Chapter 7: Face to Face Again
My dream was a little…weird, to say the least. I was lost in all this tall grass. As I was trying to find my way through I saw all these signs. But they weren't just any signs, they were warning signs. They said 'Turn Back', 'Danger Zone', and 'Keep Out'. My mind was telling me to listen to them, but my legs kept moving me towards to whatever it was that was so forbidden. I kept going until I saw a huge sign. This one said, in big letters, 'Last Chance: Turn Back or Die'. Again, my legs and curiosity moved me forward. I finally found an opening to this beautiful meadow. I saw a figure was walking towards me and he smiled at me. It was Tommy. "You should've listened to the signs Jude," his velvet voice told me. Then he pressed his lips to my neck.
I woke up with a jolt when my clock alarm went off. I realized immediately that my head was throbbing. I took some more Tylenol after I got dressed. I went downstairs to see Stuart rushing as he put on his equipment. "Dad, is everything ok?" I asked truly concerned.
"Fire, at the Johnsons house, I have to go," he said breathless and ran out the door. I shook my head at the sudden rush that just happened. I ate the rest of Stuart's scrambled eggs and went off to school. As I walked through the parking lot my cell phone chimed. I took it out of my pocket and found that I had a message from islandoflostsouls again. Who the heck was this person? I decided to open the message. It said "Sorry. Meet me by building 1". I closed my phone. I wasn't sure if this was some pervert or not.
I walked over to Building 1 and saw Tommy leaning against it. He was reading his Biology book. He looked at me and smiled. It almost made me melt at how perfect his features were. I rolled my eyes at him. He walked up to me still keeping that smile. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "What do you want Quincy?" I said irritated.
"I'm guessing you got my text message?" he asked.
My mouth was agape as I asked him, "How did you know my phone number? I never gave it to you."
"I have my ways," he said and started to walk towards my first class. Mrs. Brown hadn't even opened her door yet. He stopped and leaned against the blue lockers that occupied 90 percent of the walls in the Building 2. "So, what do you want?" I finally asked.
"I want to apologize," he said sincerely.
"What is with you? I mean, you totally act like you hate me the first day I'm here, and then you're acting all nice to me. You save my life and I ask one question and you make me think I'm insane. Then the next day you act like I'm a total pariah. Now, you're apologizing? Are you bi-polar or something; because if you are, I would really like to have a heads up on that."
He chuckled lightly at my rambling. "You're funny, you know that?"
"See, there you go again!"
"What am I doing?" he shrugged.
"You're ignoring everything I just said. Don't you have an explanation?" I asked, talking with my hands.
His topaz eyes became solid as he looked at me. His lips were pursed as he walked towards me. I backed up a little and he stopped. His eyes soften. "Do I frighten you?" he asked, almost like he was scared to know the answer.
"No, not at all," I truthfully stated. "So, what's with the sudden change of mind?"
"I tried to stay away from you Jude Harrison, but I couldn't. I decided to give up."
I cocked an eyebrow at him as the bell rang. I hadn't noticed that Mrs. Brown had opened the classroom door. Jamie called me and I looked over my shoulder. I smiled and waved at him. I looked over and Tommy wasn't looking too happy. "Are you ok?" I asked.
"Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "You better get to class."
I nodded and walked slowly to my class. I turned around to see Tommy one more time but he was gone. That was getting annoying. I walked into English and sat next to Jamie again. When Jamie wasn't trying to hit on me or flirt, he was actually a pretty cool guy. We liked the same bands and music and even books. It was great talking to him. He told me that Kat had said yes to his invitation to the dance. I was so happy for him.
"Now, I want all of you to watch any Romeo and Juliet play and/or movie you want this week. Then we'll compare the differences on Monday," Mrs. Brown finished her lecture. "You may all visit until the bell rings, and make sure that you finish that essay. That's due this Friday." She walked to her desk and I turned to Jamie.
