Eternity (Circle of Light) (9 page)

I wasn’t in the mood to watch movies.  I wanted to do something fun with Eric, but I wasn’t sure what it would be.  I was surely not going to just sit here the rest if the night with nothing to do.  I was restless.

The light in Eric’s bedroom went off.  My phone vibrated
. I’m on my way over,
the message read.  It had sure taken him long enough.  A short moment later I heard the front door open and the deadbolt lock.  He bounded up the stairs and into my room. 

“Miss me much, did you
?”

“Terribly.”  I replied.

“So, you don’t want to watch movies?”

“Not really.  I’m bored and I want to do something fun.”

“And just exactly what do you have in mind?” he asked with a sly look on his face. 

“I don’t have a clue.”  I said as he walked around looking at my room. 

He looked at the books in the bookcase.  He ran his fingers across the bindings as if he were searching for a certain book, but he never picked out one.

“What time is it?” he asked. 

“Its seven thirty.” I replied. 

He sat down beside me on my bed.  My heart began to race the same way it does every time he gets close to me.  

“I probably shouldn’t stay very late.  I would hate to be late for school in the morning.” 

“Yeah and if you’re late, I’m late.”  I said. 

He let out a big yawn.  I could tell he was more tired than he let on. 

“You look tired Eric.  Why don’t you just go on back home and get some rest.” 

“I probably should.” he replied sleepily as he stretched his arms out beside him. He plopped back on my bed, staring at the comforter.  He looked like he was deep in thought.  I touched the side of his head, running my fingers down his jaw line.  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  I could feel his body relaxing.

“I could get used to this
.” he said almost in a whisper.

“Yeah.  Me too
.” I replied.

Eric rolled off his stomach and onto his back.  He looked up at me as he laid his head in my lap. 

“Bailey?”

“Yes?”

“Do you really like me?”

“Of course I do silly.  What kind of question is that?”  I asked.

“I was just curious, really.  This all just seems so right.  Like it’s meant to be.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“I wish I would have moved here sooner.”

“I wish you would have too”.

Eric became quiet and I noticed his gentle breathing as he laid there.  I was almost certain that he had gone to sleep.  All I wanted to do was let him lay there and rest, but after a while my legs started to go to sleep.  I was determined not to wake him.  He looked so peaceful, but I had to move.  There was no getting out of it.  My legs hurt and they felt like they were on fire.

“Eric?”  I said softly as I nudged his arm.  He didn’t move.  I called his name again, a little louder this time.  He smiled and opened his eyes. 

“What is it sweetie?” He replied.

“Eric,
you have to get up.  My legs are asleep and it hurts.”

As soon as I said that my legs hurt, he was sitting up in the bed.  Without warning, he was massaging my legs.  I could feel the blood flow coming back.  His touch had a healing power to it.  It wasn’t long until I could move my legs again. 

“Thanks Eric.”

“You are very welcome, Princess.”

Eric, why do you call me princess?”

“Because you’re my princess
.” he smiled.

I didn’t give the idea another thought.  I figured it was some sort of pet name that he decided to use.  Honestly, I liked it.  Every girl wants to be a princess.

Time had passed by quickly.  It was after ten now.  I could tell that Eric didn’t want to leave, but he was falling asleep every time we got quiet.  I was sleepy too and I knew if I didn’t get in the bed soon I wouldn’t wake up on time for school.  

“I guess we better get to bed
.” I said with the returning sad feeling in my stomach.

“Yeah.  You’re right
.” Eric yawned.

I told him I would meet him outside in the morning and we would walk to school if he wanted as I walked him down to the door.  He unlocked the deadbolt and turned to me.  He kissed me gently and said goodnight. 

“Goodnight my angel.” I said as I shut the door.

CHAPTER 5

I met Eric at the door.  I was still a little drowsy.  The hot shower I took had only made it worse.  Eric looked better than he did last night. He looked well rested and seemed to be ready to go do anything.  I wish I could be like that of the mornings.  The walk to school would hopefully give me enough time to get woke up a little more.

We had almost made it to where we could see the school when it began to rain.  I looked over at Eric and he had one of the silliest looks on his face that I had ever seen.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  The mist of rain had woken me from my grumpy state. 

“See I told you that the rain can be fun
.” he laughed.

We hurried to the school entrance to keep from getting any wetter.

“Maybe next time we know it’s going to rain we should bring an umbrella.” he laughed. 

He walked me to my locker so I could get my notebook out.  Jared and Damien were soon at Eric’s side.  They asked us if we wanted to skip third period and go down to the diner to eat lunch.  Eric and I agreed to meet them at the front doors after second period ends.  We headed to class.

Everyone was talking.  It wasn’t like I had actually walked into class.  It was more like we had gone to the cafeteria, or the circus. The teacher asked everyone to go through their textbooks and make sure to take out any stray papers that might be left in them.

“I don’t have an interest in reading anyone’s unfinished love letters, so please dispose of them properly
.” she said laughing.

