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Monday, April 23, 2001

Harrison High School

11:18AM

The door was unmarked save for its room number; 376 was emblazoned on the beige-colored cinderblock wall next to it, devoid of the typical list which detailed which classes were held in a particular room. I waited outside, thumb idly tapping a rhythm on the plastic CD case I held in my hand.

I wasn’t kept waiting long as I caught a glimpse of Holly turning the corner. Her style had come back to a fashionable name-brand white sweater and expensive bluejeans; the temporary dye washed out of her auburn hair. It was surprising how much of a change it had been from yesterday; a distinct recall of her lips gently pressing against my cheek despite myself.

“Sorry for the wait,” she greeted. “I had to dodge Matt after my last class. Farina told me he’s looking for me.” I caught her rolling her eyes at the situation. Not that I blamed her; I caught the distinct impression that her rapport with her ex-boyfriend was not that great and he wouldn’t take the hint.

“Okay,” I responded. “I guess it’s a good thing that I have the literal keys to the kingdom.” With a flourish I produced a keyring from my pocket. A worn leather keyfob emblazoned with the older Toyota logo held a less than impressive four keys. One was the key to my car, which wasn’t much more than an immobile hunk of metal until my stepuncle finished his magic. Keys to my house and central shop were there; until I was driving I wasn’t closing or opening the other locations. The final key was the one that Mrs. Callaway entrusted me with; the one that would open this door. I separated it from the rest and unlocked the door.

“Wait,” Holly interjected. “Where the hell did you get that?” It wasn’t a bad question; a student having a school key wasn’t exactly normal.

I smiled as I walked into the room and flipped on the lights. What other students and most of the staff didn’t realize was that the room stored the school’s computer and A/V equipment. It was unmarked and access was controlled. The reason was relatively easily explained. “Mrs. Callaway is the one responsible for the school’s computers and A/V equipment. Mr. Tindal is the school’s computer technician, but he sometimes needs a hand. I was studying for a related certification and volunteered my free hours to help them out,” I waved to the collection of computers, monitors, and peripherals neatly stacked against the walls and the test bench in the center of the room. “I’ve got some actual work to do today, but that shouldn’t stop us from being able to listen to some music.”

Holly blinked as she walked into the room. “That explains why there’s gossip about you wandering the halls during class,” she shut the door behind us and made her way to the test bench. “What do you have to do?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t aware of the gossip, but I had been doing this since my junior year. While Mrs. Callaway gave me significant leeway as far as the days I actually ‘worked’ I hadn’t taken much advantage of it until recently. “The hard drive on one of these desktops failed so I need to replace it and reload Windows. The other one was having sound issues; I think it’s a simple driver reinstall so we should have that one to play CDs with.”

I pulled up another chair for Holly and got to work. The driver reinstallation fixed the issue; testing the stock Microsoft-provided sounds proved the speakers were also in good order. “Yours first?” Holly nodded as she handed me the CD she bought yesterday.

She queued up the CD as I started opening the recalcitrant PC; the first song opening up with a powerful yet somewhat sad melody. The tempo was quick, but the lyrics and overall mood wasn’t the aggressive and dirty nu-metal or the bluesy grit of grunge; it was melodic, complex and pensive; almost somber. “Reflected in savage shards; a new face, a soul reborn…” As someone who had a somewhat varied musical upbringing it was intriguing. Holly nodded along with the music as I dug into the guts of the computer.

The album became significantly more somber, almost sappy as the songs progressed. It was a somewhat difficult listen even though the music was good; almost hauntingly beautiful. The themes of unrequited love and loss seemed to snake through the lyrics and melodies; I wasn’t much for themes and subtext but the parallels between what I was going through were easily made.

As one of the songs came to an end she paused the player. “What do you think?” she asked; a curious expression on her face as she brushed an errant strand of her away from her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this, well…”

“…Romantic?” I finished, nodding to the computer we were using as a glorified boombox. “I mean, it’s not bad by any means. It’s very emotionally charged; even though it’s not the easiest for me to get through because of obvious reasons it’s very well done.”

“We can stop if you’d like?” Holly replied.

“No, we can continue,” I shook my head. “Unless you’re not a fan.”

“I actually like it so far,” she admitted. “It’s sad but sweet, if that makes sense? It reminds me of someone I was fond of.”

“Who?” I asked, a genuine spark of curiosity flaring in my mind. It wasn’t that I disliked the attention, but if there was someone else who had her attentions I think the best solution would be to steer her towards them. I wasn’t stupid and while I had set some firm boundaries I could tell that Holly was hopeful for something more than a strict friendship. I wasn’t ready for that; hell, I wasn’t sure I would ever be ready.

