Orchard of Mines: Backwards to the Fore

Chapter 4

The trio continued their trek to the school. Lyle kept quiet, trying to think about what to say to Mia. Jonas and Rena were still chatting, though he barely paid attention. Rena suddenly shouted, "Hey, Lyle, where are you going?"

He snapped back into the real world and suddenly realized that he was in the middle of a crosswalk. The route that Lyle, Rena, and Jonas usually take was going straight through the heart of the town, make a left, and the school would eventually be on the right. Lyle, however, seemed to have kept going straight instead of making that left. "I have no idea," he said as he rejoined them.

Jonas face palmed. "Over ten years we've been walking this path, and your subconscious still has no idea how to get to school? That's a fail if I've ever seen one. And that's saying a lot."

Lyle just laughed it off. "Yeah, I'm not sure what happened there."

Jonas casually laid his elbow on Lyle's shoulder and said, "You ought to get that spacing out of yours under control. Otherwise—"

"Hey!" Rena said. "His personal space is reserved!"

"Alright, alright." He moved his elbow off of Lyle's shoulder.

"Thanks, Rena," Lyle said.

"Oh, my pleasure."

Jonas chuckled a bit and resumed, "Otherwise, it'll be your own fault if someone kidnaps you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You say that, but chances are you're going to forget by lunchtime."

"Yeah, probably."

Jonas half-smiled and said, "The only time you're ever brutally honest is when you're talking about yourself, no one else. I'm at a loss as to whether that's good or bad."

"You and me both."

"I think that's a good thing," Rena chipped in. "You're not afraid to show your faults and feelings about yourself. I think that's very admirable. I don't even think you keep any secrets. Oh, wait!" Her face grew exceptionally darker. Lyle immediately knew where this was going to go. "Except for one!" she growled. Rena then stepped in front of Lyle, effectively stopping him. "For the last time, what happened with Tanya?"

When she mentioned that name, a series of painful, gruesome memories flashed through his mind. Lyle grimaced. He wouldn't be who he was today if it wasn't for those events, but sometimes he would rather forget what happened. "That I can't tell you."

"Why not?! That's what best friends do: share secrets! Am I right?"

"Yes, you're right, Rena, but I'm making an exception. Believe me, you don't want to know."

She turned to Jonas. "Can I please get some help here?"

"Rena…let it go. He can keep secrets if he wants. I, myself, am keeping a few. One of them, I'm keeping for you. Or have you forgotten?" That seemed to quiet her down. "It's clear he's not ready yet, so just leave him be until he is."

Rena sighed and turned back to Lyle. She just now noticed his solemn expression and her feelings turned same. "I'm sorry, Lyle. When the time comes, do you promise to tell me?"

Lyle faintly smiled. "I promise."

Rena's gigantic grin showed itself once more. "Good! Thank you, Lyle."

Lyle half-heartedly chuckled. Please, forgive me, Rena.

At that moment, the three of them have arrived at Midvale School. The very bland name was due to the fact that the entire student body was in this one building: Grades K-12. And it wasn't very big, to say the least. But then, that's the way it was. The only building with any decent size was the jailhouse towards the south end of the town.

The three of them went inside. As usual, students were all in their own little groups, their own little places where they belonged. Lyle would pick up idle chatter as he passed them, mostly consisting of what finals they had, what kind of food the school would serve today (considering it was the last day), and their plans thereafter.

They reached the library. It was barely large enough to hold about fifty students, but it was hardly ever packed. No more than ten would be here at a time. And Lyle, Rena, Jonas, and Mia were among those ten. As a result, it was fairly quiet in there and also quite relaxing. The books mostly consisted of reference material, but there were some picture books for the kids and novels for the teenagers.

The three of them sat down in their usual spot, the table in the corner farthest from the door. Lyle and Rena sort of claimed the table as their own when they were kids. They shared it with Tanya and soon after, Mia. Jonas came in after Tanya was gone, so he never knew her. …He was both lucky and unlucky.

