The Low Notes (10 page)

As he grabbed at different papers and assignment notebooks strewn out on his desk, he continued letting his eyes wander to Nina. She was swinging her legs and looking around the room out of boredom but with wide eyes that made her look curious. His heart sped up at the mere sight of her. He was losing his grip on reality. Kevin knew he was spending too much time with her and it was clouding his judgment on what was reasonable behavior.

The more time he spent with her, the more he thought of her when they were apart. The more he thought of her, the easier it was for him to convince himself things could be somewhat normal for them. However, these thoughts only came to him when he was alone. When he was near her he could only think of the next way he might be able to meet up with her again, making it look coincidental. A lost earring, a walk to the parking lot, those were easy enough. But how much longer would he be able to play the game of convenient meetings?

“
Is your father still out of town?” he asked. He hung both his bag and Nina’s over his shoulder and gestured toward the door.

Nina hopped down and they were back on their way to their cars, “Yep,” she answered.

“
Still staying with your sister?” Kevin asked.

“
My living arrangements haven’t changed since last night. What are you getting at?” Nina replied quickly. He stared at her, scrutinizing her face. Each line, a tiny scar, every shade of pink. What was he getting at?

‘
You could come to my place,’
he thought impulsively.

‘
We could run away,’
his mind was firing sparks.

‘
We could live happily ever...’
he was interrupted by Nina clearing her throat. He realized they'd been standing in the parking lot, his thoughts racing while Nina waited. Nina was glaring at him incredulously. She was undoubtedly waiting for a response that wasn't imagined.

“
Uh, Mr. Reed?” she said after clearing her throat once more.

His face twisted horribly. “Don’t call me that,” he snarled.

Nina blinked and looked timid after being scolded by him. Before Kevin could say anything, the concrete around them was swarming with teenage boys, all in sweaty black and gold uniforms. Kevin still couldn't decipher soccer from softball at this school but either way these boys were some kind of Wexley Falls team and their path was the same area where Kevin and Nina were stopped. Kevin looked around frantically as the boys jogged by them and gave them both confused glares.

What the hell was he thinking? The realization of all of the people that could have seen this odd exchange between them had him frazzled. He was letting things get way too far out of hand. He had to stop this while he still could.

“
Goodnight,” he muttered as he turned toward the teacher’s parking lot, making his way unceremoniously to his car, leaving Nina standing wide-eyed and jilted without a clue as to why. It was the last thing he wanted to do to her but he simply had to get away from her.

Chapter Twenty-One

The door opened with its usual creak and Nina breezed through, dropping her keys onto the table just inside the foyer. Her drive home had been noiseless. Her racing thoughts were keeping her so preoccupied she didn’t so much as touch the radio. She went over the day in her mind on the drive, trying hard to figure out exactly what happened that made everything so bizarre.

“
Nina! You want dinner?” Greta shrieked from the kitchen, startling Nina as she closed the front door behind her. She took a deep breath, annoyed that her sister was home, let alone speaking to her.

Greta stood with one foot tucked high onto her thigh in some sort of flamingo yoga pose as she stirred a simmering pot of something. She muttered about needing to add butter as Nina opened the refrigerator, rolling her eyes. Greta hadn't even looked at her. Then she felt her cell phone vibrating in the pocket of her jeans and she yanked it out and hit the answer button before glancing at the name or number.

“
Hello?” she asked, browsing the metal shelves for the tub of butter.

“
Hi, Nina.”

She nearly swallowed her tongue when she heard his voice. A coughing fit overcame her and in one fluid motion, she slammed the stainless steel door shut and scurried to the stairs.

“
Kevin? What the hell are you doing calling me?” she asked in an anxious hush. Her steps were loud thuds as she tore up the staircase to her room, praying her sister hadn’t noticed the way she suddenly left the room.

“
I’m sorry but I have your bag,” Kevin said softly.

Dear Lord. She’d been too stunned by the way he ran off to notice or to remember to get it back.

“
Shit,” she breathed. It was the only expression she could muster. She had too much homework to wait until tomorrow when she would see him again. Her grades were already slipping slightly as it was.

“
Can I come get it from you?” she asked. She didn’t want to pursue any more time with Kevin but if it meant getting a few more A’s during the week rather than the C’s and D’s she’d been pulling in, so be it. Kevin agreed and gave her his address before she quickly hung up the phone. Nina knew exactly where his house was once she heard the street name. He was just a few blocks from The Black Jewel, within walking distance even.

Her mind floated back to the other night when he wandered in while she sang. It felt like a year ago. That night crushed her heart and the next day she mooned over him even more. It was becoming a pattern between them. Kevin’s mood swings were certainly keeping Nina on her toes.

She rummaged through her closet and grabbed the first thing that jumped out at her and hurried back down the steps to find Greta was still standing at the stove with her concoction.

“
I’m going out, okay?” Nina said, not considering asking for permission. Greta didn’t bother Nina and since Nina was the one doing the shopping and the majority of the housework, there was nothing for them to fight about. They mostly kept to themselves.

Greta glanced up from the stovetop. “You don't want dinner?”

Nina shook her head and started heading for the door, hurrying to her car. The Black Jewel was only a few minutes from her house.

