Best
Friends Forever, Chapter Seven
Sometimes
when someone looks closely at the moon they can see a face in the
craters. They
can see the stars around it making a sort of veil of beauty, and the
moon
reflects the light of the sun onto the Earth's surface, a sad and
ghostly light
that often invigorates and intrigues people. Others find it
frightening, and
shiver under the light of the full moon, and still more worship the few
nights
a week when it appears full and bright, dance in it. Some lay claim it
makes
them act crazy, and some really believe they can be crazy during a full
moon.
It was a night of the full moon Eric snapped and drove an hour to
Nadia's
half-empty house and stared in horror at the mess inside. Lexi had
invited him
in, but it was HER house then, and she had hardly said anything about
Nadia to him.
One month-one cycle of the moon-had passed since he'd heard or seen
from her,
and it was too much.
"Where
is she?" He asked suddenly, looking at the box of photo albums Lexi was
using as a footrest.
With
sorrow and mild regret, Lexi spoke. "She got the job at Cambridge."
"So
she moved?" He asked, and when she nodded, he felt a sort of crushing
sadness envelope him. "Why didn't she tell me? Do you have a
number-?"
"Eric,"
her eyes shut against his words for a moment, "she agreed it would be
best
if you couldn't contact her for a while."
Despair
swallowed Eric whole. "Why the hell do I screw everything up? I
listened
to her, she-"
"You'd
be forcing her to make a very difficult decision."
"A
decision I could make in seconds in my position. And since I can make
it she
should be able accept it." He spat angrily.
Lexi
felt for him, and when she knelt next to him and put a hand on his, she
was
surprised to feel his fingers spring up around hers. "Just forget about
her."
"Not
that easy." He murmured, face devoid of all _expression. "I can't
believe how hard it is."
~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~(~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~
"So,
why don't you go find her?" Mike asked, tossing a fork into the sink.
Eric,
whose face was buried in the crook of his arms, groaned. "Do you
realise how many places she could be?"
He
smiled as the others snickered. "How hard can it be to find the hours
and
location of one of her classes? She can't maul you in front of a few
dozen
students, can she?"
"She
can, and will." He muttered, but a smile had covered his face. "But
I'd take it, I'd take every blow."
Terry
eyed his watch. "Well, as of nine o' clock tomorrow you have a
three-day
weekend."
He
grinned. "Nine o' clock it is."
The
others sighed quietly in relief; it had been such a horror to have him
moping
around for over a month, worry and daydreams taking over what little
sanity he
still had.
The
day whirred by and before Eric could prepare himself for the next day,
it was
nine o' clock and he was sitting in his car with nothing in his pocket
but a
few notes and his house keys. He set off with an empty stomach and
proceeded in
nervously checking his mirrors every few seconds for the first leg of
the trip
before he was forced to stop for food to satiate his craving. He was on
the
road and felt like at any moment he'd lose whatever held him to this
trip.
Nadia
couldn't be any happier at that precise moment; it was ten o' clock and
her
first hour class had just started. She had them for an hour and a half,
and was
presently showing two of them the small garden next to the studio that
they had
asked her to use in order to do their first project. The first girl,
Melody,
wanted to make a cross like Nadia's tattoo out of green and blue
flowers, and
Nadia could only smile and encourage her. The second girl, Ariel Marc,
wanted
to make a flower out of flowers, which Nadia found amusing. The others
were
hunched over paper, sitting in trees, enjoying the last of the pleasant
heat
before the season dissolved into autumn and all the heat was lost to
the
bitter, chilly air that would lure winter. She walked among the bodies
sprawled
in the grass, tugged on sneakers in trees, and checked to make sure
everyone
was on the right track. It seemed that only one had strayed, and he
claimed
that when he was done with the actual drawing he'd at the details to
make it
more fantasy-oriented. Nadia accepted this answer and turned to help
Ariel and
Melody rake the dead grass and leaves from the garden. A phonograph
started
somewhere inside the building, and some very catchy rock music began.
The
atmosphere was loose and comfortable as ten thirty rolled around and
Eric parked
outside the main office of the Cambridge University building.
