The Mediator

Chapter 12

School was coming to an end. We had two more weeks of school until we would graduate. I hadn't talked to Rob in about a week or so. He didn't seem to mind. He knew I wasn't speaking to him, but he didn't even attempt to talk to me.

Hailey approached me at my locker.

"So..." she said trailing off.

I was busy ripping down pictures and posters off my locker door. "What?" I asked.

Hailey had been trying to get me to talk to Rob for several days now. I think she was working for him. I had spotted them a few times congregating in the halls. I probably wasn't supposed to notice, so I never brought it up.

"Rob wants to know-,"

I stopped her right there. "I don't care, Hail. Remind him I'm not talking to him." I picked up two spiral notebooks from the bottom of my locker and shoved them hard into the trash bag at my feet.

Hailey laughed. "He said you would say that."

I groaned. "And?"

Hailey raised her eyebrows at me. "And," she emphasized, "He said when you say that, to tell you that you might not be talking to him, but that doesn't mean he's not talking to you."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, then he should just stop wanting to know things, because I'm not answering questions even if they're not coming directly from his mouth."

Hailey sighed.

"Why are you helping him?"

Hailey stared at me. "Because you are stubborn." She said, poking my shoulder. "And I know how to break you."

"Break me?"

"Make you crack. You'll talk to him again." She was certainly confident.

"Good luck with that." I retorted, slamming my locker door.

Hailey looked past me and down the hallway. "I have to go." She said quickly, and then walked away.

I followed her with my eyes to find out where she was going. Then I spotted Rob standing next to the bathrooms down the hall. She was obviously meeting him there to talk about me. They weren't very good at finding secret meeting locations.

I watched them for a minute. Then – even though I wasn't sure but I was pretty sure – Rob's eyes met mine. I hastily looked away. I decided now was as good of a time as any to get out before he wanted to talk. I decided to take the long way out of the school. I chose this route because I would pass right by where they were standing. So I did.

I tried to walk by fast enough not to be stopped, but slow enough for them – really him – to notice. Rob shifted against the wall as I got closer to them. He had moved to allow Scott Bale to pass him to the bathroom. When the bathroom door swung shut behind him, just as I was passing them, the air whirled around me and I could smell him. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I held my breath even though I didn't want to, but I was ignoring him and all traces of him.

I had never realized how good he smelled. Maybe even better than Kyle; I mean, I'd noticed Rob's cologne before, but I never realized how in tune to it I was. He smelled like musty vanilla, in a masculine way, of course. The scent was all too warm and comforting. Of course, right now I wished he had smelled like garbage so I wouldn't have noticed. Rob didn't say anything to me as I walked by them. I didn't even look at them. I wanted them to see me, though, and I'm sure they did.

I got in my car and threw my backpack on the passenger seat. Then I stuck the key in the ignition and started the car. When I looked out through the windshield, there he was standing in front of my car. The parking lot was pretty empty, so no one was parked opposite me. Rob just stood there watching me. I tried to look anywhere but at him. I waited for what felt like ten minutes, and he still didn't move. If I was speaking to him I would have yelled at him by now, but since I wasn't, I sat back and waited impatiently.