Part Three: Aaron's Rebuttals
I couldn't believe myself! After working up the courage to confront Jenn in the hallway outside the library, after realizing that she too felt the same way about me as I did she, and after driving her home even... I lost my edge and bailed! She must have looked like a psychopath trying to explain to her parents the 'invisible boy' that drove her home... they probably thought that she was raped and was just covering for whoever threatened her at knife-point.
"What if, because of my actions, she doesn't even come to school today? If, by sheer chance, her parents decided that public school isn't safe for her... It would be all my fault... I don't think I can live with knowing that I was solely responsible for making Jenn go away permanently!"
I paced back and forth at the base of the steps of the school. Five minutes before school started and I was panicking. If she didn't show up, I was ready and willing to drive straight over to her house and explain to her parents the entire set of events that occurred last night, especially that of my cowardice. "No, no... I can't think negatively. She'll show up, and everything will be just fine..."
"But what am I gonna say to her?!" I accidentally blurted aloud. The stares of every passerby did nothing to dampen my panic, but only went oblivious to my attentions. "Okay... calm down Aaron. Everything's going to be just fine. Just simply apologize and let her vent out all her pent up aggression on you in one quick, castrating swipe-CRAP! I gotta stop thinking like that!"
My mind was in overdrive, which was a perfect match for my feet as they raced back and forth, plowing over any poor flower, insect, or person that got in the way without the slightest of apology. It wasn't just that I was overreacting and knew it, but the fact that I was overreacting about someone that knew almost nothing about me other than my physical appearance and yet enjoyed the simplest of my company. I wanted both to impress her by any means necessary, and share with her all of the thoughts that had spun through my mind throughout the whole of the past night. But to do that, I would have to share with her feelings and emotions that never before had graced my mental strains. I would have to admit to her that I didn't see her for the color of her fur (or the presence of fur thereof), nor the brilliance of her slightly younger mind, but the collaboration of her very being that made her perfect in my sight.
"What in the hell have I gotten myself into?" I stated flatly as my face collided with an unusually jagged brick wall that was the north end of the school. Knowing that I had unintentionally gashed the crest of my hairline open, I let myself stay pressed up against the wall in a slightly awkward position. "That... was both painful... and stupid... Ouch..."
It would have been about this time that one of the multiple witnesses to my melodramatic show would come up and try to be as helpful as their soulless hearts could allow, but no. I, instead, was left to collect myself in peace, which I really had no intention to do. I only wanted to curl up and die... "All over a girl..."
Of course, with the astounding luck that I seem to possess, it could have been none other than a certain someone who was on her way to school that just so happened to noticed a hunched heap against the wall and decided to help. "Hey, are you okay? Do you need any he-Aaron?!" Imagine both my joyful surprise and complete shame to find Jenn did come to school, only to find me like this...
Most, I could imagine, would have answered while still face-first against a wall, but I was not most, and most didn't have Jenn to look forward to. So, with a swift turn and a drop of blood unknowingly dripping off my nose, I smiled and gave my answer, "Jenn! I can't believe you showed up! After what I did last night, I was sure that you'd never be let out of your front door again!"
My attempt to move closer to her was cut short by a yelp that was met with her rushing toward me instead. "Aaron! You're bleeding! Are you okay? What happened?" She made an attempt to wipe away the drying blood on my face with a tissue from her pocket, but most of it was already set and only partially flaked off.
I quickly removed her paw so that I could catch her line of sight. "I'm fine Jenn. I just got in a head-butting contest with the wall and... lost." I gave a large grin and pulled myself back so that I could fully appreciate who I was looking at.
She tried to stifle a laugh, but couldn't hold it all back as her lips cracked and a giggle erupted from them. "Aaron," she tried to say between giggles, "that's not funny. You need to get that cleaned up."
