Gravity (Free Falling) (13 page)

Lunch seemed to drag on slowly.  When the bell
rang I jumped to my feet, wanting to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding me.  I halted when I heard Antonio speak.  “Wait up.  I’m walking you to your class.”  The way he said it let me know that this wasn’t just a kind gesture.  Antonio was making a point; he wanted A.J to see that I was with
him
.  There was nothing I could do and no point in responding.

When we reached the door to Ms. Jamison’s classroom
, I hesitated for a moment before peering inside.  A.J was already there, leaned back with his legs stretched out on either sides of his desk, and his arms folded across his chest.  He was staring at the door with an intense look on his face that almost made me feel like he’d expected this.  Antonio met his gaze and didn’t break it even when he spoke to me.  “I’ll see you in a little while.”  He stood there with his eyes still on AJ who also did not waver.  Another second passed and Antonio finally turned and walked away.  On the way to my seat, I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Things w
ere beginning to get out of hand very quickly.  It became obvious that Antonio was suspicious of AJ’s intentions although he seemed to still be unaware of
my
role in the situation.  I was yanked from my train of thought by AJ mumbling to himself under his breath.  What he said was unclear, but his expression was angry now. 
Was he upset with me for putting him through this? Was he angered by Antonio’s antagonistic behavior?
  There were so many possibilities that I gave up.  He still hadn’t looked at me since I’d taken my seat.  Eventually Ms. Jamison began her lesson and it went in one ear and out the other as I played out different scenarios in my head.  All of a sudden, I was aware of AJ’s eyes on me.  It took a second, but then his expression softened up a bit as I met his gaze.  There was just a hint of a smile on his face, but he didn’t stare long before turning his attention back to Ms. Jamison. 

When class ended Leslie came over to
AJ and I to inform him about Saturday.  We agreed on 3:00 as a good time to meet, and then she left the room.  A.J and I approached the door at the same time on our way out and he stepped aside to let me through first.  As I passed, he gripped my hand for a fraction of a second, acknowledging the secret that we shared.  Neither of us looked at the other as we exited and went our separate ways.

After school
, Antonio was already waiting at my locker.  I approached him slowly, still uneasy about the incident earlier.  He was leaning against the lockers and staring off thoughtfully in the distance, so engrossed that I don’t even think he noticed me until I began to fidget with my lock. 

             
“Hey,” I said in a low voice.

             
“Hey,” he replied, still staring off in the distance.

I grabbed the two books that I needed to do my homework for the weekend and then
closed my locker.  Antonio headed toward the door without another word and I followed behind him silently.  He walked me to my car and held the door open for me.  No hug…..nothing.  I got in after staring at him for another second, searching for some sort of hint to tell me what he was thinking. 

             
“Are you still coming to pick me up later?”  I asked sheepishly.

             
“Why wouldn’t I be?”  He asked with a hint of irritation in his voice. 

             
“I don’t know, it just seems like there’s something bothering you.  I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”

             
“I’ll be there,” he replied flatly.

             
“Ok, I’ll see you later then.”

             
“Yep,” he stated with zero emotion.  That was all Antonio said before slamming my door shut and walking away, never looking at me once.  I lowered my head in shame as I thought about what I’d done.  Although he didn’t know exactly what was going on, he was beginning to feel insecure and that was
my
fault.

*****

The smell of paint and lacquer were heavy in the air.  It was a potent aroma that appealed to me.  My CD player clicked a few times as it came to life and I flopped down on the small couch against the back wall of the attic.  I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as the music helped me drift into my zone.  In spite of my fatigue, it was useless to even think about napping.  My eyes drifted from one painting to the next as I thought back to the incident in the lunchroom.  I focused in on a piece I’d completed about a year ago that was inspired by my feelings for Antonio before he became aware of how I felt about him.  There were clean lines and solid images that I later came to associate with the simplicity of our relationship.  Everything was effortless.  He and I had so many things in common and many of the same goals in life.  We just seemed to fit together.  As my eyes danced over the vibrant blues and reds before me, I suddenly felt inspired to create a new painting that arose from a very different inspiration. However, it would have to wait until some other time because I hated starting a picture and not being able to devote my undivided attention to it.

As I got ready for our date that nigh
t, I tried not to think about Antonio’s behavior as we’d parted ways that afternoon.  Hopefully, he’d be in a better mood by the time he showed up to get me.  Maybe that was too much for me to ask.  Truth be told, I deserved much more than for him to be giving me the cold shoulder. 

I appraise
d myself in the mirror and tried to prepare for whatever was to come that evening.  The doorbell rang and I heard Daddy let Antonio in, so I took one last approving glance at the mirror and made my way downstairs.  I hesitated before finally looking to meet Antonio’s gaze.  It seemed as though he’d found some sense of peace since our last encounter, but he still didn’t look like his usual easygoing self.  When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Daddy gave me a hug and whispered me a reminder about my curfew before releasing me from his arms. 

Antonio was silent as we pulled away from my house.  I
searched for something to say, but he beat me to the punch. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

             
“It’s fine,” was all I could say without allowing him to see the guilt on my face.

             
“I was just trying to keep my cool.  That AJ dude was
real
close today.” I froze in my seat as he continued.  “I ain’t no punk and he’ll find that out
real
quick.”

