Wednesday, September 22

   “You didn’t have to scare me like that!” Declan muttered angrily as the kids in the hallway continued with their conversations. I just laughed until my stomach hurt.

   “Alex,” the girl who was talking to Declan said. Pretty blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and a face plastered in makeup. I narrowed my eyes at her. “I-it’s nice to talk to you.”

   “Get lost, Emily,” Declan said, looking at her. “I’m not now, or ever, going to be interested in you.” Emily stared for a moment before running off in tears. “I don’t want to see that girl’s face again.”

   “So?” I asked. “If you rejected her, that means you like someone else?” Declan tensed. “Come on. Tell me, Declan. Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

   “Alright!” Declan gave in to my pestering and glanced around at the few people in the hallway. “You-know-who from the party.”

   I grinned, putting my arm around Declan and rubbing his hair. “I had my suspicions, but I just wanted you to say it yourself!”

   “Well what about you?” Declan asked, pushing my arm off him. “You keep talking about your tu-mffft!”

   I covered his mouth and put a finger to my lips. “I don’t want people knowing about that!!”

   “What's the problem? It's not like you're interested in him.”

   “Just don't tell anyone about the whole tutor thing.”

   “You’re going to get found out eventually,” Declan said as we turned into the English hallway. We walked into our classroom and saw kids chatting at their desks. Our teacher got up and headed towards the whiteboard as everyone settled down for the first class of the day.

Beeeeep!!

   The second lunch bell rang, and I joined the rest of the kids heading towards the cafeteria. I saw some of my soccer teammates at a table with some girls.

   “Yo,” a shaggy, blond-haired buy said, moving over to make room for me. Travis Lenard was one of the best goalies in the state, and was one of my closest friends.

   “Yo,” I replied, putting my lunch tray down and sitting on the bench. “Looks like you’re having a good day.”

   “Eh,” Travis said. “My family is going to be away for a few days for work, and I didn’t get to show them I got a 90 on my history test. They won’t be able to come to the game this Friday either.”

   “That’s a shame,” I said. “You’re parents are the loudest cheerers.”

   “That can be a plus,” Travis said, stabbing his cantaloupe. “But I like some peace and quiet once in a while.”

   “Hey,” Declan said, shoving me to the side so he could fit at the table. I glared at him for a second, but he just gave me a cheeky grin.

   “Why are you in a good mood?” Travis asked.

   “I got to talk to Clare in the hallway,” Declan said, starting to eat his mac&cheese.

   “I knew Emily Wattson wasn't good enough for you,” a dirty blond-haired girl said, leaning over the table and looking at Declan. “My little sister would be the perfect match for Declan!”

   “Charlotte!” Declan exclaimed, getting flustered.

   “Hey, Alex,” the black-haired boy sitting next to Charlotte said. I looked at him. “Is it true you’re getting tutored?” The entire table went silent.

   “Ethan,” I asked, clenching my fist. “Who told you that?”

   “Declan told everyone on the team,” Travis said, looking down at his food. I snapped my head at Declan.

   “I'm really sorry!!” Declan exclaimed, putting his hands together. “Everyone wanted to know!!”

   “Ugh…” I groaned, pushing my lunch tray into the middle of the table and slamming my head down. “Next thing you know the entire school will find out.”

   “We won't let it happen,” Ethan said. “If you want it to be a secret, then we won't tell.” I sat up and punched Declan. He flinched, but knew it would happen at some point.

   Lunch ended and all of us went back to our classes. Chemistry was the only class I didn't have with anyone because it was an AP class. Somehow Chemistry came easily to me. I even asked my guidance counselor to put me in AP which messed up part of my schedule.

   I didn’t even know Paul was in my class until Mrs. Thompson told me.

   Paul occupied the seat in the back row on the opposite side. He was the kid who always had his face in a book. He was forced to take his hoodie off in school, so his slightly overgrown hair covered his face.

   “Alright everyone!” Mr. Creeves said, coming into the classroom. “Get back to work!”

   And so the rest of the day began.

Riiiiiiiiing!!!

   I was in my language class, French, and we were starting our last in-school project. I was working with Travis, and our teacher was telling us our homework when the bell rang.