As we started to talk about Shakespeare, he seemed astonished that I knew so much. Romeo and Juliet was my favorite play of all time. William Shakespeare was a genius. My other classes once again flew by. I was waiting in line with Kat to get food when she tapped me on the shoulder. "Tommy Quincy is staring at you," she whispered in my ear.
I followed her gaze and I saw something different. Tommy was sitting by himself with his beautiful golden eyes set on me. I motioned his index finger as if to say "come here". I looked at Kat and she urged me to go see what he wanted. I walked slowly over and Kat pushed me out of line. I stumbled and looked at her. "What?" she asked acting dumb. I rolled my eyes and sat across from Tommy at the table.
"Um, hi," I said sounding stupid. "This is…uh…new. What's with the change?"
"I decided that I wanted to get to know you better," he stated leaning on the table. He looked at my empty plate and cocked an eyebrow at me. "Aren't you hungry?"
I looked at his plate too. "Aren't you?"
"I don't eat much."
"Really? I haven't noticed," sarcasm evident in my voice. "So, what do you want to know?" I had a feeling I was going to regret that question. He put his finger to his chin and acted like he was thinking really hard about something. I doubt that he was. Tommy probably already had a list of questions for me.
"First of, what's your favorite color?"
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Um, it's green. But why does that matter?"
"I figured I'd get to know the basics, before I get more personal."
"And what makes you think I'll be answering you're questions?"
"I don't think you will. I'm hoping you will." His eyes were amazingly soft and curious.
"Oh."
Tommy asked me a few other questions including, my favorite food, my favorite car (which of course was my precious mustang), and my favorite movie. He was looking at me strangely as I was thinking. I was thinking about the accident again. How could Tommy possibly have saved me? I was thinking maybe something like Spiderman or someone from the X-men. I noticed him looking at me and he was smiling. "What?" I asked.
"What are you thinking about?" he answered.
"Oh, nothing special."
"C'mon, please tell me," he encouraged.
"I'm just…making up some theories."
"On what?"
"On you, and on how you managed to save my life."
His jaw tightened but he still kept that crooked smile.
"Tell me."
"Um, no, they're stupid."
"I promise I won't laugh."
"Trust me, you will."
"Just tell me."
"No," I said more sternly. He sat back in his chair and sighed.
"You're very frustrating you know that?"
I looked at him in disbelief. I know he wasn't calling me frustrating. Tommy is the last person to be calling anyone frustrating.
"You're the one that's frustrating."
He sat up again with a serious face on. "How so?" he asked, resting his head on his hand.
"Because you want to know everything about me, yet you say nothing about yourself."
"That's not true. I'll answer any question you want," he responded smugly.
"Okay, how did you save me?" I asked.
Tommy sat even straighter and his jaw was clenched. His eyes darkened as he lifted his head from his hands. He stared at me for a couple of seconds then gazed at the tile floor. I nodded my head in anger.
"See! That's what I mean!" I shouted.
"Listened, I saved your life. That should be enough."
"Well it's not. Why can't you just tell me the truth? It's not like I'm going to tell anyone."
His eyes shot from the floor into mine. He looked surprised.
"Then why does it matter?" he whispered.
"It matters to me," I answered. I heard him chuckle a bit. "What's so funny?"
He pointed behind me and I looked. Jamie was at the next table looking at us. He looked mad. I looked back at Tommy still wondering what was so humorous. "You're boyfriend over there is debating on whether or not to come over here and break up our fight. He thinks I'm bothering you."
"How do you know that?"
"A lot of people are really easy to…read."
"Oh really, well, what can you read by looking at me?"
Tommy looked at me for a moment with interest, and then it soon turned to irritability. "Nothing," he mumbled. I sat up straighter. "I can't read you at all, which, is probably why I find you so interesting. I want to see if I can read you over time. You're like my own little experiment."
"Lucky me," I said with a smile and Tommy smiled back.
