In Between Days: Raising Jordan (boyxman)✅

Space Oddity

Jordan

Back in high school, I shoved classmate Anthony Orsini hard against the lockers. I didn't mean to push him so hard. I didn't mean to hurt him and I felt really bad and I apologized, but no one cared about my apology. Anthony touched me at my locker, squeezing my shoulders. I didn't like to be touched. He made my heart feel funny, too.

At only 25, Tim, acting as my surrogate father, was called into the principal's office again. After earning his PhD, he had just started a new job, which I almost ruined for him.

So annoyed, Tim didn't even look at me as he entered Mr. Lyman's office. I knew I was more trouble than I was worth. Tim sat down beside me, the balding principal behind his desk.

"He touched me," I said to Tim and Mr. Lyman, the high school principal.

"Who touched you?" Tim asked, but I didn't respond at first. "Who touched you?"

"Anthony," I mumbled.

"Where did he touch you?" he asked.

"Here," I pointed to my shoulders.

"So he didn't punch you or hit you or anything like that? He didn't touch you...uh...inappropriately?" Mr. Lyman said.

"To Jordan it was inappropriate," Tim said. "He was defending himself."

"I didn't mean to hurt him," I said. "Is he going to be okay?" When I shoved Anthony, his head hit the metal locker so hard he was unconscious for half a second. I had never hurt anyone before. "I didn't mean to."

"He's fine...thankfully," Mr. Lyman said. "We do not tolerate any type of physical violence at this school. You're suspended for the rest of the week."

"What?" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. I liked school and didn't want to miss it. "That's crap! It was an accident. I said I was sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough," Mr. Lyman said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tim shake his head, staring at the ground. "When's your father coming home?"

"We're doing just fine," Tim said, looking up. Art was always a touchy subject. "He shouldn't have touched him."

"Your brother's graduating next year," Mr. Lyman said, ignoring Tim's comment. "He can't keep acting like this."

"So he can come back on Monday?" Tim said, avoiding Mr. Lyman's comment entirely.

"Yes," he said. That was five days away, which meant I'd be stuck at home for five days. It was the middle of winter so there was nothing to do. Tim stood up and motioned for me to stand up, too.

"Thank you," Tim said and I followed him out of the office. He didn't talk to me for most of the ride home.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled under my breath.

"Yeah," Tim sighed. "What am I going to do with you, huh?"

Convinced Tim hated me, I went straight to my room and threw myself into my music. David Bowie's Space Oddity was the first song that played.

Tim hates me. Everyone hates me. I just want to go to sleep and never wake up.

A little while later, Tim interrupted me, holding a board game under his arm. I recognized it as Battleship, one of my favorite games. Tim placed the game between us on my bed and I remember us playing for at least an hour.

***

As I lounged in my favorite tube in the pool, I thought about Anthony. For some reason that entire incident and afternoon popped into my head. He always talked to me, following me around, bugging me, smiling stupidly at me. At my locker, he touched me, squeezing my shoulders as he asked me if I'd go to a movie with him. Why would I go to a movie with him? He wasn't my friend. In fact, I didn't have any friends. Now, as I basked in the summer sun, I figured it all out. Anthony Orsini liked me. He didn't deserve the concussion I gave him.