   “Les pages 143 à 156 sont les devoirs!” Monsieur Morel called as kids started leaving.

   “Good luck with your tutor, Alex!” Travis called as we went our separate ways down the hall. I nodded, at him before turning a corner out of view. Seeing classmates around, and waving to them, I made my way to the math classroom.

   Paul was there, his nose in a book. He didn't even move when I walked in. I cleared my throat, taking the seat next to him. He looked up and brushed some strands of hair out of his face.

   “You actually showed up,” Paul said. “I didn't think you would, Captain.” I flinched at his words, but still stared at him. His eyes seemed to draw me in.

   “Here,” I said, looking away and taking my math homework out. “I kinda know what we’re doing, but still don't understand it.”

   “You’re taking all honors and one AP class and this is the level you’re showing Au- I mean, Ms. Thompson?” Paul cleared his throat just before he was going to say ‘Auntie’ making me smirk.

   “It's hard having your aunt being the most unlikeable teacher in school, huh,” I said. Paul didn’t say or do anything as he looked at the work I tried scribbling down.

   “Not even close,” Paul said, taking out a pencil and erasing all my hard work. “You have to put this part of the equation here, and then solve that before. You got all the parts mixed up.”

   “Oh,” I looked at what he had written and thought for a moment. “Oh! I get it! Wait, tell me if I do this wrong.” I started writing, but Paul hit me with his paperback book. “Ow! That hurt!”

   “It's a paperback book!” Paul retorted, crossing his arms. “It shouldn't hurt! You’re a complete wimp!” I glared at him.

   “You’ll regret saying that!” I exclaimed, punching his arm a little too hard. He winced and started rubbing it gingerly. “Sorry. Did I hit you too hard?”

   “I’m fine,” Paul said, looking back at the papers on the desk. There were a few moments of heavy silence before any of us spoke. “You know what?” Paul said, looking at me. “Let’s continue this tomorrow. Go to practice.”

   I put my stuff away, shouldering my backpack and ran away as fast as I could. It seemed like my feet took me to the one place I felt at home.

   The soccer field.

   I loved feeling the wind against my face as I chased a ball down the field. People said I was a natural athlete with a talent for soccer. To me, it was just all my hard work over the years that were finally paying off.

   Quickly stopping in the locker room, I changed into a T-shirt and shorts, and put my soccer cleats on. Then, grabbing my water bottle, I headed out onto the field. A loud whistle blew, and the varsity soccer team gathered around Coach.

   “Sorry, Coach Johnson,” I said jogging over and putting my hand up in greeting.

   “Where the hell have you been, White?” Coach Johnson growled, glaring at me from under his cap. “Missing practice and being late to another?”

   “Sorry, Coach,” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “My math teacher assigned me a tutor to get my grades up.”

   “Yeah cause our Captain here is flunking out of all his classes!” chestnut-haired Kevin Browne called.

   “Kevin!” I called. “Three laps around the field!”

   “Wha- no fair!!” Kevin exclaimed.

   “Good job, Kev,” Kyle Browne said, trying not to laugh at his twin.

   “You too, Kyle,” I said, looking at the two.

   “Are you complaining now, Kyle?” Kevin called as he started running down the track surrounding the field. The rest of the team snickered and I saw Declan giving me a thumbs up.

   “Alright, alright!” Coach called. “Let’s start some more dribbling skills! This time all the way down the field!!” Gorans were heard, and Coach glared at us. “Make that double the amount!!” This time no one complained and quickly scurried off to do the drill.

   Since Coach doubled the number of drills, we were twice as tired when practice ended. Everyone was gulping down water, and I saw some others pouring it over their heads. Coach did a concluding speech at the end of practice, but we were too tired to listen, much less stand up.

   “Alright then,” Coach said, wrapping up his speech. “I want everyone to walk one lap around the field to cool your body down.” No one had any energy left to complain, so we just started walking around the track. When walking past the bleachers, I saw Skyler, Phoebe, Clare, and Jolie waving at us. Declan waved back, grinning at Clare.

   “What’s this?” I asked when we were out of earshot. “You wave to her now?”

