EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) (9 page)

How pathetic! Was I just as crazy for obsessing over someone I didn’t know because he was good-looking?

Reviewing the required list, I read the next poem.

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Unrequited love seemed to be Byron’s inspiration for this poem and it made me think of my unexplainable and unexpected feelings for Daniel.

My bedroom door opened and Mom startled me.

“Hi, Honey. Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to call today
.” She kissed my head.

“It’s fine,” I
said, but it came out sounding pathetic.

Looking at me suspiciously, she sat down on the bed and asked
, “Something wrong?”

I didn’t want to talk about
it. There really was no point. “No,” I said sullenly.

As
she got to the door, she stopped, “If you’d like to talk, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Awhile later
, I realized that I did want to talk to her, so I went downstairs and told her.

“You have talk to him
, because the longer you wait, the worse it might be.”

“Yeah, I know.
I just don’t want him to hate me,” I moaned.

“If that happens, it wasn’t your fault.”

I walked into the living room, sat on the couch and texted Reed. After a few exchanges back and forth, we agreed on meeting at the IMAGINE mosaic. How appropriate! Maybe it would inspire this talk to remain peaceful. I took Amber for moral support and also as an excuse for a getaway.

We walked over to Strawberry Field and I started thinking about John Lennon’s life and death. This part of the park was named after the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields" and for an orphanage in Liverpool, England. The black and white mosaic, inscribed with “IMAGINE” in
the center was the focal point of the Garden of Peace. Whenever I saw the word, I sang the Imagine song in my head.

I got there before Reed. I
took the Lord Byron poetry book out of my bag and tried to read, but it was impossible to concentrate.

I saw him approaching and he looked just as nervous as I felt. This was going to be bad; I knew it.
Putting my book down on the bench, I braced myself.

We exchanged pleasantries and Reed sat down.
I had to get this going before I chickened out. “We really need to talk.” He stopped smiling. “I saw your status and I don’t understand,” I blurted out and waited for his explanation.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t do it. Evan did and I really had it out with him. If you go on my wall, it’s gone and I posted that Evan’s a moron.”

“Oh.” I was stunned
. It wasn’t a real posting!

“
I wanted to get it off before you saw it, but people had already started commenting on it. When you didn’t call back, I thought you saw I deleted it.”

“No, I haven’t been on Facebook.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.

When I looked over
at Reed, he seemed uneasy and asked, “Are you dating anybody?”

I paused and
answered truthfully, “No, I’m not.” Please don’t ask me out!

He sort of nodded his head and said, “Okay.”

Before he could say anything else, I quickly asked, “When will you be back from camp?”

“The last week in August.
I’ll call you when I get home. I won’t have a computer there, so I can’t stay in touch and the camp doesn’t allow cell phones.”

“Wow, you’re going to be really roughing it,” I kidded.

“Yeah, they want us to focus only on hockey.”

He wasn’t happy, but I was. I wouldn’t have to deal with him all summer. Perhaps there’d be girl hockey players at the camp and he’d fall in love with one of them.

“I’ll be in London till Labor Day, either way, I’ll see you in school,” I added.

“How about a rain check for a dance this year?” he asked.

I jokingly said, “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I’m just kidding,” I answered and didn’t definitively say yes or no.

“That’s good.” Reed looked at his watch and said, “I have to go and meet my parents. Chad has some gig and I’m being forced to go.” He rolled his eyes. I guess he wasn’t a fan of Chad’s music.

“Okay, have fun in Canada.”

As he walked away,
I closed my eyes and was thankful that this nightmare was over.

When I opened my eyes, Daniel was standin
g right in front of me. How did he always sneak up on me?

“
Hey, you okay?” he asked and sat down. Amber scampered right over to him and Daniel scratched her head. She had totally ignored Reed, even though; she had met him numerous times.

“
Hi! I’m fine, just a little tired.” I was so excited to see him.

“
You seemed upset talking to that guy.” He had stopped petting Amber and she nudged his hand with her nose until he resumed.

He’d been watching us?
“Oh, no, I wasn’t upset,” I said.

“
Was that your boyfriend?” he asked.

“No,
he’s a friend.” This couldn’t be happening. My fantasy man was here and he was talking about Reed.

“What are you reading?”
Daniel picked up the poetry book. “Wow. Lord Byron. That’s really amazing.” There was a pause. “Lord Byron went to my school. I know his poetry really well.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Daniel shook his head no.

“You like poetry?” I asked.

“I do. I know that’s strange,” he added.

“Not strange, different,” I remarked. “
Who’s your favorite poet and poem?”

“
Lord Byron and his poem ‘Darkness.’”

“
Sounds ominous,” I said jokingly. There was no response to my comment, so I wasn’t sure if he had heard me. What happened to him? He seemed a hundred miles away.

