by T. S. Harvey
I could feel eyes burning into the back of my head. Kacey and the girls were sat a few tables down from us now. It was quite uncomfortable.
‘So Kacey was OK? You know, about you sitting with me?’
I raised my eyebrows – you know, in that exaggerated manner we girls do when we want to show exasperation.
‘She is not the boss of me.’
‘I know. I was only fooling.’
He started to stroke my lower arm. I felt an overwhelming desire to just kiss him. Not the soft, gentle kiss to the cheek he’d just given me but a full on, passionate, tongue and tonsils marathon. Of course I didn’t. I wasn’t that brave!
The rest of the afternoon went by fairly normally. We had health care lessons after lunch and my last period was cancelled, the usual teacher had taken a fall that morning and was taken off to hospital. I sat in the parking lot reading for a while. Finally the bell went and I stood waiting patiently for Erik. We hadn’t arranged to meet after school but I just knew he’d want to. I didn’t have long to wait. He was beaming broadly as he strolled down the pathway toward me.
‘Hey, Zauber,’ called Ryan Enders, just before Erik got to me. He stopped and turned around.
‘What?’
‘I hear you’re banging the new girl. What’s it like to finally lose it? Bet you had to shake the dust off it first!’
Ryan Enders was an idiot. Erik knew that and he’d never let him wind him up. At least, that’s what I thought as Erik just shook his head and walked away.
‘So how much did she charge, Zauber? I hear she’s really cheap,’ Enders said tauntingly.
Erik turned back again but this time put his school bag on the ground.
‘You might want to take that back, Enders.’
‘Yeah? And what are you gonna do if I don’t? Geek me to death?’ He laughed louder than ever. The jock squad closed in around Enders as Erik got closer.
Erik moved his arms forward just slightly, his hands palm side up. No one else noticed, why would they, but I did.
‘Don’t Erik. Please. Don’t,’ I Whispered to him.
Erik looked briefly over to me before turning back to Enders.
‘I tell you what. You apologize now, or we go to the Wall, and when you lose, then you apologize.’
The sound of laughter was deafening.
‘You’re kidding me right?’
‘Do I look like I’m kidding?’
‘Fine, well let’s go then,’ grinned Enders.
Erik picked up his bag and walked over to me.
‘Can I leave this with you? This won’t take long.’
‘You don’t have to do this. You have nothing to prove and I don’t give a damn what he says about me. His opinion means nothing; it’s just words Erik.’
‘I know. But I have to do this.’
He kissed me briefly on the forehead and headed back off to the gym.
The Wall is a 30 feet high climbing wall on the far side of the gym. It has easier parts on the one end for beginners, but over on the far side it has overhangs and difficult, far spread handholds. You were supposed to be fully supervised and wear a harness for whatever part of the wall you attempted. Sometimes, instead of getting into a fight, the guys would invoke the challenge of the Wall, with the winner being the first to the top or the last one holding on.
I waited for a moment and decided that if he was gonna do this, then the least I could do was support him. I caught up with him just as they were about to climb.
Marty Johnson, another jock, pulled the harness leads over for them.
‘Harness?’ said Erik. ‘Who said anything about a harness? And if we’re gonna do this, once and for all, then we’re not starting with the kiddie wall.’
Removing his shoes and socks, Erik walked over to the far side of the Wall. I held my breath. Surely he wasn’t gonna attempt that without a harness?
‘Don’t. Please!’ I Whispered to him.
‘Stay out of my head!’
He turned to look at me and his face told me all I needed to know. He needed to concentrate. Having me in his head could prove disastrous. I backed off and moved further toward the back of the hall.
Chapter Fourteen – The Climb
Erik
Enders looked a little shocked. I don’t think for one moment he’d figured I would take on that side of the Wall.
‘What’s the matter, Enders? Scared?’ I laughed.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the strongest climber in the school. I just don’t want you hurting yourself,’ he said mockingly.
‘Right then,’ said Marty, ‘let’s do this. First to the top wins, or the last man clinging. On three then – one, two, three.’
We both set off up the Wall at a pace but it was clear by the halfway mark that I had him beat. As we approached the overhang, I stopped and waited for Enders to catch up.
I’d never stood up to any of them before, I’d never challenged anyone and I’d never shown anyone what I was capable of physically. This was different though. He’d gone too far when he involved Sarah in his bullying; I was never gonna take that lying down. I wanted to beat him but I didn’t want him hurt. I was actually starting to think I should have stuck to the kiddie wall and just beaten him to the top. This was dangerous, I knew it and more importantly, he knew it. I knew he would let me take the overhang in the belief that I’d miss and fall; but that was never gonna happen.
‘Last chance, Enders. Apologize now or we take the overhang without a harness.’
‘Fuck you!’
‘Fine. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.’
‘A chance? It’s you that doesn’t have a chance. No way you’re gonna make the overhang.’
‘Five minutes ago, you would have said there was no way I would have gotten to this point ahead of you. Never underestimate people you really don’t know.’