Holly shook her head, her expression adopting an odd combination of wistfulness and seriousness. “I’d rather not say; they’re no longer in my life.” I nodded at her; I also had things I wanted to keep private so I understood and wouldn’t pry.

I buttoned the computer up after replacing its hard drive; the music playing softly as I talked Holly through which connectors did what. She knew a little bit about the boxes which made schoolwork a bit easier and were alternately a window into an entire virtual world I wasn’t prepared to discuss with her; I kept my screennames separate for some very good reasons and refused to mix my personal and online lives more than absolutely necessary.

I booted the machine as the last track started to play; had the bell gone off yet? I glanced to my watch and noticed it was after noon. “I’m not keeping you from a class, am I? It’s almost twelve-thirty.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Free hour, remember? I have about twenty minutes before I should get to class; if I get there early I should be able to avoid Katie, Ryan, and Matt.”

“Well, I guess I can show you how to install Windows,” I replied, sticking the operating system CD into the drive and letting it read the disc before punching in the command to install it. “It’ll take a little while before it installs; you’ll be at your next class before it finishes up.”

The rest of the time was passed with small talk; discussion of the album, a bit more in-depth talk about Cowboy Bebop and an extended invitation to watch the rest of the series after finals and graduation were over with, and what our first few weeks out into the real world would be like.

“I hope you’re not mad and don’t take this the wrong way,” Holly started. “I stopped by the front office this morning and picked this up for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out an embossed black business card with the silver outline of a couple dancing under a full moon. The legend ‘Moonlight Enchantment, HHS Junior/Senior Prom 2001’ was written underneath it.

I blinked, taken aback for a moment. “Wait, you bought me a prom ticket?” I wasn’t sure what to say. “I haven’t made up my mind if I’m going or not, and I don’t really want to ruin your night if I don’t show up.”

Holly shook her head. “I’m not telling you to show up and you won’t ruin my night if you don’t,” she pressed the ticket into my hand. “What I’m saying is that I bought a ticket for you in case you want to show up to spend time with us. While I think Julie really wanted to get us to make this a first date, that’s not my intention. I just wanted to give you the choice, even if that choice is last minute.”

“I… I appreciate it, Holly,” I took a deep breath and thought about what to say for a moment. Between the album and the prom ticket my thoughts were somewhat dark and confused.”I’m not going to guarantee anything as I’m still not in a great place right now. But, I appreciate knowing that I’ve got friends looking out for me, even if I ignore their advice more often than not.”

A grin tugged at her lips before she glanced up to the clock. “I have to go, but thanks again for letting me listen and get away from the others. I really enjoyed it; are you doing this tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “Going home after lunch as usual. I’ll let you know when I’ve got some other work lined up and we’ll listen to something else?” I wasn’t sure if it would happen again as finals were right around the corner along with prom and graduation, but if it did I wouldn’t mind too much.

Holly waved goodbye as she left the room, taking off for her next class. I decided to put my CD in the player next, cueing up this new VNV Nation band. I blinked as the distinct artificial tones of electronica came through the speakers; a confident voice with a very faint British accent carrying over the music. “Until I see this kingdom’s mine, I’ll turn the darkness into light…”

After the operating system was installed and the disc containing the school’s software and customizations was loaded along with it I was done. I disconnected the desktop from the test bench and took it with me; it was one of the library machines and Mrs. Callaway was hoping to have it back in service before tomorrow.

The hallways were mostly clear as class was in session, but there were a few other students wandering the hall. Unfortunately that didn’t mean my trip was smooth sailing. “Yo, Jennings!” a voice barked behind me. “You need to hold up, now!”

Clenching my teeth I turned around to see Holly’s ex-boyfriend staring me down, frosted tips and all. “What do you want, Sorenson?” I almost spat. “I’m in the middle of something.”

“What, the computer nerd stuff?” Matt scoffed. “We need to talk about you know what.”

“I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about, and I’m not interested in riddles.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, computer nerd. I’m talking about your little gothed-up lunch date with my girl on Saturday. Food court at the Citadel ring a bell?” Crap. Someone saw us?

“I wasn’t aware having lunch with a friend was considered a date.” I snapped. “From what I heard she dumped you, so what’s it to you?”

“We ain’t over yet,” Matt shot back. “Not until I say so, and I’d suggest you don’t get my girl to dress like a Hot Topic reject and go out on your little lunch dates. Something might happen if you do that again.” Yeah, that was a veiled threat. It wasn’t like I could hold him off physically; he was a few inches taller and was one of the linebackers for the football team. Miles of biking to school, home and work kept me slender and lanky but I wasn’t built for a standup, toe to toe fight.