"Okay. I guess I can do with a bit of cleaning. Care to walk me to the restroom?" I offered out my arm, which she gratefully took in her own. We didn't say all too much as we walked through the emptying hallway, which was fine by me. I still had no idea how I was going to apologize for the day before.
The bell chimed in before we arrived at my destination, so I thought it be best if Jenn, at least, make it to class on time. With an 'I understand' nod from her, I opened the restroom door and proceeded to wash my face. The red wiped away easily enough, and since I had no other duties to preform, I dried off my hands and face and walked out.
Again being surprised by a swinging arm followed by a speeding body, I held up my arms defensively. Coming face to face with Jenn was much better than what I had expected, yet still left me awkwardly staring eye to eye with her. "Are you ever gonna let me get you, or are you always gonna get all defensive on me?" she said with a chirp in her voice.
Now, normally when faced with a stare-down between myself and someone else I could easily become very intimidating. But I had not the need, nor the want to do so. Instead, I thought I might as well take a risk, seeing as how I had already risked everything by bailing on her the night before without too much of a negative result. So, having my face only inches away from hers, I kissed her. No more than the smallest peck on the cheek, but enough to make it's point.
She released me immediately and backed up a few steps. At first I worried, but when I noticed that she was trying to stutter out words and her face was showing red through her fur, I knew that I had nothing to worry about. "I might think about it. But you're gonna have to stop being late to class before that'll happen."
The same smirk that I had the day previous was plastered on my face. "Share with Jenn emotions felt toward her... check." Really that wasn't all that I felt, but it was a start. I stepped toward her and reached out to grab her paws. She was still is such a stupor that she didn't notice my grasp. "Jenn, what say you and I get to class before we're really late?"
"I... that was... with the... and then the... yea'okay..."
We were off just as soon as I had one arm around her waist. The door was still open, so we walked in together. I didn't even care if anyone was watching or not. We strode to our seats in the back of the class and casually sat down. Every chance they got, all the students would go about whispering to one another until the teacher silenced them with his surprisingly booming History teacher voice, which was normally no louder than a dead mouse.
Now with a truly juicy piece of gossip in hand, every single person in the school was talking about 'Aaron and the Dog-Girl' as she seemed to now be referred to. Whenever I heard someone say that, be it spoken toward her or just catching it from behind as we passed, I made sure to correct their mistakes. I 'firmly' stated that her name was Jennifer, and nothing else.
Jenn told me that she had never been talked about before, and that she felt awkward toward some of my measures of getting people to call her by her name. It was during English that she finally questioned my methods. "Jenn, I'm sorry that you had to see me act the way I have, but trust me... for some of these people, it's the only way to get through to them. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't absolutely necessary."
With a nod of agreement by Ms. Raymond, Jenn accepted it as such. "Dear, you have to understand... Some of the kids in this school aren't used to having someone like you around. So when they're faced with it, they deal with it in the only way they know how, and that's to poke and prod at it until it fights back or leaves."
It wasn't until Jenn and I were peacefully walking through the hallway after Third Block that we were approached by a less-than-wanted visitor. Even though the voice was surrounded by fits of whispers and fits of other sounds I still knew exactly who it was...
"Now just look what we have here. I'm disappointed Pierce. Your taste in women is... somewhat lower than even I expected."
I turned to see not one, but five girls walking toward Jenn and I. In a perfect echelon formation it was easy to tell who the leader of the group was, and who the 'lackies' were. "Oh joy... Well, if it isn't a sight for sore legs. How was the football team, Christie?"
Obviously offended by my retort, she, Christie, snapped back, "Better than you could ever be little boy!"
"Really now? That's strange, because if I do recall correctly, I was the one that rejected you. So, in fact, you would have no way of knowing now, would you?" I said cooly. Much to my delight, I always had a knack for quick-thinking arguments. Whatever was thrown at me, I could just as easily throw something five times more powerful back.
