So there I was, staring at her from the back of geometry class, again. Her golden brown hair adorned with curls sat neatly on her shoulders. Her caramel skin glistened in the light. Wow, Eve Soleil could make a blind man fox whistle.
I was so distraught by her beauty that did not notice Mrs. Durchmachen calling on my name to find the sine of a thirty-eight degree angle nor my best friend, Kendrick, waving his hand in front of my face, as if I was blind. Finally, Eve’s impatience took over and hazel eyes forced me to immediately turn my gaze towards Mrs. Durchmachen.
“Excuse me?” I answered.
“Mr. Huey Icarus, are you day dreaming in my class?” she asked in a thick German accent. Eve took this as an immediate chance to show off. Her hand shot straight up. To stop myself from looking like a fool, I quickly answered the question. Dissatisfied, Eve lowered her hand and turned back towards the board.
“Nice one, nerd,” commented Kendrick in a whisper. “That will definitely get you a date to the dance. I had been waiting for the eighth grade prom since the sixth grade. I had been patiently plotting, waiting for the perfect time and perfect way to ask out the perfect girl. I had even made a three week long plan, but weeks became months, months became a year, and eventually transformed into this sad predicament. The dance was beginning to seem like the last chance I had to make the girl of my dreams apart of my reality.
“Today’s the day,” I whispered back to Kendrick, pushing my chest out and my chin up to show him that I meant it this time.
“Do you mean the day, or just another day when you say you’ll do it, push your chest out and your chin up, then wimp out,” he whispered.
“Gee, you’re such an encouraging friend.”
“Gee, you’re a like a lost love sick puppy.”
“Every dog has his day.”
After class, I could not stop Eve before she got out the door. While going to our next class, Kendrick and I saw her at her locker with three of her friends. Before I could call my own bluff, she looked in my direction. She flashed a smile my way, and then quickly turned to her friends, who all unanimously giggled.
“Dog, you might not have a day, but the next thirty seconds seem to be looking up.” Kendrick said. She started coming closer. Wait, no, my legs were moving. Why mind was screaming STOP, but my legs were taking orders from heart now, and from Kendrick who was encouragingly jamming the knuckle on his middle finger between my shoulder blades. Fifty atomic bombs simultaneously went off in my chest. My hands became rickety, disturbingly moist, water slides. My forehead felt like Niagara Falls. I could feel gravity running ramped on my legs. My lips started to quiver a little bit.
“Relax, and remember, don’t be a lovesick puppy. You’re a big black German Shepard. Now, bark with me,” said Kendrick, edging me on. He was actually about to bark, but I gave him a little nudge with my elbow.
“He’s coming,” one of her friends whispered rather loudly.
It seemed like an eternity, but Kendrick and I finally reached Eve and her friends. She turned around, expectantly. Her shimmering hair whipped through the air, leaving a trail wind that smelled like roses. She smiled eagerly at me, not meeting my eyes. I she was nervous, too. I could understand her not being able to share even a glance.
“Hi, Kendrick,” she said, excitingly.
“What’s up, Eve,” I said. She seemed surprised to hear me speak.
“Oh. Hi, Huey,” she replied. When she spoke to me, we shared a brief moment of complete eye contact. Her eyes looked like endless cups of coffee surrounded by swirling, white hurricanes with chocolate chips floating in the center of each cup. She quickly turned back the Kendrick, as if she was expecting him to drop to one knee and pull out a little black box.
“You know, the d-dance is coming up. I was wondering, if you didn’t have a date already, if you would like to go me,” I said, struggling with each word. She kept smiling with anticipation, until I said “me.” The word seemed to have the same affect on her as the school lunch when they serve collard greens. Her facial expression was a mix of confused and disgusted. She tried to quickly recover her smile to cover up her true feelings, but I had already seen her expression.
“Uummm, I’d love to, but I’d have to get my hair done, buy a fancy dress, and on top of all that, I can’t even dance,” she said with her most apologetic expression. She said some other things after that, but had already ripped my heart out and fed it to a veracious inferno. Her apologetic words just fanned the flames. Now, she was just a heartless witch, laughing at the horror of my dissection.
“I understand,” I said with a smile. I slowly turned around and walked away, as if I was waiting for her to change her mind. As I walked, I could feel all my emotions, except sadness, slowly drifting way. Everything seemed to blur as the world was painted in a blue tint.
The next day, as soon as I walked into school, I saw Kendrick in the exact same position that I was in yesterday. He was in an identical setting. Eve and her three friends all stood, giggling, by Eve’s locker. Kendrick stood in the same spot I stood in yesterday. He even had brought his own wingman, Marcus from homeroom. Well, it was almost identical. Eve looked happy. Kendrick had the brightest smile on his face. I ignored it and fell back into my little hole named depression.
I had heard rumors, but I did not believe them. I saw them talking, but I ignored it, out of trust in my best friend. As soon as I saw it, my plan started piecing together in my mind.
My mother talked me into going to the dance, even though I was alone. It was pretty fun to dance with friends and meet new people, until they walked in. Eve and Kendrick came as a couple. Kendrick was in an ill-fitting rental suit. Eve wore a beautiful purple dress and a shimmering gold necklace. Blended streaks of orange and yellow adorned the bottom of her dress, making it look like the sun was arising from under her. Her orange lipstick and mascara made it look she had swallowed a super nova that sent flares through her skin. It was a shame that her make-up would have to become an orange blur after I accomplished my plan.
As the dance went on, I did not send one glance in the couple’s direction, but I could not get my mind off them. Later on that night, when all the punch got the best of him, Kendrick went to the restroom. I followed, quietly. I waited outside Kendrick stall. As soon as Kendrick opened the door, he let out a big yelp.
“Surprised to see me?” I asked. Before he could answer, I pulled out my Swiss army knife. I pushed him back in the stall, and I quickly followed. He tried to protest, but took off my jacket and through it over his head. I put my left hand under his chin, grasping it like a crab grabbing a finger. I put my cold steel blade on the right side of his throat. I pulled my jacket off his head.
“The man with the knife makes the rules,” I said firmly. “Rule one: die!” I dug the knife into his skin. Droplets of crimson juice rolled down my knife. Kendrick looked me straight in my eyes, pleading for his life. Two tears simultaneously rolled down my face, but my expression was still as cold as my blade. Finally, after years of planning, changing my plans, and improvising, she would be mine. I could get close to her while she was in the delicate stage of dealing with a loss. Then, I could make my move, and she would be mine. I dug my blade deeper into his windpipe. In one definite swipe, I pulled the cold metal sheet from the ride side of his throat to the left.