E-LTA Chapter 6

The next morning I woke up with my head aching like there was a
jackhammer was pounding into my temples. I squinted at the clock and it
said 8:30. I groaned and was contemplating just turning on my other
side and sleeping until noon, until I realized I had to be at class in
half an hour. Uh don't make me go, I thought to myself. Then I
envisioned Aaron and I made myself get out of bed and take some Tylenol
and get ready for class.
I got to the parking lot of St. Mary's the same time as Aaron did.
Aaron got out of his car and took one at me and knew something just
wasn't right.

"Are you ok? Did something happen?" He said walking up to me.

"I'll be fine. Tom called me last night." I said shrugging.

"What did he say?" He asked with a slight tone of anger in his
voice.

"He and Ashley are together." I replied nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry. Are you sure you're up for acting today?" He said pulling
me into a hug.

"I'm fine. I didn't get much sleep last night." I said hugging him
back.

"You positive?" He said looking me in the eyes.

I nodded and we both walked to the classroom. Rose and Sarah both
looked up from what they were doing to give me an inquisitive look.
They were about to interrogate me when I shot them a look that meant, I
definitely do not want to talk about it. They sat back down and nodded.
I relaxed slightly taking my favorite seat the stairs to the stage.
Aaron sat on the stair next to me and I just leaned on him for comfort.
It was starting to be come automatic to me. I stopped even paying
attention to when I was doing it.

The class went on and we did our scene in front of Adam. Usually I
would be all psyched to be even in the same room as Adam (like I said
I'm boy crazy), but I was just drained of any emotion. Aaron kept on
giving me a questioning look to see if I was ok, and I would just shrug
my shoulders.

After we were done with Adam, Aaron walked me up the hill because I
actually said I'd rather walk. We walked silently until about halfway
up when I just started to vent.

"What the hell am I supposed to be feeling right now? Am I supposed to
be angry? Sad? What? Because I have no clue what to feel. I feel
nothing. My best friend, ex-best friend I should say is with my
ex-boyfriend. I thought there was this unwritten code that said 'do not
date your best friend's ex's'. Part of the reasons I broke up with him
was so she wouldn't have to deal with him anymore because I felt like I
was using her. Grrrrr!" I just started to ramble. "Sorry for venting to
you."

"It's fine, go ahead that's why I'm here."

"I feel better actually thanks."

"I didn't do anything."

"You listened. That's more than what most of my friends do. The moment
I even attempt to vent, they interrupt me with their tale of
woe."

"No problem, I'm just glad that you finally snapped out of that trance
you have been in since the beginning of class. If you didn't snap out
of it I was going to have to go to some drastic measures." He said
kindly.

"Um, and what drastic measures would those be?" I said intrigued.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out."

"Oh really? I too have my ways of finding things out." I said
joking.

"I knew that would help. You want to get something from Liz's?"

"Some tea would be good." I replied. "Yes, some tea with honey and a
lemon. Do you think that would be possible?"

"You are an odd one."

"It's in the job description. 'Must be able to be odd, think, say and
do odd things'. Of course, I have other strange and unusual things that
can be linked to me. For example the monsters that I mentioned that
live in my room. If you think those are the only two figments I have
you have another thing coming."

"I remember Figment, he was the little purple dragon from the Journey
into the Imagination ride."

"Poor Figment, they killed you." I lamented.

"What?!"

"They rebuilt the ride and Figment is well, just a figment."

"That's terrible."

"I know, it was my favorite ride." I said melodramatically.

We continued our conversation about the death of Figment and other
Disney related things. After a while I just forgot why I was in the
funk I was in. I wish I could just take Aaron with me everywhere with
me so if I was sad later in the day I could just turn to him and I'd
feel better. A pocket Aaron. Then I remembered the story I was writing.
It was around 25 pages now; the lead of the story was Aaron of
course.

"Story update," I said as I finished up my cup of tea. "It's now 25
pages long."

"Wow." He said clearly impressed.

"Yeah, that's all I do now other than homework is write."

"That's good though."

"I call it writer's flood. It's the opposite of writer's block. I just
set myself in front of the computer and I stay there until I feel
tired. Sometimes I write from 7 until midnight, sometimes longer. God I
have no life."

"You're doing something that you enjoy though. That's all that counts."
He said chuckling.

"Yeah, that's true. Well, I guess I'll be going. I'll talk to you
later." I said smiling.

"See you later. Good luck with your writing."

"Thanks." I said going to the door of the building.

