Unlikely: Chapter 5
By Sam Black
He looked uncomfortable for a moment, then after a moment of looking around he leaned in, "Rolf's trying to court the new foreign exchange student." he whispered.
My eyes widened, "How do you know?" I asked excitedly.
He frowned and shushed me, "I'm in their calculus class." he said.
I put my hands to my face and squealed, "Ooo, that's so cute!!" I gushed.
And it was, they would make THE perfect couple. I had seen her walking around, asking people odd questions about everyday things. She was SO Rolf's type.
"Apparently," he said sarcastically, poking fun at my earlier statement, "She's from his home town, but they had never met. And now he's courting her in the traditions of the old country."
I was hanging off his every word, "How did you find out?" I demanded, still excited.
He shrugged and began walking towards the pool, "Well, Rolf had been acting odd. He was wearing different clothes and bringing in unusual gifts to class. One was a rabbit in a large tube sock. I was curious, so I looked it up. He's courting her." he took off his large hat.
I jumped up and walked closer to him, "Go on." I prodded.
"Well," he said taking off his shirt, "If he succeeds in charming her, eventually he'll have to perform a service for her family. A service of the father's choosing. If he performs well, he may gift the family with a animal of some value and ask her to marry him."
I nearly fainted, "That is so romantic. In a weird foreign way." I fanned my face delicately.
He laughed, "Yeah, it's pretty great." he kicked off his flip-flops.
I took a moment to appreciate is pale, lanky form, I usually went for boys who had a little more definition. But to be honest, all of Edd's definition was on the inside. He was smart, funny, and kind. My last boyfriends had all been gorgeous, but slow. Edd was refreshingly different.
"How is he going to perform a service?" I asked, sitting down on the side of the pool dipping my legs into the warm water, "They're in a whole other country."
Edd shrugged, "The courting takes a while, at least a year." he admitted, "By that time Rolf will have graduated and he can take a plane to their country. Stay with his relatives and continue from there." he said, sitting down next to me.
I put my hand to my heart and sighed, "I'm so happy for Rolf. He deserves a nice girl."
Edd nodded, "I told you the truth can be interesting." he said smugly.
He really was attractive, and so much more.
"Do you ever tire of being right?" I asked him seriously.
He gave me a look I couldn't quite place and nodded, "Sometimes I'd like a little doubt." he admitted slowly, "Knowing everything takes the mystery out of life."
My jaw dropped, "You don't know EVERYthing!" I said with a laugh.
His face said differently.
"Oh come on. There's always something you don't know. You just don't know you don't know it." I said. I was suddenly confused by what I had said and laughed.
I decided that we were wasting daylight and slid into the pool, as soon as my feet touched concrete I turned around and looked up at Edd. He was smiling.
"That was very profound."
I shrugged, "It happens." I said nonchalant, lazily floating away.
"But only half right." he clarified.
I started swimming for a pool float, "How so?"
Within seconds, I was pulling myself on top of a pink and orange inner tube.
"Well, anything I don't know, I can easily find out. Anything I can't find the answer to, is an existential question that doesn't usually have a right or wrong answer."
I pretended to be totally on that level of thinking, when all I was really concerned about was not falling off my pool toy.
"Like the sound of one hand clapping and the meaning of life." he said, still sitting on the edge of the pool and kicking his legs slowly.
I stared up at the sky, watching big puffy clouds float by. It was times like this that I felt very small. They were so close to earth, huge and overtaking the sky. It really shows how very large the sky is, when clouds are so huge and low you think you can almost touch them.
I thought about what Edd was saying, "So what about girls? Do you know everything about girls?" I asked, playfully kicking water at him.
"In reference to what? Girls in general, or girl interaction?" he asked, kicking some water back.
I shrugged and looked innocent, "Either one. Most guys in high school don't know shit about girls. And the things they think they know are wrong." I explained, "Like when girls pretend they don't like you, even though they do. Or how to tell the difference between playing hard to get and when they genuinely don't like you."
Edd chuckled, "Whenever questions like that come up there is always a formula to find the answer." he replied. Finally, he stood and began walking away from the pool.
I was about to ask where he was going, but he turned and started running back. I let out a yelp and tried to paddle my way out of the range of being splashed. I had taken an hour this morning doing my hair, and I'd like to be the only one to decide whether to ruin it or not.
But I was too late, he had cannonballed right next to me, probably on purpose. My curls were ruined and would soon dry into a sticky mess. I was not amused.
He resurfaced laughing, "Girls and boys in high school are fundamentally the same. The hormonal battle between emotions, physical needs, and common sense is what drives every decision. For girls, the real battle is between all three. For boys, it's just basic emotions and physical need." he wiped his face off and tilted his head at me, "Gay and lesbian teens are a little different."
I arched and eyebrow, forgetting about my hair for the moment, "So far you're making sense. Go on." I replied.
He nodded and began to swim again, "Discrimination." he said simply.
I nodded knowingly, we did face a lot of homophobia. You could be a slut and no one gave a shit, they just talked about you behind your back. If you were a fag, it was a different ball game.
"Fear influences a lot of their actions. Should I ask this guy out or will he beat me up? Is this girl going to decide she's straight and break my heart? Are they just using me to experiment?" he started floating on his back, "It's harder, I think, for gay teens."
