"Ms.Lenning?... Ms.Lenning MS.LENNING!"
I jolted awake with a swift kick to my ankle.
"Ow! What was that for, Mal?!"
"See, if you had done that in class, you wouldn't be given as much leniency as I'm willing to give." I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring the fact that he was right.
This was my friend, Mal. I feel that friend is a strong term, given that I hate this guy 50% of the time I'm with him, but still. He's the only friend I've got since I moved here.
My name is Luna Lenning, and I'm a senior at War-Grove High School. My parents and I moved to the area 3 years ago, as my dad sometimes has to travel to new cities for his work. Sometimes we're lucky to get an early notice. Sometimes, though, we leave immediately without any notice. Something I always questioned since all he did was draw cartoons, but never argued with, since I felt arguing would cause conflict. My family honestly never fought. Ever.
Today, Mal was tutoring me for 3 large tests we had the next day. Ever since we met - him accidentally bumping into me at lunch and then us awkwardly staring at one another for a solid few minutes before we apologized to one another - he has always been the smart one in our friendship. He's the best in all of our classes, has never gotten a B, and could have a social life if he wanted to. But for some reason I cannot fathom, I have only ever seen him hang out with me. And I had dozed off while he was explaining my least favorite class: physics.
"Luna. If you don't pay attention, you will fail tomorrow. You know you have to get these equations down."
"I know, but it's so hard! How the hell do you memorize ALL of this crap? It's like you have a photographic memory, or you're a super genius or something!" He chuckled, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.
"If I can study every night and ace these tests, you can too. At least I don't fall asleep during my lessons." He shot me a look, but I looked away to avoid his gaze. He - of course - kicked me again.
"Ow!" A sudden, loud shush sounded from right behind me. Turning around, the librarian was giving me a harsh look. Geez, this is the day to hate on Luna. I heard Mal start snickering, and I glared in his direction. He immediately stopped but had the biggest grin plastered on his face. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't do anything about this now and would get my payback later. Looking down at my watch, I noticed the time.
"Well, looks like it's 4:15. Ready to head out?"
"Luna, you slept for half of our tutoring session. Do you really think you're gonna do well tomorrow?"
"That doesn't matter. You know my parents need me home at 5:15 exactly. If they head out tonight, I'll let you know." Sometimes when my parents left for date nights, Mal would sneak into my house and we'd continue studying. Not exactly the best to study with one eye out the window and the other on your textbook, but spending time with Mal was the only thing that made my days brighter.
We sped out of the library and headed to his beat-up pickup truck - the epitome of small-town vehicles - where we got in and headed to our local cafe. We did our usual car banter and counting of out-of-state license plates until we arrived. I won with an outstanding 7 license plates, while he only got 2.
Entering the cafe, I smelled their famous hot chocolate.
"Mmmmmmmmm."
"Does someone need some alone time with the hot chocolate maker?" He jested.
"Absolutely. If I could have their secret recipe, I would never leave my home without it. If only someone would give it to meeee," I whined as we sat down in our usual booth. We weren't even given menus. Janet, the waitress, simply plopped a hot chocolate in front of me and a black coffee in front of Mal. "I still don't know why you get coffee in the evening, Mal. How do you go to sleep?"
"Who says I sleep?" He asked with a wink. I rolled my eyes back at him once more.
"Of course, your line of whores. How could I forget?" Mal, in all honesty, is a looker. Despite his timid and coy character, he had hidden muscles and the most beautiful brown eyes that complemented his dark olive skin tone very well. Everywhere we went, girls would stare at him. Some were brave enough to come to our table and start conversations with him, but he would look down and only give one-word answers until they left.
"Anyways, what are your thoughts on the school dance coming up, Mal?" He shot me a look of disgust.
"Not my style. I mean, I'd only go if I had a reason to."
"Honestly, Mal? It's senior year homecoming. I know you're not into that stuff. But it's our senior year! Why not splurge? Try new things?"
