Circles

Chapter Eleven

            I walk back to the house from the bus stop, contemplating whether or not I should just walk in the front door or not. I’d probably be better off climbing back through my window. That way the only one who would know I was gone would be Liz. The only problem is that the window is ten feet above the ground with nothing to climb on. I could go around the back and try to get up the stairs before anyone sees me, but I have no idea where in the house everyone is. Ugh, I think to myself. This is going to be great. I decide to go in the back door, but on my way to the backyard, I pass a low bedroom window. Half of the bedrooms are on the bottom floor, and half are upstairs. I peek in the window, and it seems to be empty. This is probably my best bet. I slide the window open carefully and quietly. Going for the head first approach, I stick my head and shoulders inside and put my hands on the floor of the bedroom to steady myself. As I start to scoot my body through, the window slides shut on me, pinning me halfway in and halfway out. I try to wriggle myself free, but it is futile. Panic starts to set in. I don’t even know whose room it is! The window hurts my back, too. A few seconds later, I hear footsteps outside the door. Here it comes, I think. The doorknob turns, and in walks Mike. Of course. 

            A confused grin spreads across his face. “Hey there!” he says.

            I roll my eyes. “I got stuck.”

            “I can see that,” he laughs. He stops talking and just stares at me, obviously waiting for me to ask him for help. After a minute, he says “Well?”

            I roll my eyes again. “I need help.”

            “What’s in it for me?” he asks.

            “What?”

            “Why should I help you?”

            “Um,” I say. “Because I’ve never done anything to you?”

            He raises his eyebrows accusingly. “Well your boyfriend did,” he says, pointing to his jaw.

            “He’s not my boyfriend.”

            “Whatever you say,” he mocks.

            “So are you going to help me or what?” I demand.

            “If you do a little something for me, maybe.”

            I clear my throat, fearing what he’ll say. “Like what?”

            “How about a kiss?”

            “Excuse me?”

            “Believe it or not, I like you more than any of the other girls here,” he says nonchalantly.

            “Fine. Whatever. One kiss,” I say, desperate to get out of this window and this room.

            He smiles slyly. “Alright, let’s get you out of here.” He lifts the window up and I slide myself onto the bedroom floor. He takes my hand and helps me to my feet. “Ready?” he asks with a wink.

            I roll my eyes. “I’ll try not to throw up.”

            He grabs both of my wrists in his and holds them behind my back with one hand, and puts the other hand on my face, pulling me to him. We kiss, and I feel his hand sliding under my shirt. I try to get my hands free to push it away, but he tightens his grip. I kick him in the shin and run out of the room and up to mine, slamming the door behind me. Liz is sitting on her bed.

            “Where were you?” she asks.

            “I’ll explain later. Mike just kissed me and tried to feel me up.”

            “What?” she says in disbelief.

            “Okay, so I tried to climb through a bottom floor bedroom window to sneak back in, not knowing it was his room. It was empty. I got stuck in the window. He came in and said if I wanted his help I had to kiss him. What choice did I have, right?”

            “Okay…” she says, mildly confused.

            “He grabbed my hands and held them behind my back with one hand, and slid the other up my shirt. He wouldn’t let go of me.”

            “How did you get him to stop?”

            “I kicked him. He was too strong for me to get my hands free, and I didn’t want to stick around to see how far he was going to push me,” I say.

            Liz clears her throat. “So why did he kiss you?”

            I laugh. “Oh yeah, that’s the kicker. He said he likes me more than all of the other girls in the Circle.”

            “Wow,” she says. “He sure has a funny way of showing it.”

            “Yeah, tell me about it.”

            We sit in silence for a moment, until Liz finally asks “So where were you?”

            “Oh, um…” I say, my voice trailing off.

            “Well?”

            “Promise not to tell?”

            “Of course,” Liz says.

            “I met up with a boy. The one who stared at me on the bus.”

            “You what?”

            “He kind of saved me from Mike yesterday. We talked for a while at the store. He asked me to meet him today,” I say quietly, fearing someone will hear me.

            “Wow. So what did you guys do?” she asks.

            “Just talked for a while. He’s really nice. He cares about me, unlike the guys here.”

            Liz raises her eyebrows and smiles. “You like him, don’t you?”

            I say nothing.

            “You do!” she shrieks.

            “Shut up,” I retort.

            Liz giggles. “This is so exciting. It’s like forbidden love.”

            I roll my eyes. “Easy on the L-word. I hardly even know him.”

            “Are you going to see him again?” she asks.

            I hesitate. “Well…yes.”

            Liz smiles giddily. “When?”

            “Wednesday. Day after tomorrow.”

            “This is so exciting! We are going to make you look positively irresistible. We will go shopping tomorrow."

            “Anyway,” I say, wanting to change the subject. “Let’s go eat dinner.”

            She laughs quietly. “Okay.”

            We walk downstairs and sit at the table. Mike comes down next and sits across from me. Liz glares at him. He stares at me. I just look at my plate.

            “You’re disgusting,” Liz says quietly and resentfully.

            “Excuse me?” Mike says, eyebrows raised.

            Liz doesn’t answer, and I say nothing. Mike shrugs and starts eating. Everyone else comes down within the next five minutes, and we all eat in silence. When Liz and I are done, we go upstairs and get ready for bed. I’m exhausted, and she doesn’t really have anything better to do. After we get changed and brush our teeth, we go to sleep.