Cigarettes and Skittles

Chapter 2

On the way home, mom texted me a list of a few grocery items so I took a detour through a mini supermarket. As I opened the doors to home with grocery bags in hand, the smell of dinner wafting from the kitchen carried me there. 

“What’s smelling so good?” putting down the groceries on the table, I went to see for myself. “Thought I’d whip up something special for Theo” taking a spoonful of gravy and blowing to cool it down, my dad made me taste it. 

“It tastes so good, is this Indian food” 

“Yes, it’s butter gravy with cottage cheese, your mother is bringing naan bread that goes along with it after picking your brother” 

“Aww man!! His football camp is already over. Who am I kidding, that kid is thousand times better than that ‘she’ devil.”

“You know Emily is just like you. Anyway I mean to talk to you about school” looking up from stirring the pot he waits for my affirmation.

“Okay…….what about school” I replied with uncertainty whilst thousands of things ran through my head that he could know about school.

“You know since it’s your senior year of high school, your mom is more stressed than ever. And even though she comes off a little….um…..strong at times, we both want what's best for you. Now since your mother is bad at confrontation, just like you, she still hasn’t talked to you about it. So, I’ll ask- What do you want to do after school. Are you considering college? Your mom and I want you to think about it, although at the end of the day it’s going to be your decision, big boy.” He looked at me expecting an answer while I was at the loss of words. What am I supposed to say? that even I have no idea Steve. I don’t think that’s a good thing to say so I said what will stop this discussion and nagging from mom for a while.

“I need some time to think about this.” 

“yeah take your time, and tell me what will you rate my cottage cheese butter gravy on the scale of 1 to 10” and just like that we pretended to ignore the big college talk for a while.

~

Next day I actually reached school on time but decided to skip 1st period nonetheless. After getting bored smoking alone all through the 1st period, I joined class for the second period, Maths. I won’t go as far as to label myself as a nerd but I’m pretty decent at maths. After solving the calculus worksheet, save for a few that I didn’t get, I packed my bag as the class ended. Just as I was about to be bored to death from Literature, the bell rang signalling lunch. Ahh finally! This is the reason why I don’t like to attend classes. As I got out of the class, I realised I haven’t packed anything for lunch and since I don’t have my motorbike on me, I turned towards the cafeteria to satiate my growling stomach. 

“Dude, exit is this side, wait, why are you walking there? Why are we going towards the cafeteria” Max continued, confused to see me continuing school after lunch two days in a row.

“I didn’t bring lunch” picking up the tray, I got in line to get some food. Everyone was low-key staring but it doesn’t bother me at this point. As I sat down at one of the corner tables in the cafeteria, the two girls sitting there scurried off, Max joined me. 

“So what are we doing here after two years?” Dan said, sitting down beside me along with Kai taking a seat next to Max. 

“How are you guys back this early?” I thought they were suspended till this weekend.

“Yeah, my dad just couldn’t let the black sheep ruin his name, so we are back bitches” Kai responded while typing on his iPhone. 

“Why would you even beat Jack, I mean he always talks crap but we let it slide at school” biting into the pizza, I looked at Dan for explanation.

Except everyone was looking behind me. I turned to look at the crazy girl from yesterday. I didn’t know she went to this school? But then again I don’t exactly know a lot of people from highschool. Now that she isn’t crying and disheveled like yesterday she looks less homeless.

“I wanted to thank you for the coffee yesterday, here” and she puts a packet of skittles on the table, in front of me.

“Congrats, dude”

“Oh she’s cute, she bought candy”

“So, the beast is finally tamed”

Amidst the boys congratulating me for god knows what and an awkward skittle-girl just standing there, a high-pitched voice joins the conversation

“So, you started going on dates apparently” the question was directed at me and from the looks of it, Kasey looked really pissed, she eyed the skittle girl with disgust and returned her questioning glare at me. Phew! And who says girls can’t be scary.

“I didn’t go on any date. Even if I did it doesn’t concern you, so stop nosing in my business and go get a life” fed up with all the drama, I got up from the table and left the cafeteria.

~

As I stepped out of the school, I was already dreading the walk home. Nonetheless, I started dragging my foot towards home. I would’ve gotten a ride with Kai but the guys took off after lunch. As I turned the corner, something pushed me slightly from the back making me turn around ready to knock s**t out of anyone when-

“Hey” standing there bashfully was the skittle girl.

“Don’t ever surprise me like that again, I could’ve punched you there” shaking my head at the silliness, I continued my walk while the girl started walking beside me.

“But you didn't”

“You might not be so lucky every time.”

I started to walk a bit faster to get rid of her. She started jogging to match my pace,

“Hey! can you slow down a bit, I am trying to have a conversation with you” seeing her struggling to talk while jogging, I slowed down.

“What is it?” I turned to look at her face, surprise written all over it. Composing herself quickly she continued,

“I just wanted to apologize to you, for causing all that commotion in the cafeteria. Also, I didn’t get to thank you properly for your kind gesture yesterday.” holding a hand to show she hasn’t finished talking, she resumed “I know your mom told you to give that coffee but you still approached me, I had a really bad day and you made it a bit better. Now normally I wouldn’t go talk to a person I barely know this much but you seem like a nice person” and then she smiled at me. Not a tiny, being polite smile. No, it was a big smile. I looked at her smile a few extra seconds more than what’s socially acceptable and even though I wanted to tell it was all a facade, a show I put on for my mother, I decided to swallow my words to let her radiate her positivity.

“It’s alright” and we continued walking in silence. After 15-20 minutes of blissful silence where our shoes hitting the grounds are the only source of sound she spoke again,

“I’m Ruth Flores by the way. I noticed that I forgot to mention my name, it was rude of me” oh yeah I didn’t know her name for so long “Can I ask what’s yours?” Excuse me! I looked at her to see if she’s joking but seeing her clueless face ravaged my confidence.

“Abel Hudson” I grumbled, still upset about my newfound unpopularity. 

“O-kay….umm….I’ll part my way from here, my house is down the street. Thanks for letting me walk with you.” waving him goodbye, she turned to walk towards her home.

As Abel watched her waving him goodbye and walking with a skip in her steps before entering the gate to her yard, despite being himself, his lips broke into a tiny smile.