3. They Are Going To Meet

Chris

I never got used to being called into the principal’s office. No matter how old I was, and that Tuesday morning was no different… I was nervous as hell when the old man sat down behind his desk. There could have been a million reasons why he would summon me. Not knowing what it was about, my thoughts went to the fact that she might have reported me. She had been acting a little different since I invaded her space. Or even worse, someone had noticed my unnatural interest in a student.

When he started talking, and it wasn’t at all about my sins… I relaxed, sitting back in the chair, and exhaled slowly. I didn’t register what he was saying. It only sank in when I left the office. Giving me the task of fundraising wasn’t at all bad, considering. He had told me about one of the families of the school that was well off financially. That I should approach the kid for help. The bleachers needed a revamp or even replacement. It was a significant expense that the school would probably never be able to afford without outside help. I didn’t understand how he thought approaching the family’s child would be the best course of action. But there I was on my mission… Searching for the daughter of that family.

Wouldn’t it have been better if the principal did some marketing of his own? Shaking my head, I walked to the receptionist’s desk to find out in what class the kid was at that moment. At least he said if I couldn’t get anything done, he would step in. Maybe that was his strategy all along. Playing me to do his dirty work and prepping the family for a call from the principal. In that case, I gave him credit. It wasn’t like I could say no.

Miss Lucas was behind the counter, sliding the paper across to me. All it contained was a name and a schedule for the day.

“Juliet Farrow,” I read out loud.

“Yeah, she is at her second language class with Mrs. Barton.” Miss Lucas answered with a very nasally sounding voice. I thanked her and made my way there.

***

Walking into the class about a few minutes later, I asked Mrs. Barton if I could talk to that student for a moment. She called out to Juliet, but no one stood up or raised their hands. I quickly scanned the room with her, but we looked at each other simultaneously. “Is she in another period, maybe?”

“No, she was just here.”

A kid raised his hand and spoke at the same time. “Mrs. Barton, Juliet was called to the office just now.” I recognized the student immediately. Carl was the close friend of that girl. He was in my computer class.

“Oh, yes, that’s right. She hasn’t come back yet.”

Irritated, I thanked her and walked towards the door.

“Sorry, she left about twenty minutes ago… I must have forgotten.”

I turned. “No worries. I just came from there. We must have missed each other.”

Mrs. Barton smiled, and as she did, the bell rang for the next period. I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t stay there waiting for her… I didn’t want to take a chance. I had a class of my own. I took the second option. As the kids kept peeling out the door, I grabbed Carl by the collar. Pulled him to the side. “Are you seeing Juliet in the next period?” I asked, pulling him even more out of the way of the traffic of kids. It was loud and noisy, and Carl nodded.

“Could you ask her to come and see me?”

The boy in front of me was taller than I was. I hadn’t realized just how big Carl was. Whenever he sat down in my class, I wanted to ask him about his friend. It had bugged me for weeks. All I had to do was take one step closer and find out her name. I wasn’t going to make a stupid mistake and never did ask anyone about her.

Waiting for Carl to respond, another student joined us and stood a little behind him and to the side. I recognized Charlene immediately too. She also had that same class with me. She was that girl’s best friend. Or so it seemed to me as they were always together. The three of them. Charlene was a little shorter than me. Almost as beautiful as her friend. But there wasn’t anything special about her. Staring at her, she smiled at me while another thousand thoughts ran through my mind. I finally glanced back at Carl because he was laughing. “What’s so funny?”

He looked at Charlene. Her eyes drifted anxiously to the floor.

“I don’t think she would believe me if I told her you wanted to see her.”

Shocked at the response, I cocked my head. I was oblivious to his insinuation. Having a mental deformity of having my head buried in the sand. It didn’t even cross my mind that the girl on the paper was my girl from the hall.

Charlene punched him on the shoulder and told him to stop messing around. “Come on, Carl.”

They walked past me. Carl followed Charlene out of the sticky situation. “I will try to tell her.” He kept joking.

I lifted a chin but frowned at the two. I didn’t think much of Carl’s behavior or words. He was the class clown. And after that, my day got busy with work. I completely forgot about my task.

The bell rang to announce the last period of the day. I realized no one had come to see me. I didn’t have another class and wanted to get it over with. Give the boss a good report.

“Where is this girl?” I asked out loud. Getting a hold of that student was turning out to be more difficult than I expected. “Did Carl forget to give her the message?” I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to rid myself of the irritation. My fuse had become shorter and shorter. I walked over to my table. Resigned, I picked up the paper and checked where Juliet Farrow would be in her last period.

I frowned. She had geography? That’s Mr. Schneider’s class and was on the other side of the school. I was taking another chance but hauled ass, wondering if I would have enough time to get there and talk to her.

***

Juliet

Earlier That Day

I made it only halfway through my second period when I returned from the office, sitting down next to Charlene. She pushed my bag across the floor with a foot.

“Thank You.” I bent down and dug out my books.

She wanted to say something, but Carl leaned over towards me and cut her off. “You would not believe what just happened!”

My pen hit my chin in succession as I pretended to think. Nothing exciting ever happened in that place. Not to the degree that his face had lit up. I struck a blank and said, “What? Did Mario finally dump Jennifer?”

Charlene snickered at my dig at the two people in school that broke up and made up every weekend. Carl was indignant. “No!” He said, shaking his head.

Wanting in on the action, Charlene laughed. “No! Way bigger than that! Go big!”

Frustrated, I let my shoulders slump, and I clucked my tongue. “I don’t know! Nothing ever happens in this place so tell me quickly….”

“Mr. Rheed… just came to our first period and was looking for you. He wants you to go and see him as soon as possible….” Carl said, feeling so full of himself. Like I was going to give him a gold star or something.

I scoffed. My eyes drifted between the two of them. Scrutinizing them for a second. “I don’t believe you.” I snorted. “You guys are trying to get me to make a total fool of myself.”

“No, really!” Carl exclaimed. “Why would we do that?”

“Because you have nothing better to do. Now… leave me alone I need to catch up on two periods’ worth of work.”

“No, really Jules… He needs to see you about something.” Charlene tried to persuade me.

Our eyes met… She seemed sincere, but I couldn’t take that chance. I shook my head. “I would believe you about anything… but not about that! I know I’m easy to make fun of. But this is low… even for you two.” Jokingly I took my pen and tapped her lightly on her nose with it. The two of them stared at me. Computing how I was going to make a total fool of myself. Their eyes met in mutual understanding. Carl shrugged and turned back to his table to face his books, and so did Charlene.

We entered our last period a little late. Mr. Schneider’s class was so far away from the rest of the school, and it took a while to get there. The kids were noisy, but he had begun with his lesson regardless. Everyone settled down as he started writing on the board. Geography was one of my favorite classes and the highlight of my day. I was actually looking forward to that period.

***

Chris

Half walking, half running, I sped through the door faster than I would usually have. The more time I had to talk to her… the better it would be. In the process, I interrupted my friend giving class. I was so used to being informal around him that I didn’t think twice. He quickly met my eye. Perplexed that I wasn’t waiting at the door until he was at a part in his lesson, he could stop what he was doing. Smiling, I slapped him on the shoulder and told him I was on a mission from the principal. That I had wasted the whole day and couldn’t wait any longer. So, he nodded and turned towards the class to call out the name. “Juliet! Quickly come to the front.” He got no response.

“Juliet!”