“Oh my God, Joshua. You finally asked her, didn't you?”
Kelsey was in the next seat, grinning at us. I wondered how she could have known that, despite her amazing junior-detective skills, but after a moment I realized Eve and I were holding each other closer than we ever had before, and our body language was practically screaming it. Eve just smiled and nodded, eliciting a slight gasp from Kelsey.
For the second time that day, I said, “I hate that you girls can do that.” Eve laughed while Kelsey gave a puzzled look, not yet in on the joke.
Finally, Kelsey broke into a huge, metallic smile. It was weird and beautiful at the same time. “You guys,” she said. “That is so awesome!”
It dawned on me that Kelsey, having followed our story so intently, had likened our relationship to some kind of fairy-tale romance, and looking at it from her point of view, I realized she wasn't entirely wrong. A hero and heroine, alone and outnumbered, bravely trying to find love while being hounded by a gang of vicious ogres and their leader, the Dragon Queen. I chuckled. Kelsey had probably seen every Disney movie a hundred times. All that was missing was the dramatic music.
Eve lifted her head sleepily and said, “There's more,” and then resumed using my shoulder as her pillow.
Kelsey's eyes brightened. “More?”
Eve looked at me and nodded, which I took to mean go on, tell her. I looked at Kelsey and said softly, “We're in love.” And then, for emphasis, I planted a quick five-second kiss on Eve's lips. Kelsey's face went bright red.
“Wow,” she said after an awkward silence. Yeah, it was a fairy tale all right, and Kelsey was living it with us. She'd become our faithful sidekick.
Her smile faded, and she then became serious. “I've told my best friends about you …”
I looked at her curiously. “Best friends? How many do you have?”
“Not including you two?” She did some mental arithmetic. “Four,” she said after a moment.
“Didn't you just move here from Utah?” I asked.
“Colorado,” she corrected me. “Yeah, three months ago.”
Eve jumped on my train of thought. “And you already have four best friends?” she asked in disbelief.
Kelsey tilted her head to the side. “Well, six, including you guys.”
Eve and I looked at each other, and then back at this mysterious girl who had so suddenly materialized in our lives. I asked with sincere admiration, “Is there anyone who doesn't like you?”
“Not yet,” she replied, grinning impetuously. We both instantly believed it. She continued, “My friends and I feel horrible about what's happened to you. I wish there was more we could do.”
I looked at her. “Why would you want to help us? I mean, thank you, but … why do you care?”
Kelsey's smile faded. She looked at Eve, then back at me. “I'll tell you some time.”
Chapter 32
DAY 43
EVE
Joshua made a considerable effort not to look at me on the bus ride to school, which I knew either meant he was really upset or he had something very important on his mind that he didn't want me to know about. He held my hand as we chatted with Kelsey about our weekends. I told her about the crushes my little sisters had developed on Joshua, making him blush again. Kelsey just giggled. It was still raining, but since there was no thunder or lightning, Joshua told me he would probably head to the Island after lunch anyway.
He finished his lunch quickly, like he usually did, and had already left by the time I walked out of the cafeteria. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head, and was preparing to venture out into the rain when I saw Emily and Susan standing nearby, on the shaded walkway on the north side of the cafeteria.
Seeing them together brought all the emotions that I hated feeling back to the surface: guilt, remorse, shame. I'd tried a few times to approach them, but Emily wouldn't even let me get near them. I missed them so much, and I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life without them being part of it.
Sucking up all the courage I had, I walked over to where they were standing. I was about ten yards away when Emily saw me. She immediately put a hand on Susan's shoulder, turned her in the opposite direction, and began to walk away.
I ran the last few yards to catch up, uncovering my face. “Em! Susan! Wait up!”
They slowed to a halt, and Emily turned around with a look of frightening anger on her face. I'd never seen her looking that way. It made me feel six inches tall. “We have nothing to say to you,” she said. Susan wasn't even looking at me.
