Superstitions

Part One

October 28th, 2005

12:30pm

I was only half listening as Marco regaled some tale to everyone at the lunch table. I hate to admit that I was more focused on the fingers entwining with mine than on whatever my best friend was talking about. And I was secretly loving the fact that Paige was almost as equally focused on them, too, because they belonged to none other than my boyfriend. More specifically my boyfriend Karl, the new guy--the new tall, dark, broodingly gorgeous new guy--that had turned most of the girls at Degrassi into lovesick fools as he'd strolled into the school for the first time nearly a month ago. That I wasn't one of them apparently piqued his interest, and he'd asked me out a couple days later. I even said 'no' the first time he'd asked me. Why would I want to go out with a guy like Karl?

Why wouldn't I want to? Marco asked me that after Karl had retreated to another table upon my rejection. I rolled my eyes and blushed a little as I noticed that Karl was still watching me.

"Come on, El, he likes you." I hid my smile as Marco wagged his eyebrows at me. "And he is pretty hot," he'd added, glancing over at Karl himself, his lips curling up into a mischievous grin.

I playfully swatted Marco's shoulder, but found myself looking over at Karl and silently admitting to myself that it was true. And that was precisely why I wasn't interested. Not one bit.

In the back of my mind I could just see Marco giving me that look. The one that informed me that he didn't buy it for even a moment. Okay, fine, I admitted to the Marco in my head; I was intrigued. But it was stupid. I wasn't going to go out with Karl, because it would never work. He'd figure out pretty quickly that he got the short end of the stick. What would I have to offer a guy like Karl? Nothing. That's what. And he'd figure that out and dump me. Like everyone in my life did.

As if he could tell exactly what I was thinking, the real Marco let out a small huff that was somewhere between amused exasperation and genuine concern. He reached out his hand and gently turned my face toward his. "Ellie Nash, I know that look. Don't you think for one second that you're not good enough," he said softly. "He'd be lucky to go out with you. Come on, El, look around. There are no less than seven girls currently staring at that guy over there. He can pick pretty much anyone he wants. And still, who do you think he's looking at?"

I almost retorted that it wasn't possible, but even as I thought that, I could actually feel his eyes on us. No. On me. I ventured a glance over there and sure enough, Karl was still watching. I smiled slightly, and was warmed as I saw Karl break into a similar smile.

"So go over there and let him ask you out again!" Marco playfully gave me a little shove. A physical one to match the emotional one he'd already given me. Typical Marco-- watching over me and keeping me heading in the right direction.

The rest, as they say is history.

I glanced over at Marco and smirked as I noticed how he had the attention of nearly everyone at the table as he animatedly continued his tale.

"So my dad is like yelling at me, and totally freaks when I tap him on the shoulder, cuz he apparently assumed it was me upstairs," Marco continued, his hands flailing in a particularly amusing manner. "He's like 'how did you get down here that fast' and I'm like, 'I was sitting like five feet from you, papa. I wasn't up there.'"

"So who did break the mirror?" Hazel asked, laughing along with him.

"I don't know," Marco chuckled. "It's like it just fell over on its own. It like totally took out all of my pictures, too. I don't think a single one was completely intact. Thank god I saved them on my hard drive."

"And at least you don't have to worry about seven years of bad luck," Craig offered.

"Exactly. But it was just so weird. There wasn't anyone up there; the windows were closed, so it wasn't like the wind could just blow it over."

"Maybe it was a ghost," Karl suggested, his voice sounding far from serious. I noticed that everyone laughed along with him except for me and Marco, who actually appeared to be considering the idea. I smiled a little bit at the tidbit of information that, like me, Marco didn't rule that sort of thing out. Yet another reason we were good friends, I supposed.

"Wooooo!" Craig made an amusingly unspooky sound as he got up from the table, reminding us that it was nearing the end of the lunch hour.

"So, Marco, is the party still on for Monday?" Paige asked as she got up. Everyone turned to look at her with frowns. It took me a few moments to figure out why.

Wait. Party? What party?

I looked at Marco questioningly and saw that he was looking back at me with an apologetic little smile.

