Perchance (13 page)

             
Gram, as she wanted me to call her now, was quiet today.  She listened to me moan and groan about Remi, but she didn’t crack jokes or say anything until I was done.  She stayed silent for so long that I looked at her closer to see if she had fallen asleep. 

             
“Get that stool Cooper and pull it up right in front of me.” She pointed to a small squatty stool and I obeyed.

             
When I sat in front of her she pinched the front of my KISS t shirt and rolled her eyes. 

             
“Let me tell you about girls like Remi.  They are precious as rubies, but rubies are expensive. 
You have to work hard to earn a ruby.  But once you do, once you’ve shown her that you recognize her as the gem that she is, she’ll never forget it.  And more importantly, she’ll see that she’s a ruby.  But you’ve got to do most of the work.  But the reward is her love.  You understand me Cooper honey?”

             
“I’ve tried Gram.  She threw it in my face and acted like I had some kind of ulterior motive.”

             
She chuckled her little grandma chuckle and squeezed my cheeks. 

             
“Oh my boy, it’s gonna take more than a couple of days to show her.  But the last thing you ever want to do is walk away from her.  When you do, she buries her heart deeper and next time it’s harder to find.  You know, your grandfather and I were married forty two years. Know why?”

             
“Why?” I was absolutely entranced by her sage wisdom.

             
“Because he never ever walked away.  I knew that no matter what I did, he was going to be there waiting and loving me.  He made me see that I was worth the effort.”

             
“Ok, I can do that.”

             
“Are you sure? You’re so young to be so committed to one girl.”

             
“How old were you and grandpa when you first started dating or whatever.”

             
She giggled again. “Well, we were fourteen.  But that was a very different time.”

             
I hugged her goodbye and went home. Eric and I ate dinner together and then we watched some kind of show where people get caught acting stupid on video.  It was pretty funny and I was kinda starting to like Eric.  He said my mom had called and not to worry about calling her tonight because she was working the late shift.  I made my way up to my apartment and texted Troy. He said that Josie and Remi were at Remi’s house studying together.  That’s fine.  I would wait her out.  But it was still my turn to bring food tomorrow.  I wasn’t going back on our deal no matter what. 

             
The next morning I got dressed and went to get Troy.  He shook his head at my bag of breakfast and hot chocolate in a to-go cup for Remi and said I might be barking up the wrong tree. 
I glared him down and he relented by saying that I was doing the right thing.

             
The girls pulled into the parking lot shortly after us and tried to walk towards the school but away from us.  So I walked directly to the front door and blocked their entrance.  I smiled at Remi and said “Good morning, today’s my turn.” I handed her the bag
and the cup
and walked away before she could protest.

             
I put my stuff in my locker and went to class. 
Yes, this was going to work.

             
By the time I got to third period I was back to worrying.  But thank God Troy was in with Josie.  He sat down next to me and started talking.

             
“
Ok, so Josie says that Remi’s not mad anymore.  But that’s all I could get out of her.”

             
I let out a huge huff of breath and prayed that this hour went by fast.

             
“Ok
.” I tapped my fingers on the desk until they were hurting me as I waited for the bell to ring.

             
The bell rang and Troy went to meet up with Josie on ‘their bench’ and I
went looking for my girl.
I was trying to make her my girl.

             
I looked through the cafeteria again and didn’t see her, so I went and looked through the windows.  I saw her legs but her face and torso were being blocked by some skinny guy with a weird backwards hat on. He was crouched down on his haun
ches beside her and he talked
incessantly about something.  She looked like she was in pain or maybe his breath stank. 

             
I walked over to her and
sat down as close as I could get.  I put my arm around her shoulder and pretended to genuinely be interested in whatever stupid line he was trying to pull with her.  By the way, it was the breath. 

             
He looked me over and after a few minutes finally stopped talking. 

             
“Hey man, what’s up?” he said

             
“Nothing, just came to have lunch with my girl.” I
did not just say that out loud.

             
Remi tensed under my arm, but then relaxed and she didn’t refute it. 

             
“Ok, well, I’ll see you later Remi.” He said as he walked off.

             
Good…Keep walking cowboy.

             
She turned in my direction after I unveiled our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

             
“You totally saved me.  He tried to talk to me in Homeroom and I blew him off, but apparently it didn’t work.”

             
“Yeah, you looked like you were in pain.”  I laughed at her.

             
“Ugh, you have no idea.”

