Watching Her- Part 10

When Kevin arrived on Friday, Sarah was still suspicious. He greeted her at the door with a slight grin, but her brow furrowed and his smile wiped away. She was serious- no bullshit. 1

He followed her up the stairs to her room, and quickly greeted her mother who was making dinner, Sarah’s baby brother, Oscar, sleeping in his bouncy seat on the floor.2

Surprisingly, Kevin had never seen Betty, the last of the daughters and oldest and next to graduate. He assumed her bedroom was the other door, across from Sarah’s. 3

Kevin quickly entered after Sarah. She shut the door behind him and told him to sit down. She thrust a pad of paper into his hands, along with the school workbook of class choices, and a pencil. “You were originally supposed to turn in your Junior schedules the last week of the year (Kevin flinched), but I don't think the office'll mind if you turn it in at registration. But anyways, first, go through the book and pick out seven to nine classes you’re interested in for next year. Simple. And then I’ll talk to you about them.” She was decisive and wanted to make it clear to him that there was no horsing around.4

Kevin only expressed a soft smile. “I’m already done with that.” He reached in his back pocket and pull out a paper and handed it to her. 5

It took her a second to take it. “You already read through the book and picked out some classes?” He only nodded in reply. She opened the paper. It read:6

Algebra 27

AP World History8

Environmental Science9

Contemporary Literature10

Spanish 211

Study Hall/ Poetry12

Recent US History/ Study Hall13

She was impressed. “Wow, these are some hard classes- pretty busy schedule.”14

“Yeah, well I managed the time and classes so I’d have Study Hall all year long.”15

She noticed two of the classes she was taking the next year: Contemporary Literature and Recent US History. “Wait, I thought you said you didn’t like poetry.”16

“Yeah, but you said that there was going to be a bit of Edgar Allen Poe in there, so I went online and read a bit: Annabelle Lee, the Raven, some others.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he had went online and read some Poe and even Robert Frost, James Joyce, Shel Silverstein, and Emily Dickinson. “I realized that the poetry I had read before hadn’t rhymed. I suppose I’m just a person that prefers rhyming poetry.”17

Sarah’s mind wondered. She didn’t realize how different of a guy Kevin really was. She preferred rhyming poetry as well. “Umm… well, it Contemporary Lit, you’re going to look at all aspects of poetry, from sonnets to haikus, all kinds of stuff. My sister took this class and she told me about it.”18

“Hmm, okay. I can handle it. I’m pretty excited about Recent US History. I loved learning about the Civil War and WW2.”19

“Me too. Basically, in that class, you don’t start from the American Revolution and lead up to WW2 at the end like your other history classes. In this, you start from the Civil War and go up to the present. Have you taken World History?”20

“Umm, actually, no. I plan on getting through from my American History first and then going into the section of World History.”21

“Not a bad idea,” Sarah said. “I might have done that last year. But the only thing is if you like to have classes with some freshmen and sophomores. And it might get a little confusing at second semester if you’re taking Recent US then along with AP World.”22

“I can get through it.”23

“But the whole management with your study halls is really a great idea. And you’ve already taken Spanish I this year?”24

Kevin nodded and Sarah looked it over. “Are you planning on joining Spanish Club?”25

Kevin wasn’t sure. “My schedule might hold me back. I’ll be busy at the beginning too, with football.”26

“Oh ok, that’s fine. Sometimes sports get in the way, even my volleyball.”27

Kevin smiled. Sarah cared about volleyball just as much as Kevin did about football. In a way, she was just as jocky as him.28

They spent the next hour or so planning and preparing for some of Kevin’s hardest classes. They planned around Kevin’s football practices, games, and his summer job (because they’d conflict with conditioning) for homework nights and relaxation nights. Sarah made it clear to him that his Junior year of highschool would be tough and that horsing around was not an option. Kevin reassured her that he was ready to get down to business. 29

It wasn’t a total lie. Kevin truly needed to bring up his grades from Cs and hoped to get a scholarship or atleast look good for a job application.30

It was weird how easily they talked to eachother. They each had come from different cliques and had much different friends, but somehow, they clicked. Sarah thought it was so strange how Kevin and her were so alike. And at the end of their meeting, somehow, they were listening to Nelly, eating popcorn, and talking about old school moments. Kevin had taken off his shoes, laying down next to her and staring up at the ceiling at the many posters that colored her walls. They talked of many things, old school moments, embarrassing things they did as kids, and dumb moments their friends had. 31

Kevin had arrived at 2 o’clock, but when it was time for him to leave, it was 5:42. He rose and put on his shoes as Sarah took out the CD of her stereo and replaced it with a Linkin Park/Jay Z collaboration Cd. Numb-Encore came onto play as she went back to lay on her bed. Kevin sat up and untied his shoes. 32

“Oh my god, what time is it?” Sarah asked.33

“Almost 6.”34

“Woah. That’s so weird,” she said. There was a long pause as Kevin looked to her, wondering what was so strange. She realized he was confused. “I mean… I’ve never talked to someone for four hours before.”35

“Me neither,” he sat up and looked down at her. She smiled at him and he smiled back, but then her face straightened. 36

“Sarah, now do you wanna come to that party tomorrow night?”37