Perchance (12 page)

             
“Remi, it’s ten o’cloc
k honey.  Time to get off the phone.”  She winked at me and I blushed.  She was onto me like a private investigator.

             
“Ok, sorry.” She waved me off and I went back to tell Cooper goodbye.

             
“Hey, that was my aunt.  I didn’t know it was ten o’clock already.  I need to go to bed.”

             
“Yeah, I didn’t realize the time either. So see you tomorrow?”

             
“Yeah.” I loved the thought of seeing him in less than twelve hours.

             
“One more thing Remi…Don’t forget our deal.” And then he hung up.

             
Crap!  I had forgotten already.  What a dunce I was!

             
I went to the kitchen and made us lunches, no mayonnaise for him.  I went back and set my alarm for earlier than usual.  I bet he thought he was the only one with plans.

             
I texted him before I went to bed.

             
Me:
Wanna come over tomorrow at seven for breakfast?

             
Cooper:
Breakfast w/u? Ur
on.  C u @ 7.

             
It took me at least three minutes to decipher that last one, but I got it.

             
I woke up at six, got dressed, fixed my hair in a braid and started making breakfast.  Aunt Brenda was already gone to a b
efore school meeting, but I
told her about Cooper coming over just in case.  I didn’t want to hide anything from her.  She said she
trusted me and she would s
ee me at school.  I flipped
the last piece of French toast when I heard the roar of his engine in the driveway. 
I swore that car did something to me.

             
He knocked on the door and I blushed at the sight of him at my house.  He walked in and I told him to have a seat.  He insisted that I sit first, always the gentleman, and we talked about school and my new phone while we ate.  He put his fork down after three plates of food and said,

             
“That’s the best breakfast I’ve had since I left my mom’s. Ok, time to get the lady to school.”

             
I turned with plates in my hand, “Josie is bringing me to school.”

             
He shook his head, “Nope, after you texted me last night I texted Troy and we decided it would be easier, just for today, “ He pleaded for my calm with his hands, “that I bring you to school today and Josie is picking up Troy.  I think he wants to ride with her anyway, know what I mean?”

             
“Ok, good.”

             
“Good why?” He was baiting me, but I wasn’t biting just yet.

             
“‘Cause I love your car
something serious.” He laughed out loud and it was an absolute symphony.

             
“So you love my
food
and the Cuda
.  But no love for me?” He held his chest and feigned heartbreak.

             
“Thinkin’ about it still.
”

             
I left before he could think up a comeback to that one and grabbed my bag and headed towards the door.  He opened the house door and locked it for me and then opened my
car
door.

             
It was only a ten minute ride to school, but about halfway there he reached over and held my hand.  I didn’t immediately react, so he started to pull back,
but I gripped it as tight as I could and
then loosened my grip a little and
he smiled without ever looking at me. 
Dang, I so
ooo
took the bait.

             
“Don’t smile like you won a prize.” He chuckled and shook the hand he was holding.

             
“Yes I did.”

             
We pulled into the school and Josie and Troy
sat
together on the trunk of her tiny convertible car.  We got out of the car and Josie didn’t waste any time.  She pulled me beside her and we practically ran in front of the boys to get a good distance away.  She looked back and slowed us to a walk. 

             
“I didn’t see your text last night until Troy texted me later. Tell me everything.”

             
Just when I thought I was going to be the one trying to get her to fall for me, she goes and gets me to fall a little bit deeper
with one text message and the best morning ever
.  When she texted me last night I thought it was Troy and he usually has something hilarious to say, so I picked it up.  It was Remi and I nearly fell off of my bed when I saw it.

             
We texted for a while and then she called me.  She…called…me.  We talked for a long time and then her aunt reminded her what time it was.  After we got off of the phone I turned off the lights and tried to go to sleep.  I could faintly hear Credence Clearwater Revival coming from my Dad’s back porch radio.  It was his day off yesterday and we had gone to visit my grandmother again.  She was extra funny and happy yesterday. 
She told me stories about my Dad and then always, without fail, made me tell her all about Remi.  On my way out, she told me to show her how much I like her until she believes it.  That I could do.