He
stepped inside, where a young girl with blonde pigtails sat, chomping
on gum,
filing papers with a bored _expression. Nervously he smoothed his hair
down and
shook off his nerves. The girl looked up and dropped a small stack of
papers,
blushing wildly as she bent to pick them up. As she straightened up,
she
flashed him a suspicious look.
Finally
he found his charming Eric self and flashed her a wide grin that made
the poor
girl's heart melt. "Hello there-"
"Hi,
I'm Jimena. What can I do for you?" She asked,
extending a hand in a friendly way.
He
shook her hand with a never-faltering grin. "I was hoping I could find
out
where my cousin is right now; his Mum's in some deep trouble and I need
to talk
to him."
She
grinned at him distractedly. "What's his name?"
He
bit his lip. "It's an embarrassing problem really, drunk driving again.
And, stupid me, now that I've told you it'd probably
be better if no one knew which one he is. Gender is probably too much.
If it
helps, I know what class he'll be in sometime today, just not the
location of
the building and I'll ask the professor for the time he'll be there."
Jimena's smile faltered then. "Those are confidential;
I can't just tell you if you aren't a member of the school."
Eric
flashed a wider grin at her. "I know my way around, I went to school
here.
Did you?" He continued to grin and flirt despite his haste to find
Nadia.
"Yeah,
it's my third year here." She smiled and batted her pretty eyelashes.
"So,
where's this year's Surrealism In the Arts
class?" He pressed, reaching over and playing with a pigtail.
He
could see her sway slightly, uncertain.
"No
harm in telling me where the building is, right? My cousin needs to
bail his
mother real bad."
"The
old science wing, you know the building with the skylights?" She
blurted.
He
frowned. "The one by Harrison Fountain?"
Jimena nodded ferociously. "Yeah!
But be careful, if you go in the east entrance you might walk right
through
Miss Smart's garden and she'll eat you alive."
He
started backing out the door. "Thanks, Jimena,
you were a doll."
She
blushed again, straightening her papers. "Are you going to be there all
day? Because if you are, I have eleven from noon off-"
"My
cousin," he interrupted nervously, "has the class first hour, I think
I'll catch him and be on my way, but it was a pleasure meeting you." He
smiled again forcing his mouth to agree with his words.
With
a slightly down-trodden smile, Jimena waved at him
leaving and never learned his name. Eric, completely unconcerned,
slipped into
his car and started the engine, then, with a second though, left it
there and
walked the concrete sidewalks under the leafy trees, pausing now and
again to
gain his internal compass. His old dorm was somewhere around here-and
then he
saw the fountain. He could almost picture Nadia sitting there, legs
crossed,
eyes open, hair hanging lank around her face. He smiled to himself and
walked
by his dorm, hearing and smelling certain things that you could only
experience
in college, but by the time his smile faded he was standing at the edge
of the
north entrance of the old Franklin building where the life sciences
teacher educated them on anatomy. He took a deep breath and stepped
inside the
hot building, eyes meeting emptiness, but a loud, blaring phonograph.
Upon
peering out the east window he discovered a small rag-tag group of
students
sprawled all over the lawn, talking to Nadia, who was standing in
nothing
suitable for a Cambridge professor, and addressing her by her first
name as
though she were no more than a good friend.
"So,
Nadia, you have a boyfriend?" Inquired one of the ditzier looking
girls.
Nadia
looked up over the rims of her glasses as she raked, her hands gripping
the
wood handle tightly. "Not at the moment. I had to leave my last one for
this job."
There
was a chorus of loud, sad noises among them interrupted by giggles at
their
unexpected togetherness.
The
first one spoke again. "Why did you have to break up with him?"
"Distance. He lives down in London and has a great job down there, I
wanted this great job up here."
"Was
he nice?"
She
rested her chin on the wood of the handle in a bemused way. "Julia,
it's
my love life; it doesn't need to see the light of day."
"He
won't visit?" She pressed, and Eric squirmed inside.
She
shook her head. "I leave no forwarding address. It didn't start or end
very well."
She
flapped her eyes like Jimena had before and Eric
briefly wondered if it was in style. "Can we hear the story?"
