Gauntlet Rite of Ascension (3 page)

I turned and saw Max already sitting at our normal seat. Our lunchroom was one large area with long communal seats set up. Four rows of bench seating with a table in the middle. We always sat furthest away from the counter on the far left side of the room. I don’t know why, but we had staked out the territory years ago and no one bothered to sit there.

I walked up to him as he sat and ate with vigor.

“Sup.” I said as I sat down.

“Did you watch that video I sent you last night? The one about the Phoenix lights?” He asked.

“I wanted to, but I was just too busy doing other stuff.” I said.

This was a ritual with us. He constantly sent me conspiracy videos and I constantly ignored them.

“This one was ballshit crazy. The military is actually trying to say it was just an exercise, damn that’s old! There was like a thousand eye-witnesses, not to mention the fact that military protocol wouldn’t allow them to engage in exercises that close to a populated area. They think we’re all brain dead idiots.” He said.

Sometimes I liked to needle him, just for shits and giggles.

“Why don’t you write your senator? Maybe send the video to channel three. I’m sure they would run it in between this weekend’s bake sale coverage and the hard hitting expose on A.T.M. locations.” I said.

He looked at me for a second, before using his fork to point at me.

“I know you think I’m crazy, but I don’t give a damn. Those fuckers are controlling shit and one day you’ll see. One day something will happen and you will say, damn, Max was right all along. Mark my words.” He said.

“Send me the video again, I’ll take a look.” I said, trying to appease him.

Max could get real agitated at times, especially when someone thought he was crazy.

“No you won’t, dick. I’ll send it anyway; maybe you’ll come to your senses.” He said, appeased.

“So, have you asked Sara out yet?” Changing subjects.

This time it was me who became the target of ridicule.

“No, I’m waiting until the right moment. I want to make sure she’s over Ricky, I don’t want to waste it too early.” I said.

“Yeah, you don’t want to blow your wad too soon. Hey maybe you can take the vagina out of your butt and grow a pair. Ask her out already, don’t be a chicken shit.” He said.

“That’s easy to say coming from you. How many girlfriends have you had? Online, long distance doesn’t count. You can’t claim to have a girlfriend in Paris who you never have seen and only talk to through Google translate.” I said, trying to turn it on him.

“Don’t disrespect Annette. She is a beautiful creature and will be here in six months. She has promised.” He said with an air of belief.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” I said.

“So, back to Sara, when are you gonna do it?” He persisted.

“I don’t know, I heard Fred is having a big blowout tomorrow, I was thinking about asking her to go.” I said.

“You’re going to ask her to go with you to a party that she probably would have gone to anyway? Why not just ask her to go with you to school? I mean that’s totally romantic.” He chided.

“I know, I was thinking of taking her to dinner first, so we could have some time together. So she could get to see me outside of class and we could hangout before going to the party.” I answered.

“Hmm. That’s actually not a bad idea. That way when she realizes you’re a total douche she can dump you at the party and claim innocence.” Max said, then mimicked what he claimed was an exact replica of how Sara talks.

“I don’t know what happened, I just got lost in this big ole party and had to get the hell away from you.” He finished.

“You done?” I asked.

“I guess.” He said.

“All I’m saying is school’s about to be out, the summer will be filled with people traveling and leaving. A girl like Sara is special and she won’t stay around here for long. You need to move on it if you want to tap that ass before she leaves.” He said.

“Thanks for your concern. Have you prepared for the debate?” I asked trying to change subjects.

“Yeah, no thanks to you, where were you anyway? Don’t tell me you fell down, that’s bullshit.”

I decided to tell him, he was crazy, but he was my best friend. I didn’t keep secrets from him.

“I don’t know it was the weirdest thing. I was walking to class through the woods, you know, taking the short cut, when I heard a noise.”

“Wait, wait. You’re telling me you were walking in the woods then heard a noise? What did you do next genius; go investigate like a good horror movie victim?” He asked.

“Hey, I thought someone might have been in trouble or something, and, yes, I went to investigate. I stumbled on a curled up animal. I think it was a rabbit, it scared the shit out of me and I fell down, bumped my head and woke up with these bug bit on my arm.” I said, showing him.

He leaned over a little, examining my arm.

“What else aren’t you telling me?” He asked.

Damn, he knew me too well.

“I know it sounds silly, but I dreamt that I saw a large wild wolf. It stood up and came over to me, I pet it and then it bite me, right on my arm. Then I passed out, but when I woke up there was only blood and these bug bites. Weird, huh?” I said.

“Holy fucking shit. Are you kidding me? You have been bitten by a werewolf. Oh my god you’re a damn monster now!” He said, making fun of me.

“Whatever, that’s what happened.” I said.

“Well, if you need some chamomile cream for your bug bites the nurse has some. I used some last week when I got a rash from poison oak.” He said.

“That’s not why you got that rash, quite lying.” I teased.

“Bite me.” He said.

I went to start eating, there wasn’t a lot of time left and I was real hungry. I took a look at the food on my plate and had no interest in the vegetables or bread, my mouth started watering in anticipation of the Salisbury steak, however.