             
Then she stopped and looked to the sky for a moment and then back to me.

             
“I’m sorry Cooper.  I really am.  I’ve just always been taught that guys have an ulterior motive in everything they do.  But I trust you.  I’ve only known you for a week or so, but I really trust you.”

             
She really was a pistol, she shot in a perfect line and I was her target.

             
I stopped eating and put my arm back around her shoulders but not before moving her hair away from her ears.  I got as close as I could to her ear and whispered, “I’m glad you trust me Remi.  I will try my damndest not to hurt you and I’m going to be here for you no matter what.”

             
She leaned her head against my shoulder for a short time and nodded.  Then we went back to eating. 

             
The bell rang and we went our separate ways.  I felt like an anvil had been lifted from my chest. 

             
How could I look into those eyes and say anything less?  He looked at me in a way that I’d never seen a boy look at a girl, and never recalled my dad looking at Mom that way. 
I was such a fool to think otherwise. 

             
I stopped by my locker before I went out to Josie’s car and inside it was a note.  It was folded up so little that I almost missed it.  I smiled all girly to myself and opened it.  I just knew it was from him.  It wasn’t.

             
It wa
s from the bad breath guy, Kevin
.  It had his phone number and said to call him after school if I wanted to hang out.  Oh Lordy, the boy had no clue.  I felt like Cooper knew me already and this clown was asking me if I wanted to hang out? Oh boy.

             
A throat was cleared behind me and I knew who it was without turning.  I put the note over my shoulder.  I knew he was jonesing to read it. What a nosey Rosey.  He paused for a minute, reading the note and then he snorted.  I rolled my eyes and turned around smiling.

             
“What was that for?” I asked with my hand on my hip.

             
“Did you read this? It’s a joke. What is he twelve?” He looked down to read it again.

             
“So, it’s a joke to want to hang out with me?” My turn to bait him.

             
He crumbled the note into a ball all the while staring me down. I tried to step back but my back was against my locker.

             
“
Spending time with you would be an honor for any person.  But leaving a girl like you a lame note in her locker all folded up like it’s origami, is a joke.  A girl like you needs to be cornered by her locker and asked out like a lady.  You know, like I’m doing now.”

             
I knew there were words coming out of those lips but for the life of me I only caught girl, lame note, origami and asked out like a lady. I squinted my eyes at him.

             
“Are you asking me out Cooper Neal?”  I said. Was it just me or was he getting closer? I could smell the Juicy Fruit gum in his mouth.

             
“Not yet.” He smiled and took off towards the parking lot.

             
I barely got a hold of myself before I groaned. “I’m gonna kill him.”

             
I got home and did some homework.  Aunt Brenda went to some kind of Bible study and invited me to go but I declined.  I just wanted to stay home. 

             
My text ringtone whistle at me and I went to see who it was. 

             
Cooper:
U done with hmwrk yet?

             
Me:
Not yet.

             
Cooper:
Can I call you later?

             
Me:
Not yet.

             
Cooper:
Don’t make me come over there.

             
Me:
Not yet.

             
Cooper:
That’s it!

             
I didn’t answer the last one.  I was laughing too hard for one and for another I was hoping to aggravate him enough to feel my pain.  I went out the backdoor and walked around the house waiting for him.  He passed me without even looking to the side of the house.  He was so irresistible when he was aggravated.  Definitely a plus of this whole thing.

             
He walked up to the front door and knocked like he was the S.W.A.T. team on a drug bust.  I tip-toed around the porch as he cupped his hand to the window and tried to look inside.  Then he went back to that awful knocking.  I snuck up on him and instead of poking him or screaming, I simply blew in his ear.  He ducked down to a crouch and was swatting at some unknown flying insect when I couldn’t contain it any more.  I fell to my knees laughing until I cried. 
He turned around to me and glared and I thought I had really pissed him off, but that didn’t stop me from laughing harder.

             
He just sat there until I slowed my laughter down as much as I could and had his arms crossed over his chest.  I had to suck in my cheeks to try to calm my smile down. 

             
He was serious as a heart attack when he said,“Ok, are we even now?”

             
“Hardly.  You left me breathless at my locker like some kind of lame little love sick girl while your gorgeous self just strolled out without a care in the world.”

             
“All I heard was I made you breathless, you’re love sick and you said I’m gorgeous, which sounds kinda girly.” He was smiling like the cocky little sucker that he was.