The Art of Forgetting -- Update 12

I don’t think I realized how fast summer went by. I didn’t get to do the things I wanted to this summer, I wanted to water-ski, go camping, crash some wild parties, and just spend most of the summer with Kale. But of course that didn’t happen, although August wasn’t too bad. Dax and I have gotten to know each other very well over the summer. He and I spent most of our summer together doing things at random. We also spent most of our summer in the ice-cream shop, since Dax treats ice-cream as some sort of treasure.

Then again summer had to end sometime right? Everything comes to an end, relationships, life, TV shows, but now it was the end of summer, and school was just around the corner. This was one thing I was not looking forward too, it was senior year...and I had to spend it without friends and Kale. I just know when I walk through the doors people are going to start running their mouth, and start making worthless rumours up, and those rumours are going to spread like a wildfire. Who knows what they will be about, who knows what they will say, but one thing I know for sure is they are definitely going to have something to do with me.

Nate had offered to drop me off the first day. We pulled into the parking lot and I sat there with my purple bag sitting in my lap. My heart was pounding and my stomach started to churn. I looked at everyone else who just walked around with each other and mingled with their friends. My first day will be nothing like theirs, my first day will be equivalent to hell.

“Nate...I can’t do this,” I choked.

“Meggo listen, it’s just school and if anyone says anything about you then just ignore them or call me to kick their ass. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy,” he smiled.

“No...no...no!” I brought my hands to my face.

Nate put his hand on my shoulder, “if you don’t face them now, you won’t be able to do it later you know?”

“I don’t have to face them, I could stay home!”

“Listen go to your first two classes and if you feel like you are going to die then just give me a call, and I will pick you up from school. Deal?”

“Sounds good,” I gave him a hug and then opened the truck door and hopped out. As soon as I reached the front doors their eyes started to focus on me. Their eyes felt like they were burning through me. I took one step into the building and their mouths started moving, I heard my name every time I looked up, every time I turned a corner they were talking about me. Their voices were getting into my head and all I really wanted to do was run. So I did. I sprinted down the hallway and unfortunately slammed right into Brad. He caught me by the elbows before I fell over, and looked me in the eyes. Oh brother why him? Why now?

“Careful Megan,” he half smiled.

“Thanks, and I’m sorry.”

“Where were you running off to?” he asked.

“Anywhere but here,” I pushed past him and headed to home room. I sat down in the back corner and Mr. H handed out our class schedules and the whole school package they give you in the beginning of the year. When everyone shuffled in I couldn’t help but notice their eyes being on me, some people waved, and others frowned. All I wanted to do was be out of here. Sandy Cains, a tall blonde who was in my English class last year sat in the seat ahead of me, and then turned around.

“Hey Megan, didn’t see you all summer! How have you been since the...accident?” she whispered.

“I’m fine thanks,” I turned away from her and starred down at my schedule. Oh great another semester with Mr. Jay, there goes my A in that class.

“Who did you get stuck with this year?” she asked.

“Teachers that I like and dislike,” I sighed, “what about you?”

“I got a pretty banged up schedule though, I have to change a few things.”

“Oh well that’s great,” the bell rang and I sent up a small prayer, “see you later.”

“Want to sit with me at lunch?” she asked.

“I’ll pass,” I slipped past her and went into math class.

Mrs. Brandon’s math class was probably the only class I was actually looking forward to compare to the rest of classes. That was until I walked in, and noticed only one empty seat which was beside Brad.

“Nice to see you decided to join us,” Mrs. Brandon smiled. I shuffled to my seat beside Brad, and pushed my chair far away from him possible. He was wearing heavy cologne, which burned my eyes. Mrs. Brandon passed out our course outlines, and started talking about the class rules, and what we were going to be learning this year.

From the corner of my eye I could see Brad staring at me, and it was getting on my nerves. I took a deep breath and whispered to him, “What’s your problem?”

“I don’t have one, but you sure do,” he said rudely. I rolled my eyes and tried to decipher what Mrs. Brandon was talking about. “Listen, I’m sorry.”

“Sure you are,” I said coldly.

“Why are you being such a bitch?” he asked.

“Because, you are clearly not taking the hint that I don’t want to talk to you!” I said a little louder, which caught the attention of the whole class. My cheeks started burning, and I slid down in my chair a little.

“Is something wrong Megan?” she crossed her arms.

“No ma’am.”

“Then shut your trap, and pay attention!” she turned back to the class. For the rest of the class I stared out the window, and slowly died inside.

After Math I had English, and of course I practically fell asleep in the class. I was definitely out of it today. I wonder what class schedule Kale had, we probably got the same classes. If he were here, he would probably sit behind me just so he could rest his feet on my chair, or he would pull his desk closer to mine just so he could whisper some random things in my ear until I started laughing. He always knew how to lighten the mood of a classroom, even though Mr. Jay wouldn’t think it was funny. I really missed him, especially at times like this. I wish he would just come back. The bell rang, and it was lunch. I wasn’t looking forward to the cafeteria food or the rest of the afternoon, so I called Nate to come pick me up. He told me he would be there in fifteen minutes. I wasn’t in the mood to stay inside the building with the hallways being crowded and all, and I guess a breath of fresh air would be refreshing. I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder and walked into the parking lot. There was an oak tree which seemed to offer a lot of shade, I made my way there and sat down cross legged. I closed my eyes, and tears pooled down my cheek. The memories of Kale washed passed me.

This was the oak tree where we used to hang out all the time. We would sit under here since ninth grade and eat our homemade sandwiches, and drink down our juice boxes. We would copy each other’s homework when one forgot to do it the night before, and talk about teachers and people. Kale and I were never alone under this tree though. Addison, Brad, Josh, Trish and Justin had always joined us at lunch too, our circle of friends was not complete without them. When I opened my eyes, there she was standing in front of me with her hands in her pockets smiling.

“Addison?” I said confusingly. I couldn’t remember the last time we had talked to each other. She was acting like a bitch too, she never called me, or asked me how I was doing this whole summer, she was probably just too absorbed with Josh.

“Hey,” she said quietly, almost a whisper, “mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” I scooted over and she leaned her back against the tree trunk. An awkward silence washed over us. It was weird, we were supposed to be best-friends but we sure didn’t act like it no more.

“I’m sorry,” she brought her hand to my knee.

“You should be,” I said coldly. I brushed her hand off my knee and faced her. Her eyes looked like they were about to be filled with tears, and she wore a frown across her lips. “Why did you ignore me all summer? Did you know how much I needed you?” I choked.

“I didn’t know what to say to you, I didn’t know how to make you feel better.”

“You’re supposed to be my best friend, and they always know what to say.”

“I was in shock alright. I was scared out of mind when he got into that accident! When I heard about it I wanted to see you I really did, but I held myself back because I didn’t know what to say to you. I avoided you hoping that you would just forget about it.”

“How could you think that Addison? When Layton broke up with you last summer I was the one by your side the whole time! I spent the entire summer with you, and so did Kale! Didn’t you ever think you owed me a visit at least? Don’t you think I deserved that much?” My eyes filled with tears, “you left me alone this whole summer, but lucky for you I have a family that loves me so much to spend most of their summer taking care of me.”

“I didn’t think you would hurt that bad, it wasn’t like you two were madly in love or something?!” she yelled, and then paused and realized she had just said to me. “Megan...I--”

“We’re done Addison, you and I are done! Like a friend said to me once you don’t need to surround yourself with people who don’t care about you,” just on cue Nate pulled up by the tree. I took my messenger bag, and left Addison behind.