Antonio had a different side to him
that only showed up when he got angry.  He’d never been mad at
me
, but I’d witnessed it once before during the summer when we visited a water park not too far outside of Fairfax.  I’d never been as scared of anyone as I was of him that day. 

There was some random
guy there with a group of his friends and they felt the need to make some really obscene comments about me in my swimsuit. I ignored it mostly, but Antonio lost all sense of reason.  It happened so fast that I don’t even remember how it started, but Antonio grabbed the guy by the neck and held his head under the water, nearly drowning him.  It took about five guys to stop him.  Lucky for him, we made it out of there before the cops showed up.  When he realized that his outburst had me shaken, he apologized, but I decided that day to always stay on his good side. That wasn’t something I wanted to see again. 

I wanted to hurry and think of something to say before he interpreted my silence as guilt……which wouldn’t have been too far off.  “I honestly don’t think he likes me at all, let alone in the way you’re thinking.  You
heard Leslie, he’s rude to me…..doesn’t even really speak.”

             
“Trust me.  I’m a man just like he is and I know what he was thinking.  He’s feelin’ you, Sam. 
Trust me!” 
Antonio insisted.

             
“Well, I think you’re wrong.”

             
“Yeah, we’ll see.”  There was a brief silence before he continued.  “What time are you all supposed to be getting together at your house Saturday?”

My heart sank because
I knew where this was headed. 
What should I say?
  One thing is for sure, the truth was out.  But then again, if I lie and he finds out from Terrance that Leslie was supposed to come over my house at 3:00, I’d be caught.

             
“Uh…..I don’t remember what time we settled on exactly.  I’ll have to call Les to find out.”

“Well let me know when you
do
find out,” he replied.

             
“Sure.” 
Crap!

*****

As we stood in the long line to buy our tickets I couldn’t help but to think about how I was going to get myself out of this one.  There was absolutely no way I could have them both at my house at the same time.  That would be a disaster for sure.  I couldn’t lie to Antonio; he’d find out the truth from Terrance.  Canceling seemed like the most likely choice, but Antonio may become suspicious about what my motives were.  There didn’t seem to be a plausible solution.  While wrestling with my dilemma, I could feel my phone vibrating in my purse.  I didn’t want Antonio to see me checking it, so I made up a lie to get me away from him for a moment. 

             
“I’ll be right back. I think I left something in your truck.”  I turned to walk away. 

“Don’t you need the key?”
  Antonio asked flatly.

             
“Oh, yeah that would be helpful.  Thanks,” I replied, mildly embarrassed by my oversight.

I grabbed the keys from his h
and and headed back out the theatre entrance.  Once I was sure he couldn’t see me, I hid behind a van and pulled my phone out.  It was a text message from AJ.

            
 
“What r u doing?”

What should I tell him?  The truth I guess
.  After all, he was the one that I didn’t have to lie to.

             
“At the movies,” I replied.

             
“With him?” He asked.

             
“Yeah.”

I waited another
minute for him to respond and decided that I was pushing my luck.  Antonio would become suspicious if I waited any longer, so I walked back inside.  He had almost made it to the front of the line.  “Did you find what you were looking for?”  He asked.

             
“Yeah, I thought I lost my lip gloss but it was under the seat.”  I smiled at him trying to make my story as believable as possible. 

             
We were next in line. Antonio pulled the money from his pocket and stepped forward when the couple in front of us walked away from the counter.  When he had our tickets in hand, I decided to create a small diversion to give myself a chance to check my phone again for another message from AJ.  He hadn’t responded that I knew of, but I wanted to be sure.  “Why don’t I get the drinks and everything while you go get us a good seat?”  I offered.

             
“Alright,” he replied and then put a twenty dollar bill in my hand along with my ticket before he walked away.  I watched until he was out of sight and then grabbed my cell phone out of my purse. 
Nothing. 
I sighed and waited in line.  After I paid for our snacks I made my way to the theater and found Antonio seated in the very last row in the far corner.  He met me at the end of the row to take the drinks from my hand.   Even when he wasn’t in the best of moods he was still a complete gentleman. 

The lights dimmed and the previews started.  I was surprised when Antonio reached for my hand.  He’d been
a little distant since this afternoon, so it was a relief that he still wanted to be close to me.  I glanced over at him and found that he was already looking in my direction.  He smiled at me a short sweet smile and then turned back to the screen. 

About halfway through the movie,
my phone started to go off again.  I jumped a little, but lucky for me, there was a scary scene at that precise moment so Antonio didn’t notice.  I turned to the side and acted as if I was searching for something in my purse again. 

AJ
had sent me another text.
 
“Come outside.  Use the side entrance.”

Is he insane?
I settled back into my seat and pretended to watch the movie while I debated whether or not to comply.  About five minutes later I decided go for it.

             
“I’ll be right back.  I have to go to the bathroom.”

             
“Ok,” Antonio replied.

By the time I reached the aisle, my
heart was pounding with the excitement that was bubbling over inside of me.  It was wrong, and yet it felt so right.  AJ was so unpredictable…..I
liked
it.  A smile crossed my face as I walked toward the exit.  There were only a few people lingering nearby including a guard to check ticket stubs.  I patted my pocket, remembering that I still had mine, and took one last glance over my shoulder before I made a run for it.