Don't Wander

Breaking the Silence

Over the next few weeks, my life was pretty uneventful. There was one reoccurring event that left me baffled though. Once a week, on different days, Eden would leave algebra for about ten minutes and then come back. He got a pass from the teacher, Mrs. Blue, every time. No one else in the class, including myself, managed to get a pass from her. We couldn’t go to the bathroom, the water fountain, or our lockers during class, period. This made me wonder what reason Eden would have that justified his comings and goings.

One day, I decided to break the silence that had built up between he and I since his trip to my house. We were working on interpreting a poem in English, and we were allowed to help one another if needed. I turned around and spoke quietly to Eden, “So, have I been doing a good job minding my own business lately?”

He shrugged nonchalantly and said, “I guess. Is there any particular reason why you’re talking to me?”

“Not really. I’m a nice person, I don’t need a reason.”

“Well I’m not, and I do need one, so...” We waved his hands at me in a shooing motion, and I ignored him.

“So how is school going for you?”

“Fine,” he said, without looking at me. I looked down at his paper, and saw that he had already analyzed it.

“Wow, you’re fast. Did you just make up something to write?”

He scowled at me and said, “No, only lazy people make up answers. I’ve already read this poem and discussed it in class.”

“Oh. Why do you move so much?”

“I take back what I said before. You’re not doing a good job minding your own business.”

I laughed and said, “Darn. Well since I’ve already messed that up, I won’t worry about it anymore. What’s it like living in so many different places?”

He sighed and answered, “It sucks. It’s really difficult keeping up with the work when you’re always coming in halfway through the year. Everywhere is different, and stuff isn’t done the same. Adjusting isn’t a snap. I’ve failed twice.”

“I’m sorry. I have no idea what that’s like... I've lived here my entire life. So why do you move so much?”

“I belong nowhere, so I don’t stay anywhere for long,” again he didn’t meet my eyes.

“You don’t have any family?”

“No.”

He sounded like he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but I took a risk and asked, “Where are they?”

“They’re dead. Does that satisfy your curiosity, or do you want to ask me how they died and if it was gruesome?”

Stunned, I said, “N-no, I’m so sorry. That must be awful...”

“Whatever.” I felt bad for upsetting him, but I was actually getting information out of him, so I thought of something else to ask him.

“You said you failed twice. How old are you?”

“Nineteen. How 'bout you princess?”

“Very funny. I’m seventeen. When’s your birthday?”

“Why does it matter?"

"Humor me," I pleaded.

"Fine. If you must know, it's January eleventh.”

“No way! Mine’s the same day,” I said a little too loudly. Mr. Mitchell walked over and I pretended to be working on my poem. I asked Eden, “So what do you think line six means? I don’t get it.” Mr. Mitchell gave me a suspecting look, but went back to his desk.

Eden smiled crookedly and joked, “Nice evasion there. You must be an expert or something, 'cause that was great. He’ll never figure out that we weren’t actually working.”

I laughed and said, “Shut up, it worked, didn’t it?”

He looked at the teacher and mock whispered, “Yea, but I don’t think Mitchell’s crayon box is entirely full, if you know what I mean.” I had to stop myself from snorting unattractively.

“You’re such a jerk sometimes.”

Eden placed a hand on his chest and said with false sincerity, “That hurt.” And then he added sarcastically, “I’ve been nothing but woefully kind to you. And how do you repay my generosity? By bugging me and asking me a bunch of pointless and personal questions.”

“See what I mean? You prove my point.”

“Yeah, but you like it.” Then he smiled as if he had just gotten away with something bad.

“I do not! You’re so full of yourself.” I could feel my cheeks getting hot, so I grabbed my paper and turned away from him.

He laughed mockingly and said, “Maybe I wouldn’t be if you didn’t make it so simple. I meant what I said on the first day of school."

I glanced sideways and asked, "Which was what?"

"You obviously want my number."

"Ugh!" I twirled back around to face the front.

"By the way, you look good when you turn pink. It’s cute.” It was not cute. At all. He just wanted me to feel even more embarrassed. I despised him for that, but relished the compliment at the same time. I was beginning to think I was turning into a complete psychopath. I decided to ask him one more question and turned back around.

“Where do you go during algebra? You’re the only one who can leave, and it’s totally annoying. Does Mrs. Blue have a crush on you or something?”

Eden looked at me blandly and said, “Ha. Funny. You’re the one with the crush, babe, and you know it. Where I go is none of your business, or anyone else’s. The teacher excuses me because I have a better reason than the rest of you. Everyone can just suck it.” I huffed, and turned back, for good this time. If he wouldn’t tell me, I would find out some other way.

Eden was right about one thing though; I did have a crush on him. He affected me in a way that no one else did, and I wasn’t so sure that I liked it.