The Art of Life (62 page)

               
I watch him walk away and then I
go to class.
 
My mind actually stays
attune with class.
 
When last period
rolls around, I am feeling pretty good.
 
I walk into class and smile at my art teacher.
 
“Hello.”

               
“Miss.
Nimon
you are back!
 
Excellent.
 
You just missed a small project, but I can
give you a day or two to finish your project in the time being,” he chimes.

               
With a nod of my head, I reply,
“Thank you.
 
I think I can finish it
today.”

               
“Wonderful,” my teacher exclaims.

               
Smiling, I go get my project and
supplies.
 
Sitting down, I take a deep
breath.
 
Now this, this is what makes me
feel whole.
 
Picking up a pencil I get to
work.
 
I don’t know if it’s because I
have known Jeremy longer, but there are certain things that I know now about
him, that I missed before.
  
That makes
drawing him a lot easier.

               
A while later, I hear, “Nice
scarf.”

               
I carefully set down my pencil
and look up.
 
Sonya is standing
there.
 
With a smile, I retort, “Shut
up.”

               
“Excuse me?” She snaps.

               
“SHUT….UP,” I emphasize.
 
“Go bother someone else, I am busy.”
 
Picking up my pencil, I go back to work.

               
She steps closer to my desk and
seethes, “Don’t think you can talk to me that way and get away with it.”

               
“Excuse me,” I growl.
 
“You are in my light.
 
Your big head is in my way.”

               
Sonya’s jaw drops open.
 
“I never!”

               
“From what I have heard, you
have…. a lot,” I reply, smiling.
 
What in
the hell am I doing?
 
She is going to
jump across this table and choke me.
 
Okay, bad thought.
 
“Sonya, just
go sit down and leave me alone.”

               
“Listen to me,” she whispers,
bending over.
 
“You have now opened a
door that can’t be closed.
 
You thought I
was bad before, you just wait.”

               
Oh crap.
 
“Whatever,” I grumble.
 
“Just go away.”

               
With one last glare, she turns
and walks back to her desk.
 
I just close
my eyes.
 
What in the world did I just do?
 
Why in the world would I even do that?
 
If she finds out, my life would suddenly be
over.
 
Maybe I could be home
schooled.
 
Jeremy seems smart.
 
Ugh.
 
Looking down I go back to my work.

               
At the end of the day, I get my
books and sigh.
 
Part of me feels really
tired.
 
I know I didn’t do much today but
still, I am
warn
out.
 
Throwing my backpack on, I walk out the doors.
 
I am not paying much attention, but when I
look up, I stop in my tracks.
 
Laughing,
I roll my eyes.
 
Josh is standing next to
his bike, and there are a bunch of girls from school standing around him.

               
I waltz over to him and raise an
eyebrow.
 
Josh sees me and exclaims,
“Isabelle!”
 
He comes and wraps his arms
around me.
 
Whispering in my ear, he
says, “Help me, there are a bunch of underage girls hitting on me.
 
I refuse to be the dirty older guy.”

               
That makes me giggle.
 
“What?
 
You don’t want a girl that much younger than you?”

               
“Jail time is not a good time,”
Josh says with a smile.
 
“You are 18, so
if I flirt with you, it’s different.”

               
“What are you even doing here?”
I ask.

               
He puts his arm around me and
pulls me to the bike.
 
“Jeremy wanted one
of us to pick you up from school, and I happily said I would do it.
 
I figured we could spend some time together,
and I can show you how to properly play a video game.”

               
“No cheating this time,” I respond.

               
Exasperated, Josh yells, “I did
not cheat!”
 
He lets go of me.
 
Looking at the gaggle of girls, he winks, “See
you ladies later.”
 
They all giggle.
 
Josh climbs on the bike and starts it.
 
I take the helmet and put it on.
 

               
Climbing on back, I say, “You
don’t want them to hit on you, but you wink at them?”

               
“Oh come on, that was just for
fun.
 
Now hold on babe.”
 
With that he speeds off.

               
When we get back to the
apartment, we make some popcorn and then sit down on the couch.
 
Josh gives me a controller and proceeds to
tell me all the awesome moves I can do.
 
He actually lets us take our time, so I know what I am doing.
 
It is a lot of fun and we laugh a lot.

               
Around 5, Jeremy comes
home.
 
He walks in, looks at us and rolls
his eyes.
 
“Why am I not surprised to
find you guys doing that?”

               
“Hey!” Josh exclaims.
 
“Someone has to teach her.”

               
“Whatever,” Jeremy groans.
 
He walks over and kisses me on the head.
 
“How was your day toots?”

               
Shrugging, I say, “Alright, I
had lunch with Eric and Sonya is going to kill me now.
 
