Evolving

Grade Eleven (Part 1)

Shayle unlocked the door to her house and stepped inside. She heard the bustle of plates and utensils in the kitchen and voices that didn't just belong to her mother.

She turned her head back over her shoulder. "She's here."

Jesse closed the door behind himself, making sure the latch made little to no sound as it locked back in place.

Shayle was already making a beeline for the stairs. She knew the consequences of getting caught and she didn't want to raise any more suspicions....

They didn't get too far before Mrs. Nixon poked her head out from the dining room doorway to check for the cause of the sounds she was hearing.

"Shayle? Jesse? Who's there?"

The two of them froze on the steps of the staircase. It was too risky for either of them to make any sudden movements.

"I can see your feet," she said.

Shayle sighed. She leaned over the railing so that Mrs. Nixon could see her face. "Hi. We just got back from school."

"Is that them?" Mrs. Everest called from within the kitchen.

"Half of them," Mrs. Nixon replied. She waited for Jesse to show his face.

Shayle nudged him from behind her.

"Ouch – oh... hi mom," he greeted from over the railing.

Mrs. Nixon looked between the two of them. The look on her face was a mixed of amusement and acute understanding. She wouldn't bring anything up, though. She knew it wasn't her place.

"Okay." She retreated back into the sitting area.

They trudged all the way up the steps and across the hall to Shayle's bedroom. Shayle couldn't fight the subtle blush that had found its way onto her cheeks. She didn't know why she couldn't keep it together anymore.

They dropped their bags off by the side of her door and kicked their shoes off. After school was the time they spent studying ever since Jesse got a D on his report card in History. Shayle was in the middle of her ninth non-fiction on the Wars of the United States, and for that reason, it made sense for their parents to make it a mandatory study session.

After a while, however, didn't feel much like work for the two of them.

Shayle sat in the middle of her room on her fraying beige rug. She reached underneath her bed to pull out her History textbook for them both to share, when Jesse stopped her.

"I actually brought mine today, believe it or not," he said, reaching back into his backpack and pulling out the heavy textbook.

"Congrats for doing what you're supposed to," Shayle teased. She waited for him to find the right chapter they had left off on the day before.

Shayle got lost in her thoughts as Jesse flipped through the pages. She wondered if he had been as embarrassed as she had when his mom gave them that parting look. She knew that look. It was the same look her mom had given to her when she was forced to listen to the dreaded conversation. The conversation that ended up with Shayle defending herself while denying the claims of attraction that her mother imposed on her and Jesse. The look that she got from her mother when she tried to explain "no, we are just friends" and "yes, we still study together even though Jesse has a passing grade in the class now".

Jesse landed on the correct page. "Found it."

His voice took her out of her thoughts and she pushed them far beneath her consciousness. "Alright, let's get started."