"Nice one, Michalchuk," Alex smacked her in the back of the head.

"What? Oh…oh!" Paige looked over at me with realization and offered what was clearly not a terribly apologetic smile. "Sorry, hon, didn't mean to spoil the surprise."

My eyes widened and I looked back to Marco, who smiled brightly, making the best of the slip. "Surprise, El. Let me be the first to say Happy Birthday!"

Karl's hand tightened on mine and I looked up at him. "Um…yeah. So my birthday is like Monday," I admitted to him. "I didn't want to make it a big deal or anything," I mock glared over at Marco, who gave me a clearly not-apologetic shrug. I couldn't believe he was planning a surprise party for me. "And I still don't," I said pointedly to Marco.

"Okay, but we're still having a party." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up his hand as if in surrender. "A Halloween party," he said, though I was pretty certain he was humoring me. "My house. Monday night," he kept my eyes until I nodded my agreement to attend. "With presents," he added, his eyes gleaming as he glanced around at everyone else, knowing he'd won the battle.

I scowled, but was secretly pleased. Not like I needed presents, but it was pretty cool that he cared enough to make sure that at least a little fuss was made for me anyway.

As we got up to head back to class, Karl caught my arm and pulled me aside, pressing me gently against the cafeteria wall. He kissed me quickly, then without backing away looked down at me with a slight pout. "I kind of thought we could spend the night alone on your birthday," Karl spoke softly, sounding disappointed.

"We can't skip Marco's party," I replied, feeling a little guilty. Then I realized that he hadn't even known about my birthday…unless of course Marco had told him, which he probably had. He wouldn't throw me a party without inviting my boyfriend. So why was Karl suddenly acting like it ruined all his plans? He didn't even know about it! I looked up at him suspiciously. But he just smiled down at me.

"I know. And we won't. It's just…I wish you'd told me so that I could have told Marco to plan it for another night." He kissed me again and I melted a little, and began to kiss him back.

"Okay, you two do know that this is a school cafeteria, right?" I heard Paige say in a snide tone. "People are trying to eat."

Karl stepped away, and I felt a rush of embarrassment, but coolly glared at Paige anyway, hoping she wouldn't notice it. She just rolled her eyes and pushed past us.

"Don't worry, El, she's just jealous," Marco informed me as he slung an arm over my shoulders casually. He wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know, but it helped to hear it anyway.

Karl draped his arm over my shoulders from the other side, and I felt Marco quickly withdrawing his. I glanced at him, but he only smiled and kept walking with us as if nothing happened. I looked back at Karl, worried for a moment that I'd see the same old possessive look that Sean used to get whenever he got jealous of Marco. But Karl didn't look mad or anything, and I instantly relaxed.

"So, um…El," Marco addressed me, sounding a little nervous. "You're not…um…mad about the party or anything are you?"

I considered for a moment making him squirm a little bit, but I could tell that he was actually worried about it and decided to let him off the hook. "No, Marco, it's okay," I assured. "Especially since it's a Halloween Party," I added pointedly.

"With presents," Marco shot back with a little grin. He still seemed a little concerned about something, though. "Sorry Paige ruined the surprise."

"It's okay. Seriously, Marco…nobody's ever even tried to do something like that for me. You're the best friend anyone could ask for," I assured him again, smirking as he nearly walked right into the ladder Heather Sinclair was using to put up some sort of Pep Rally banner. He ducked under it, and immediately turned around to hold it steady, being typical Marco again as he stopped to help her complete the task. I shook my head and turned back to Karl.

"So…it was supposed to be my job to take you out to dinner on Monday night to distract you while they got things ready…" Karl informed me. "I know the cat's out of the bag and all, but um…I'd still really like to take you out."

I looked up at him, feeling a little self-conscious. "You don't have to…" I started to decline, but the look on his face made me reconsider. I'm really not used to the attention of boyfriends, I guess. "…but you know, if you want..."

"I want," he replied in a smoky voice. We reached my class and he stopped long enough to kiss me again before heading off to his own class. I watched him go before turning into the classroom, in a happy little daze.

Life was good.