Amber started tugging on the leash trying to reach a passing dog. I jumped up so that
she could say hello. Daniel stood up and after the other dog left, asked, “Want to take a walk?”

“Sure! That’
d be great.” Since Reed had made a speedy getaway after our conversation, there was still time before dinner.

For some reason, Daniel escorted me out of the park
and we headed towards Columbus Ave.

Hoping
he was my age, I asked, “Are you in high school?”

“No,
I graduated last June, a year go,” he answered very slowly.

“
So you’ll be a sophomore this fall? What college do you go to?” I wondered.

“I’m not at school. I’ve been working and traveling around.”

“Did you apply somewhere and get deferred?” I never heard of people taking two years off before. One year for a gap year was the norm.

He stopped talking and looked at me with a curious look. “
No, I’ll decide when I’m ready. What about you?” he asked.

“I’m a senior in high school
,” I answered, watching his reaction.

“
Really! I thought you were older.”

“I
hear that a lot. I’m seventeen. I’ll be eighteen in December. How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“Did you go to high school in Manhattan?”

“
No, I went to Harrow, a boarding school in London. It was my Dad’s alma mater,” he answered. That explained his good manners. “My parents were from London.”

“So i
s my dad. Wouldn’t it be funny if he knew one of them?” 

Daniel looked at me awkwardly and said, “You never kno
w, but my parents passed away.”

“Oh…I’m so sorry.
What happened?” I asked, incredulous to hear that they were dead.

“They were in a car accident
my freshman year,” he answered quietly. Daniel quickly regained his composure and managed a cute smile. “I’m sorry for getting gloomy.”

“
Please, don’t apologize.” I felt bad and sad for him simultaneously. “Do you live alone?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

“
No, I live with my Uncle James, my Dad’s brother. I’m working for him part-time.”

Daniel didn’t like to talk
about himself, but I persisted in asking questions. He eventually told me his uncle was married, had two kids and normally lived in DC. He was here this summer for business. When I brought up college again, he explained that he had a trust fund and had decided to take some time off before heading back to school.

“Enough about me. Where
do you work?” he asked.

“
At my dad’s law firm. I just go in when they need me.”

“Does he specialize in any law?”

“Yeah, international law.”

It got totally quiet and I started feeling uncomfortable.
The silence was killing me, so when Lily popped into my head, I told him all about her. After exhausting that topic and he still wasn’t talking, I remembered that he was in Australia, so I asked him about it.

As we walked, he told me all about the Great Barrier Reef.

“So for six months,
all you did was play in the sun and tan?” I asked and put my pale arm next to his. I was white as a ghost!

“Mostly
, I did read some books though.”

“A
nything good?” He was definitely too good to be true.

“I don’t think you’d like my taste in books. I read a lot of non-fiction stuff.
”

“Non-fiction and poetry? You’re right; you are a strange nineteen year-old.”

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and said, “I told you so.”

“I’m kidding. Are you reading anything now?” I wondered.

“Not yet. I just finished reading a book on Einstein.”

“
Einstein vacationed out on the North Fork of Long Island near my Grandma’s house!” I said trying to impress him.

“I recall reading
something about that,” Daniel said grinning. “So do you like Byron’s poetry?”

“Some I like, some I hate, and some I don’t
understand at all.

“I
f you ever need help, just ask.”

“I might
take you up on that.” Even if I had to pretend I needed help, I thought. “Did Lord Byron really go to your school or were you joking?”

“
He did a long time ago, not with me,” he said and winked. “As a matter of fact, Lord Byron wrote a poem about the school.”

H
e looked at his vibrating cell and said, “Wow. I have to run. I have an appointment. Do you want to have breakfast or coffee tomorrow morning before work?”

Anything, anytime,
but I couldn’t really say that, so I casually said, “Sure.”

“How’s eight o’clock
at that cafe.” He pointed to a little place right on Columbus Avenue.

“Okay,” I blushed. I couldn’t believe this; I had a breakfast date with Daniel.
Daniel bent down, petted Amber goodbye and as he walked away, he winked and my heart jumped. His looks weren’t the only great thing about him.

Mom was on the phone when I came in
. She covered the receiver and whispered that Dad had gotten stuck on a long-distance call and dinner would be later. If I was hungry, I should help myself. I said I’d wait and went to call Lily.

S
he was on the train and the clamor was ear shattering. She couldn’t hear me at all and said she’d call me back. I was daydreaming about Daniel when Lily’s call forced me back to earth. As I told her the whole saga about Reed and Daniel, she was silent and didn’t interrupt once. She was obviously riveted or incredulous; I wasn’t sure which.

“Unbelievable.”

“I know, but why is he talking to me?”

“
You’re pretty, smart and fun. Anyone who dates you would be lucky,” she added.