Nadia
flopped down onto the grass, pulling a hankerchief from
her pocket and tying the black cloth to her head. "Fine, but I'm
telling
it like a magical faery tale and you're all going to
like it or else."
Julia
nodded, content enough.
Nadia
shifted herself into a whimsical position, and Eric was immediately
surprised
at the number of men and women that had suddenly surrounded her. "It
was
Nadia's first day in college and she felt like being
weird. Nobody had really warmed up to her; she had a thick French
accent and
tended to wear more black than most, not to mention her tattoo, her
piercing,
and her language." She coughed and shifted again as a few giggles
lifted
into the air. "Of course, the evil campus security guards had to go
spoil
her fun just as it was getting good. You see, children, Nadia had
climbed into
Harrison fountain and had been sitting there undisturbed for about half
an hour
when a few guards started into the fountain to 'save' her. Suddenly,
out of
nowhere, a thin man with loads of spare time on his hands jumped into
the
fountain and tugged her out of danger and into a near-empty dorm.
Together she
and the stranger sneaked out the back and walked back to his dorm where
she
borrowed some of his dry clothes and was escorted to her dorm. Soon she
and the
mysterious stranger, who gained a name (Eric), became good friends. In
fact, as
college progressed, she and Eric moved in together and even shared some
not so
normal friendly banking accounts and experiences.
"They
were attached at the hip for most of the time, giggling at tall the
stupid people
in the world that thought they should start dating. Well, after Eric
graduated,
Nadia dated a real jerk whose name was Norm. This guy liked to drink,
and one
night he tried to hit Nadia!" There was a childish gasp and a few
whispers
of horror. "Well, Nadia could only think of one person she trusted
after
an experience like that, and sought Eric out. He dropped all sorts of
obligations he had for the next two weeks and nursed Nadia's mental
status back
to a healthy numbing feeling before releasing her back into the wild, a
whole
person again. But disaster struck, and they were estranged again. It
had to be
at least seven months until they spoke again...and then a few more, and
a few
more, and before she knew it, she had been teaching for a year at an
elementary
school and it was July. She hadn't spoken to her friend in several
months so
she went for a visit in London.
"It
was really an accident, bumping into him. Nadia literally bumped into
him,
grabbed him and tugged him away from a small group of girls. They
talked and
caught up, but Eric's new friends were convinced that Nadia and Eric
should
date. In the end he gave her a ride home and mentioned it to her. Nadia
wasn't
all too keen about it, but they decided in the end that one little kiss
wouldn't change anything, just open doors. So they tried one, itty
bitty
kiss...which turned into a bigger one, and so on and so forth. Soon
Eric was a
mess and Nadia was convinced she had just screwed up a relationship
with her
best friend. As the weeks progressed she and her
friend Eric started to duel. Eventually he ended up kissing her again
and she
was scared because she had distinctly thought she'd do just about
anything for
this guy, and pushed him away. She told him never to touch her again,
ungrateful wench she was. Well, he gave up and started drinking, but
Nadia
apologized. She tried to get back to normal and dated a new guy.
"New
guy turned out to be a slimeball that never really
liked Nadia, in fact he told her she was hideous looking." She paused
again as the kids looked to one another and made disagreeing faces,
totally
engrossed in her story. "She believed him, got her nose pierced, her
ear
pierced again, and a new tattoo. After that failed to make her feel
better, she
tried changing. She wore a dress, and a pretty floral one at that. She
put
makeup on her tattoos and painted her nails, made her hair look longer
by
combing it down; the works. Well, new guy/exboyfriend
recognized her and started to tell her that nothing was going to help,
and
tried to hurt her. It was starting to be Norm all over again when Eric
saved
her. He took her back to his place and told her that she was beautiful.
Nadia
was convinced she was in a faery tail for real now;
why couldn't every guy be just like him? And still he insisted she
couldn't
make herself ugly and no one else could. After some dancing and sleep,
Nadia
was almost normal again. Since it was summer, she ended up staying an
entire
month with him, and it seemed nobody knew. Not that Nadia cared, but
suddenly
she realised she was dating him, sorta
kinda. And now and again they'd start kissing again
and it wasn't just friendly pecks on the cheek, there was tongue
involved." She smirked as the kids giggled again, elbowing each other.
