Chapter 9: Routine

Lisa approached me as I stood in front of my open locker on Tuesday morning. Without hesitation, she stood on her tiptoes and stretched up to kiss my cheek, then settled back on her feet and smiled up at me.

I was six-two, I think. Lisa was probably five or six inches shorter—about the length of one of those small plastic rulers in school stationery sets.

I looked down at her, smiled and said, “What did I do to deserve that?”

She shrugged. “Do I need an excuse to give my boyfriend a good morning kiss?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”

She ignored my question. “Actually, I wanted to thank you for what you did for Lauren. When she got in last night, she was ... Well, she wasn’t exactly walking on air, but she wasn’t crying, which is a hell of a lot better than when she went out.”

“All I did was get them in the same room. They worked it out themselves.”

“But I don’t think anyone else could have gotten them in the same room. So, thanks. On her behalf. And mine. I don’t think I could have coped with her being depressed for weeks. Or months.”

She looked down at the floor. When she looked up again, her smile had faded, and there was uncertainty in her eyes. And her voice. “About the boyfriend thing, I ... I hope you don’t mind, it’s just that ... I mean, you know I’ve never had a boyfriend, right? And we are going out again next week, and I know I said it was nothing serious or anything but—”

To her great credit, she recovered quickly from the surprise of my kissing her. Her hands went to the back of my head, and she kissed me back. It was a more passionate kiss than Friday night, but still...

When we broke apart, her breathing was a little heavy, and her wide-eyed pupils dilated. “Wow. That was ... I ... That was better than Friday.”

“Yeah, well,” I said with a smirk. “I wasn’t kissing my girlfriend on Friday, was I?”

She launched herself at me, and I staggered backwards a step from the force of it. Yep, definitely better than Friday.

Life settled into something of a routine after that and I played the role of Lisa’s boyfriend as best I could.

And I was playing a role.

Don’t get me wrong, she was a lovely girl, and I enjoyed the time we spent together, but we both knew it wouldn’t last forever. At school, she was attentive without being clingy. I got a good morning kiss every day (as well as random little pecks throughout the day), and I walked her home every evening. Friday became our regular date night, and the dates were a lot of fun. We tried to vary our activities and not just go to the cinema every week, because there were plenty of other things to do in Westmouth. We went bowling, although neither of us was very good. We went skating, but we weren’t very good at that either. It was enjoyable, though.

And after every date, we went to The Rec. If it wasn’t raining, we walked around the lake, stopping to sit on ‘our bench’ halfway around. If it was, we stayed in the car. Over those few weeks, she went from stopping my hand when it got near her boob to pulling my hand under her sweater. Her self-confidence was growing, and people started to notice.

“You and Lisa seem to be getting along really well,” Clarissa said one day as we walked back to our lockers after Maths.

“Yeah.”

“Well, don’t sound too enthusiastic about it, will you?”

“Sorry, I ... Look, she’s a lovely girl and I like spending time with her and all, but...” I shrugged.

“No fireworks?”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

We met a crowd of Year Sevens hanging around the corridors between lessons. To say it was loud was an understatement.

“Were we ever this small and noisy?” I asked as we forced our way through the throng.

“I think we probably were,” she replied with a smile.

“Look at those two.” I pointed to a couple of the twelve-year-olds in a corner. He had her pushed up against the wall and was trying his best to suck her tongue out of her mouth. “I don’t think I’d have had the guts to do that at their age. I don’t think I was even thinking about that at their age.”

Clarissa shrugged. “They start early these days.”

“These days? Listen to us. We’re like a pair of old women.”

“Speak for yourself.”

When we got past the mass of younger kids, we climbed the stairs towards the Common Room.

“So, are you taking Lisa to the Halloween Ball?”

“I assume so. She is my girlfriend.”

“I can’t believe how much she’s changed since you two have been together. You’ve been good for her.”

“Yeah. But we can’t go on forever, and I’m worried about ending it. I don’t want to break her heart.”

“Don’t you have to be in love to get your heart broken?”

“You do indeed.”

“And is she in love?”

“To tell the truth, I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I really don’t know.”

Friday’s date was a trip to the theatre. There was a popular stand-up comedian at The Winter Gardens in Westmouth, and Vicky had been generous enough to spring for tickets for us. It was a great show, and I couldn’t remember laughing quite so much in a long time.