I looked through my book to make sure it was clean, taking out any class notes that I might have left behind.  She asked that we stack them up in the corner of the room.  Eric reached over and took my book.

“Finished?” He asked.  I nodded. He took my book and placed it in the pile that was starting to form. 

The teacher called on several students during the remainder of the class.  We helped her with odd and end things that needed to be done.  Eric was given the lovely chore of cleaning the dry erase board.  I always hated doing it because I was too short to reach the top of it and had to use her rickety old step ladder.  I had asked her about replacing it once.  She said the school’s budget was tight enough the way it was.

It took no time for second period to end.  It had been the same as earlier.  We all cleaned and helped grade any papers that needed to be graded in order for our final grades to be calculated. 

Eric led me out of class when the bell rang.  We waited for Jared and Damien at the end of the hall.  The hall was empty when the better have your butt in class bell rang. The four of us quickly walked past the office and out the front door.  It’s not like they would really do
much about it.  It’s the last week of high school and seniors get certain privileges.  They are more like get out of jail free cards.  We walked to the diner laughing and talking the whole way.

The diner was half full. We found a booth and crowded in it. Damien hit Jared with a menu as he was handing it to Eric. They rough-housed a little until the waitress came up to the table and said, “Skipping class are we?”
Something about her calling attention to what we were doing settled them down.  

“We most certainly are and we are starving.  We refused to eat the food at school so they made us find our own lunch.” Damien joked.

“That’s one I hadn't heard.” the waitress said. The amused look on her face gave us all a slight sense of relief. “Are you guys ready to order?”

Damien and Jared placed their orders and she turned to us.

“The usual for you Bailey?” I nodded as I laid my menu on the table.

Eric ordered a chicken strip basket with fries and onion rings.

“I think he's going to fit in just fine with us don’t you Jared?”  Damien asked.

“Yep, sure do
.” he said as he smiled from ear to ear.

“So, Eric.  Are you and Bailey going out?”  Damien asked.

Eric looked over at me and smiled. “Yeah, we are.” he said proudly.  I turned bright red that very instant.  I knew they were all staring at me so I didn’t bother to look up at them.  But I knew that I had been discovered.

“Look how red her ears are!”  Jared said as he began to laugh.

“Stick a sock in it Jared!”  I said before I thought.  That only made it worse.  I swore they were going to die laughing if they didn’t stop.  The more they laughed the more red my face became. Finally, the waitress brought out food out.  That would force them to shut up for a little while.

We ate quietly, except for the occasional giggle from Jared.  When we were all finished we each laid a dollar on the table for the waitress.  I think a five dollar bill would have been better considering the fact that Jared had been so loud and unruly during our meal, but she smiled at me as we got up to leave.

Eric announced that he was going to pay for everyone s lunch.  Jared and Damien immediately started to refuse.  Eric looked at them and said, “I've got it this time.  Next time one of you can buy.”

Still they refused. For a moment I thought the degree of their
refusal was starting to make Eric uncomfortable, but he quickly proved me wrong.

“Seriously guys. I got it. We’re all
friends’ right?”

Damien and Jared
paused instantly. Neither of them had anything to say in response to Eric’s question.

Almost in unison they both agreed with nods.

“Bailey has to buy next time.” Jared laughed.

I punched Jared’s shoulder lightly and smiled.
Eric paid the bill and we made our way back to school.  As we walk into school the halls were crowded with students coming out of their third period classes.   Everyone was buzzing about something, more than likely, the end of the week and graduation.

Eric grabbed my hand and held it as we were walking down the hall to our next class.  The heat of his simple touch overwhelmed me every time and I could feel the faint burn in my cheeks as a result.  I could also feel the girls that had their eyes on me.  They weren’t staring.  They were glaring at me.  I got a lot of
“go to hell” looks on the way to class. I tried to ignore them.  Eric seemed to enjoy how all the girls were jealous of me, but he didn’t like all the nasty looks they were giving me and in some sick way, I loved it.  I knew that I had something they didn’t have… Eric.  And they were never going to get him either.  I am almost certain of that.  As sure as I could be about anything, but then the sinking feeling hit me.  Could I really expect to keep him when he found out about my secret?  It was only a matter of time until I would slip up and he would know everything.

We were almost to class when I told Eric that I was going to go to the restroom before class starts. He smiled and walked on in to class.

I had to have a moment away from him.  The thought of him not wanting to be with me had shaken me and I didn’t want to alert him that something was wrong.  I wouldn’t be able to explain to him what it was and he would probably end up thinking that I was hiding something from him, but the truth is… I am. I don’t want to hide things. Being honest is very important to me. How can I expect him to believe me even if I do tell him? There is no way that he would want to be around me if he knew the truth. Who would? I’m nothing more than a freak.