   “It’s not like that!” Declan punched my arm.

   “You seem to really like her. I’m glad you finally got the guts to talk to her.”

   “Shut up!!” he exclaimed. I was laughing, but started running the rest of the way around the track with Declan close behind.

   After going to the locker rooms to change and shower quickly, Declan and I headed into the parking lot. We saw Phoebe and Clare waiting near Declan’s car, two spaces away from where Skyler was waiting near Dad’s car.

   “See you tomorrow!” Skyler exclaimed, getting in the car. I grinned at Declan once more before getting in the car.

   “So Declan and Clare are getting cozy,” Skyler explained as I drove out of the parking lot. I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road. “They’re perfect for each other.”

   “Yeah,” I agreed, I felt Skyler’s gaze shift towards me.

   “So? What about you, Alex? Do you like anyone?”

   “No,” I lied, clenching the steering wheel a little. “I don’t like anyone.”

   “Oh?” Skyler asked suspiciously. “What about Paul? He’s really smart, but isn’t really sociable. I think he’s kinda cute.”

   “Enough!” I stopped Skyler from saying anything else. “I don’t like anyone, so just drop it!” Skyler seemed shocked I raised my voice.

   “Sorry,” she said, looking out the window. “Just teasing a bit. You don’t need to shout.”

   We arrived home, and I parked in the garage. The garage was connected to the kitchen, and when we stepped inside, a mouthwatering smell filled my lungs.

   “Blueberry pie!” Skyler shouted, running inside. Mom was in the kitchen, putting a pot holder down on the counter. She took a pie out of the oven, putting it on top.

   “It won’t be good to eat it hot,” Mom said, grabbing Skyler’s hand. “We’ll have it after dinner.”

   “What?” Skyler complained, but Mom just waved us away.

    “I have homework to do,” I said, heading upstairs to my room. I shut my bedroom door, and went over to sit at my desk. My bag dropped off my shoulders as I plopped down in the swivel chair. Taking a deep breath, I took out my homework, and reluctantly started working. There were a few history questions I had to answer after reading some passages from our online textbook. I had to start outlining my college essay for English, and I had to finish a Calculus packet by the end of the week. Of course, I hadn’t even started those two things.

   After about an hour of Calculus, someone knocked on my door. “It’s me,” Skyler said, opening the door and sticking her head inside.

   “What is it?” I asked, spinning the chair to face her. She was holding one of our older photo albums.

   “These are all from elementary school,” she said, walking across my room to hand me the book. “Take a look at all the photos I bookmarked.”

   I turned to the first flagged page and saw four kids running around with sparklers. I recognized me and Skyler, but squinted at the other kids. One had dirty blond hair and cold blue eyes. I saw those same features today in French. It was Jack Calaway.

   “No way,” I started, looking up at Skyler. She just sighed, folding her arms.

   “You’re an idiot,” she started. “How could you forget them?” Before I could respond, Mom called us down for dinner. Skyler turned to leave, but said, “Look through it some more tonight.” Skyler and I went downstairs to see Mom made delicious chicken cutlet.

   “Hey!” Skyler exclaimed as I got the largest piece. “I had dibs on that one!”

   “Too bad,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her. “It’s mine now!”

   “There’s plenty to go around, Sky,” Mom said, smiling at us.

   “I get the first slice of pie,” Skyler said, sticking her tongue out at me as we went to the table to sit down.

   “Settle down and eat your dinner,” Mom said. Skyler grumbled some last comments before cutting her chicken. I cut mine as well, dipping it in ketchup before popping it in my mouth. I looked up and saw Skyler staring at me.

   “Your chicken is going to get cold,” I commented, popping another piece in my mouth. Dinner conversations were normal, talking about school and friends and practice. When we were done helping Mom clean the kitchen, I went back upstairs.

   Seeing the photo album on top of my homework, procrastination took over. I changed into a pair of shorts, sitting on my bed with the album. Knowing who Jack was, there was just one kid left. Staring at the person, my memory refused to give his name. His short chocolate brown hair and large glasses that hid dark brown eyes did seem familiar, though.

   Just then it hit me.

   Paul Simon.

   The small, clingy kid who never left my side.