Lyle sighed. "Are you considered about Mia?" Jonas asked.

"Yeah," he replied, even though that was a half-truth.

"Maybe she'll be in a good mood today," Rena said.

"Perhaps. She's a bit of a wild card."

"Ha!" Jonas exclaimed. "Take the 'a bit' out, and then you have a perfect description for her."

Lyle chuckled a bit. "Yeah, that's very true." Those thoughts he had were still there, but he decided he shouldn't linger on them. "Hey, we should celebrate the end of the year!" he declared.

"That's what I'm talking about!"

Rena raised her fist. "Yeah! What are we going to do?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet, but…" Lyle noticed that their eyes were drawn away from Lyle towards the door. They suddenly appeared quite worried. "Oh, no…" he muttered under his breath.

Lyle didn't even have to look to see who grabbed the back of his overcoat's collar and practically dragged him out of his seat. He was barely able to get on his feet before his shirts started choking him. Rena and Jonas stood up, but Mia shouted, "Stay where you are! We need privacy!" Jonas snickered a little at that while Rena simply watched. Lyle figured she would be entertained by this, but now that the time has come, she's more worried than anything else.

She dragged him to the other side of the library to the far end, went behind a bookcase, and practically threw Lyle against the wall. He almost lost his balance, but managed to stay on his feet. As he straightened, his back caught a few reference books, knocking them over and leaving what could possibly be a bruise here and there on his shoulders. Mia placed both hands on the shelves behind Lyle on either side of his head, effectively trapping him.

That was when Lyle looked upon his friend, Mia Madarame. She was of Japanese descent, hence the name, but lived in America all her life. She was born and raised in Philadelphia and then moved to Midvale nine years later. She hardly ever talked about her mother or father and no one has ever set foot in her home; the reason being that her home was far too messy to have guests over.

Mia was, in many respects, quite beautiful. She had blonde hair that went all the way down to her waist and a wonderful complexion. But what made her a turn-off for most people were her two moods: slightly angry and violently angry. Well, that's how she was, at first. After she became one of the gang, Rena rubbed off on her and she was somewhat pacified. However, it seemed that she had reverted back to her old self at this moment.

"Explain yourself!" Mia said, her face mere inches away from Lyle's. He was secretly thankful that she was too intimidating for him to start turning red.

"I'm assuming you're talking about the prom last night?"

"Of course! Tell me why you weren't there and you better have good reason! Notice I said 'reason' not 'excuse.'"

Lyle licked his lips in nervousness. "Alright, you want the truth?"

"No, I want you to spout lies! Idiot!"

"Oh, come on, Mia, you know I'm no good at lying."

"Speak, moron!"

"Alright, alright, alright," Lyle held up his hands in surrender. "The truth is…I have no excuse."

Mia cocked an eyebrow at this. "Explain."

"You see…I clean forgot."

"What?!" she growled. "How can you forget about prom?!"

"I'm forgetful, Mia! You know that!"

"I know, but it's prom! You were my date!"

"That's one reason why I forgot. I didn't even know I had a date."

"You…you…"

Uh-oh, Lyle thought. He was nearing her critical point, as they called it. He would have to tread lightly. "It's my fault." Rena's expression seemed to soften at that. "I misunderstood what Rena said."

At that, Mia seemed to calm down and lowered her arms. "I suppose I did, too." Even while saying that, she still had a hint of a growl.

"'You two should go to prom,'" Lyle quoted. "I believe that's what she said, am I right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Lyle hugged her. Mia didn't hug back. Rather, she just stood there and took it. That's fine with him.

He released her and as he looked upon her face, a hint of a smile was there for an instant. Her constant scowl replaced it. She brushed her hair away from her face and said, "Let's go back."

While she did that, Lyle noticed something. "Wait a minute." He brushed her hair away and noticed a bruise that had formed on her cheek right by her ear.

Mia immediately grabbed Lyle's wrist and held it away from her face. "What are you doing?"

"Have you been getting in fights again?"