Overall, a slightly
eventful day.”

               
“Okay, explain both of them,”
Jeremy says, looking at his mail.

               
“Well, Eric asked where I had
been and I said an emergency came up.
 
Then he asked if I was going to eat lunch with them and I shied away, so
he suggested we eat in one of the science rooms.
 
Then, well, I told him what happened,” I say,
moving my gaze away from Jeremy.

               
“You did what?” Jeremy slightly
snaps.

               
“Well, without thinking I kind
of let on that we were living together.
 
So, I had to explain why, because obviously moving in with a guy is a
big thing.
 
He was very understanding,” I
reply nervously.

               
Jeremy sighs heavily, “It’s your
life sweetheart.
 
I just want to keep you
safe.
 
It is your life to tell to
whomever you feel the need.
 
Please, just
keep me out of what you say!”

               
“Jeremy!
 
I would never tell anyone your business.
 
I am sorry if you are angry with me!”

               
Standing up, Josh awkwardly
says, “Alright, I am going home now.
 
You
two have a nice evening.”
 
He walks to
the door.

               
“Thanks Josh for picking me up,”
I mumble.

               
“No problem, I will see you guys
later,” Josh retorts as he leaves.

               
I spin on Jeremy.
 
“You realize you just scared him off!”

               
Turning, Jeremy seems to ignore
me.
 
Great.
 
He sets the mail down on the counter and takes
a deep breath.
 
“Isabelle, I am just very
private.
 
You
easily
telling
Eric what your secret is, makes me uneasy.”

               
Quickly, I jump off the
couch.
 
“Jeremy,” I groan.
 
“I would never tell anyone what you tell
me.
 
You can trust me.
 
I swear, I only told him that we are living
together and that you are super protective of me.
 
I am sorry.”

               
He turns to me and gives me sad
eyes.
 
“Don’t say you are sorry.
 
It is your life
Isabelle,
I am not here to say what you can and can’t do.
 
It’s just hard for me to trust people, and I want to trust you.”

               
“I didn’t go tell Sonya.
 
I told Eric and he is a nice guy.”

               
“Isabelle, he seems like a nice
guy, but we don’t know that for sure.”
 
Jeremy pauses.
 
“I am super
protective of you, maybe too protective.
 
I just want to keep you safe from the world, and I have no control over
other people.
 
So, I worry.”

               
Walking over, I wrap my arms
around him.
 
“Thank you for being
protective of me.
 
I don’t plan on
telling anyone else.”

               
“I just think it’s best for
now,” Jeremy replies, hugging me back.
 
He kisses the top of my head.
 
“I
don’t want you hurt.”

               
“Me either,” I whisper.
 
We stand there for a while, just holding each
other.

               
Finally, Jeremy lets me go.
 
“I need to go take a shower.”

               
“Okay,” I say.
 
“I am going to do my homework.
 
Luckily, I have only one assignment.
 
I kept up on the rest.”

               
“Good, well, I am going to go get
clean.”

               
Jeremy goes into the bathroom
and I go into my room.
 
I sit down and do
my homework.
 
It doesn’t take me long to
finish.
 
When I am putting it away,
Jeremy comes walking into my room.
 
He is
tucking in a shirt into a pair of black dress pants.
 
I look at him.
 
“Are you going somewhere?”

               
He fixes his nice button up
shirt and pulls down his cuffs.
 
“Yes, I
have a date.
 
We are going to this really
nice steak house.
 
It is a little
upscale.”

               
“Oh,” I squeak.
 
My heart
falls
a
little, which is stupid.
 
“Well, have
fun.”

               
Jeremy sighs and says, “I am
worried that I am not going to make the reservation on time.”

               
“Why?” I ask.

               
“Because my
date hasn’t even gotten into the bathroom yet.”

               
Tilting my head, I go, “Huh?”

               
Giving me that great smile,
Jeremy elaborates, “I am WAITNG for my date to get ready, but right now, she is
giving me a really dumbfounded look, which isn’t helping.”

               
“Me?” I gasp.

               
“Yes,” Jeremy laughs.
 
“Go, get ready.”

               
Bewildered, I ask, “Why are you
taking me?
 
I mean, don’t you want to
actually take a date to the nice restaurant?”

               
“You are my date for the
evening.
 
Now, go get ready,” he says, as
he grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet.
 
“I will pick out a dress; go do whatever girly things you need to do.”

               
With a slight stutter, I
whisper, “Umm, okay.”
 
Jeremy goes to my
closet and I go to the bathroom.
 
I don’t
have to do much.
 
I
restraighten
my unruly hair and I put on a little bit of make-up.
 
When I walk back into my room, Jeremy is
holding a dress……and a bra.
 
“Jeremy!” I
yell.