My eyebrows narrowed as I gave him the nastiest look I could muster. “Last I checked I’m not quite eighteen yet but you are. If you lay a hand on me you better hope your dad’s pocketbook can buy a good lawyer.”

Matt took a step back. “You watch yourself, Jennings. Don’t mess around with my girl.”

“I’ll be friends with whoever I want, Sorenson,” I turned around, hefted the computer that was balanced under the crook of my arm and started to walk away. “Get bent.”

“We’re not fucking done here, Jennings,” The incensed football player sneered and swung around, blocking my path. “Don’t talk to me like that, twerp. You’re going to back off from Holly, and you’re going to apologize to me for even taking her out in the first place.”

I was about to retort, but a familiar voice called out from behind us. “Mr. Sorenson, do you care to explain why you are threatening my student assistant?” I looked back to see the less than pleased countenance of Mrs. Callaway; the head librarian and my ‘boss’. From the content of her question it was apparent she heard what he said; considering she was one of the most senior staff and reported directly to the principal it didn’t bode well for Holly’s ex.

“He needs to apologize to me for taking my girl on a date, Mrs. Callaway.” Matt stood his ground, his glare at me prompting me to return the same treatment.

“Have you ever heard of the expression ‘it takes two’, Mr. Sorenson?” Mrs. Callaway replied, her voice betraying a hint of annoyance. “In order to take her out on a date, she would have had to say yes in the first place. In fact, have you considered the possibility that she asked him out first?” I internally winced at the comment, though in a way it wasn’t incorrect.

“He still needs to apologize to me and stay away from her.” Matt insisted.

I took a breath and shook my head. “No, I don’t and I’m not. I’m not part of your clique; you don’t choose who I’m friends with.”

I could see Matt turn red with anger. “You’ll stay away from my girl if you know what’s good for you, Jennings.”

“Sorenson!” Mrs. Callaway barked. “That just earned you a trip to Mr. Briggs’ office. I expect to see you there after I’m through with Mr. Jennings.”

Matt smirked and shook his head, but was cut off by a stern look from the librarian. “If you don’t get it in gear you’re getting a week’s suspension in addition to whatever Mr. Briggs deems appropriate. Now, Sorenson.” She pointed down the hall.

With a scoff and a final glare Matt turned around and headed towards the office, under Mrs. Callaway’s watchful gaze. Once he was out of earshot she motioned for me to follow. “Could you clue me in on what’s going on?”

I was dreading the explanation, even though I knew I wasn’t the one in the hot seat. “Matt’s ex-girlfriend, Holly Meyers, is friends with a few of my friends. We went to the mall as a group last weekend and had lunch together. One of his friends must have spotted us and told him.”

Mrs. Callaway nodded as we walked, taking a moment to mull it over. She was a little shorter than I was, but her red hair and piercing blue eyes led to a reputation as one of the most assertive and sharp staff members in the school. “Between you and me, that group is nothing but bad news. A couple of them have been dancing on the edge of expulsion since sophomore year. Speaking of, I think Sorenson is overdue on returning a digital camera he checked out from me. Are we missing any?”

It took me a moment to think about what we had in the stock room. “We’re missing two, other than the ones the yearbook class is finishing up with. I think one of the unaccounted ones is checked out to Mr. Nahlbach, but I’ll verify.”

The librarian nodded. “If Sorensen has that camera in his possession I’ll get it from him today. If he gets cute with you between now and graduation, I want to know,” her expression lost some of its hardness as she looked up at me. “I’m not asking you to come running to me with problems you can solve yourself; at the same time threatening other students with retaliation is something we take very seriously. Do you want me to get Deputy Tappett to escort you on and off school grounds for the next few days?”

Mrs. Callaway was referring to the sheriff’s deputy stationed here; events a couple of years ago created a real need for a law enforcement presence. At the same time I shook my head. “I should be okay, Mrs. Callaway,” I replied. “I will probably try to leave early the next few days just to make sure things blow over?”

She nodded at me as we reached the stairwell that led to the library. “That’s probably smart. Go ahead and hand that machine off to Mr. Tindal, then I’d like you to go home. Are your parents picking you up, or did you take your bike today?”

“I rode my bike today,” I answered. “The shops are preparing for the Mother’s Day rush so everybody’s busy.” While I was somewhat exempt for the major holidays because of finals and graduation, I would be working the next couple of weekends.

“Okay,” she replied with a hint of relief in her voice. “I’m going to see what Mr. Briggs wants to do about Mr. Sorenson. I’ll touch base with you at lunch on Friday.” With that she turned for the front office as I ascended the stairs to the library. This wasn’t the kind of day I had planned, but I would make the best of it.