“Please, Em, just let me explain …”
“Save it,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Em …” I cried, fighting back a tear.
Her glare was ferocious. “Go … away.”
She took Susan's arm, and together they walked away from me. Susan glanced back over her shoulder for the briefest of moments, and the look of pure sadness I saw in her big brown eyes was like a knife in my gut. Then they were gone.
I knew an uncontrollable fit of tears was coming, so I ran about twenty yards to the girls' restroom. I never liked using it because it tended to be nasty and smelly, but I was beyond caring. I found an empty stall, slammed the door shut, sat down on the toilet and cried into my hands. The guilt was overwhelming. I'd hurt them both so badly, and this was my punishment.
Barely anyone looked at me when I exited the restroom, which was the other part of my punishment. With nothing else to do, I headed for the one place that I knew I wouldn't be judged: the Island. I pulled my hood over my head and walked there as fast as I could.
* * *
Later that afternoon, I sat down on the curb, waiting for Kirsten and Sophie's bus. What a roller coaster today has been. In the space of one day, I'd gone from anticipation to heart-crushing despair to indescribable joy.
Joshua had finally done it. He'd let go of his fear and opened his heart to me. He loves me. I let that sink in. Joshua Harper is my boyfriend, and he loves me. Our first kiss wasn't what I hoped it would be, but that second one … I felt that one all the way down to my toes. I'd made a great choice, finally, after months of making nothing but bad ones.
I was so lost inside my own head, I hadn't even noticed that my sisters' bus had already come and gone. They were both standing right in front of me, eyeing me curiously. “Hello, Earth to Eve!” Sophie said with a smirk.
“Sorry, guys,” I said, rising to my feet. I decided to have some fun with them, so I plastered the cheesiest, dreamiest smile that I could manage on my face and started walking in the direction of home.
Kirsten gave me one of those little-kid 'ugh, big kids' looks as they both ran to catch up. “What are you so happy about?” she asked.
Sophie flashed a smile that was equal to my own in cheesiness. “I bet I know.”
“Soph, you're too young to know things like that,” I teased her.
“Things like what?” Kirsten said.
I stopped walking, causing them to do the same. I looked right at Kirsten, giving her the warmest, most contented smile I could. After a few moments, a grin slowly crept over her face.
“Joshua?” she asked quietly.
I nodded, still smiling.
“Did you …?”
I nodded again. Her eyes went wide.
“Did he …?”
I nodded yet again, my grin widening even further. Sophie's jaw was hanging open.
They looked at each other, and then back at me. Then they let out a squeal, rushing forward and hugging me with all their might. I bent down and returned the hugs.
The three of us just stood there, hugging, in the middle of the puddle-covered street. I loved that we were a family of huggers, and no one gave better hugs than Kirsten and Sophie. No one.
Chapter 33
DAY 44
JOSHUA
Eve hit upon a brilliant idea last night, and she shared it with me this morning. Up till now, we'd done our best to seclude ourselves so our relationship could d
evelop in private, but now that our support was growing, perhaps it would help to show ourselves off a little more.
I mean, we weren't going to make out in front of our classmates or anything, but we would meet up every chance we could, even if it was only for a few seconds between classes, and make it clear to anyone who dared to watch us that against all odds, two outcasts who had no business being together had found a way to do just that. It would garner curiosity, maybe even sympathy. Who knew, maybe we could drag a few of our classmates over 'the line' in the process.
So starting today, we met between classes whenever possible. We held hands and hugged each other in broad daylight, which elicited a few sneers from passing seventh-graders and some seriously raised eyebrows from our fellow eighth-graders. My former best friend David even started talking to me again.
Before third period started, David came up to me outside Mrs. Cox's classroom and said, quite unexpectedly, “How's it going?” This surprised me, as he usually greeted me merely with a nod and the slightest of smiles, if that.