"You know what?! It's... it's not my fault you'd pick this... bitch... over someone better like myse-"
"Oh no. You did not just say what I think you said!" She just made the mistake of her life. "You think that you're better? How can you even think that you're alive when, obviously, you haven't had a pulse since day one! You go about your day trying to prove your superiority by belittling people, or, for the select few who choose to not be intimidated by your 'popularity,' you try to pick apart by any means necessary!
"Does it make you feel better about yourself to put other people down? Do you get yourself turned on by every single hurtful word you say? Or do you even realize that what you say is hurtful? You must not, because that requires a little thing we humans call feeling.
"You are just another sadist, pseudo-fascist bastard that thinks that they are the most important creature in existence. The truth, whether you choose to hide from it or run away from it, is that you are the most sad, pathetic thing anyone that has two properly working eyes has ever seen before.
"No matter what you do, you will never escape the fact that you hold less authority in this world that every single blade of grass, linoleum tile, or person you've stepped on to reach the high-horse that you climbed up to. I hope you have a wonderful day, and please, for the love of God, do the world a favor... take your whore-friends, and crawl back into the dismal little pit that you slithered out of! Good day to you!"
Leaving behind a gaggle of dumbstruck girls and a hallway full of other students that had encircled us, I led Jenn away. Thankfully, we had forty-five minutes left of our lunch block to find something to eat.
"Aaron! I've never seen anything like that before! It was... amazing! How did you think that up so fast?" I smiled and explained my talent for thinking 'on the fly.' She nodded at each section of my answer, so I happily continued.
We walked on, out past the school and into the city. I had an idea for a quaint lunch that was a lot better than anything they served back at school. I was just glad that we had an open campus. After five minutes of walking and purposefully avoiding Jenn's questions, we arrived at my location of choice.
Nothing more than a plain-looking eatery, it actually held some of the most delicious food, in my opinion, in the city. Anything you wanted: Italian, Mexican, American, German... you name it, they had it.
"Aaron... C'mon, tell me where we're going!" she begged. The whining noise she was making had me ready to speak, but I opened the door for her and motioned her in before my tongue could betray me.
"Don't worry, I promise that you'll love this." I confidently said. The inside of the building was enough to take someone's breath away... more specifically Jenn's. From wall to wall there were sculptures, paintings ranging from Romanesque to early Grecian, and even a fountain in the center of the main room.
A man came forward and asked that we follow him to be seated. He was leading us to the general assembly room, but I had one more trick up my sleeve for Jenn. "Excuse me, sir, but could we please be seated in one of the private rooms. Preferably away from... hateful eyes."
With a nod we were moved past that section and into a low-lit room that had only one table for two. The decor gave off a Prussian feel and was accented with beautiful hand-carved candles. It was the perfect place for a nice, quiet lunch.
"So, Jenn, what do you think of the place?"
"It's... amazing! How in the world did you find a place like this? Oh my gosh! How much does it cost here?!" She started looking around everywhere. It was obvious that she had never seen a place like this before, and that it must have been natural to be so questionable about such a thing.
"Don't worry about it. Just consider it... an apology, for yesterday. I didn't intend on leaving when I did... I just got a bit scared and... yeah."
As the minutes passed, we both ordered, after some convincing that I had to do to assure that it was perfectly fine for me to pay. I wasn't about to tell her, but the place wasn't expensive at all thanks to my being friends with the proprietor. Nonetheless, in record time our food was served; Jenn a plate of fettuccini alfredo accompanied by a grilled chicken breast and myself an order of beef tips and fried noodles with a rich gravy.
Jenn wasted no time in scarfing down every last bite of her meal, as well as helping me with nearly half of mine (which I had planned on eating, by the way). I was almost afraid to ask if she wanted anything for desert, but thanks to time restraints I didn't have to. With a safe ten minutes left to get back to school before lunch was over, we made our way back.
