computer desk, I logged into Skype…to find a surprise. I had a new friend request…from Merina! I clicked to accept and saw she was online. Perfect timing, because Ron was not, and I hadn't talked to her, excepting one email, since we'd moved.
As I slid the mouse to place a call to her, one from her came through first. I answered, and my screen was filled with her radiant, pixie-like features. "Hi, Maura!" she squealed.
"Merina! It's so great to see you! How's everything there?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, just as boring as ever. My parents finally got me a laptop for my birthday, so now we can talk to each other! But who cares about tiny Indiana; how is Vancouver?" She breathed the last word as if I lived in some fairytale forest or something.
"Well, it's not horrible…okay, except for the missing-all-of-you part."
"You mean missing Ron!" She gave me a knowing look, and I nodded.
"Yeah, you've got me there. That part is very, very hard."
"I don't know how you do it." Her expression was solemnly empathetic. "I don't know how I could stand to be apart from Shane."
"So, you two are still doing great I take it?" I grinned, relishing in her good fortune.
"Yep! Hey, they've got another gig this Saturday. One of the other frat houses."
I was momentarily troubled. Saturday was 'date' night. But I quickly brushed the disappointment aside, happy for the band's success. "That's great!" I hoped she hadn't caught my initial reaction.
"I know, right?" She was all smiles, so obviously she hadn't.
We chatted for half an hour about the first day of school, what she and Shane had done over the summer and a few details from my chats with Ron. Caelyn came in then and was surprised to see Merina instead of Ron on my screen.
"Oh, hi, Merina!" Merina waved at my mother.
"I haven't talked to Ron yet!" I interjected in a panic.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Maura, I was just coming to tell you to take your time tonight. I've got the spaghetti sauce on simmer, and the oven is preheated; we can just pop in the garlic bread once you're done."
"Oh, okay..." I didn't know what else to say. Her state of lax was completely new to me…and unusual.
When she'd closed the door, Merina commented, "Wow, she's really relaxed a lot about you and Ron, huh?"
"She's in an unusually good mood tonight," I answered, still following her retreat with my eyes, absorbing the shock. "Oh! Ron just came online. I'm sorry, but do you mind if I go talk to him? I promise we'll Skype again soon." I felt guilty for running out on her.
"No worries! Shane will actually be here any minute. We're going out to celebrate my senior status and his first day at college."
"Oh yeah, he started with Ron today too. You'll have to tell me how his day went next time for sure."
"I will. Okay, I gotta go get ready. Tell Ron I said 'Hi!'" Then, she was gone…and Ron's call was coming through.
I took a deep breath before answering...which didn't matter. The sight of his face took that deep breath right away. I managed a small, squeaky, "Hi!"
"Hello there." There was something bothering him. He failed to produce his typical, exuberant greeting. "I have something to tell you." Yes, he was definitely worried.
"Let me guess." I turned my eyes heavenward like I was concentrating on algebra. "I've got it! Saturday date night is canceled."
The shock in his expression made me giggle. "H-how did you…"
I burst into laughter. "I just talked to Merina."
"Ah, now that explains it!" He relaxed a bit. "And you're not upset?"
"What kind of girlfriend would I be if the good fortune of another gig made me angry?"
He looked completely happy then. "Thanks, Maura!"
"Besides, that is an excellent argument for having date night a day early." I winked at him playfully.
"Sound reasoning, Miss DeLuca. We do have rehearsal that night, but I'll have to squeeze it in." He put his hand up on the screen, and I placed my fingers on top of his, trying to touch him across all the miles between us.
Time seemed to crawl every day until Friday arrived. Since our Skype schedule had changed, Thursday date night wasn't happening. It was like no one told my body. I was restless and twitchy all night. Caelyn told me more than once to stop fidgeting during the movie we were watching. I couldn't comply, so she finally banished me to my room.
"Sorry, Maura, but you're driving me crazy!" She gave me her most penitent look.
Finally, Friday arrived. Fully aware I'd failed my geometry quiz, given my complete inability to concentrate, I'd stumbled through the day in a daze. All I could focus on was 6:00 PM and video access to Ron. We'd have less than an hour—his last class went until 5:45, and rehearsal was at 7:00. After classes that dragged at snail's pace, I was finally run-walking across the school parking lot, anxious to get home. Video games would make time fly much faster than lectures about the area of triangles or the deconstruction of Wuthering Heights…not that I didn't love that novel… I just wasn't in the proper frame of mind to enjoy classic fiction.
