She stares at him under hooded eyes, trying to look inconspicuous but managing to do the opposite.
He winked at her and grinned.
The girl rolled her eyes and pretended to go back to her magazine, keeping her expression as neutral as possible. She hadn't been alone with this dork since the 6th grade and she preferred it that way.
She was wondering what the hell she was doing in this damp, fluorescent-lit room lined with blue, brittle plastic chairs with no one but the bored secretary in the corner and a high school delinquent.
"Why'd you get sent to the principal's office?" he asked from across the room snapping her back to reality.
She ignored him and flipped the page. Oh, there's a VS sale this month, would it be tacky to rip the coupon off?
"Psst, Rhonda," he said in a mock whisper, "Why are you heading to the principal's office?"
She sighed. Seeing that he wouldn't stop asking until she mustered a reply, she said under her breath while checking out the worst dressed list, "I'm really not in the mood to talk you."
He laughed at that. "When are you ever in the mood to talk to me?"
There was silence for a while. She was relieved he'd stopped talking. Then, she sensed him stand up and sit beside her. She almost groaned in frustration.
"Which part of I'm not in the mood to talk did you not understand?" she snapped, turning to him and slapping her magazine shut.
"The whole thing," he said with another wolfish grin. His whole set of perfectly straight teeth could be seen.
"Let me get something clear, we do not have conversations."
"Why not? I'm starting one right now?" He inspected her reading material and ogled the cover girl. "She's pretty foxy, isn't she?"
Annoyed by the invasion of her personal space, she glared at him. "Why are you being sent to the principal's office?"
He shrugged. "Simple. I punched Jackson Wallace in the face."
"Oh," she said. That was all she could say. She didn't have anything to add on. Of course, he punched Jackson Wallace in the face. It makes perfect sense. Jackson Wallace was a bully who terrorized the physically weaker students of their high school. But she never remembered him messing with the delinquent currently sitting beside her, checking out supermodel boobs.
"Why'd you punch him?" she asked, the secretary started to give them a strange look. The two of them, coming from different social circles and actually talking to each other, was kind of bizarre.
She wasn't aware of their shared history.
"He was messing with this kid. Let's not get into the details," he said, avoiding the question. He did stare at her eyes, though not with that same awestruck look he used to give her when they were younger.
She cleared her throat. "Well, that's nice of you to defend him and you really don't deserve to be sent to the big house for that but I'm going need my magazine back and continue with my reading."
He snorted. "Why? So you can learn a 101 Ways to Please Your Man written by some chick? You don't need this magazine, I can tell you all you need to know," he said with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Rhonda's cheeks heat up at the naughty implication. "Excuse you!"
He laughed and she swore, if she squinted, she could make out the silhouette of the younger boy with glasses, tube socks and an ugly green t-shirt. Instead, she is sitting with a 6 foot 4 young man wearing a leather jacket and low-slung jeans, sporting a long, messy haircut. It annoyed her that he was considered good looking by some of the other females in this God-forsaken high school. Standards are becoming lower as time passed.
"I'm just throwing it out there, if you're ever interested."
She narrowed her eyes and snatched her magazine back. "Thanks but no thanks."
He chucked his shoulders, stood up and went back to his side of the room. That stupid smile still not leaving his equally stupid face.
"You're not as badass as you think you are," she said. He didn't react he just shot back, "You're not as pretty as everyone says you are."
Coming from him, it stung. She didn't want to show it so she dipped her chin and looked down at the pretty pictures of budding Hollywood starlets.
"You're beautiful."
She looked up, not sure of what she just heard. He was leaning forward staring at her seriously, his elbows on his knees.
"Did you ju– Did you just say something?"
"I said you're beautiful. Pretty is not enough to describe you."
Rhonda felt her breath hitch and the butterflies that have died a long time ago sprang back to life in her stomach. Only he could say it with such sincerity, such belief that what he was saying was God's honest truth.
It was overwhelming. And it brought back memories. Young foolishness and drawn heart on legal pads.
She gave him a soft smile. He smiled back.
The secretary cleared her throat, "Mr. Gomez will see you now."
He slowly stood up, not breaking eye contact, gave her a two-fingered salute and disappeared into the office.
Rhonda was still sitting in shock at what happened. Five years of nothingness then this… this thing. Whatever it is, it was frightening.
"How long are you going to string that boy along?" the secretary asked, her glasses perched on the tips of her nose.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"You heard me, sweetheart." She replied, giving the teenager a pointed look.
Rhonda shook her head, "I have no idea what you're saying."
"Hmmm," the secretary hummed before getting back to her work.
The incident bothered her but she didn't want to show it so she went back to her reading.
If she could only ignore the fact that her heart was racing 130 beats per minute.
…..
They didn't see each other until a week later at lunch. She was sitting with her friends, joking around when he came in all sweaty-faced. She continued to watch him, curious what he was doing there since he has his lunch at the garden with the shady crew he hangs out with.
He proceeded to where Arnold was sitting down, tapping him on the shoulder and then rapidly explaining something to him. A worried look came over Arnold's face and he stood up and left with him.
