Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I make-up. They all belong to Disney, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.'
Note: This chapter is in the present-future time (finally!!!)
Initial Attraction
Lingering eyes - Chapter 5
Junior year in high school…well, except for Jamie.
A tired and sleepy Jamie came groggily through the door at the EMS station.
"Jamie!" Hank called out. "You're late. Again."
"Come on, Hank," Jamie complained. "I had the late shift last night. I got home at 12:00."
"Give it a rest, Hank," Tyler told him. "He was only late by 2 minutes."
"Tyler, a person's life…"
"…Could be in danger in any minute of the day," finished a female voice that came from the door. "Yea, you said that for like the millionth time."
Val sat down and on the couch and grabbed a newspaper.
"Fine," Hank said defeated. "But next time, try to be more punctual, Jamie."
"At your will, Master Beecham," Jamie mockingly remarked as he faked a small bow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to finish."
"And more to come," added Brooke as she came with a large pile if papers. "Here you go."
Whines and groans followed Brooke's arrival.
"I know how happy you all are to see me," she said.
Brooke then proceeded to give each of the guys an even amount of paperwork.
"I expect you to finish this no later than Tuesday of next week."
"Yes, your Majesty of Paperwork," Jamie bowed again as he retreated to the nearest table.
The four went ahead and tackled the task that they were given. The sooner it's over with, the better. Val stayed on the couch, Jamie on the other side, while Tyler and Hank were on he counter. Hank was almost through a quarter of the pile. Tyler however, was only on the second one. Hank faked a cough to grab Tyler's attention.
"Tyler, get to work," Hank ordered him.
"I'm sorry," he apologized as he grabbed another pen, before returning it for he already had one in his hand.
"What's wrong with you today?"
"Nothing. It's just that I can't concentrate at this time of the day."
"Well, from the looks of it, you pretty much had full concentration as you had your lingering eyes over there," Hank pointed towards Val.
Tyler took a quick glance at Val, before returning to his work.
"I wasn't looking at her," Tyler protested.
"Right."
"I was trying to read the newspaper she was reading."
"You might have had better luck with the copy right in front of you."
Tyler knew that he couldn't get away with this, so he picked up his stuff and moved over to the next room, causing a grin on Hank's face.
Later that night, Hank was left for the late night shift. The others already left. Tyler drove his car. Val drove hers. And Jamie was on his motorcycle. Hank turned on the TV to occupy himself when someone came knocking on the door. Hank looked up, and saw a rather familiar face, which brought a smile to his lips. He let her in.
"Hannah, what are you doing here?"
"Is Tyler still here?"
"No, you just missed him. Why?"
"It's nothing important. I wanted to interview him for the school paper."
"What about?"
"Just about the squad. The EMT business. Managing life between school and saving lives."
"Oh," Hank said slightly disappointed. "I'm sure you're article will be great. I mean, Tyler lives a pretty amazing life."
"I know," Hannah said. "He's a great guy. Well, I'll see you later."
"Yea," Hank stood up as he walked her to the door.
Hank couldn't help but feel dejected. As far as he's concerned, he and Tyler practically live the same lives. The hardest part of all was that Hannah never thought of him. I guess what hurt more was that he had a little crush on her. Not that anyone knew. They became good friends throughout the years they have known each other.
"Hank, is there something wrong? You seem a little down."
"I'm fine," he smiled as to disguise his true emotions.
"Um, actually, could I stay for a little bit longer?"
"If you want, I guess you could. Why?"
"Well, I'd like to interview you Hank Beecham."
"I thought Tyler…"
"He's not here, is he?"
"No."
"Then I'm interviewing you then. You two seem to live the same life."
"Well, since you asked…"
"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."
"All right. Where should we start?"
"Actually, we should do this some other time. I'm running late for home."
"OK. No problem."
"This is really embarrassing, but can you give me a ride? I was expecting Tyler to be here so I just asked my friend to drop me over here."