"Maura!"
There was a dark-haired boy sprinting toward me, a sheepish grin on his face. Uh oh. The boy had been sneaking peeks at me in the three classes we had together all week. I tried to remember his name—something like Darren or David.
He came to a standstill in front of me, entrenching himself too far inside my personal space for comfort. At that moment, a sharp pain drilled down through my skull like someone had driven an ice pick into my head. It was like taking a too-big slurp of slushie through a straw—a cold, sharp pain. The unpleasantness was accompanied by a very solid flash of Ron's face in my head. Like someone had imprinted his image physically on my brain tissue. During that brief flash, I was able to take in every little detail…the warmth of his eyes, the exact color of his lips…like the moment was frozen on pause in front of me. I gasped in shock and pain.
"Are you okay?" He placed a hand on my shoulder, worry leaking into his expression. The pain intensified.
I managed a response, though. "Ow! Sorry, Darren; my head just started pounding." I took a step back from him, and his hand fell away from my shoulder. The pain subsided a bit, but I was still wincing in remembrance.
"Ummm, it's Damien," he corrected. "Sorry about your head. Are you okay?"
I took another step back from him. "Oh! Damien! So sorry about that. It's hard being the new girl, you know." I could feel myself blush in reaction to my blunder.
"I'm sure." He had ice-blue eyes—a major contrast to his nearly black hair. "I wanted to see if you'd go to a movie this weekend. With me." His finish came out soft, weak, nervous.
A shock of violent pain tore through my head. I raised my hands to my temples in response, and my pack bit into my shoulder. "Oooow! Sorry, Dar—Damien. I can't. I have a boyfriend. Ow! So-so-sorry I have to get home!" I wondered if my eyes would start bleeding, the pain was so intense.
"Oh…" He looked hurt, and I felt bad about that but was in too much pain to do anything other than turn my back on him and stumble toward home. The agony began to diminish to a dull throb.
"Maura!"
Was everyone at the school trying to keep me from my home and the soft comfort of my PlayStation? At least I didn't have another guy to fend off. The new voice was barely audible and decidedly female.
Although I just wanted to get home and, perhaps, skip the video games in favor of a nap, I turned back to her.
She approached slowly, shyly. I recognized her from English. Susie?
"Hi, sorry to bother you." The girl had huge eyes—green like my mother's. Her hair was a shade too dark for dirty-blonde and hung just below her chin in a straight bob. I noticed a very few, light freckles scattered solely across her nose. Like someone had sprinkled her once with a cinnamon shaker.
"Susie?" I chanced it. So far, I had one strike against me.
"Yes!" She beamed, happy I remembered her name. She put out her hand. "Nice to finally, officially, meet you.��� I took her hand, taken in by her genuine smile and sweet nature.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm not trying to be rude, but I really need to get home. I have this horrible headache coming…" I stopped in mid-sentence, realizing the throbbing behind my eyes had vanished. "Oh wow. It's gone." It was my turn to smile happily. Then a current of worry moved through my thoughts. I pushed it into a drawer of my consciousness to be opened later, at home.
Susie was looking up at my face curiously, with concern.
"Sorry, Susie." I tried desperately to not seem weird. That girl wasn't wearing a cheerleader uniform, so she had true friend potential. "I was feeling bad before, but I think my headache's clearing up. Did you need something?" I offered up what I hoped was a friendly, normal smile.
"I just wanted to invite you to sit with us…me and a few friends…at lunch on Monday. I've been watching you sit alone all week and…sorry! I should have invited you earlier." She looked horrified with herself, so I quickly interjected.
"No! Please don't feel bad. I needed some time alone. You know, trying to get over all the stuff I left behind. From the move!" I finished in explanation. "But wow…thanks. I'd love that." It felt good to talk to someone right in front of me, other than my mother. I thought about how nice it would be to have a friend in our new home. A welcome distraction from miserably obsessing over Ron's absence, if just for a little while.
"Yeah, it's hard to move. My family came here from Ontario a few years ago, so I know what you mean. I have to go." She shot a look back over her shoulder. "My dad's waiting. But I'll see you at lunch Monday, okay? We can walk together from English." She gave me a huge smile and a wave before disappearing into the throng of weekend-ready students.