MIND THE GAP
“Great! Now I’m becoming one of those guys
with hearts and flowers and… feelings.”
Melody Manful
Three days!
It had been three days, and Abigail Cells was still alive!
Yesterday after my attempt to befriend her ended up with my saving her, she calmed down a little around me. And now as I sat with her and her friends, including Tristan, she didn’t look like she minded having me around.
With a little magic, I made sure she forgot about my knowing how she saved her friends, so she didn’t ask me about it any further. History class was in a few minutes, so Tristan and Abigail decided to rehearse their Titanic presentation. Danny, Jake, and I suddenly realized we hadn’t prepared for the project. The guys started freaking out, talking about how Mr. Bernard was going to give them an F.
“We are toast,” Danny moaned as he pulled his schoolbag away and snatched Tristan’s textbook.
“We’re using that,” Abigail protested.
“Really? All the extra after-school work and you’re still not done? What are you two doing, writing a freaking novel?” I asked, and her friends laughed.
Abigail looked offended. “At least we have a novel. What do you guys have?” she asked.
“We have something,” Jake said. “It’s a surprise.”
Tristan and Sarah tried to get us to tell them what it was, but we refused because even we didn’t know what it was.
“Gideon, what is it?” Abigail asked, slightly lifting her eyes and catching my gaze, and then it happened—I babbled.
“We…hmm…we’re just messing with you. We don’t have anything.” I was completely and utterly—well, I didn’t really have words to excuse my behavior.
“Way to keep a secret, man,” Danny said as the bell rang for class to start. It was no surprise that Tristan and Abigail got an A. Actually, Mr. Bernard had said, ”A-plus-plus,” and then he gave Jake, Danny, and me an F because we didn’t have anything. I’d written The Titanic is sinkable on a piece of paper, and we had read it out loud in unison.
After school, Tristan and I invisibly followed Abigail to the community library where she read to the after-school children.
“I know what you’re doing, Gideon,” Tristan said. “You’re trying to befriend the girl just so you can—”
“Kill her faster?” I finished Tristan’s pathetic assumption with a wicked smile. “Give yourself a pat on the back, handsome. That’s correct.” Abigail looked so happy reading for the children.
“Gideon, don’t hurt that poor girl because of me.”
“Do I need to take a seat for this?” I asked. “Is this the part where you lecture me about good guy stuff?”
“Please don’t hurt her,” Tristan pleaded once more as if he didn’t hear me.
“This is really sad,” I whispered, more to myself than to him, as I saw how distressed he was over Abigail’s life. What about his life? Right, he didn’t care about his life. “I’d love to stand here and chat, but I’m on a mission,” I said with my eyes on Abigail.
“Gideon, what are—?” Tristan didn’t finish because I disappeared behind one of the shelves, made myself visible, and then quickly rushed into view.
“Is there room for one more student?” I asked the moment I reached the area where Abigail sat with the children. Abigail looked up quickly when she heard my voice.
“You’re too old, aren’t you?” one of the children asked in a tiny voice that made me want to slap the hell out of her.
“I’m sure there’s room for one more. Class, this is Gideon.” Abigail made space on the floor for me to sit beside her. Tristan remained where he stood, staring at me without even blinking.
“You seem to be everywhere,” she said the moment I sat down.
“I came to borrow a book and saw you guys,” I lied.
“And here I was thinking you were allergic to books,” she teased.
“Now that you mention it, I think I’m allergic to school books.”
Abigail was about to say something when one of the boys asked, “Is Abigail your girlfriend?”
“Yes, and I’m going to kiss her right now.” I made a slight movement toward Abigail, and all the children started making noises of disgust.
“Ewwwww!”
Abigail smiled and then quickly looked away from me.
I winked at Ben and Felix, who stood quietly off to the side, appearing amused.
“I have a question. How does it feel to fall in love?” a little girl asked. Two of her front teeth were missing.
How the hell would I know?
Everyone was quiet, so I knew I had to answer.
“Well,” I cleared my throat and tried to remember all the cheesy sayings I had heard about falling in love. “It’s unexplainable.” I looked at Abigail, which turned out to be a stupid decision because when my eyes met hers, I felt a stir of emotions in my chest. “And unexpected,” I whispered to myself.