"When there are people I don't like and things I don't like, it's not my forte. But I think you'd have more of a blast hanging out with me and watching movies."
"What can I do to make you go?"
"W-what?" He seemed honestly startled.
"What can I do to get you to go to homecoming?" A silence formed at our table.
Janet came over and dropped off a poppyseed muffin in front of me, and a cinnamon roll in front of Mal. He didn't even acknowledge her presence as he stared at his coffee cup. I tried to thank her, but she walked away too fast.
"If…" he stopped, still staring at the cup.
"If… if what?" I was slightly invested in his stipulations. I continued to stare at him with my head propped on my clasped hands.
"If. You ask me. In a very original way. And you glam up." I smiled. Oh my gosh, this might happen! "And let me meet your parents." My face dropped immediately. He knew that my family was a sensitive topic for me. There was a lot Mal didn't know about me. For example, my OCD morning routine. Wake up at 6:15, take my medication, shower, get ready, have breakfast at 7:00, spray my perfume all over my body, then walk the 40 minutes to school. Since I was 14, I had done the same schedule, like being home at 5:15 exactly. My father upheld a pretty military household. I couldn't disobey any of his rules, and I was too afraid to try. Especially after my illness, which Mal also didn't know about. And wouldn't.
Janet walked back over with the bill, snapping me out of my brain. Looking up, Mal was looking at me with a concerned facial expression. He… he can't know. I tried to hide my disappointment, but it was evident when he put his card down for the bill. I always paid as payment for tutoring. Janet quickly scampered to our table and snatched the bill, keeping her head down.
"Is Janet okay today?" I asked Mal. He knew I was changing the subject, but tore his gaze away from me to look at her.
"Yeah, I rejected her a few days ago. She's been beaten up about it." I gasped.
"Mal! You didn't even give her a chance?! Very cruel."
'Hey, I'll know my love when I see her."
"Not all love works that way, Mal," I laughed. "Sometimes it's very unexpected. That's how my parents met, at least." He nodded in agreement as Janet came back to our table with his card and quickly retreated once again. I looked back at my watch. "Mal, it's 5:00. We gotta go."
"Yep! Let's go!"
We hurried to his truck and got in to head to my house. Well, to a few blocks away from my house. The place I lived was pretty far away and run down from the "town" part of our town, and I preferred that Mal didn't see it in daylight. Not to mention the fact that if my father saw me being dropped off by a boy, we would probably somehow magically have to move. Anytime I ended up having real connections with people, fate decided to be a dick as soon as my parents found out.
"Hey," Mal uttered. I looked over at him. "You don't have to have me meet your parents. I, of all people, know families can be embarrassing. Just ask me and be willing to dress up, then I'm all yours." I shot him a smirk. Mal can be so sweet at times. I wish we could be normal.
As soon as we got to the spot, I hopped out and shut the door. And with a wink, he drove off. As soon as he was out of sight, I took out a perfume bottle and sprayed my entire body with it. I always covered myself with this before coming home, since my parents' noses were super sensitive to anything and everything.
"Hello, honey!" My mom called as I walked through the door.
"Hey, Mom!" I called back.
"Your dad is going to be a bit late today, but we'll be having dinner at home tonight. Any suggestions?" She walked into the entryway as she spoke. My mom was truly gorgeous. As a 40-year-old woman, she looked like she could be my older college sister. My father looked very young, but it was much more noticeable on my mom.
"No. But I have some huge tests tomorrow, so I'll be studying all night."
"All right, sweety." She walked over and kissed me on the forehead. "Make sure to say hi to your father when he gets home, though. You know how he gets." We both rolled our eyes, then laughed. I rushed up the stairs to my small bedroom. It was about the size of a queen-sized bed, but I never minded.
Before I could even open a textbook, my body collapsed on my bed. Normally, I would take my night medication, but I felt too tired to even move a limb. Strange. This isn't normal.
Slowly. Very slowly. I drifted off to sleep.