3 They are Going to Meet

Chris

No matter how old I was, I never got used to being called into the principal's office. That Tuesday morning was no different… I was nervous when the older man sat behind his desk and watched me for a moment. There could've been a million reasons why he would summon me. Not knowing what it was about, my thoughts were a nervous mess. Maybe she reported me. She had been acting differently since I invaded her space. Or even worse, someone had noticed my unnatural interest in a student.

When he started talking, and it wasn't at all about my sins… I relaxed, sitting back in the chair, and exhaled slowly. I didn't register what he was saying. It only sank in when I left the office. Giving me the task of fundraising wasn't at all bad, considering. He had told me about one of the families of the school that was well off financially. I was tasked to approach the kid for help. The bleachers needed a revamp or even replacement. It was a significant expense the school would probably never be able to afford without outside help. I didn't understand how he thought approaching the family's child would be the best course of action, but there I was on my mission… Searching for the daughter of that family.

Wouldn't it have been better if the principal did his own marketing? Shaking my head, I walked to the receptionist's desk to find out what class the kid was in at that moment. At least he said he would step in if I couldn't get anything done. Maybe that was his strategy all along. Playing me to do his dirty work and prepping the family for a call from the principal. In that case, I gave him credit. It wasn't like I could say no.

Miss Lucas was behind the counter, sliding the paper across to me. All it contained was a name and a schedule for the day.

"Juliet Farrow," I read out loud.

"Yeah, she is at her second language class with Mrs. Barton." Miss Lucas answered with a very nasally-sounding voice. I thanked her and made my way there.

Walking into the class a few minutes later, I asked Mrs. Barton if I could briefly talk to that student. She called out to Juliet, but no one stood up or raised their hands. I quickly scanned the room with her. Nothing. We looked at each other simultaneously. "Is she in another period, maybe?"

"No, she was just here."

A kid raised his hand and spoke at the same time. "Mrs. Barton, Juliet was called to the office just now." I recognized the student immediately. Carl was that girl's close friend. He was in my computer class.

"Oh, yes, that's right. Juliet hasn't come back yet."

Irritated, I thanked her and walked towards the door.

"Sorry, she left about twenty minutes ago… I must have forgotten."

I turned. "No worries. I just came from there. We must have missed each other."

Mrs. Barton smiled, and as she did, the bell rang for the next period. I muttered under my breath. I couldn't stay there waiting for her… I didn't want to take a chance. I had a class of my own. I took the second option. The kids began peeling out the door, and I grabbed Carl by the collar and pulled him aside. "Are you seeing Juliet in the next period?" I asked, pulling him even more out of the way of the traffic of kids. It was loud from all the chatter in the hallway, so Carl nodded.

"Could you ask her to come and see me?"

The boy in front of me was taller than I was. I hadn't realized just how big Carl was. Whenever he sat in my class, I wanted to ask him about his friend. It had bugged me for weeks. All I had to do was take one step closer, and I would find out her name. I was determined not to make a stupid mistake and never asked anyone about her. While I waited for Carl to respond, another student joined us. I recognized Charlene immediately, too. She stood a little to the side, behind him. She also took my class with Carl. Charlene was that girl's best friend. Or so it seemed to me. The three of them were always together. Charlene was a little shorter than me. She was almost as beautiful as her friend, but nothing special about her. Staring at her, she smiled at me while another thousand thoughts ran through my mind. I finally glanced back at Carl because he was laughing. "What's so funny?"

He looked back at Charlene. Her eyes drifted anxiously to the floor. "I don't think she would believe me if I told her you wanted to see her."

Shocked at the response, I cocked my head. I was oblivious to his insinuation. Having a mental deformity of having my head buried in the sand, it didn't even cross my mind that the girl on the paper was my girl from the hall.

Charlene punched him on the shoulder and told him to stop messing around. "Come on, Carl."

They walked past me. Carl followed Charlene out of the sticky situation. "I will try to tell her." He kept joking.

I lifted a chin but frowned at the two. I didn't think much of Carl's behavior or words. He was the class clown, and after that, my day got so busy with work I completely forgot about my task.

***

The bell rang to announce the last period of the day. I realized no one had come to see me. I didn't have another class and wanted to get it over with. Give the boss a good report. "Where is this girl?" Getting a hold of that student was becoming more difficult than I expected. "Did Carl forget to give her the message?" I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to rid myself of the irritation. My fuse had become shorter and shorter. I walked over to my table, resigned my control over the situation, and picked up the paper, checking where Juliet Farrow would be in her last period. I frowned. She had geography? That's Mr. Schneider's class, on the other side of the school. I was taking another chance but hauled ass, wondering if I would have enough time to get there and talk to her.