I went up to my room, and I went straight to my computer. I stared at
the computer screen for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do
next. Then my fingers started typing and I didn't stop until nearly
3:30. When I saved my story and looked to see how many pages I had
actually written I was shocked. It went from 25 pages to 40 pages, it
nearly doubled. At the rate that I'm going I'll be finished within the
month. If I finish it soon, I will do something special with it and
give it to Aaron.
I was getting ready for class when the "communicator" was slide under
my door by my RA. I picked it up to see what was in it. The thing that
leapt from the pages was the advertisement for the Fall Ball. It was
next Friday. I really wanted to go, but I didn't really want to go all
by myself. Not that I'm not used to going to dances by myself and
having a blast, I wanted to go with Aaron. I know that we would have a
great time, even if we just went as friends.
I just have to figure out how to ask him. I hope that if I actually
get the guts to ask him to go to the dance with me, he'll actually say
yes. Ok, I have to go to class now, but as soon as I get back I will
find a way to ask Aaron.
In class my mind wandered more than usual. I found myself doodling
silly little cartoons of little stick figures dancing and having fun,
with little bubbles above them saying: "Gosh, I'm having such a great
time!" and "Fall Ball a chance for romance". Then I started to write
some more of my story. Needless to say I wasn't paying much attention
to the lecture of Middle English; thankfully I read about it in high
school so I know I'm not missing too much. Eventually I gave up on the
doodling and just started to write a story that popped into my head.
This way it looked like I was actually taking lots of notes; I've
perfected the knowing nod. You look up from the paper and look at the
teacher for a few seconds. You're not actually paying attention to what
the teacher is saying instead you are trying to figure out where to go
next in the story. It has worked, plus you actually do get the gist of
what the teacher is saying. I guess I have to admit I can have a slight
tendency to have Attention Deficient Disorder. I just can't sit still
and look blankly at a teacher and take notes blindly for more than half
an hour. The first sign is my pencil starts to bob in the air as if it
wants to tap the paper or desk. I realize then that this might distract
or annoy the teacher so I start to tap my foot, and then I realize this
also might be annoyance so then I start to doodle. I swear they need to
do a class where I can just pace around the room or be in a rocking
chair. Maybe then I could actually learn everything that I'm supposed
to, although I happen to obtain a great deal of information, it's just
weird how it happens.

The professor concludes class and I barely look up from my story that I
have started to write. I realize I must actually leave class before my
teacher realizes I wasn't really paying attention. I collect my things
and go before Ashley can come up to me and say something. That was
another reason my mind was wandering. Ashley had the common courtesy to
come to class late wearing a shirt of Tommy's that I helped pick out.
Amazingly I kept calm, I just glared at the back of her head for five
minutes thinking unsavory demises for the two of them. Then, I went to
doodling, and writing, and I forgot about the world around me for a
little while. My form of escape is my writing.

I get back to my room; I click my away message away to see if any body
chose to talk to me while I was in class. No messages from the instant
messengers. I did have an e-mail. I clicked the little blue mailbox
with the yellow envelope sticking out of it. "You've got mail". Well
let's see what mail I've got. The window opened and I saw the familiar
e-mail address. Aaron wrote me. Yay! I opened it up eagerly. It
said:

Hey,
You weren't on today. I wanted to see if you wanted to rehearse our
scene tomorrow night at 7. Well, I'll talk to you later.
Aaron

Short and to the point, the total opposite of most of the e-mails I
write. My friends would die of shock if I ever sent an e-mail so short.
So I replied to his e-mail, in my typical fashion ramble on and on,
hoping that I actually get to a point eventually. By the time I signed
my name at the end of the e-mail it was at least three very large
paragraphs long. I didn't learn brevity in school apparently. I clicked
the send button; the e-mail was on its way. Two minutes after I sent it
Aaron came on.