"Rhonda, hey, are you zoning out or something?"
"Uh yeah, sorry. I just have to go to the bathroom real quick. Nature calls," she said as she rushed out trying to catch up to them, still not having a clue why she was doing so in the first place.
When she reached the halls, she looked around but couldn't find them. She rejoiced when she noticed Brainy in the corner.
"Did you see Arnold and Curly pass by?"
"Yeah, I saw Thad and Arnold go that way," he pointed to the right corridor. "Is something wrong? They seemed to be in a rush."
"Nothing's wrong, I just want to talk to them. Thanks!"
She was taken aback by what Brainy called him. She had forgotteh. Thad. Not Curly. He hasn't been Curly in years. He's been Thad. Lives on the wrong side of town Thad. Kind of a bad boy, leather-wearing Thad. Talks to you at the reception area of the principal's office and calls you beautiful Thad.
Not her Curly. Just Thad. Some unknown entity.
She continued straight along the path Brainy put her on and was relieved when she saw a mop of jet-black hair and neatly cut blonde locks.
Arnold noticed her first. "Hi Rhonda, what are you doing there?" He seemed to be growing anxious by the second.
He turned and looked at her as well, his head tilted slightly to the left in curiosity.
"I, I was just, well, you guys came out of the cafeteria quite suddenly and I just wanted to ask if there's anything wrong."
The boys gave each other a look. Arnold stepped forward. "Rhonda, we really don't have much time. I'd love to stay and talk you but we have to get going somewhere."
Arnold's reaction pissed her off. He is a really nice guy but sometimes he can be a bit dense. "I'm not asking you to gab about the latest episode of Real Housewives with me. I'm just asking what's wrong."
Arnold sighed and glanced at him. He shrugged.
"Fine, come with us. We'll tell you in the car," Thad said.
"But we have class."
"Look, are you going to come with us or not? You're wasting out time."
Rhonda bit back her retort because whatever these guys were dealing with seemed serious. "Alright, let's go."
…..
This was another situation she couldn't figure out how she ended up in. In the back of Arnold's car heading to West Mount Hospital.
"So she got into a car accident?" she asked.
From the rearview mirror, she saw Arnold's jaw tighten.
"We're not sure what happened yet. All we know is that she gave my number to the doctor before passing out," Thad said from the front seat.
If Arnold's jaw could tighten anymore, it would just smash the rest of his face, Rhonda thought. It seems that he wanted to be the one Helga called for when she was in trouble.
To distract herself, she continued staring at the sideview mirror, inspecting his profile. He has a very nice profile, not that she'd ever admit it.
She wanted to slap herself. Get a grip, woman.
Rhonda was disgusted with herself. It wasn't that she wasn't worried about Helga, she was. She was very worried about her childhood frenemy. It was just that she was also concerned if Thad was still angry with her. For wasting their time earlier on.
They finally reach the hospital in silence and Arnold quickly parked near the entrance, dashing out of the car as soon as he pulled the key out of the ignition, leaving Rhonda and Thad there alone, by themselves.
"The idiot," he said. "He doesn't even know which room she's in."
"I think he's upset Helga asked for you instead of him," Rhonda said as she opened the car door.
He got out as well and they made their way to the hospital in quick steps.
"His own fault. He's had years to get her back," he said with a bit of spite. "Listen about just now, when I snapped at you at the school carpark..."
"I didn't know one of our childhood friends was in an accident. I understand. I forgive you."
"You do?" he said, perplexed.
She raised a brow. "Yes, be amazed. I can be incredibly level-headed in certain situations, dork-brain."
He smiled then they headed to the receptionist.
…
"I'm fine, Arnoldo!" they both heard her hiss inside her room. It was kind of coincidental that Rhonda and him are reunited on blue, plastic chairs that sat along the hospital corridor.
"You think he's doing fine in there?" she asked.
"Oh sure," he scoffed, waving a hand at the idea of Arnold being in some kind of danger in Helga's hospital room.
"Where's her family?"
"On a vacation. She had school so she opted not to go."
She watched as he leaned back in close his eyes, his nose flares as he exhales. She was hypnotized by the way his long lashes rest on his cheeks and his lips are upturned in a content smile.
"Are you sure he's okay? It's Helga."
"And it's Arnold. He'll be fine. Stop staring at my face," he said.
"I'm not staring at you," she lied and quickly looked away, embarrassed she was caught.
She heard him chuckle beside her.
"You have the hots for me," he sing-songed, keeping his eyes closed.
"I do not. It's the opposite and you know it."
She was back to staring at his face and was surprised to see his eyes still closed.
"Why did Helga call you instead of Arnold?"
"She has my number memorized by heart."
"I see," Rhonda replied with an unintended coldness.
Thad's eyes snapped open. She noticed the flecks of green in the brown and was taken back to a time in fourth grade when she saw first saw them without a glass barrier.
"I don't think you do. A little jealous, aren't we?" he joked.
"No," she said. He's making her a liar. She's lied twice now.
