Because the Universe loves me in a unique way, Jason Andrews is in three more of my five classes. Or to be fair, I am in three more of his; he was here first after all. I managed to avoid him even though I could feel him looking at me throughout the whole day. After Chemistry class which goes into lunch, I knew he'd try to wait for me so I stayed in the room making super awkward small talk with Professor Naples (who isn't actually a professor but seems to think it's clever to introduce himself as such and hand to God, the guy drank three Dr. Peppers during a 50 minute period! Should I tell him about the prune juice in there? Nah.) until I was sure Jason would give up and head for the cafeteria. Then I hid out in the library.
But by last period, Mrs. Flattery's Advanced Literature, back in the same room we'd started the day, the chase was over. We had to pair off to discuss the underlying themes in Lord of the Flies (a little babyish for seniors if you ask me) and guess who gallantly came straight over to me and sat down. If you didn't say Jason Andrews, you have not been paying any attention and you should just go.
"Are we doing the sexy stranger thing?" he said with a wink as he plopped down next to me.
I couldn't help but giggle, though I still refused to look at him.
"Seriously, why are you avoiding me Gigi?" he said and my heart went cold. The only other people in the world who called me that were our sisters, and it had been almost five years since I'd heard it.
"Don't call me that," I said, finally darting a look at him. I was surprised at the choked off feeling that rose up in my throat like a tsunami of emotion, threatening to spill hot tears. I thought I was over this crap.
"Hey, come on. What did I ever do? What are you doing here? Where've you been all this time?"
"Slow down Quickdraw, take a breath." Our eyes locked again. Wow, he got pretty cute over the - Focus Geni, Jesus! "Jase, I can't talk to you.” I took a deep breath to cover the lie, “And, I don't want to talk to you." Harsh, I know.
He glared at me but didn't seem to take me too seriously because he stayed put. I squirmed a little in my seat under the weight of his gaze.
Jason Andrews hadn’t changed a bit, just improved in every way. Somehow he had locked the golden glow of our youth into his skin. His former towhead hair had deepened through the years into the color of wet sand. He was built like, ummm a man I guess (I blushed at the thought), he'd clearly traded his surf board for lifting cars or small buildings, and his eyes…oh, his eyes…
I was six the first time I ever saw him. The Andrews family was moving in next door. Mom took Janie and I over to welcome them to the neighborhood and he walked into their box filled living room shyly holding his sister’s hand. Back then he was smaller than me (God bless nature!), precious white whisps of hair fell across his forehead, and he had dewy bright green eyes, the exact color of wet paint and just as shiny.
I wanted to keep him. So I did.
Janie and I brought Carey and Jason into our world, full of music, the beautiful wreckage of art supplies and masterpieces, and a sense of freedom that wasn't available at their own house. Jason's father was a doctor and his mother a nurse. They both worked crazy hours so our family saved them from too much "nanny time". Janie and Carey were best friends right away. Jason and I were best friends too but in the way that we always knew he was a boy and I was a girl. I always adored him, and I knew he adored me.
A connection you make at six can never be undone, or even replaced by anything else. After all, you are only who you are at six once. I'm being serious, think about it. At six, you are still so authentic, so pure, so uninfluenced from anything yet. You are your truest self. From there, you grow and change, move forward. Little pieces of your six year old self slowly fade away. Those who knew you then, they know all of you.
"Gigi! Snap out of it!" he gave my hand a little shake.
"Shit, sorry, I was just…sorry. What?" Whoa, I went far and deep there for a sec.
“You still space out huh?” He gave me a discreet wink and I felt my eyes go wide. “Alright, fine. Let’s just get our work done. And we are absolutely talking about this later because I thought fate was bullshit until about seven hours ago, but you ended up here for a reason, so…" We sat quietly with our eyes locked for a long moment before he broke the spell. “So, that Piggy turned out to be a real asshole, huh?"
I started laughing. The rest of class was quite smooth.