“Going okay,” I replied. I wanted to tell him more, but at that moment Mrs. Cox opened the classroom door and we all filed in. As we sat down, I studied his face, wondering if he'd seen Eve and me together.
“You have some explaining to do,” he whispered to me before changing his focus to Mrs. Cox, who was just beginning her lesson.
I simply nodded, relieved that the David I'd known was still in there somewhere. I hadn't realized until that moment just how much I missed his friendship.
* * *
Eve and I would naturally have chosen to eat our lunch together in the cafeteria if we could, but the school still had an archaic rule in place that prevented it from happening. Decades ago, when the school was built, the rules had been a lot stricter about boys and girls socializing with each other; most of those restrictions had been lifted over the years, but the cafeteria rule was still being enforced. Unfortunately.
I was on the way to my customary corner table when I heard someone call my name. “Joshua!”
I turned my head and saw Rick, my soccer teammate. He motioned for me to sit across from him, right in the middle of our entire class. I'd been hoping to have a conversation with him, and this seemed as good a time as any. As I sat down, I noticed several other boys were eyeing me as subtly as they could. It was an uncomfortable sensation.
Rick was about six inches taller than me, with a stocky build, short brown hair and very tanned skin from being outside all the time. I couldn't even remember the last time we'd talked; it had to have been at least two and a half years. It was like it took being put on the same soccer team to remind him I was even still alive. I could only hope that this was the same Rick I remembered from back then.
It was. I looked up, and he was grinning from ear to ear. My insides untightened. I'd missed that big goofy smile. I had a feeling that I knew why he was suddenly buddying up to me, but I played dumb, just for fun. I took a big bite of my lunch, shrugged and said, “What?”
He was almost bursting. “Eve Devereaux. You … and Eve Devereaux.”
I listened for a hint of jealousy, but there was none. Rick always had a way of making me feel like his little brother, even though we were basically the same age. He used to call me 'little bro,' another thing I missed.
“Out with it, dude,” he said.
A slight smirk crept over my face, but I decided to keep playing it cool. I put on an air of obvious mock-ignorance and said snootily, “I don't know what you mean.” Then I started laughing through closed teeth, making sure he could hear it, before breaking out into a broad, mischievous smile.
He let out a belly laugh and dramatically dropped his fork, causing a host of others to look in our direction. His smile was huge. “Dude!” he said – he called everyone 'dude,' even the teachers – “That's awesome!” He lowered his voice. “I've had a serious crush on that girl since the third grade! And she ends up with you …”
He trailed off, and once again, I searched for traces of jealousy or social superiority, but all I could detect was sincerity. “That's so cool,” he finally said, “that you hooked up with one of the most popular girls in school. You gotta tell me how it happened.”
Six weeks of memories flooded my brain, and I wondered if I was going to have to retell our epic saga yet again. I wasn't in the mood at that moment, though. My smile faded. “It's … a long story, Rick. And most of it hasn't been happy.”
Rick's smile had also faded, replaced by a look of faint concern. “I don't understand.”
I sighed. “The last few years have been hard for me, Rick. I've been really fortunate to have Eve as a friend for the past month. And that friendship has grown into …” I shrugged. “Well, you know.” Guys our age tended to not like using the “L” word in front of each other. Go figure.
“What's wrong?” he asked with even more concern. “Problems at home?”
I shook my head. “No, Rick. Right here.” I tapped my finger on the table.
I then noticed, over Rick's shoulder, that the bully squad was eating about three tables away and off to the side. Randy, Phil and Derek weren't paying attention, but Brent was giving me the stink-eye. I'd been able to stay out of his clutches for several weeks, and by the looks of things, he was getting ants in his pants to end that streak.
Rick caught me staring over his shoulder, and then turned around to see who I was looking at. Brent immediately shifted his gaze, and I gathered that Rick's reputation of being someone not to be messed with was still in place, even after his long absence.
He turned back to me. “You're getting flak from those buttheads?”