Nadia
continued. "Well, earlier that month she had applied for a job teaching
a
class she loved when she was taking it. It was her last day at Eric's
before
she said she'd go home and find out how well her job interview went. It
ended
on a sweet note, and they were convinced they were in love. Nadia
became
convinced she was wrong the next day, however." Her face was dark.
"He didn't hurt her like the others, but he was embarrassed of her
being
there; he knew his friends were going to make fun of him for dating her
when
they knew it was right all along. Nadia was so angry with Eric she left
without
another word, sneaking out the back window. Back at her house she
discovered
she HAD gotten the job and packed up and left. Her friend convinced her
the best thing to do was to leave without a forwarding
address, make him move on since it couldn't work so far away. Nadia
believed
her and packed up, moved on. It's been a month and our lovely princess
hasn't
received word from her daring prince yet; she hopes he's moved on even
though
she hasn't."
Eric
was sighing longingly in the back room, glancing out the window
nervously.
There was a collective sigh among the group as they heard the end of
her sad
tale. She clapped her hands as she caught sight of her watch.
"Alright,
folks, time's up. It's eleven twenty, let's go inside and chill for a
while." The others laughed and followed her in, not quite expecting to
see
Eric sitting calmly in her chair, fingers laced and tucked under his
chin. At
first they thought he was a school board executive about to fire Nadia
for her
loose apparel and such, but he stared on without _expression while
Nadia
trembled.
"Eric,
what the hell are you doing here?" She asked, and everyone took in a
collective gasp.
He
opened his arms with a nervous smile. "Daring prince has come to make
sure
lovely princess hasn't died of boredom and lonliness
like him."
Julia
let out a wild sigh of longing as Nadia twitched nervously.
"You
should leave before I get in more trouble," she started, turning to
walk
away.
He
jumped up and grabbed her arm, tossing a nervous glance to the
students, who
were staring at both of them hard. "Nadia, you scared the shit out of
me,
I'm not leaving until I'm sure you're alright!"
"I'm
fine!" She shook her arm from his grip hotly. "But I'll be bad if you
don't get your ass out that door right now!"
Julia
stamped her foot. "What happened to love? Come on!"
There
were a few cries of agreement aimed directly at her. "Exactly, you left
and he didn't even know! You almost owe him an apology."
She
hadn't quite met Eric's eye yet, but she knew he was staring, trying to
work
her out again and it irritated her. "Back room," she muttered,
pointing a finger. He turned about face and slipped into the back room,
closing
the door with a snap; Nadia could literally hear all the ears in the
room slap
against the wood of the door to hear what was going on.
He
took a step closer and unexpectedly threw a hug around her shoulders,
to which
she unexpectedly burst into heavy, near silent sobs. "I'm so sorry,"
she murmured through her schizophrenia again.
"I
forgive quickly, now how ARE things going around here?" He asked,
tipping
her chin up with a finger. She wiped at her face before telling him
things were
just dandy and opened the door. She pointed to his smug grin and lifted
her
eyebrows. "Good enough?" She asked, wiping at her face again.
There
was a half-hearted cheer with a small, barely audible, "Kiss him!"
Thrown in.
Before
she could object, her shoulders fell back into his arms and she was
dipped low,
her body flailing in a familiar way as her eyes shut and she smelled
him,
tasted him, touched him all over again. He was
wonderful in every way. She hardly wanted to talk anymore, and all
thoughts of
leaving him behind with no forwarding address were gone.
Eleven
thirty
finally hit the mark and Nadia shooed all her students out of the
studio,
waiting anxiously for her twenty minute break, and when that came, she
and Eric
could hardly keep from each other. He tried to be cautious and truly
listen to
what she had to answer for him, trying to hear every word she said,
telling him
she was fine, she felt great (but now she felt better), and all the
students
seemed to like her. After the formalities ended she pulled herself onto
his lap
and kissed him again, sighing as he ran his hands over her bare
shoulders,
feeling gently for her tank top straps.
