The rest of September felt like a blur and soon October had arrived. For most of the month school was more or less the same. My life outside of school however had changed. Malum and I would spend as much time together as our parents would allow. We went to the movies, went bowling, and ate out a lot. He came over to my place a few times, but our time spent at my house was mostly so we could study. Which would’ve been boring if it were with Autumn or Katy, but Malum made everything in my life ten times more exciting than it usually would be.
My favorite holiday was this weekend. Halloween. The one day a year where anyone can dress up and be whoever they want. And receiving free candy is also a perk. This particular Halloween weekend though Laura and Scarlett were throwing a party. They decided to invite everybody in our grade, confirming Michael’s statement from a few weeks back. They definitely were not happy with being outdone by the pretty committee with their last party. So naturally this time around they wanted the number of attendees to be far larger.
Malum and I were sitting in history class on Friday. Like usual neither of us were paying much attention to what Mr. Ketcher was lecturing about.
“So are you going to the party this weekend?” He whispered.
“Yeah I think I’m going. Autumn and Katy really wanted me to tag along with them so I didn’t really have a choice in saying no.”
“Well I will definitely be there. It will give me a chance to actually meet some other people in our grade. Since I’m always spending time with you.” he said sarcastically.
Even if he is being sarcastic I had never considered this. He was right. He spent all of his time with me. Even at lunch he barely spoke to anyone else at our table. Oh no. What have I done? Have I been so possessive that I hadn’t allowed him to make some other friends besides me? Or was it his decision. Maybe it was a mixture of both.
Was he getting sick of me? I felt horrible now. For the past month it had only been him and I. That’s what my life has become. I rarely spend anytime with Autumn or Katy these days. Wow. They must secretly hate me. I’ll have to make it up to them later.
I tried my best to fake a smile. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I do take up all of your time. You should definitely go to the party. Make some new friends. I’ll be with Autumn and Katy the whole time so don’t worry about me.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t.” He said with a wink.
Wait was he just joking with me earlier? Did he actually want to make new friends or was he just testing what my reaction would be? Good going Grace. You overreacted. Again. But now I was angry.
“Hey don’t be mean. If you legitimately want to go make some new friends then do so. I’m not the center of your universe.”
He looked taken aback, but then composed himself and gave a half smile. “But what if you are?”
I was shocked. What did he mean by that? Was I the center of his universe? No I couldn’t be. We have only known one another for a little over a month. And we are only in 10th grade. But then again...the way he makes me feel when he holds my hand. It's like I’m safe. Like a silent signal telling me that everything is going to be okay because he is there with me. And his eyes. Oh his eyes. My golden suns that I gaze at and lose myself in.
I looked up at him and stared into his eyes like I do so often and immediately noticed something was wrong. His eyes were not my golden suns. Instead they were the coal black. The were the eyes that I thought I had imagined seeing on the first day we met. What is going on? Was I imagining this? I need to ask him about it. I don’t want to be going crazy, but I’m also very curious about what he meant by his last statement. Ugh. So many questions I need answers to.
I focused my attention away from his eyes and decided to look down instead. “Malum...what did you mean by--”
“Grace and Malum is there something that you would like to share with the class?”
Mr. Ketcher did not seem amused. I looked up and saw everyone staring at us. Crap. I forgot we were in school.
Malum smiled and raised his hand.
Mr. Ketcher look surprised by this. “Yes Malum?”
“Forgive us Mr. Ketcher. Grace was only asking me about the last few things you had written on the board. Her and I can discuss it after class. We apologize for interrupting.”
Mr. Ketcher had his mouth slightly hanging open. Such a polite response from a student who had just been caught in an act was rare. But Mr. Ketcher composed himself and cleared his throat. “Yes, yes. Please keep the discussion on hold until after we are finished with class.” He glanced over at me and gave me a suspicious glare and then walked back over to the whiteboard.
I sighed. “Thanks.” I whispered to Malum.
He nodded his head and turned his attention back to the lecture.
If only mind reading were a real superpower. I want to know what Malum meant by his response to my earlier statement. This is so frustrating. I groaned to myself and turned my attention back to Mr. Ketcher’s lesson. This is going to be a long day.
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I didn’t bring up the topic of the party, or any of our conversation from history class earlier this morning. The rest of the day thought I felt as if Malum was avoiding me. Not physically at least, but mentally. I would try and talk about other trivial things such as school gossip, or about new music that was being released soon. None of that seemed to interest him or change his mood. He only nodded or gave me short answers to anything we were discussing. He was giving me the cold shoulder. Great. Naturally towards the end of the day my mood was pretty low as well. We were walking outside to the where the school buses were parked. This was my last chance to have a face to face interaction with him today.
“Well, have a good rest of your night Malum. Call me later?” I asked in a questioning tone.
He briefly glanced over at me. “Yeah. Sure. Bye Grace.” His walking sped up and he made his way to his bus.
I stood there. Left in the dust. If he didn’t want to talk to me then fine, but there was no reason for him to be rude about it. I rolled my eyes and hopped onto my bus.
Autumn was waiting for me in our usual spot.
“Hey Grace.” She said with a smile.
“Hey Autumn.” I could tell my tone wasn’t very cheerful and I knew this would make Autumn concerned.
“Is everything okay? You seem a little down.”
Even when I have barely been speaking to her she was still such a great friend. I needed to make it up to her somehow.
“Yeah, I guess. Malum just isn’t acting himself today and it’s been bugging me. I’m sure everything will be fine though.”
Autumn looked down and pursed her lips. Whenever she does that I knew she was trying to choose her next words carefully. This isn’t what I needed. I didn’t need her to make me feel worse than I already felt.
She looked up at me. “Well, you two do spend a lot of time together. You were bound to get sick of one another eventually...but you’re right. I’m sure it will all be fine soon. Maybe he just needs a short break from you or something.” She forced a smile.
Maybe she was right. A short break between us wouldn’t hurt. Or would it?
“Thanks Autumn. You’re probably right.” Now it was my turn to force a smile.
The rest of the ride home we mostly talked about Autumn’s life. Which was a relief. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss more about Malum.
I could tell by the way she was talking so quickly that she had missed me. She was probably happy to be able to confide in someone else besides Katy.
The bus pulled up to my driveway and I said goodbye to Autumn.
“Bye Grace, don’t stress too much alright?”
“Thanks Autumn, see ya tomorrow.”
Mom or dad aren't home when I walk into the house and I’m happy about this. Their absence gives me time to think to myself, but being left alone with my thoughts can be dangerous.
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