"My shift ends in 15 minutes. Is that OK?"
"Great!"
After fifteen minutes, Hank closed up and got ready to take her home. As he came back to the room, he stopped for a moment and looked at her. 'She looks so peaceful.' Hannah was lying down on the couch. Hank just continued to stare at her, until Hannah began to wake up.
"Hank, are you done now? How long have you been there?"
"I just finished."
"Well, come on, let's go."
Hank finally arrived at Hannah's house.
"Thanks for the ride," said Hannah.
"Anytime."
"Are we still on?"
"For what?"
"The interview."
"How could I forget? Let's discuss it later at school."
"Fine by me. I'll see you later, Hank. Good night."
"Good night," Hank said as he drove for home.
Monday came by quickly. As early as school started, it ended early all the same. Jamie couldn't have been more thankful. As he came to his locker, he searched for his best friend. To his dismay, he was unsuccessful. All he saw was his best friend's other best friend.
"Val!" Jamie called out.
"Hey Jamie! What's up?"
"Do you know where Caitie is?"
"I didn't see her come out of her room. She must have left early."
"Do you have any idea where?"
"No, but the question is, 'Do you have any idea where she is?'"
"Is that a trick question?"
"Never answer a question with a question."
"Well, thanks for your help anyway."
"No problem. And if you do find Caitie, tell her to call me, OK?"
"Sure."
Jamie pondered on Caitie's whereabouts. 'Where could she be?' All of a sudden, a place came to mind and Jamie knew exactly where to find her. Jamie slung his book bag on his shoulder and headed outside the field. On his way, he saw Val again in her cheerleading practice outfit. Jamie continued to cross the field towards the bleachers. When he got there, he went around to get under it. As he had suspected, Caitie was sitting alone on the ground with a pen and a notebook on her hands.
"What are you doing here all by yourself?" asked Jamie.
"Just freeing my mind and soul through this single thing we call a 'pen'."
"You're writing poetry, I see."
"Yea, now be quiet so I can finish these last lines."
Jamie sat across her as he watched her scribbling on the page. Just the movements of her hand mesmerized him. He continued to stare at her. The silence only grew louder.
"Jamie, why did you get held back a grade?"
Jamie was caught by surprise on Caitie's question.
"I had too many detentions, and got in trouble a lot."
"That's it?"
"I was slacking off anyway. I learned my lesson. Even though you might not think so, this whole EMT thing is really helping me a lot."
"You're not considering staying there, are you?"
"Actually, I am."
"That's good. Not that you're staying with the 'super squad', but that you're willing to take your life in your hands and make things better for you."
"Thanks," Jamie said after he slightly laughed. "Are you done yet?"
"No. I just need two more lines."
"What's it about? Maybe I could help."
"The main point is about being different. I've written a lot, but I don't know how to end it. The ending lines so far are 'You discriminate at my individuality…You mock my every move'."
"I see," Jamie said as he paused to think.
There was a long silence, before Caitie decided to break it.
"Jamie, are you thinking or are you just sleeping with your eyes open?"
"I got it!"
"What?"
"The ending to your poem."
"Let's hear it."
"You laugh at me because I'm different…I laugh at you because you're all the same."
Caitie was now the one who paused for a moment.
"Jamie, that was good," she said as she scribbled down the lines. "Really good."
"Really? I thought it was rather short and stupid."
"It was short, brief and right to the point, but it was definitely not stupid. I guess the 'super squad' must have rubbed off on you."
"Or maybe it was you who rubbed off on me," Jamie added. "You know, with all your poetry business."
"Maybe," Caitie said slowly as she closed her book and stood up. "What do you want to do now?"
"How about pizza?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Let's go!"
That's it for this chapter. I'll try to post the following chapters as soon as I can. I might not be able to post until next weekend due to the bundles of work my teachers had assigned. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review. I'll be back! J ~ Scarlet182
