Leslie and I had looked out for one another for years. In our circle of friends, she and I were definitely the closest. Kim and Ashley were really more like my acquaintances rather than friends. We were linked by our common friendship with the twins, Megan and Kyla. I consider them to be pretty good friends. In spite of them being identical physically, they were as different as night and day. Kyla had the grades and Megan had the popularity. Kyla was conservative and even borderline shy while Megan, on the other hand, liked to stand out and express her individuality. She was sociable and liked to be the center attention.
Leslie looked down at her watch and I was reminded that lunch was nearly over. The feeling that overcame me was impossible to suppress, so I chose to welcome it instead. The mere thought of seeing Antonio made my spine tingle with excitement. He’d skipped lunch to work on an overdue assignment in the library, so we didn’t get to sit together and talk like we usually did during that time. With excitement in my voice, I told my friends that I’d see them later and made my way to the door. Typically, Leslie would’ve lingered in the cafeteria talking to Terrence, but in his absence, I could count on her following behind me because we had Government together next.
When we made it out to the hallway, I could see Antonio heading toward the stairs already. Rather than calling out to him and drawing unnecessary attention to either one of us, I decided to just catch him at his locker, located in the same hallway as my next class. I shrugged and slowed my pace, realizing that I wouldn’t have to search for him.
My thoughts shifted back to the dance. Leslie and I hadn’t yet discussed the time I’d be getting to her house to help with her hair. Just as I was turning to ask what would work best for her, I took a heavy blow to the chest that forced all of the air from my lungs as I scrambled to keep from hitting the ground. How…..embarrassing. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I tried to catch my balance. Luckily, Leslie was there to steady me on my feet…….but she wasn’t the only one who caught me. Hovering over me was another student – a boy – the one who’d nearly made me have a face to face with the floor. He hadn’t been paying attention as he came barreling down the hallway, distracted by a friend calling his name.
I knew his name without having to rack my brain….. Anthony Hahn – most people called him AJ. I wasn’t sure what the “J” stood for though. He’s Asian, but I wasn’t sure of much more about his ethnicity than that. There wasn’t much I knew about him at all except for the one thing that was common knowledge; his father owns a construction company or something like that and a lot of other local businesses which meant that they were loaded – like really loaded. It isn’t everyday you see a high school student pulling into the parking lot driving a Jag. It made me feel inferior the one time I could remember parking my used, red Honda Civic next to it.
We’d attended the same schools for all or most of our lives, but I honestly don’t remember either of us ever speaking a word to one another; there was never any need to. We ran in different circles and didn’t share any of the same friends that I could think of. We had nothing in common other than the fact that we had our next class together.
“Whoa……..sorry. You okay?” he said as he took a brief assessment, trying to see how badly I’d been hurt.
“I’m fine,” I replied, pushing my hair behind my ear and straightening my clothes. “…But you should watch where you’re going!” I nearly shouted, mostly to deflect the embarrassment that I felt. Shock crossed his face and I could guess that he wasn’t expecting me to respond this way. At that exact moment, I began to wish that I hadn’t.
“I said I was sorry. Calm down,” he said quietly, hoping to defuse the situation.
As I composed myself, I responded more rationally this time. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”