I stared at him, wide-eyed. “You're kidding, right?”
He just looked puzzled. “About what?”
I lowered my head, inwardly groaning at yet another example of how naïve and uninformed the people in this school were. “He doesn't know,” I whispered to myself, not even caring if Rick could hear me or not.
Rick was staring at me full-on now. “Know what?” he asked.
I looked him in the eyes again. “About me! About them!” I gestured to Brent and his friends. “About Rhonda and Eve! How could you not know? I know you were gone for a while, but … you don't hear things? At all?”
A guilty look crossed his face. “I don't pay attention to things like that. Never have. It's none of my business.”
Unreal. “So, since you got back, you've been …”
“Playing basketball. Every day. Thought everyone knew that.”
I envied him at that moment, going playfully from day to day inside his little bubble with his buddies. But I needed allies, and having Rick on my side would be invaluable, and if I had to drag him over 'the line' to make that happen, then so be it.
I rubbed my suddenly-aching temple. “Maybe you should step off the court and take a look around every once in a while.” I gave him a pained look. “Things have changed, Rick. It's not like it was in the fifth grade anymore.”
I tried to channel all of the pain and torment I'd suffered over the past three years into one glance. If my eyes were as expressive as Eve had told me, maybe he would pick up on it.
Our eyes met for a few moments, and he slumped in his seat. “It's that bad?”
I shook my head. “Worse.” I let the word hang in the air.
After a bit, he said, “But Eve…”
“Eve's not with the popular crowd anymore. Rhonda banished her. She's an outcast now.” I lowered my head again. “Just like me.”
Rick exhaled. This was clearly not the story he was expecting. “I'm … sorry to hear that, man.”
I'd almost finished eating, and I was looking forward to more alone-time on the Island with my new girlfriend, but I didn't want to leave Rick on a down note. “She's not like any girl I've ever met, Rick. I feel like my whole life's changing, because of her.”
Whatever details Rick was hoping to pry out of me before the conversation started, this statement seemed to satisfy his cu
riosity for the time being. He looked at me earnestly. “I'm happy for you, dude. Take care of yourself.”
I stood up, giving him a cheesy grin and a friendly fist-bump. “Thanks, dude,” I said, sensing his amusement that his favorite word sounded so lame coming out of my mouth.
I scanned the dining area, noticing Brent was still eyeing me. Time to go. I then glanced across the room to where I'd seen Eve eating, but she'd already gone. However, two tables away, I saw a pair of girls looking directly at me. Not with the contempt that most of the girls in my class gave me, but with pure curiosity.
It was Emily and Susan.
A crazy thought began to form in my brain, but I'd need time to figure it out.
* * *
With the day's sun now drying the mud-caked field, Eve and I were able to sit on the bleachers again. Word of our relationship had spread like wildfire, but we were still able to achieve our customary privacy on the Island. We hugged and kissed in between our conversations, which were a lot less emotion-packed than a day ago.
We'd both told our parents about our new boyfriend-girlfriend relationship and our first kiss. I thought it would make my parents uncomfortable given our young age, but they were pleased. At the dinner table, Alyson had said, “Way to go, squirt.” “I have to meet this girl,” my mom had said. I promised them all that I would bring her home with me sometime soon.
Eve said her parents had no objections either, provided we 'take it slow', which suited me just fine. Kirsten and Sophie had actually whooped with joy at the news and made Eve promise to bring me to their house again soon, so we planned to do it again on Friday. Maybe one week I could even come to dinner, and finally meet her dad.
* * *
Eve and I smoked our lab assignment again. We'd gotten nothing but A's in teamwork for a month straight, and even Old Man Taylor gave us the occasional “well done” instead of a smile, which he never did anyway. Eve's ability to pick up the source material had increased by leaps and bounds, to the point where she didn't even need my help studying anymore. I mean, we studied together anyway, but more because we wanted to than because we had to.
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