Chapter Thirty Eight

Aaron slammed his head into his locker repeatedly until I pulled him away from it.

"I hate school, I hate school, I hate school," he muttered, grabbing some of my books from my hands. "People really need to stop asking me questions before I kill someone." I kissed his shoulder because it was the only thing I could reach at that moment.

"You know that they'll stop eventually. You're just some new excitement in their lives and it'll die down soon." He sighed.

"I know, but I'm getting sick of all the people talking to me, asking the same exact thing as the previous person." I held open the door for social studies as Aaron carried his and my books into the room and dropped them on our desks.

As people filed into the classroom, at least more than half of them took small glances at Aaron. I knew that the first day back in school would be rough and temper-triggering for Aaron but I didn't expect people to go so overboard with this. I mean, he's told about half (if not more) of the school that he had to go visit a relative in Florida or something and they're still talking about it like he was in jail for killing five people or something.

"Caitlin," Aaron whispered, poking my shoulder. "You're drilling a hole through your book."

I looked down to see that I was stabbing my social studies textbook with my pencil. I carefully removed the led jammed through the cover and placed it on my desk. Aaron stifled a laugh and I threw the pencil at him just as Mr. Carey walked in. He gave us a warning look and started preaching to us about some period in time that I could honestly care less about.

When lunch finally rolled around, we had the option to either eat inside or outside, and Aaron and I definitely picked outside. We lounged against the building with me spooned against Aaron. I raised my hand and pointed at the sky.

"I see a shape in the clouds. Do you see it?"

"Yeah," Aaron said, "I see this cloud that's shaped like a cloud." I flicked his leg. "Ow."

"No, I mean, other than a cloud, you dip shit. I see a whale." I yawned.

"I still only see clouds." I looked backwards at Aaron. "What?"

"You are such a simpleton."

"Don't insult me with big words."

"Simpleton is not a big word, Aaron." He patted my thighs.

"That may be so, but calling me stupid is a lot easier."

I decided not to pursue this any further before both of us became highly confused.

When the bell rang, I begrudgingly got up and headed towards P.E with Aaron close at hand. He had to go to "personal fitness" across the hall, but he was close enough to be able to hear me scream when something hit me.

"Caitlin," he said after we had stopped in the middle of the hallway, "don't get yourself killed or something, alright? When a ball comes at you, duck."

"Considering my luck with this kinda shit, I think I know this already." He just rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead before heading to the boy's locker room to change. I quickly changed in the bathroom stall and climbed the stairs to the gym.

I picked up a volleyball and started hitting it against the wall, trying hard not to miss and have to run to go get it.

"Hey, Evans!"

I turned to the sound of the voice and regretted it instantly when I felt a ball connect with my face. The next thing I felt was the impact of the gym floor.

The gym teacher, having dealt with this many a time before, just came over, grabbed me underneath my armpits, and dragged me off towards the bleachers where I would stay until the class was over.

Several times during the dodgeball game we had, I rolled off the bench in an effort to save myself and each time wound up causing more damage than I had even intended for. I wound up with three band-aids on my legs and an ice pack on my wrist.

Somewhere between the middle of class and the end of class I drifted off into a light doze, and was startled when Aaron shook my shoulder.

"Wha?" I muttered, slowly sitting up.

"I thought you said you understood how to duck," Aaron said, smoothing my hair back away from my forehead. I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands.

"I do. I just don't have eyes all over my head so I can see which direction the object is coming from," I muttered.

"Maybe we should attach a rear-view mirror to you," he suggested, helping me up. I gave him a death glare. "Okay, maybe not."

_ _ _

When Aaron and I got home, Jessi was in the kitchen, making pasta of all things.

I sat my bag down on the floor. "Why're you making spaghetti at.." I looked at the clock. "..3:47 PM?"

"Ever heard of pregnant woman cravings?" she said, stirring the noodles. Aaron rolled his eyes and headed upstairs. A few minutes later, I could hear the shower running. "So, how was school for him?" Jessi asked as I stretched.

"It was alright, I guess. He got really sick and tired of everyone asking him the same things over and over and over again. "Where were you? Why weren't you here? Where've you been?" I hopped up onto the counter. "It was the exact same question every time, just worded differently. At the end of the day before P.E, I thought he was going to rip his hair out." Jessi shook her head.

"Eventually people will find something else to freak out about."

"I know. That's what I told him. I mean, when everyone finds out I'm pregnant, the whole world is going to explode into a drama-fest, and neither I nor Aaron are looking forward to that day." A loud noise came from upstairs, followed by a loud explicative from Aaron. I looked at Jessi, who didn't say anything. I sighed. "He's such a nerd."

After dinner, Jessi decided she wanted to spend the night at her apartment so she could get some more cleaning done because she hadn't really been there all too often lately, which left Aaron and I home alone for the entire night.

We were currently stretched out along the couch, Aaron underneath me and I on top of him, watching some movie that I didn't know the name of, and Aaron was being extremely tempting by running his fingers up and down my thigh every few minutes.

After at least an hour of this, I was wound tighter than a rubber band. Slowly, I reached upwards and pressed my lips to his, and he immediately responded by threading his fingers through my hair. It took less than a minute for him to slowly part my lips with his tongue and intertwine it with my own. I could tell that this would be a very fun night and that Jessi made a wise move in deciding to go to her apartment.