Half walking, half running, I sped through the door faster than usual. The more time I had to talk to Juliet… the better it would be. In the process, I interrupted my friend, who was mid-sentence, while giving his class. I was so used to being informal around him I didn't think twice. He quickly met my eye, perplexed that I wasn't waiting at the door until he was at a part of his lesson where he could stop what he was doing. Smiling, I slapped him on the shoulder and told him I was on a mission from the principal. I had wasted the whole day and couldn't wait any longer. He relented, nodded, and turned toward the class to call out the name. "Juliet! Quickly come to the front." He got no response.

"Juliet!"

***

Juliet

Earlier That Day

I made it only halfway through my second period when I returned from the office, sitting beside Charlene. She pushed my bag across the floor with a foot.

"Thank You." I bent down and dug out my books.

She wanted to say something, but Carl leaned over towards me and cut her off. "You would not believe what just happened!"

My pen hit my chin in succession as I pretended to think. Nothing exciting ever happened in that place. Not to the degree his face had lit up. I struck a blank and said, "What? Did Mario finally dump Jennifer?" Charlene snickered at my dig at the two people in school who broke up and got back together every weekend.

Carl was indignant. "No!" He said, shaking his head.

Wanting in on the action, Charlene laughed, her hands moving about and up in the air. "No! Way bigger than that! Go big!"

Frustrated, I let my shoulders slump, and I clucked my tongue. "I don't know! Nothing ever happens in this place, so tell me quickly!"

"Mr. Rheed… just came to our first period and was looking for you. He wants you to go and see him as soon as possible…." Carl said, feeling so full of himself. Like I was going to give him a gold star or something.

I scoffed. My eyes drifted between the two of them, scrutinizing them for a second. "I don't believe you." I snorted. "You guys are trying to get me to make a total fool of myself."

"No, really!" Carl exclaimed. "Why would we do that?"

"Because you have nothing better to do. Now… leave me alone. I need to catch up on two periods' worth of work."

"No, really, Jules… He needs to see you about something." Charlene tried to persuade me.

Our eyes met… Charlene seemed sincere, but I couldn't take that chance. I shook my head. "I would believe you about anything… but not about that! I know I'm easy to make fun of. But this is low… even for you two." Jokingly, I took my pen and tapped her lightly on her nose with it. The two stared at me, computing how I would make a fool of myself, all by myself. Their eyes met in mutual understanding. Carl shrugged and turned back to his table to face his books, and Charlene did, too.

***

We entered our last period a little late. Mr. Schneider's class was so far away from the rest of the school, and it took a while to get there. Chairs were scraping on the floor, and pupils were chattering, but he had begun his lesson regardless. Everyone settled down as he started writing on the board. Geography was one of my favorite classes and the highlight of my day. I was actually looking forward to that period.

It was about twenty minutes later while I was diligently scribbling in my notepad on the desk. I could see Charlene listening in my periphery. Carl looked back over his shoulder as Charlene's finger pointed repeatedly to the front. It distracted me. Carl's reaction didn't disappoint her. They made such a fuss the other students wanted to know what was happening.

I minded my own business until Carl leaned toward me and whispered. "There, you've done it now. Didn't want to listen to us."

I shook my head at him out of habit and narrowed my eyes. "What are you on about?" I heard my name, but it didn't register. I was focused on trying to figure out what Carl meant. I heard my name again more loudly. My head shot up, kind of irritated with them. Mr. Schneider was looking right at me, gesturing with his fingers for me to come to the front. I glanced to his right. Chris was standing next to his friend. My heart stopped, driving me into an inactive anxiousness.

I peered at Carl and Charlene, who were snickering at me. "Help me. Tell him you forgot to tell me." I whispered wide-eyed at Carl. He shrugged. Charlene lightly tapped my nose with her pen. They proceeded to push me out of my chair, dragging me halfway down the aisle, abandoning me to my fate. There was no choice but to approach the two men chatting. I snuck a peek at Chris just to realize he hadn't noticed me yet. I didn't want to see his reaction, so I focused on Mr. Schneider's face. He told me to talk outside so he could finish his class, and I would have to catch up. Nodding, my gaze traveled to a dumbstruck Chris staring at me. My heart skipped a beat. No, it raced frantically… It felt like my insides would turn until they burst. Chris had no clue that he would meet me that day. His features were unreadable. We couldn't stand there until he was with me again, so I walked out the door. I felt him following me and kept going until we were a safe distance from the class, but not so far that it would seem weird. For a few minutes, I couldn't even face him. Stupid, stupid, Juliet! It wouldn't have been that awkward if you had listened to Carl. He had to come and find you… Again! What to do, What to do? I knew I was biting my lip nervously. Chris was still gawking at me. My sweaty hands were stupidly clasped in front of my body, and I was unable to lift my eyes at him. My brain was a no-show, fumbling and trying to figure out an excuse for why I didn't go to see him.