I leaned back slightly looking up toward the edge of the overhang; this was gonna be easier than I thought. With one pretty effortless leap, I left the safety of the handhold on the Wall. The group that had gathered below were silent, but for one almighty gasp as I caught the first of the handholds available on the other side of the overhang.
I hung there for a moment, adjusting my hands to get a better grip. Then, to further gasps below, I let go with one hand. I was showing off and although it felt good I was pretty ashamed. After all, I wasn’t in any danger. I hung there for a moment and then called down to Enders.
‘Last chance, before I climb!’
I knew from the look on his face there was no way he would follow without a harness. I was giving him a chance to back out but I was enjoying every moment of his embarrassment. He looked at me for a moment, looked up at the overhang and then looked down to the ground. It was a hell of a fall. I would be barely bruised but it could well kill him and he knew it.
‘Fine. I apologize,’ he finally announced grudgingly.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you from up here. What was that?’
‘I FUCKING APOLOGIZE!’ he shouted.
I couldn’t help but grin. I could see Sarah’s face, she was smiling – clearly she had heard it.
‘He’s apologized. Will you please come down now? Safely!’ she Whispered.
For Enders, the climb down the Wall must have seemed an eternity. Beaten at a physical challenge by a geek. It was gonna be a long time before he lived that one down. I decided to continue the climb up the Wall. I could have called for a rope and come down the easy way, but in truth I wasn’t an easy way kind of guy.
Chapter Fifteen – Karma
Sarah
The following day all the geeks could talk about was how amazing Erik was for making the leap to the overhang without a harness. All the jocks could say was how lucky he was.
Erik was really cool about it. He didn’t brag, or gloat the way Enders would have done if the results had been reversed. If anything, he tried to get people to forget about it – not by wiping their memories, though. He knew he’d
done the one thing he had tried so hard to avoid; he had drawn attention to himself.
Simon Jenkins was the most impressed of the geeks. He was a thin, weak-bodied guy but he had a strong mind. Of all of them, he was probably the one that had been bullied and beaten the most during his life. You’d think this would make him inclined to keep quiet, to not goad Enders about what had happened, but that wasn’t the case. He reckoned that just about every beating he’d ever had was as a result of not keeping his mouth shut. I reckon this made him much braver than those that beat him. I reckon that if they’d ever come up against someone they knew they couldn’t out-box, or out-wrestle, they’d have run a mile rather than take a beating. I think the geeks saw what had happened the day before as a victory for all of them.
By the time Kacey and the girls arrived, just about everyone had heard about the Wall.
‘So what you been putting in his coffee, Trump? Anabolics?’
Kacey was grinning, so she was either genuinely impressed by what he’d done or she was hiding her annoyance really well. To be fair, she had actually been trying to be less of a bitch lately. It didn’t always work, but she was trying.
‘You still on for float duties after school?’ she asked.
‘Erm … yeah, sure.’
I’d forgotten that we had volunteered to help decorate the Thanksgiving float. Britney had managed to get out of it by faking an appointment with the orthodontist. Kacey said that if it was a real appointment, then it was the fifth she’d had that year, with the other four coming at a time when hands were asked for on other projects. I hadn’t minded offering to help; I thought it would be fun. However, I wasn’t dating Erik then. What I really wanted to do after school was spend the evening making out, but I couldn’t let Kacey down, not when she was making such an effort.
After what Erik had told me about their history, I wondered how I was ever gonna make peace with my relationship between the two. I didn’t know what it was about Kacey that drew me to her but I just knew we were meant to be friends. Knowing that, I decided I would try to get them back on speaking terms; after all, they were good friends once upon a time.
When school was out, I met Kacey in the Art room. We had been put on flower-making duties; all crêpe paper, scissors, and pipe-cleaners. We’d been fooling around, joking with the others about who’d get the job of dressing as the turkey. Kacey had said she didn’t mind if it was her, as long as one of the football team gave her ‘a good plucking’ first. She could be really witty; I liked her so much when she was in this mood. Unfortunately there was a really good chance it wasn’t gonna last.
In my capacity of peacemaker, I took it on myself to convince Erik to volunteer as well. Not making flowers, I hasten to add; he was trying to reinstate his geek status, but that would have been taking it too far! To say Kacey wasn’t pleased to see him could easily have been described as an understatement.
‘Hi, Kace, how you doing?’
Erik seemed really uncomfortable; it was clear he was only doing this to please me.
Kacey didn’t respond. She just threw me a look that would curdle cream and turned back to what she was working on.
‘So what have they got you doing?’ I said trying to lighten the mood.
‘Well, I offered to help paint the float but the jocks figured the brushes might be a bit heavy for me.’
Erik grinned – it was so endearing.
The jock squad had seen what he’d done on the Wall yesterday but they just couldn’t get past his geek image.
‘Well you should have thrown a can of paint at them. In fact, if you still want to I’ll come help you pick it up. I wouldn’t want you to sprain yourself,’ I teased.
Erik nudged me lightly on the arm; ‘look’ he motioned, nodding toward Kacey.