"How
many more classes you have?" He asked urgently.
Nadia
shrugged. "Four more plus an hour for lunch at one forty."
"Your
last three classes are only an hour, right?"
"Yup,"
He
smiled. "Where you shacked up, then? In a box or a
van?"
Nadia
laughed as her next batch of students poured in, eagerly peering into
the back
room to catch a glance of this infamous prince that their teacher was
dating.
He didn't look like royalty, and was holding her like a perverted Santa
Claus;
all interest was held raptly, however.
"I
don't own a car! If I did I wouldn't be living in it anyway. The new
place I've
got has a balcony on the second floor-"
Eric
whistled. "This place must be huge,"
"It's
actually tiny. Like a doll-house." She replied, playing with his hair
lightly. A few faces were staring quite openly at them as they sat on
the
couch, and giggled hysterically when Eric decided he didn't care
anymore and
kissed Nadia again, tongue and all, pulling her closer.
With
a squeak, Nadia slid off his lap and launched into her classroom,
bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed.
"Hey
all," she started off, as usual.
Immediately
she was assaulted.
"Who's
that guy?"
"Is
he your boyfriend?"
"I've
seen him before!"
She
waved them silent as Eric crept out the back room and stood behind her,
face
blank. "Why so interested? He's just a hobo off the street,
honestly!"
Eric
looked peeved for an instant before taking the stack of papers she just
put
down and slinking back into the room. When Nadia groped for the papers,
the
kids began to giggle, and she turned, red-faced for the back room, a
loud
shriek and a muffled thud resounding seconds after she entered, saying
loudly,
"I oughtta-!"
The
rest of the day went by like an anchor dragging through mud. Eric kept
doing
stupid little things just to irk Nadia, and she was perpetually caught
up in
the way he stared at her and had to reach out and touch her when she
was close
enough. He could hardly believe how happy it made him to have here
there, and
he even felt an odd feeling that he was happy when she was mad at him
as well,
just happy to have her. Now he was literally spilling happiness out his
ears as
she hugged him, waiting for the last five minutes of her class to wind
down.
There were the cutesy noises, but no one seemed to care; at least not
Eric and
Nadia. They just kept kissing or touching, laughing and smiling. It was
near-bliss until Nadia brought up the reason she left.
"You
were embarrassed of me-"
"No
I wasn't!" He retorted. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't
there when I acted like a guy and ended up spilling my guts to the
guys. They
would have eaten us both alive; in a way I was protecting you. So I
thought."
She
pulled a face but accepted his answer.
"Five
minutes?"
She
glanced at her watch. "Get outta here!" She
howled at the masses. "You're a minute late!"
They
laughed and exited the room, grumbling to themselves
as they did so, leaving Nadia and Eric to lock up. They did, and by
five o'
clock, as they were leaving, they were left with a sinking sensation.
Nadia
showed him around her tiny house, but they were both feeling incredibly
awkward
by the time she led him into her bedroom. Electricity was running
through the
air in high voltage, but they both ignored the feeling-for a while
longer that
is.
"So,"
Eric mumbled, looking uneasily at the wall behind Nadia, "how-?"
She
grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him towards her, irritated
neither of
them could just say it. "Shut up," she cut him off, falling back onto
the bed behind her, him quick to follow.
"Right,"
he murmured before the clothes went flying.
It
was a bit more frenzied than Nadia would have preferred, but she was so
ecstatic to have him there again, she literally felt like speeding
along at the
speed of light-at a minimum. Instead of the usually gentle and caring
way they
walked around the other, they flew together and at once were thrown
into a
harsh world of loud noises and bright lights. Nadia could care less
what the
neighbors could hear, and decided against shushing Eric in fear of
changing
something; everything was too perfect at that exact moment. Her back
arched slowly
as her mouth was covered over and over again with his, and she couldn't
keep
her hands off of him as he moved into her, out of her, into her again.
Sweat
beaded her forehead as the heat in the room reached a fever pitch, and
then all
her tension was released and they lay together, breathing labored but
happy.
"Goooood morning," Eric breathed, smiling as Nadia
slapped at his head lazily.