It was weird. I never really liked their Salisbury steak. I would eat some of it though, just for the nutrients. This time I was ravenous. I started shoveling the meat down faster than I could swallow, shoving big chunks in my mouth. I chanced a look up and saw Max staring at me with disgust.

“I guess you’re taking this werewolf thing seriously. Or do you always eat like a lunatic?” He asked.

I paused and slowly started chewing, smiling slightly to hide the worry I was feeling, what if my fall had affected me more than I knew? This was weird. The bell rang and we got up to go to class.

Chapter 3

The walk down the hall helped clear my head.

I went to my locker and got the books needed for lab. I went to my next class and sat down at my table. I was the first one in, which was normal. My teacher came in a second later carrying some books and his lunch bag. He sat down and put the lunch away in a drawer in his desk. He looked up and saw me.

“Good afternoon Eric, how are you?” He asked.

“I’m fine, thanks.” I answered.

Mr. Mason was a good teacher, better than most. He was genuinely excited about teaching and it was evident. He was the type of teacher that challenged us, but did it in a way that made us want to be challenged. He was even good at getting the kids who had no interest in learning engaged.

He was middle aged, probably around thirty-five. He had a receding hairline and had no qualms about it. He didn’t try to act cool or be someone he wasn’t just to get the kids to like him in hopes that they’d take it easy. Some of the students can be cruel to teachers who are weak.

“Excited about graduating, I imagine?” He asked.

“Yeah, I can’t wait. I’m going to Georgetown in a month to take a look around.” I said.

“Georgetown is a great college; you’ll be a good addition to their student body.” He said.

By this time other people had started making their way into class. The room soon filled up and I waited for Sara to come in.

I always waited for her.

She always came in right at the bell. It was a gift. Today was no different. Just as the bell started to ring, she came in through the door and looked over at me. I was momentarily stunned. She came over and sat down, looked at me and said, “Hey.”

“Afternoon.” I said.

I had been her lab partner all year and I still felt awkward. I was such a doofus.

“Did you finish the diagrams on the cell mitosis?” She asked, pulling out her books and material for today’s lesson.

              “Yeah, I finished it, you?” I asked.

              “Of course. I wouldn’t let a little mitosis stand in my way.” She said, smiling.

I smiled back, I couldn’t help it, it was infectious.

              “Okay people, today were going to finish our work on cell identification. We have a bunch of slides to look at and tissue samples to examine. I want everyone to turn on their microscopes and get some samples from the front of the class. Take out your lab folder and start completing the instructions in chapter ten, if you have any questions, just ask.” Mr. Mason said.

“I’ll go.” Sara said.

She got up and walked to the front of the class getting our samples. I barely turned my gaze as she turned back. I didn’t want her to catch me staring at her. I could have sworn I saw a slight smile on her face as she walked back.

“Here you go. I guess you can use the scope and I’ll draw, if you want?” She asked.

“Yeah, that’s great.” I said.

We went about labeling, identifying and drawing different cell types. It was boring, but important. I already knew all of this, but it never hurt to go over it again. The class went by with ease.

I lost track of time. I looked up and saw there were only a few minutes left in the period. I was planning on asking her out today and figured this would be as good a time as any. As the moment of truth arrived I began to get very nervous, my heart sped up and was a physical presence in my ears. I could hear every beat. My hands got sweaty and I almost dropped a tissue sample as I took it back to the front.

I walked back wondering what to say when I looked up and saw Sara talking to Jake Spelling. Jake’s been in our class for the whole year and pretty much kept to himself. I really didn’t know him, but seeing him talking to Sara made me angry.

A strong feeling that she was
mine
filled me. I forgot about my hands and my nervousness and went over to them. I stepped in front of Jake, cutting him off from Sara.

“Hey.” He said.

“Oh, sorry, my bad, I didn’t see you there.” I answered.

I turned and faced him, my back to Sara. I looked at him and the anger and feeling of him encroaching on my territory increased and seemed to flow out of me in an almost visible wave. Jake took another look at me and stepped back.

“Go ahead, I didn’t mean to stop you.” I said in a non-threatening voice, all the while I stood there emitting a dangerous vibe.

Jake turned to go saying, “It’s no big deal, man. I’ll talk to her later.”

I turned back to Sara who looked at me with a quizzical expression.

“What?” I asked.

“What’s going on?”

I was bursting with an extreme confidence and used it to fuel my next question.

“Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night? I was thinking dinner and then we could go to Fred’s party afterward.” I said, with no hint of bashfulness or trepidation.

Sara was shocked from my forwardness and was taken aback. She forgot about the thing with Jake as a large smile spread across her face.

“Well I’ll be damned. I didn’t think you had it in you.” She said.

“Neither did I. I guess seeing you with Jake just made me realize I didn’t like it.” I said, truthfully.

“Okay, Eric. Pick me up at six. We’ll eat and then, who knows?” She said with a hint of mystery.

I loved it.

“Six it is.” I said.

She picked up her bag and left, giving me a big smile. This time I watched her leave and when she looked back I kept watching. She smiled again and walked out the door.

I let out a breath and realized what I had just done! I had a date, with Sara!

Chapter 4

I was in a daze as I made my way to speech class.

I don’t remember much. I think there was talking and I gave a weak debate performance. All I could think about was her. I had a date. I had a date with Sara.