Artboy: Hey there!
Alley8199: Hello, I just sent you an e-mail.
Artboy: So I noticed.
Alley8199: :-P
Artboy: So the Ashley and Tom front is still not good I take it.
Alley8199: There's an understatement.
Artboy: Ouch, that bad huh?
Alley8199: When you see your best friend come to class wearing your
ex's oversized shirt you helped pick out it's the last nail in the
coffin.
Artboy: You're okay though aren't you?
Alley8199: I'm fine. I just shot little daggers into her skull with my
eyes.
Artboy: You want me to come over there?
Alley8199: No, you don't have to continually come to my rescue every
time a tear threatens to fall.
Artboy: What if I want to?
Alley8199: I can handle it myself. I'm used to it.
Artboy: What you're not used to is having someone looking after you
constantly.
Alley8199: Other than my mother?
Artboy: Yes.
Alley8199: Let's just say, I'm used to being the one who comes to
people's rescue. I don't like to be the damsel in distress.
Artboy: Being the damsel in distress doesn't mean you're weak.
Alley8199: I know.
Artboy: Then let me come over and we can go for a drive or
something.
Alley8199: Tell me why you want to do this?
Artboy: Because I don't want you to be unhappy and alone. If I can be
there with you then at least I can work with the alone part if no the
unhappy part too.
Alley8199: Too bad you own an orange Ford Focus.
Artboy: Huh?
Alley8199: I was referring to the white knight and his white
horse.
Artboy: Aren't you clever.
Alley8199: I try.
Artboy: So how about it? I could get a pizza.
Alley8199: You won't stop bothering me until I say yes will you?
Artboy: Not a chance. Pizza, with pepperoni, sausage, olives and
mushrooms, a salad and breadsticks.
Alley8199: Ok I give.
Artboy: I'll be there in half an hour; I'll call when I get up
there.
Alley8199: Alrighty then.

I signed off AOL and then shut off my computer. Turned around in my
chair and just stared at the utter chaos that is my room. I put in a
fun CD and went to work. I cleared off the floor and put everything in
their proper places. I was just organizing my desk when the phone rang;
I was so wrapped up in my work that I jumped like two feet in the air.
I picked up the phone and it was Aaron. I told him I would be down in a
second.
I hung up the phone and grabbed my key. I glanced around my room one
last time to make sure everything was in order, and then went out the
door. I went down in the elevator and Aaron was standing there with his
hands full. He had a pizza box, a smaller box, which probably held the
breadsticks, and two clear containers that contained the salads.

"Here let me help you with those." I said taking the salads before he
could protest other wise.

"Thanks." He said smiling.

"No problem. So, how much did this cost?" I asked pushing the button
for my floor.

"Don't worry about it."

"You're going to spoil me." I said opening the elevator door when we
reached the floor.

"Good because you deserve it."

I stopped dead in my tracks turned around and looked at him shocked, I
felt my cheeks burn, and I knew they were growing a nice shade of
red.

"Uh-oh, did I make you speechless?"

"I'm not used to all of this. Let me for at least half of it." I
replied opening the door to my room.

I walked into my room set down the salads on the desk and put handed
got the plates out and sat down on the bed.

"Nope. You'll just have to start getting used to it. Just because some
people took you for granted and didn't treat you right doesn't mean
everyone will.
Everyone around you knows how talented you are, but how many of them
really care whether or not you succeed? Probably most of them roll
their eyes when you tell them you're writing something new." He said
putting a hand on my arm so that I would look at him.

I sat there on the bed taking in everything he had just said. I've
waited such a long time for someone to appreciate me for me; not
because of the clothes I wear or the money I have but for me. I spent
most nights and days dreaming of what it would sound like, but no
matter how much dreaming you do when that moment actually comes it's a
shock. Tears started to sting my eyes. I wasn't even sure why I was
crying.

"Don't cry. That's the last thing I wanted to happen." He said softly,
unsure of what to do.

I took one look at his sad face and gave him a big hug. "Thank
you."

"Um, you're thanking me for making you cry?" He asked confused.

"You are such a guy! Not every tear that is shed is from being sad.
What you said just now was probably the sweetest thing anybody has said
to me just shy of 'I love you'. Even when people have said 'I love you'
I felt as though they expected something from me. With the exception of
family of course." I said kissing him on the cheek taking advantage of
his confusion.

"You are really something else aren't you?" He said getting the salads
and handing one of them to me.

"I'm a girl, I'm supposed to have screwed up emotions." I said after
taking a bite of salad.

"No, not that. I'm talking about how you just can turn the tables from
you being the one who is being supported to being the one who is being
supportive." He said smiling.

"Well, it's just a reflex I guess. Let's eat this pizza before it gets
cold shall we?" I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh, I brought something to watch. I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not. What goes better with pizza than a movie?"

"I'm sure you'll like it."

"Why what is it?"

"A little birdie told me what your all time favorite movie was and I
went to Blockbuster and got it."

"High Spirits! You went and found High Spirits? Ok, you have officially
spoiled me. Spoiled as a rotten egg only without the awful sulfur smell
of course." I said giddily.