She made the turn onto his street and pulled into his steep driveway. Nina took a moment to take in the view of Kevin’s home. The large, dark brick house looked old with ivy climbing the trellises on the sides of the carport and tiny cracks in the stone walkway leading to a large wooden door. It looked like a real home and not just a house like where she lived. Nina always hated that her father wanted new homes, constantly moving around Wexley into the newest neighborhood erected by the newest contractor. Her houses always seemed foreign to her, museum like and lacking character. Kevin’s home was the type of place she dreamed about when she was a little girl.

She climbed out of her car and headed up the walkway. Before she was up to the first step, she saw Kevin sitting on the porch on a swinging bench. His porch was almost completely closed in and it was cozy with only a slight breeze traveling through the open sides and front where it faced the quiet street. Without a word she made her way onto the porch and stood before him. She could see her bag propped up near the door.

Letting her eyes wander, she noticed an amused grin on Kevin's face as he looked her up and down.

“
What?” she asked.

“
What’s all this?” he asked back, gesturing toward her outfit. She'd put on a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, trying to disguise herself since she was going to be at his home, a move she knew was inappropriate.

She sighed and rolled her eyes and removed the sunglasses. “This is a small town, okay? I know you haven’t lived here long but I’m trying to be inconspicuous. You’re new in town and my dad knows everyone so...” her voice grew faint until she gave up trying to make him understand.

“
I think the neighbors would be more concerned about me meeting up with the Unabomber than one of my students.”

A laugh escaped her lips. “What's a Unabomber?”

Kevin's face fell and he shook his head accompanied by a heavy sigh as she pulled the hood off of her head and took a seat next to him on the swing. For a moment they sat in the silence, just hearing the birds chirp and the wind blow through the porch.

“
You know I didn’t plan this,” Kevin started.

Nina scoffed unexpectedly. “Right,” she teased.

Kevin laughed and pushed his feet off of the wooden planks below them setting the swing into motion again.

“
This has been a really weird and really long week,” Nina said.

They turned to each other, their eyes roaming over the others’ face looking for some kind of sign.

“
Do you ever feel like you’re two different people?” Kevin asked, slowing the swing by dragging his shoe against the wood porch.

A gust of air puffed from Nina’s lips. She didn't just feel like that. It was true. She was a liar with everyone but him and with him she was just confused. Silently she nodded as the thought of how well he might really understand her was sinking in.

“
What do you think would’ve happened if we’d met at the beginning of the summer?” Nina asked, knowing the hypothetical thought was torturous for both of them.

Kevin shot her a look, the strong lines of his face bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun.

“
That depends. Would you have lied the whole time? The reality that we're in is bad enough. Don't go imagining that scenario,” he said sternly.

Nina kept quiet. She thought about his rhetorical question, hoping it was rhetorical anyway. Truthfully she didn’t know whether or not she would’ve been able to lie to him for very long. But to keep the fairy tale alive, she might have sold her soul. She saw Kevin run his hand through his hair and it made her instinctively smile. He was nervous and with her sitting so close to him, he was unable to hide it.

“
I should get going I guess,” Nina said as she stood up. Kevin mimicked her motions and their eyes met for a moment and they smiled at one another. Though nothing could be done about the oddity of their relationship, they both seemed content to be near each other. Kevin bent over and picked up her bag and kindly handed it to her.

“
I...” Kevin started, his voice cracking. Nina perked to him, waiting for him to gain the courage to continue.

He dropped his head in shame and finished. “I feel like I'm sinking. Drowning.”

“
What do you mean?” Nina asked nervously.

His hand rose slowly and Nina felt an electric jolt run through her as his fingers brushed her cheek in one gentle sweep.

“
I don't know how I'm supposed to act around you. Sometimes I don't care but then other times I get so afraid that I'm doing something wrong I just want to run. I don't want to feel split in two. I don't want to feel broken over you. But I am.” His hand fell and Nina felt tears welling in her eyes. She nodded and forced a pained smile in an effort to let him know she understood. Then she made her way down the steps, turning her face from him as the tears began to fall. She didn’t want Kevin to see her cry.

Chapter Twenty-Two

It’d been close to an hour since she walked off of his front porch but he couldn't bring himself to move inside. The sun was sinking into the horizon when he finally pulled himself from the swing. He had to start looking over the senior's poem assignments.

Moving to the kitchen, feeding Sasha and grabbing an apple from a bowl on the island, he grabbed his black satchel and started digging for the yellow folder containing his first period class assignments.

He kept himself from flipping right to hers with every ounce of his being. Who knew what he'd be forced to read on her page. He couldn't start there. Besides, he wanted to be somewhat useful to the other students by being coherent when giving grades.

The work for the most part was good. Creative Writing was considered an elective so he didn't have too many students who didn't want to be in the class. Mixed in with the good work were of course a few gems by the more lackadaisical students.

The car was blue

An airplane flew

On the green grass

There was dew

Fantastic
, he thought sarcastically as he scratched the appropriate letter grade. Pushing the last paper aside, Kevin pulled the next page from the stack and stopped breathing when he read her name typed in the top left hand corner. He tried to prepare himself. What would Nina have written? Was there a chance it could be about him? He took a deep breath and started to read her work.

It was everything it should've been

Everything it would've been

Had we met another day

You're so charming and amusing, see

Blinding me with fantasy

Now the cruelest joke's on me

Can I wait

Can I be strong

Can I change your mind

With a song