Dating?
Kissing?
Sex?
Is that what I wanted? To date Mayra? To kiss her? To…to…to…do more?
I hadn’t the slightest idea.
I couldn’t determine what I wanted, so I just locked up and went to bed.
~oOo~
The next day at school was about as strange a day as I could have ever imagined, stranger than rain when the sun was shining, stranger than the way peanut butter smells when it’s wet, and stranger than vampires that sparkle. The worst part was first thing in the morning.
As soon as I walked into school, I heard my name being yelled from down the hall.
“Matthew! Matthew!”
Mayra came running down the hallway. There were some other kids with her, including Justin Lords, Aimee Schultz, and Carmen Klug. I slowed my steps a little as they approached, but I didn’t stop my trek to my locker. That’s what I did when I got to school—I went to my locker. My hands were shaking a little as I reached for the lock to work the combination.
“Mayra, what the fuck?” Justin grumbled under his breath as Mayra came up next to me.
“Hey, Matthew!” she said, ignoring Justin.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, then concentrated on the lock so I could align the numbers properly. It was difficult since my hands were shaking. I knew I hadn’t responded to Mayra yet, but I couldn’t decide how, especially with her other friends standing there. Should I just say “Hey” back to her? Should I say “Hey, Mayra”? Something else? Ask about the weather?
“Seriously, Mayra?” Carmen sneered. “He can’t even say hello, for Christ’s sake!”
My chest rose and fell with labored breaths as Carmen’s words echoed through my head. She was right. Greetings were a strange concept for me. I didn’t understand the point. No matter how many times I practiced, the whole activity was worse than going to the dentist and lying there with my mouth open. That was just when one person approached me, and now there were four of them, looming close.
“Shut up!” Mayra turned her head over her shoulder and hissed under her breath. She turned back toward me just as I managed to get the locker open.
I crouched down and started organizing the folders and the books from my book bag into the locker. Focusing on the items in the locker, I made sure everything was lined up precisely. I could hear them talking behind me in hushed voices, but I wasn’t paying attention to the words until I felt Mayra’s hand on my shoulder.
I startled, which elicited giggles from Carmen. Aimee elbowed her in the side, and Carmen called her a bitch. I glanced up to see Justin rolling his eyes and turning away dramatically from the row of lockers.
“Matthew, did you hear me?” Mayra asked.
I thought about it for a minute, but I couldn’t come up with what she had said. The first bell rang, and I didn’t have the right things for my period one class. My timing was all off.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered as I grabbed for the right things.
“Fucking freak.” Justin snarled before he stomped off down the hallway. He continued to yell over his shoulder. “Just fucking forget it, Mayra! Find some other stray to take in!”
I couldn’t catch my breath and started to hyperventilate a bit. I was feeling dizzy, and I couldn’t decide if I should just grab my stuff and get to class or not. Maybe I should say something…ask Mayra to repeat her question, or maybe I should at least say hello.
Was it too late to say hello?
I had no idea.
“He’s even panting like a dog,” Carmen said, snickering.
Aimee glared at her and leaned close to her ear. Carmen’s lip curled as she responded, and then she laughed out loud. Aimee gritted her teeth and continued to glare at Carmen.
I tried closing my eyes, but I could still hear the laughing behind me. I didn’t think it was just Carmen anymore. I was pretty sure I heard someone start barking, too. Mayra was yelling at them to stop it, and the sheer amount of sounds around me—about me—was just too much.
I shut down.