Chapter Eight
The Library
Rumors
spread that Serena had moved her bean bag next to Ben’s during movie night and
was using every excuse to get close to him… Confessions
of a Teenage Hermit
The following week in
the lunch queue (after Jenny had detached herself from Harley) I couldn’t
resist a comment. After all, I hadn’t seen Jen for days.
“You know, it really is almost too much,
Jenny. I feel like I’ve lost a friend…”
“And found a sister,” Jenny replied
cheerily. “Just think,” she whispered, “If I marry Harley and you marry Ben,
that’s what we’ll become.”
“Ben and I are just friends.”
“Friends who like each other. I’ve seen the
way he looks at you. I have my spies.”
“There are plenty of those at Hallowed
Halls,” I said, grumbling over my turkey sandwich.
“Liz and Serena to name just two,” Jenny
added with a smile. My younger sister was only a freshman but definitely in
thrall to Liz’s power already. Missy followed her around everywhere, taking
notes to prepare for her inevitable ascent into the Socials. Melissa and I only
spoke when we had to as Missy was busy “preparing to hang with the cool girls.”
The next night after study hall Jenny came
running into my room.
“We’re going to be sisters after all,”
Jenny whispered to me. “Harley told me, Ben has liked you since you were both
kids together! Ben enrolled at Hallowed Halls just to meet up with you again.”
I shook my head.
“I have it on good authority.”
“Whose?”
“His brother’s, Jane. Harley would never lie
to me. Don’t you think he’s amazing?”
“I guess so,” I shrugged, pretending to be
indifferent, secretly feeling elated.
That
night, I worked on my unfinished blog entry in my dorm room. I was over one
hundred lines into it, seated in the quiet of the school library editing the
entry:
My thoughts on Unrequited Love
I’ve liked him a long time. Too long. This
boy is seriously close to perfect. Sometimes I wonder if I’d like him as much
if his eyes weren’t so blue or his hair not so blonde or he wasn’t part of the
football team. I know someone’s worth is not how they look. Appearances can be
deceptive. Some of the prettiest girls I know are not so pretty on the inside.
No, the perfection of this boy – the
hottest of the hot boys, in my opinion - lies in his perfectly sweet heart.
Tonight, I found a note under my door. He left it there and on the cover he’d
scrawled the first letter of my name! J! Then, he folded it into a paper plane!
He wants to be a pilot.
I’ve never let myself feel this happy or
hope this hard. It’s taken a long time for him to notice me as anything other
than a childhood friend but paper planes don’t lie! Finally, I think we might
become more than just friends. ARGGHH! May the next post be the best post lol oxo… Confessions of a Teenage Hermit
I’d tied my hair up using a pen after
writing a few notes in pencil in the side margin; before I typed up my entry
and pressed publish. This had been my habit from my first year at middle school
when I exchanged my paper journal for a blog.
Basically, my blog entries (one hundred and twenty-eight before this
one) were all about a girl who was rejected and ignored by her thankless family
and searching for happiness in a new social circle; boarding school. Sound
familiar?
I looked up from my keyboard when I heard
Jenny’s voice.
Jenny waved two pieces of paper in my
face.
“Guess what? We’re going on a hiking trip
this weekend.”
“With the Socials?”
“Yes but that’s just the excuse to get
parental approval.”
“Oh.” I thought that was unlikely.
“Don’t worry, the adults are sure to be
thrilled about the fresh air and exercise and if they aren’t, I’m an excellent
forger.”
And that is how Ben and I got to know each
other again: two days of hiking with a school group; a walk in the park;
pitching tents; a campfire under the stars; and a few whispered assurances that
he’d looked forward to seeing me again since the first moment we’d met.
The morning after the hike, Ben, Harley,
Jenny and I went off to find extra firewood. I lagged behind and managed to
trip over a forgotten branch. I slipped and fell ten feet down a ravine. Ben
ran back to get me as I clutched on to a branch and dragged me back to the
raggedy edge, a true hero. I was (thankfully) uninjured and the trip served to
inspire within me, even more confidence in Ben.
He had climbed down the ravine, took my
hand in the afternoon sun and lifted me to safety. My smile betrayed pure
relief that the accident hadn’t been more severe than grazed knees and elbows.
Ben smiled assurances and didn’t let go of my hand until we were safely back on
track. There was strength in his touch. We were just teenagers but I was
definitely half way in love with him by then. I can’t tell you how I knew. You
just know.
I promised I’d tell you and I have: that
is how the great love affair began; with a cliff; a strong grip and a few words
of comfort.