"It's
not morning yet," she snapped, blushing lightly.
He
snorted with a wicked grin. "By the time I'm done with you it will
be."
Nadia
hardly had time to laugh before Eric moved next to her again and she
immediately forgot what she had been thinking as she sunk into the
mattress and
reached for his hand. This time she forced her teeth to stay clipped
shut, heavy
noises coming from her nose now and again, covered by the roaring
thoughts in
her head. Goosebumps covered her as the blankets fell from both their
shoulders
and she was left in the cool air with his warm body there to comfort
her. She
clung to him tightly, surprised to feel herself being
lifted up into a sitting position. With her legs wrapped around his
hips she
was in another pleasurable position, one with was new and different for
both,
but it felt right and she was able to have a little control over what
was going
on. Her back struck the cool wall behind her, sending shivers up her
spine, but
she recovered quickly, hissing a few breaths in as Eric's breaths
increased in
depth.
She
was fragile. Eric was almost afraid at first that he'd run out of
things to say
and end up asking her, or telling her, or doing something to her that
she
wasn't going to agree with. He wanted badly to have her again, he had
for some
time now, but she was just sort of at ease and calm around him, not
nervous and
neurotic like himself. The greatest joy that day had been when she had
asked
him, without questioning her own thoughts or impulses, to have her. He
literally shook himself apart as he agreed and struggled to stay within
bounds
for at least a few minutes, but she controlled him in every way
possible. If it
wasn't alright with Nadia, it wasn't alright at all. She was still very
fragile, from all she'd gone through she must be. With his protection
and
feelings he'd probably make an okay shield for her, but what he
couldn't bear
would probably be her undoing. Already he was taking all the teasing
from all
the people that knew them personally, and already he was sneaking
around trying
to keep her concealed from all the silly looks. A small college reunion
was
rumored to be coming up the following October around homecoming at
Cambridge,
and if a single person saw them together they would know; Eric could
feel
sparks flying between them when they met gazes and could hardly keep
his hands
off her in any occasion. Oh, the horror.
Nadia
stared at Eric as he sat, thinking. He had an awful frown on his face,
and
looked half-shamed in some way. She wanted to cheer him up, but she
felt
slightly above purposefully tripping herself in order to see him roll
his eyes
and grin at her.
"You alright?" She asked instead.
He
nodded slowly. "Just thinking,"
Nadia
gulped, feeling vulnerable. "I love you,"
He
turned, all the frown and heavy thought gone, replaced
by a small smile of pure happiness. "Love you too, Naddy."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lexi
dropped her bag on the floor and slipped off her shoes, knowing
immediately
that Eric was there. His jacket was on the couch in the tiny sitting
area, and
his shoes were next to Nadia's in the kitchen. She whispered a soft
curse word
and gently padded up the stairs, leaping upon the door in a wild fit of
suspicion, hardly suspecting to see Eric there alone, fully dressed on
a made
bed, fingers linked behind his head. He jumped up and gave her a very
dirty
look.
"You
always burst in on people sleeping?" He asked angrily, rubbing his
face.
She
ignored his question and asked him where Nadia was.
He
frowned at her again. "She had to go teach today; she gets every other
weekend off, every Sunday or something like that."
"Did
she call you?" Lexi pressed, suspicious.
He
shook his head. "Nope, I just showed up."
She
made a face at him and turned towards the door. "She didn't want to
talk
to you."
Eric's
face turned angrier. "Well, now it's not your business so you should
stop
caring."
She
whirled and confronted him. "Nadia didn't cry until you kissed her, you
know that? She didn't cry at all. She pushed through it all with a
plain face,
now she's turned into fragile little girl."
"There
are some things neither of us had experienced before that
have happened. It's all part of the process." He retorted, shaking
his head in a wise way.
Lexi
glanced at her watch. "It's her lunch hour. I'm going to go talk to
her."
"Be
my guest," he spat. "And by the way, Lexi, if you're going to talk
her into being mad at me again, I'll know why."
For
a moment she looked sort of afraid, and then her cool, lawyer's face
was back.
"You will never know."