Mia threw his arm back. "So what if I have?"

"You need to stop doing that, Mia!"

"It's not like I have a choice!"

That last sentence took Lyle aback. He was always under the impression that she was getting into these fights willingly. Was someone targeting her? "What are you talking about?"

"I…" she began, but then said, "It's none of your concern."

Lyle placed both hands on her shoulders and said, "You're my friend, Mia. Of course it…" He stopped when he saw two pairs of eyes staring in between the books on the bookshelf behind Mia. Once they were noticed, they immediately came around the other side.

"Hey, are you guys almost done?" Jonas asked.

Rena peered around the corner, just her eyes showing. Mia was none too happy. "Were you guys listening in on us?!"

"No, not at all! We just came in, we swear!"

"Yeah, we didn't hear a word!" Rena chipped in. "Except for the last few as we were arriving, of course."

"Bah! Whatever, we're done here."

"Things are cool between you two?" Jonas asked.

Lyle was about to say yes, but before he could get the chance, Mia said, "Not quite." She turned back to him. "I'm still angry, Lyle, but for now, I can keep my anger contained."

"Oh." He was surprised, though he supposed he shouldn't be. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Don't make me angrier." With that, she walked towards Jonas and Rena. She passed them by as if they weren't there and made her way back to the table.

Jonas followed her and Rena waited for Lyle. He hoped that he doesn't cause Mia any more grievances. "Come on, hurry up!" Rena practically shouted.

"We're not in a hurry, Rena," Lyle said as he made his way toward her.

As if on cue, the morning bell rang. In five minutes, the last two finals of the year would begin. "Yeah, we are!"

"That's brilliant timing…" Lyle said as he moved past Rena.

As he passed, Rena playfully poked his side. "Ack!" He moved away from her and placed his hand where she poked him. "That actually kind of hurt."

"If you want revenge, you can always poke me back." She moved her arm so her side was exposed.

Lyle hesitated. The last time this happened, Rena trapped his hand under her armpit and she refused to let go for awhile. Was this another trap? Or was this a genuine offer? This debate went on for a second longer and he decided to take the risk.

Just as his finger was about to hit the mark, Rena twisted herself slightly so his finger ended up…somewhere else. He couldn't react in time. "Oh, whoops," she said as Lyle pulled his hand back and started rubbing it with his other hand.

Whoops? That's all she has to say? Lyle wondered. As he rubbed his hands, he retreated into himself. "I-I'm…I'm sorry. C-Can I crawl back into my shell now?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly. Certain…urges that every guy has at his age came rushing in. But he ignored them, thinking, Be a gentleman, be a gentleman. Remember Tanya…

"You can, but you won't. You have finals to take!" she said as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the library. Lyle was speechless. He knew how easy-going Rena was, but she's acting as if what happened wasn't a big deal at all. Maybe it's not to her.

As they stepped out into the hall, Rena released Lyle and kept walking. Lyle's class was in the opposite direction. She whirled around as she was walking away and shouted, "See you at lunch! Keep it tight!"

Oh, yeah, that line, Lyle thought. A few years ago, Rena came up with her own funny way of saying good-bye. Needless to say, it was "Keep it tight."

One time, Lyle asked her what exactly that means. She smiled that big goofy grin she had and replied, "Whatever you want it to mean!"

"Yeah, see you there!" Lyle called back when his little flashback ended. Suddenly, she stopped and ran back to Lyle. "Hey, what-?"

"Oh, I can't resist!" she shouted as she came up to Lyle and pinched his cheek. "Very red and very cute."

"Uh, you don't have to say that…" he said, chuckling nervously.

Rena let go of Lyle's cheek and giggled, saying, "And the redder he gets…"

"You have way too much fun with me, you know that?"

"I know!" She stuck her tongue out as she walked off. "Keep it tight, Lyle!"

"I'll see you later, Rena!"

She disappeared around the corner. Quite suddenly, he was looking forward to lunch a little more than usual. Well, once lunch comes, that means that school is over for the year.