Another Way

Two: A Secret Agreement-1

~ Two ~

A Secret Agreement

Chloe quickly turned the dial to the right—24, then twice around to the left—14, and finally back to the right—38. “Come on”, she thought, “I’m running out of time.” She glanced down at her watch and saw there were only two minutes remaining until the tardy bell rang. Frustrated, Chloe grumbled to herself, “Why do I have a locker which is so hard to open?” She pressed the handle up and pulled hard this time. “There! Finally!”

Chloe grabbed her Spanish book and English literature text, slammed the locker shut, and began making her way through the overly crowded hallways of Lincoln High School. As she sidestepped between the clusters of students, ducked here and there, and elbowed a stranger once or twice, Chloe managed to slide into her desk just ten seconds before the bell rang. Her Spanish teacher, Señor Escobar, stood at the front of the room, tapping his pencil, waiting to catch any tardy victims. Chloe quickly readied herself for the intense lesson, which was about to take place, but she scanned the other side of the classroom for her best friend, Amanda. Although it was quite irritating that Señor Escobar made the students sit alphabetically, thus separating the two best friends, Chloe knew if she sat next to Amanda, they would be tempted to talk incessantly.

As the irritating high-pitched bell rang for seemingly endless seconds, Chloe’s eyes caught Amanda’s and they smiled. Although Chloe secretly wished they had more classes together, it was good to have at least two which were the same—Spanish and yearbook. As Señor Escobar began scribbling the lesson on the whiteboard, Chloe thought about how incredibly fast the first few weeks of school had gone by. It had seemed as though it was only yesterday when she was sitting by her lagoon and anticipating high school. Returning home from the beach, registering for classes, trying out for the tennis team, shopping for bargains on school clothes, and mentally gearing up for the big transition into high school had quickly eaten up the rest of her summer vacation. And once school started, time seemed to fly by even more quickly. Chloe was excited about all her classes—Spanish, English, yearbook, algebra, ceramics, and tennis team. She was grateful she had taken geography and health in summer school to lessen the homework load this first year in high school.

“Señorita Wheeler, would you please read off the first three answers of your homework assignment?”

Chloe was startled by the request, but immediately began to recite her responses she had diligently worked on the night before.

“Muy bien. Muchas gracias, Señorita.”

Chloe took a deep sigh of relief and sank down a little in her chair. She glanced over at her best friend through the side of her eye and saw Amanda was giggling. To avoid joining in, Chloe cupped her hand around her temple and blocked her vision in Amanda’s direction. Once one of them started to laugh, it was all over. Chloe knew she could not look over there again!

Making his way around the classroom and calling on students, Señor Escobar finally singled out Amanda. He knew she was really good in Spanish; in fact, she probably should have been placed in Spanish II. Señor Escobar loved her accent and often called on Amanda to construct long answers or read passages for the rest of the class to hear and emulate. Chloe thought about how Amanda had spent several summers in Mexico with her church youth group helping to build simple houses, tiny churches, and crude but clean outdoor toilet facilities for some of the poorest villages. Chloe often envied Amanda’s ability to give so selflessly of her time and energy. Amanda told Chloe many times, “I do this for God. It is what He would want me to do. I love serving Him in this way.” Chloe didn’t quite understand it all. Amanda was raised going to church every Sunday and became a Christian at the age of ten. On the other hand, Chloe’s family did not go to church or profess any belief in a specific religion or God. Her father said he really wasn’t sure about the whole God thing, and her mom never spoke about her true feelings. Therefore, Chloe wasn’t sure what her mom believed or didn’t believe. Amanda was bugging Chloe for a long time to go to a youth group with her, but Chloe just didn’t have the desire to and she thought she might upset her parents by attending it.

As Amanda finished up her eloquent dialogue, the class responded with a few cheers and a round of applause. Even Señor Escobar burst forth with his favorite words, “Excelente, muy bien!” In embarrassment, Amanda buried her face in her folded arms on her desk. Her shoulder-length, sandy blonde hair shielded the redness in her face, but when she emerged from behind her veil of locks, her light blue eyes seemed even brighter against the still pink coloring in her cheeks. Chloe thought to herself how pretty Amanda was. Even though Amanda was much shorter and bigger-boned than Chloe, she carried herself with a gracefulness and an attractiveness evident to all. Perhaps it was her smile and her easy-going personality which seemed to brighten up and lighten up a whole room of people. Chloe thought to herself how grateful she was to have such a close friend. They had known each other for three years, and in spite of some of their differences, they always talked through their misunderstandings and remained loyal to their friendship.

Chloe glanced around the room and she could see Amanda pointing to her watch—about ten minutes left to go. By the time Señor Escobar finished explaining the night’s homework, there were just a few minutes left in the period. He finally concluded and the students began shuffling their papers and loading up their backpacks. The noise level began to rise as students’ anticipation grew to escape the classroom and join their friends for a few brief moments of much-needed texting or conversation.

“Adiós, Señores e Señoritas. Hasta mañana!” With the simultaneous shrill of the bell, students flew from their seats and whisked their way into the buzzing hallways. Amanda and Chloe were forced out the doorway with the movement of the crowd and found themselves caught up in the stream of flowing students. Both girls immediately grabbed for their phones, which were buried in their backpacks, and turned them on. At Lincoln High, phones were required to be off during class time. Chloe checked her messages while Amanda kept searching through her heavy bag.

