“I missed you,” he stated.
“I missed you too,” I replied with a smile on my face. He stared at me smiling for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. It was obvious from the look in his eyes that his feelings for me ran deep – maybe even deeper than he would ever reveal. “I was thinking we should go out tomorrow night. There’s a new movie I want to take you to see.”
I smiled. “Sounds like fun.”
“Alright, cool. I guess we’d better get to class.”
“K, I’ll see you in a bit,” I replied and watched him walk away.
So far, things seemed to be going well, but that didn’t mean much. Seeing AJ was still going to be potentially stressful depending on how he was taking to the new boundaries on our relationship. There could be many possibilities, but there was no sense in speculating. Ms. Jamison’s class would be a testament of what was to come.
The day seemed to drag on a bit longer than usual. By the time lunch ended, it felt more like it should be time to go home. I walked to Government and took my seat, grateful that I’d made it to class before AJ. When he finally arrived, only seconds before the bell sounded, I was shocked that he passed by me without even so much as a greeting. My mouth gaped open as he took his seat and I realized that he wasn’t speaking to me anymore. I composed myself and tried to focus on Ms. Jamison’s lesson, but this proved to be a more daunting task than I’d expected. I tried not to be aware of him at all, so I closed my eyes and was dead-set on treating him the same way he was treating me. There was no eye contact, no attempts at casual conversation even when our group assembled. Leslie did most of the talking and we only spoke to her instead of each other. The tension was thick enough to cut through. I knew that Leslie was oblivious as to what was going on, but she knew that something was off.
“So, I’ll see you both at 5:30, right?” Leslie inquired.
“Yeah,” I replied dryly.
My cold response seemed to make her uneasy too. “I was hoping you could come get me later. I would’ve just ridden home with you now, but I have to watch Heather until my mom gets in.”
“Sure. I’ll be there around 5.”
“K. Thanks.” She replied and then took another look at AJ and I before sighing and walking away.
When the bell rang AJ rose from his seat without so much as a glance in my direction and then he disappeared out the door. That whole hour, I was painfully aware of the fact that this didn’t feel right. Did it have to be all or nothing with him? Was it really that we couldn’t even be cordial? There was a strange emptiness between he and I that made me uncomfortable. I was dissatisfied with this new arrangement, but there was no other way. I gathered my things and went on to my next class.
*****