A total of $12.57 spent so far in what I had hoped could be the start of an actual relationship and I was ready to take on the world, or at least that's how I felt. Jenn had only minor questions on the return trip, mainly dealing with my seemingly vast knowledge of the city and it's secret wonders. Actually, the small talk was really nice. It gave me a chance to just relax and simply talk with her about things other than myself or school.
We arrived back at school with a marginal three minutes left before the next block started, but it felt as though we had only begun to talk. I know that I was willing to skip school forever just to be able to spend more time with Jenn. What surprised me, though, was that I kept sensing that the feeling was mutual.
So, with mutual feelings in mind, we walked right past the front doors of the school and straight toward the city park, five blocks away. Minutes later we were sitting together on a park bench, inching closer and closer by the second. I brought my arms up in a stretching manner, only to bring my right arm down over Jenn's shoulders. She giggled and moved closer still, nudging into my side as she settled in.
With her head resting on my pectoral, my arm that had made it's way from her shoulders down to wrapping around her side, and the look of contentment plastered on both our faces it looked like we were a couple going on years of dating. In reality, neither one of us had even asked the other about dating, not that it was necessary seeing as how we didn't even know enough about the mainstream "dating scene" to know what was what and what was even supposed to be done. Well, she didn't at least. I, on the other hand, was unfortunate enough to have previous knowledge of what it was like to be asked out, and just how angry someone can get when their offer is refused.
Nevertheless, content we were. It must have been by sheer luck, but a song had imbedded itself into my mind from my music compilation and was quite fitting of our situation. Since we were going to miss choir anyway, I thought that I might as well get a little singing in for the day. "I could feel something different for the first time..." I started singing, quietly at first. "Heaven made sense, and all the words rhymed. No chance in stopping now, I'm taking it all..."
At first, Jenn was humming along to the tune, unbeknownst to me. Then, she surprised me by filling in the second part of the chorus. "And now I'm caught in the air, it's a good glide. Pass it up? Wouldn't dare. Oh, what a wild ride."
Now caught up with were I was once again, we finished in melodic unison. "I remember being ready and waiting to fall... Just like I did tonight."
"Mmm... Aaron, I love that song," she cooed. I couldn't have agreed more.
As we continued to sit and cuddle, I stroked her side lightly, feeling the soft fur through her t-shirt. There wasn't anything that I was trying to mean by it, other than just being close to her and making contact with her. And while her head was still resting right above my chest, I noticed that her eyes were closed and that she was making a strange sort of purring sound. It was almost like a cat, but deeper and much softer.
Without thinking I craned my head down and delivered a light kiss on her brow. She looked up at me with her paralyzing emerald eyes and smiled. Though the mechanics of it were somewhat awkward, Jenn did manage to kiss me back. Half pressing her muzzle against my lips, half trying to find the right mix of muscle movement, she did something that, given the physical basics, would be called a kiss.
Blushing once again, she retreated back to the safety of my chest. I smiled and stared back into the trees, quickly blanking out into space, then nothingness. My thoughts drifted into the breeze as Jenn and I sat holding each other. From then on I promised myself to embrace moments like that and never let her go.
* * * * *
"Jenn...? Wake up Jenn... we need to get going..."
I nudged her until she stirred. She looked around first with sleepy disconcern, then with confused panic. "Wha-where..."
I tried to calm her best I could. "Jenn... Jenn. It's okay. You're safe. You've just been sleeping, that's all. But you need to wake up, it's about time we need to start heading back to school."
She groaned and squirmed, but sleep finally relinquished it's hold on her and she started moving in a more positive manner. Though it took her a while, she finally stood up, with a small limp in her stance which I took for her leg being asleep. "What time is it?"
"It's almost four. School should be getting out in a few minutes. Don't worry, you weren't out for very long." She mumbled out an 'Okay' before trying to hobble forward. "Here, let me help you," I said, putting her arm over my shoulder. I was going to simply carry her, but I thought not because I didn't want her to fall back asleep.
