I disconnected our gaze for a moment, suddenly feeling a flood of questions overwhelm me. I decided to fish for some answers before I decided exactly what I wanted to do.
"Why are you doing this now? Why, after all these years do you want to be with me? I have a feeling this is just a joke and that's why I want answers before I embarrass myself." I shot him a stern look, expecting him to laugh and admit it was a joke. But instead, he looked forlorn and his eyes widened. He sighed, and twiddled his fingers.
"I know it seems like it would be a joke. I know this is so sudden, especially with our history; but I don't care what anyone thinks. I'm tired of pretending I hate you when really it's the complete opposite. I don't know why I acted the way I did towards you, maybe it was just because I never knew how to show it. I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you Aimee, you really are a beautiful, amazing girl and I'm sorry I showed the way I felt in the complete opposite way." I gave him a peculiar look and pinched my arm while he wasn't looking, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I scanned my brain for all the memories I've had with him; how he'd tease me if I got a pimple, or how he always socked me in the arm and pinched me. Why didn't I see it sooner? He was never really rotten to me, he just played harmless jokes and playfully hit me a lot. Anyone but me could probably see he liked me. 'I'm so stupid,' I thought to myself. I looked him in the eyes, realizing maybe he is sincere. I gave him a simple nod, and his face lit up. He went to hug me, but I put my hand between us.
"I swear, if this is a joke, I will make your freshman year miserable. I'm only doing this because maybe I do like you too. I'm not sure; but we sure do have a lot of explaining to do." I explained. He nodded, and we stood up. We heard our parents honking their horns from behind us, and he quickly hugged me and bid me farewell.
"I'll call you tonight Aimee." He yelled out the window as his mother drove away. I got into my mother's car, dazed and confused; what did I just do? Would I regret it? My head was spinning. My mother snapped me out of it when she boasted,
"You and Robert?! Who would have ever thought! I thought you hated him Aimee." I glared at her and crossed my arms. This is obviously not something I can talk to her about. We drove home in silence, and I immediately walked to my room. I logged on to my e-mail, to find messages from almost all of my friends, demanding answers. How did they know?! I replied to each and every one of them with the same answer. 'I want to see how it goes. Please support my decision. If you don't, I know you're not real friends.' Because, they aren't real friends if they don't let me do what I want. It's my life, not theirs. I took my class criteria sheets to my mother for signing, and settled down in bed with a book, since there was no homework for the first day. My cell phone started to ring, it was Robert. I pushed the talk button and took a deep breath.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey. Did you get bombarded with messages from your friends?" He asked.
"Yeah. How did they know?"
"I set my relationship status to in a relationship and I just told them it was with you." I sighed.
"I wanted to be the one to tell them Robert." I said sternly.
"I'm sorry. Oh crap, I gotta go. I'll call you in a bit." Then I heard silence on the other end. I hung up, and felt a bit drowsy. I felt my eyelids close as I drifted off to sleep, finding myself answer the same questions. What will my friends do tomorrow? What will Robert do tomorrow? How can I handle all of this on the first day?