             
She had run ahead with Josie, probably to tell her all about our morning.  And I was right about one thing.  The girl had a thing for my car.  I patted the hood of the Cuda in praise of its magnetic power.

             
Troy was going on and on trying to get me to give all the details of our breakfast and he kept doing air quotes every time he said breakfast.  The guy was hilarious, but he was grating on my last nerve with the air quotes.

             
“Dude, stop with this…” I mimicked his air quotes.

             
“OK, but tell me something, anything.”

             
“She makes the best French toast I’ve ever eaten, she has the hots for my car and she let me hold her hand on the way to school.  Happy?”

             
“Um, not really, she’s supposed to have the hots for you, not your car.”

             
“Oh, she does, but she admitted loving my car out loud.  I can work with that.”

             
I wanted to get into school because yesterday I had put a ton, I mean a ton of notebooks, paper, pens, pencils and everything in between in her locker.  I had memorized the combination when I helped her
the morning before and I was going to use it every chance I got.  She had to know what she meant to me already.  I would make her know.

             
I strolled into the hallway and didn’t even look at her.  I wanted to see if she was going to approach me.  I took my sweet time at my locker. I shut it, disappointed.  I turned to go to my class and she was right in front of me.

             
“Why?” Is the only thing she said and she was blushing, but not smiling.

             
“Because, you said you wanted to do well in school this year, right? Well, I’m going to make sure that I do everything I can to help you make that happen.”

             
“Why?” She repeated it again.  Did I have to spell it out for her?

             
I took a deep breath and the bell rang.  She didn’t move a muscle. 

             
“I don’t want you to be late.  We will talk at lunch, ok?”

             
She looked disappointed, but I didn’t want her to be late.

             
“Ok”, she said and she walked away.

             
I overheard some kids talking about a place called Tunica Hills.  From what I could hear it was some kind of place with waterfalls and hiking.  I waited until third period and then asked Troy.  He said it was in Mississippi, but not far from here.  He knew how to get there and we ma
de plans to ta
ke Remi and Josie, if Remi
was still speaking to me.
 

             
I walked
to the cafeteria and Remi grabbed my hand out of nowhere and dragged me outside to what I now thought of as our tree. 
We sat and she said “Spill it.”

             
She was unpacking all kinds of things from her backpack as I started.  It was a simple explanation really.  So it didn’t take long.

             
“Remi, I…I just want to help you.”

             
“Why?”
             

             
“Because I care about you and I want to make this easier on you.”

             
“Why?”

             
I must be caught in an episode of Sesame Street and the letter of the day is ‘Y’.

             
“Can’t I just help you and care about you without some kind of motive?”

             
“Not where I come from.”

             
This had progressed beyond aggravation.

             
“Fine.  I’m sorry I tried to help you.  I’m sorry I tried to date you or whatever. My mistake. Won’t happen agai
n. I just don’t get it.  One minute
you’re inviting me to breakfast and we’re
fine and the next minute y
ou’re acting like I’m trying to…I don’t know what you’re t
hinking. I’m trying here.
”

             
I got up and walked towards the building and up to the library that I had passed.  I went all the way to the windows.  I couldn’
t help myself.  I looked out the window and down at her.  I expected her to be eating and happy to be rid of me, but what I saw cracked my chest in two and left me feeling like a douche bag.

             
She was crying and not eating and Josie was sitting next to her rubbing her back.  She was having to console her because I was the jerk who made her cry.
Back to square one, or negative eight hundred.

             
I felt like crap the rest of the day and drove home with a silent Troy in tow.  I dropped him off and he turned and spoke into the open window.

             
“W
hat are you gonna do?” He asked.

             
“I don’t know, but I need to do something.”

             
“Ain’t that the truth.  Let her breathe a little bit and get to where she misses you.”

             
“What if she never gets there?
”

             
He chuckled at me as he re-shouldered his backpack.

             
“From what Josie says, she thinks it’s her fault.  She ran you off.  She’s pissed at herself.  She’ll get there.”

             
“Thanks man.” We bumped fists and he went into his house.

             
I decided to go to the one person that I felt completely comfortable talking to.