About halfway back Jenn told me that she was able to walk by herself, so her arm moved from it's perch on my shoulders to grasping my outstretched hand. Walking hand-in-hand, one of the most basic of telltale dating notions, I felt completely at ease. There was just something calming about being around Jenn; something that couldn't be explained.
Uneventful was the descriptive word of choice for our return. Not that I wanted conflict or anything to happen, but it was just strange almost to not have something happen to liven up the time from the park to Jenn's car. Though she had to unlock the door, I opened it for her as she stepped in. She rolled down the window after she started it, a feat I was amazed to see since the car barely seemed to start for me when I tried. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I asked.
"Yep. I'll see you then." Then she drove off while I stood waving. Without much else to do, I found my own vehicle and took off for my own oh-so humble abode.
* * * * *
"Ahh, yes... the joys of a bare room, filled to the brim with bare nothings... I'll be glad to get out of this hell-hole and, maybe, into a semi-descent apartment. At least I get a bit extra cash from the management to help out when I leave..."
I had to admit, as much as I hated the place, it was a home better than a pavement bedspread, and at least I had a free meal to come to if I didn't want to eat out. Even with the matching off-white color scheme, and a pathetic attempt at home decore I only had a little longer to stay unless... "Aaron, there's a family here to see you." Great.
The family had come by a few times before, basically just to check out a few of the younger kids. They seemed like a family that would go for one of the younger ones; though it was just a hunch. But this time, they had come for me. As I had learned from my time there, if there was a family that came to see a specific kid, it was a sure-fire way of saying that the kid was about to be adopted.
"Hello, Aaron. My name's Jonathan Gillet, and this is my wife, Rebecca," the man said with a cautious smile. It was a smile I knew all too well; he was trying to figure out exactly what to say and how to say it, depending on my reaction to his opening statement. I figured I had nothing better to do, so I just played out the 'nice guy' persona that some of the mean kids did to trick families into having false hope.
"Hello, Mr. Gillet. I guess that you already know who I am, so I can safely skip my introduction." Did I say nice guy? Well... maybe smart aleck might be a better definition, but who's counting?
Mr. Gillet's smile brightened; a confident smile. "Well, Aaron, at least the rumors about you were true. You see, my wife and I have had our eye on you for some time now. We realize that you're somewhat... older, but that's no reason to deny someone of a good home. The both of us think that... Well, we think that you deserve to have the support of a family."
They both looked kind enough. Sort of the middle-aged goodie-two-shoes parents that you see in all the sappy movies. But what was there catch? What reason did they have for looking at me specifically? "Well, sir, I thank you for your kind words, but I don't see what the point would be. See, I'm almost ready to leave here on my own and-"
"And we know that. But, it's more than that. You've experienced some terrible hardships in your life, and we want to help you. Just because you may be leaving this place doesn't mean that you don't deserve to have support through your transition into the university-"
"How did you know that I was going to the university?" It was a cut-off contest between Mr. Gillet and I. He said that they'd had their eye on me for some time, but to know my plans for after high school? That was creepy...
"Like I said, Aaron, we've done our homework. We want you to be a part of our family, to know that you have something to fall back on in case you ever need it." He sounded honest enough, but would it be worth the risk? It wasn't as though I couldn't just divorce myself from them, since the adoption is actually the hard part.
"I'm not sure... I'm gonna have to give this some thought..."
"That's fine, Aaron. We'll be coming back in two weeks. We'll be bringing the rest of the family with us as well, to let you further acquaint yourself with our family. See you in two weeks."
Then they left and I was right back to being all alone in my depressing little room. And with a lot to think about too... "Do I really need a family now that I've been able to live without one for five years? I've moved on, sure, but is it worth risking heartbreak just over a little added support? Can I even remember what it feels like to be a part of a family? It's only been five years, but..."
"I can't remember..." And then, for the first time in two years... I fell face-first onto my bed and cried.