‘Something funny, Kacey?’
She turned to look at me, clearly stifling a smile.
‘Just the thought of geek boy here trying to take the lid of a tin of paint. Pains me, it really does.’
The laughter and smiles were genuine now; probably for the first time in a very long time.
‘Come on, I think we’ve done enough for one day.’
I was happy to help out but I wanted to get some time alone with Erik too.
We cleared away the materials, put the completed flowers neatly into a box, and left everything out of the way at the side of the hall. No doubt we’d have to do some more tomorrow but for now it was time to go.
As we left the hall and made our way out to the parking lot we passed by the jocks.
‘Hey, Zauber,’ called out one. ‘Let us know when you finish with her and we’ll come show her how it’s supposed to be done.’
‘Why is it some people never learn?’ Erik said quietly.
I had a hold of his hand and I could feel him tensing up. I could feel his anger.
‘Ignore them, Erik. Please. Just ignore them.’ I tugged lightly at his jacket. ‘Come on. Let’s go. You have nothing to prove. We both know that.’
He nodded reluctantly but I knew he didn’t want to back down.
We would be about halfway across the grass toward the parking lot when Erik suddenly stopped.
‘Watch.’ He smiled.
He turned toward the jocks who were still slapping themselves on the back for how amusing they were. Lifting his left hand just slightly, barely noticeable really, he stood completely motionless. He had a look on his face I hadn’t seen before; it was like he was no longer there. I wanted to say something to him but I feared if he lost concentration he might break. I turned from him to the jocks. All of a sudden, without any warning or explanation, an unopened can of paint suddenly blew open like a fizzed-up can of Coke. The contents, bright yellow, burst like a mini explosion, spewing over everyone within ten feet. Funnily enough though, the only people within ten feet were the jocks.
‘Erik!’ I squealed playfully. ‘That was so cool!’
That was the first time I’d actually been impressed with his magic. There was no way anyone could link it to him. We were clear across the field, they were no longer looking in our direction, and were just so angry about being covered in paint they didn’t give us a second thought. I knew Erik shouldn’t practise, not even minor spells, but that was just so, well, so karma.
‘Not a word when you meet my dad. OK?’
‘Meet your dad? When?’
I know I’d hoped to meet his family but having Erik actually say it out loud was more daunting than I thought it would be. His dad had met me before but I had no memory of it. Although he’d sworn never to do that memory wipe thing to me again the thought of what he’d done still made me really angry. I tried to shake it off. I was totally and completely smitten with Erik and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of us being a couple.
‘I was thinking tea on Friday. If you want to, that is.’
Erik smiled at me in such a way that how could I say no?
‘Friday it is then.’
Chapter Sixteen – The Family
Sarah
Friday afternoon came around all too soon. I couldn’t quite believe just how nervous I was. The little memory I did have of the afternoon of the photograph didn’t include the kind of stomach-churning somersaults that I had right now.
I had taken a clean top with me to school and changed into it before I met Erik by the bus stop; it was gonna be hard enough to control the nervous sweating without wearing a shirt I’d been in all day. I wanted to make a good impression on his family; I wanted them to like me. Let’s face it we hadn’t gotten off to the best of starts. I’m not quite sure how I’d feel if I had to prepare tea for, and be polite to, the girl who had knowingly set out to humiliate my son.
The journey out of town varied between fifteen and twenty minutes depending on the time of day and most students got off somewhere in-between. This meant that for the back end of the journey, about another twenty minutes, Erik and I had the bus pretty much to ourselves.
‘Nervous?’ he smiled as h
e held my hand tightly.
‘A little.’
I couldn’t have told a bigger lie at this point. My nerves were just about on breaking point; I started to feel physically sick and very nearly told Erik I had changed my mind and wanted to go home. This was silly, though. I did actually want to meet them; properly that is, with me remembering it, as well as them. As this thought crossed my mind I started to feel the anger I always felt at this issue. I tried to settle down my breathing; getting worked up about something I couldn’t change was not gonna help things. I’d had Erik’s reassurance it wouldn’t happen again and I had to let it go if we were gonna move forward.
I don’t know if it was Erik the person, or Erik the Warlock but he clearly sensed just what a big deal this was for me.
‘They don’t bite you know – that’s just Vampires.’
‘What? You are winding me up, aren’t you? There is no such thing as Vampires.’
Erik laughed at this. He had such a great laugh.
‘This might be normal for you but I’m bricking it here.’
‘Come here.’
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
‘Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise. I will never allow anyone to hurt you, ever. Not even my own family.’
His words were softly spoken but so reassuring. It was crazy just how quickly I’d fallen for him. I felt like I’d known him all my life, like every part of me was somehow linked to every part of him.
By the time we reached Erik’s house, I was wound up like a drum.
‘Relax.’ He smiled as he took me by the hand and into the lounge.
‘Hey there, I’m Jared. Erik’s older, better looking, and far more charming brother.’
That made me smile, made me feel more comfortable. His dad, however, wasn’t nearly as warm.