Amanda laughingly asked, “Can you believe how stupid I sounded reading off the entire passage today?”

“Oh, come on, Amanda. You sounded great and you know it! The rest of us just wish you weren’t quite as good as you are! You make us look pretty pathetic!” Chloe laughed too and they both walked on, scanning their texts and emails.

“Chlo, I’ll see you at lunch! Wait for me outside the quad area by the lunch tables. You know, our usual place!”

“Okay, but I wanted to ask you if you’re going to be busy after school today. I think I’m gonna need help on some of our Spanish homework. Do you have time?”

“Sure, what do you think I’m doing—going out on a Wednesday?” Amanda said jokingly.

“Well, ya never know, Amanda. It seems like Blair Stevens wants to spend more and more time with you...”

“Oh, be quiet, Chlo. We’re just friends,” Amanda insisted but grinned with her familiar Cheshire smile.

“Yeah, right! Have you told him that?” Chloe kept the teasing going.

“Well, no...there hasn’t been a need to,” Amanda responded with a more serious tone. “Not yet, anyway.”

Chloe and Amanda both smiled and then sighed quietly to themselves. They both knew Blair liked Amanda, more than just for a friend. But they would let it drop for now. They both had classes to get to.

“Okay, see ya at lunch!” yelled Chloe as she headed down the opposite hallway.

“And don’t worry about Spanish,” shouted Amanda. “We’ll get it done after school! See ya in a while. Adios Señorita Wheeler!”

Chloe turned and mouthed the words, “Adios, Señora Stevens!”

Amanda made an obnoxious face at her best friend as she began to sprint to her next class.

* * *

Under the scantily shady palm tree, Chloe waited for her friend to emerge from the swarm of students. It was still uncomfortably hot for a September afternoon. As Chloe continued to scan the mass of sweaty students, she wondered to herself—as she had so many times over the years -why on earth people came to live in the desert of Southern California. “It’s got to be at least 115 degrees,” she mumbled to herself. “Come on, Amanda, hurry up!” As the beads of perspiration rolled down her back, Chloe finally caught sight of Amanda who was forging her way through the thick bus lines.

“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting almost fifteen minutes! I texted you several times, but you didn’t answer!” Chloe’s voice revealed a strong hint of exasperation. “I thought you’d left without me.”

“I’m sorry, Chlo. Blair stopped me after my last class and wanted to talk. I lost track of time.” Amanda looked apologetically at Chloe. “Come on. My mom’s waiting over there to give us a ride.”

Chloe and Amanda dodged their way through the maze of cars and squeezed into the doors of the familiar silver Cadillac SUV. Amanda hopped into the front seat while Chloe climbed into the back. The cool air from the car brought instant relief from the scorching heat outside.

“Hi, Mrs. Hill. Wow, does it feel good in here!”

“Hello, Chloe.” Turning to smile to her daughter, Mrs. Hill added, “Hi, honey. And, yes, it is way too hot for September! And, it’s too hot for school, right girls?”

“You got it, Mom,” sighed Amanda. “Chloe is coming over for a while to work on some Spanish homework together. Hope that’s alright?”

“Of course it is.” Glancing in the rear view mirror, Mrs. Hill caught Chloe’s eyes. “You can stay for dinner if you’d like? There’s plenty of food and it would give you some extra time.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Hill. I need to check with my mom first, but I’m sure she won’t mind.” Chloe sat back comfortably in the large cushioned seat. She looked over at Mrs. Hill and thought about what a busy and unselfish person she was. Amanda’s mom and dad divorced when Amanda was only four. Her mom re-married to Steven Hill two years after the divorce and had three more children—twin boys who were age six and a three year old little girl. Mrs. Hill was always shuffling kids around, baking goodies for special occasions, making time for fun activities, and even volunteering part time at the twins’ school. Chloe often wondered if Amanda ever resented all the attention and time the younger kids got, but then Amanda never complained. In fact, she always spoke so highly of her mom and her step-dad.

After swinging by to pick up the twins—Jacob and Jesse—from their soccer practice and little Nicole from pre-school, they arrived at the Hill’s sprawling Southwest home. Amanda and Chloe quickly excused themselves from the rest of the family and disappeared into Amanda’s bedroom. Amanda dropped her books on her desk and flopped on her large white canopied bed while Chloe sprawled across the thick light green area rug covering the large terracotta tiles. As she ran her fingers through the tightly woven threads, her eyes scanned the over-sized, delicately decorated bedroom. Amanda’s step-dad was a doctor and her parents could afford the finest of things. Her room resembled a picture out of House Beautiful with the white quilted spread matching the curtains, and the mint green trim on the heavy pine dressers and nightstands blending perfectly into the lush rug below. Amanda had a collection of dolls from all over the world, mounted in etched glass and pine cases hanging neatly from the pastel green adobe walls. Even her piano certificates and swimming awards were professionally framed and displayed strategically throughout the room. Chloe’s eyes continued their thorough scan until suddenly Amanda flung her upper torso over the edge of the bed and scared Chloe half to death!