I gave him a sideways glance, trying to see if he was trying to tell me something, "That's why we have the GSA, it's like a mix between a dating service and support group." I said, closing my eyes and relaxing a bit, "Easier to meet guys when they are out of the closet."
"I heard they meet on Tuesdays."
"And Thursdays." I added perkily. I turned my head and gazed at him, after a moment or simply looking at him, happily swimming around like he hadn't done it in years. I flipped out of my floaty and into the water. I swam over and wrapped my arms around him. He stiffened in surprise for a second, but I didn't care.
"You make me happy Double D." I said with a smile.
He relaxed, but remained silent. I broke free and swam away. It wasn't a lie. He did make me happy, I enjoyed all the time I got to spend with him. It was a nice break from my usual friends. Fashion, gossip, and diets got boring after a while. It was nice to have a real conversation with someone.
I dove under and swam towards the deep end of the pool, when I came back up for air I saw Edd had taken my inner tube and was swimming towards the deep end with me.
I laughed, "Can't you swim?" I asked when he got close enough.
"I can."
Before I knew what was going on, he had thrown the inner tube over me and pulled me up next to him. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he exhaled a little and pulled me underwater with him. Luckily, my gasp of surprise happened before I was pulled down and I didn't inhale a mouth full of water. But still.
I opened my eyes to the sting of chlorine and Edd's face in front of mine, he was giving me a goofy look and smiling. His hair was wild underwater, all inky black and uncontrollable.
Even thought I was miffed at having been dunked, I smiled.
His hands were still on my shoulders, and they slide down my arms to my hands. He gave them a little squeeze and let go.
I reached up and pushed his hair out the way, letting my fingers trail along the side of his face.
Leaning into my hand, he gave me a look that made my heart stop.
He pointed his thumb upwards and began to swim back up to the surface.
By this point, my lungs were starting to burn, so I followed him.
When I broke the surface, I greedily sucked air back into my poor, deprived lungs.
"You okay?" he asked me, laughing a little.
"You!" I yelled accusingly, unable to think of a real reason to be mad. Instead of explaining, I splashed water at him.
"Me?" he asked innocently.
"What was that?" I demanded, swimming for a ledge to climb up on.
"What was what?" he asked, swimming after me.
"That look you gave me, what was that?" I reached out and grabbed onto the safety of concrete.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." he said stubbornly.
I looked back at him and frowned, "Just because something happened underwater doesn't mean it didn't happen." I snapped back.
"I beg to differ." he said, crossing his arms while still managing to stay afloat.
"Oh really?" I asked almost insulted, I leaned in and grinned at him, "Well then excuse me for a moment. I'll be right back."
I took hold of the waist band of his board shorts and made to go under. He gripped my shoulders and stopped me.
"No, that's what you said! It doesn't count." I said with a laugh and pulled at his waist band again.
He slapped my hands away, held up a warning finger and gave me a look to quit it.
"Okay fine. Whatever." I said flippantly, and hoisted myself up onto the edge of the pool.
As I rang out my hair and ignored him, he pulled himself up to sit next to me.
"You looked like an angel." he mumbled quietly.
I froze and my eyes widened, "What?" I asked, whipping my head around to stare at him.
He looked away for a moment, unwilling to repeat it, finally he sighed and looked me in the face.
"Your hair, it made you look like an angel. That's why I looked at you like that." he explained, "The water made it fan out and with the way you were looking at me, it made you look like an angel."
I looked away and tried not to seem too pleased with that answer, then something he said struck me, "How was I looking at you?" I asked.
He chuckled and looked away, "I don't know. Like," he trailed off trying to think of the right way to put it, "Like I could be saved, you know. Benevolent, is a good word."
I pursed my lips and wondered if that was true. I hadn't known he needed saving, but maybe he does. In a way.
"Well, can you?" I asked.
He gave me a puzzled look.
"Be saved?" I clarified.
He smiled and looked away, running his hands through his damp hair he shrugged, "I thought I was doing alright. It hadn't occurred to me that I might need salvation." he admitted.
"You probably don't then." I replied.
And we sat there, with the sun beating down on us, warming our skin. Listening to the music and just existing. It was comfortable. Even if some of the things we had talked about hadn't really been comfortable topics. It was nice to just exist with Edd.
"Well, now I really do have to go." he said, standing up and walking over to where he had put his clothes and towel, "I have to clean up a few things before my parents get home tonight."
I nodded and got up to walk him out, "Okay."
He was putting his shirt and hat back on when I got up the nerve to finally ask him.
"You wanna have lunch tomorrow?" I asked quickly, before I could chicken out, "I mean, could I buy you lunch, maybe?" I tried to hide my hopeful look.
"No thank you," Edd said from under his shirt, and my heart dropped.
He finished pulling the shirt down over his head and smiled at me.
"If you drive, I'll pay for lunch." he said and leaned down to pick up his towel, "You picking the place?" he asked.
I didn't even bother to hide my grin, "We'll see how we both feel about it tomorrow." I offered instead. I was psyched. It wasn't a date. But it was something.
"Great. I'll meet you out in the parking lot at lunch." he said and pulled his hat on.
"Do you even know what I drive?" I asked, as he made his way towards the back gate.
He paused and turned to look at me, "Jimmy, everyone knows what you drive." he called back. And with a laugh he slipped out the gate and began walking home.
I crossed my arms and smiled happily to myself, "Well played Eddward." I said softly, "Well played."