As I came around the corner of the hallway that leads to the restrooms, I ran into my friend Jasmine.  She was walking down the hall and I could tell that she was in a rather good mood
. Jasmine is always in a good mood. Always smiling and happy. Her emerald green eyes shined brightly as she talked. Her pouty lips spread to reveal perfectly lined, unbelievably white teeth. Nothing ever seemed to bother her. If only I could be like her, I thought to myself.

She was excited about graduating and had received her acceptance letter to the college she had been so desperately hoping to get into.  She hugged me and headed to her next class.
I watched her ebony hair bounce with every step that she took. I found myself wondering if she would end up on the cover of some sort of beauty magazine as she walked down the hall.

She has always been exceptionally smart. Her grades were the highest in the class for as far as I could remember. Not to mention, she has the looks to go with it. Brains and beauty. She is the total package.

The restroom was empty when I entered.  It was astonishing that it was so quiet.  Usually it was filled with the giggling and chattering of at least five girls or more. They always seemed to be crowded around the mirrors straightening the already perfect makeup on their faces. Not to mention, the handful of girls that would be in the two last stalls smoking.  I was thankful they weren’t in there.  I never have been able to stand the smell of it.

I carefully washed my face, trying to not disturb what little makeup that lined my eyes.  I was sure that those smudges would be unattractive
. That would be something else the jealous, prying eyes would have to gossip about. Being on the “most talked about” list wasn’t something I was proud of at all, but it seemed there wasn’t much I was going to be able to do about it now. The damage has already been done.

When I returned to class, a
girl was standing next to Eric’s desk.  She was obviously flirting with him. Even a blind man could see that. I stood there in the doorway watching her flip her hair and smile as he talked.  I walked up to them quietly.

“I have a girlfriend. Eric was saying as stood behind the girl. It was apparent that she had no idea that I was anywhere around.

“I don’t mind.” She twirled a thick strand of hair around her finger. Right then I was glad I couldn’t see her face. As I looked at Eric I questioned my next move. Should I stand here and listen, or should I put an end to this altogether?

“I’m not sure what you mean by that.” Eric said. He was clearly wanting me to intervene. He looked at me with those “come help me” eyes. I could hardly control myself. Almost choking on a laugh, I smiled and shook my head at him.

More hair twirling and flipping. All I wanted to do was reach up and pull her hair out, but I contained myself. Although, I have to admit I was starting to have a problem doing it.

“What I mean is…” she paused and I could feel my anger growing. She better not say what I think she’s going to say. Don’t do it. “She doesn’t have to know if you don’t want her to. I
won’t tell.” Her giggle infuriated me. That was all I could stand. Without another thought, I brushed by her, bumping into her slightly. “Hey baby.” I said sweetly as I stood on tiptoe to reach Eric’s lips. After a quick kiss I landed back flat on my feet, turning to face the slutty intruder.

“This is my girlfriend.” Eric boasted, trying not to laugh.

With another lesson from my mother in mind, I smiled and held out my hand. “Hi. My name is Bailey.”

The girl was clearly disappointed. “Hi.” She mumbled back. It was easy to see that she was
no longer interested in the conversation.

Leave it to Eric to end up being the rude one, but he done it with such tact that it was hard to tell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.” He threw his arm around my shoulders. His hand came to rest on my collar bone.

“It doesn’t matter.” She snarled and immediately walked away.

She had a look on her face that reminded me of someone that had just been stung by a bee.  I swallowed my laughter until she was far enough away that she wouldn’t hear my outburst.  I actually felt bad for her.  Rejection is a bitch.

Eric and I took our seats.  We sat beside each other in every class.  That made it easier to talk to him.  All either one of us had to do was fidget a little and we had the other one’s attention.

We talked about the girl asking him to the party.  I made it a point to not say anything negative about her.  I didn’t want to be that way.  It was bad enough that she was rejected and for me to mouth off about her behind her back would make everything worse. 

I never really liked to talk about people unless it was something positive.  Sharing other people’s secrets wasn’t high on my list of things to do.  I tried to treat everyone the way that I wanted to be treated in return.  That was the golden rule, right?

The teacher called on Eric to help him go through some leftover test papers.  I sat at my desk and looked around the room.  Suddenly, I noticed I could hear the voices of people other than the students that were talking.  I was confused because the voices sounded so familiar.

I looked around the room at everyone.  It reminded me of the day that I heard Eric in my mind.  I could read minds.  Not just Eric’s, but everyone’s.

I concentrated hard to separate each individual person’s mind from the others.  I started with the row next to the windows.  After a while of listening to them, I moved on to the next row.  Everyone was pretty well thinking the same things.  They thought about food, graduation, and the parties afterward. And a few of the guy’s minds were a little x rated, so
I didn’t linger.

I noticed my mind was being pulled in a certain direction, but I couldn’t seem to locate where I needed to listen.
It was beginning to become confusing in a bad way. I laid my head down on the desk and concentrated harder.  I was almost to the other person’s mind when the teacher walked up to my desk.