He sat up and leaned a little bit closer to her. She didn't move away.
"We're good friends," he admitted.
"You are not," she said in disbelief.
"We are. We became close in seventh grade after being in the same program for kids with mental issues."
Rhonda didn't say anything, she knew his mental condition was a touchy subject and he rarely opened up about it although everyone in school knew.
He took her silence as encouragement to go on. "Anyway, after your birthday party…"
"Where you burnt my dress," she said flatly.
"In accident! It was an accident. A freak accident. I thought you'd be impressed with my fire baton skills."
"Extremely thrilled."
"I practiced for months," he said, sounding extremely put out.
They shared a look and then burst out laughing. "Anyway, I was diagnosed with impulsive control disorder and found out that Helga had the same psychiatrist that I did. We got to know each other and grew really close."
Rhonda released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well, thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome. Are you alright with skipping class?" he asked with concern.
"Texted my friends to tell them I was sick. They'll cover for me."
"Where's Phoebe?"
"She's at the regional academic decathlon. I left a voice mail. She should be on the way."
The silence was back. She watched one of the young female nurses assisting an elderly couple to the elevator.
"One day that will be us," he whispered, his breath hot in her ear sending a bolt of excitement throughout her entire body.
"We're going to be in a medical internship?" she said, trying to avoid the direction of the conversation.
"Yes, where we will be wearing horrible-looking scrubs. I'll look horrible, you'll probably pull it off. You look good in pretty much anything," he replied.
"What you really meant was that we'd be old like that couple over there, didn't you?"
He nodded and leaned back in his chair once more. He closed his eyes with the same content smile but Rhonda didn't miss his hands shaking.
"What kind of impulse control issues did you have?"
"In my early teens? Internet addiction, pyromania, and… other stuff," he didn't open his eyes but appeared to be really uncomfortable with the question.
"Was it sex stuff?" she asked.
"You'd rather not know," he said with a nervous laugh.
A nurse interrupted the moment. "Ms. Pataki said both of you can come in now."
They got up, excited to see how their friend was doing.
…
"Why are you here?" she asked him as he sat down beside her for the third time that week. "Don't you have things to do? People to see? Places to go?"
He scoffed. "Are you saying being with you in the library isn't exciting? That's what I'm doing, studying with you in the library."
"But why?" she asked, annoyed that instead of focusing on Algebra, her mental space is taken up by him. His scent, his eyes, his hair, his laugh, his hands, his smile, his teeth, his height, his wit, his sarcasm…
It was driving her insane. It had been two weeks since Helga was sent to the hospital and everyday he would stop by to say hello to her.
"Just because. You must be hungry, here, I've brought you a sandwich."
He was always doing this too, feeding her.
Thad handed her the wrapped sandwich and she just stared at it.
"Curly."
"Wow, no one's called me that in a long, long time. What? You don't like the sandwich?"
She sighed, putting down her 2b pencil. "What are you doing?"
"I thought we already went over this before. I'm in the library, giving you a sandwich."
Rhonda's face doesn't change.
"Ah, okay. You're not going to let this go. I'm hanging out with you."
"Go on," she said.
"Because I like it."
When he saw Rhonda's growing grin, he gained more confidence.
"I've loved being around you since the first day I've met you. You know that. Hell, everyone who went to PS118 knows that. You know that. So you're not really asking because you want to know the answer from me. You're asking because you're unsure about this."
He hit the nail right on the head with that observation and it scared Rhonda how much he could see right through her so much.
"I'm sorry about what happened with us back then." She never had the courage to make the apology, pretending the whole thing didn't happen. Pretending that he didn't exist.
"It doesn't matter now," he said, sounding more tired than ever.
"It does. I'm sorry I was embarrassed of you," she smiled in nostalgia. "You were my first kiss."
"You were mine too," he said in a low voice.
"So, what happens now?" she asked, unsure of everything. All she knows is that when she's with him, all the things that she's read in books, every feeling, it grows inside her. It warms her up until every space in Rhonda's heart is completely filled by him.
It was odd. She fought it for a long time when they were younger and now it was starting to come back, she welcomed it.
"We can try it out, if you're okay with that," he suggested, the hope evident in his eyes.
"I'm okay with that," she said softly.
His grin couldn't get any wider.
…
Their first official date ended unexpectedly. It ended not with a goodbye kiss at Rhonda's gate.
It ended with strewn clothes on his bedroom floor and kisses and downright exhaustion.
"Wow," she said. "I certainly didn't think that would happen tonight. Was that one of the 101 ways?"
He grinned at her cheekily before diving to her neck and pulling her closer. He planted kisses and stroke lazy circles in her back.
"You better have been taking pointers. That was lesson number one," he said, nipping just a bit at her skin.
"I love you," she whispered contently.
He stopped completely and pulled away from her, looking at her wide eyes.
"I didn't mean for that to come out," she said. "I should probably get goi–"
"You don't have to leave."
"I have to. I've fucked it up, I've said it."
He laughed. "I love you too."
It was an incredible rush, those words. She grabbed his shoulders and kissed him one more time.