Chapter Thirty-One

Parker Lowell

The bell's scream was a welcome sound at the end of Computer Keyboarding, the class I had before lunch. I was glad that I was finally going to get some nourishment for a nagging hunger I had had growling at me from my stomach all morning. Not to mention that I finally got to get out of Julian's concerned stares for a few minutes at least. He had noticed my hands trembling as I typed in class, but never ventured to ask a question about it.

"I'll meet you in the cafeteria," he said to me now, walking quickly toward the cafeteria in order to get a good place in the lunch line. I nodded, waving him off as I opened my locker and stuffed my books into it and took out my lunch.

As I dug around in my locker a little bit, I expected my thoughts to wander around on the many mishaps of the not-so-good day I was having. But they didn't. In fact, I don't recall having any thoughts at all during that short period of a few moments I was at my locker, by myself for the first time that day.

I sighed and began heading in the same direction Julian had been heading before, toward the cafeteria. As I walked up to the "main entrance," I saw Julian standing in line with Juliet, his twin sister. Juliet saw me and waved an exicted hello. I smiled and waved back at her. Apparently she had missed me too.

I entered the noisy cafeteria and, for some strange reason, felt like a complete stranger. Like I had never seen this place or these people before. I looked around for a minute, the feeling catching me off guard enough to make me scared. It was one of the first moments where I realized that something had changed. Not just something in my life, but something inside me.

A call of my name was what took my out of this sudden peril. I looked toward the sound of the voice and saw my friend, Eddie, waving me over to the table he was sitting at.

"Hey!" I said as cheerfully as possible as I sat down across from him. He was the only one there so far.

"Where the hell have you been?" was the first thing he said to me.

I laughed at his straight-forwardness and began to wonder why I didn't have friends who were less observant.

"Oh, you know, some aunt of my mother's died and we had to fly down to Oklahoma for the funeral," I replied for the thousandth time that day. I heard some loud giggling over at the table next to us and automatically turned to see who it was. I know I must have visibly cringed. It was Devonny and her friends, or, well, as some put it, "club." Why did they have to sit there of all places??

"Hey, it's the Gay Freak Convention," Eddie snorted, following my gaze as he opened up his carton of milk.

I pulled out my lunch, pretending not to noitce them. Pretending not to notice them and their colored markers and piece of folded paper, all of which either borrowed or stolen from the art teacher, no doubt. I prayed to whatever God there was that Devonny wouldn't remember me telling her that I would sign the card. Not when my friends were around at least.

"Hey," said another friend of mine, Caleb, as he set his tray down at the seat next to Eddie and plunked himself down in one of the hard cafeteria chairs.

"Hey, Cay, look. They're doing another one of those stupid get well cards," Eddie said, pointing at the table next to ours.

"Oh jeez," Caleb said. "I don't understand that at all. I mean, it's not like he'll care or anything."

"Not like who will care?" a guy named Rob said, sitting down with us.

"Taylor Hanson. Devonny's trying out another one of those stupid card things. I can't believe that," Caleb explained to him.

I stayed silent, hoping that no one would notice my lack of contribution to the conversation, though I knew they eventually would.

"That guy looks like a chick," Rob commented. "I don't understand why anybody would be so in love with him or at least have the illusion that they are in love with him."

I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrows.

"No offense, Parker," he said.

"Mmm-hmm," I said shortly.

"Parker doesn't look that much like him," Eddie said.

"Oh no, not at all," Caleb said sarcastically.

"Why don't you cut your hair or something so that you don't look so much like him anymore?" Rob asked.

"Because it was my idea first!" I said defensively.

"How do you know?"

I rolled my eyes, trying to think of a good reason why I would know this other than the fact that Taylor and I had had a good-natured argument over it the other night.

"My mother's friend's daughter," I began but was swiftly interrupted.

"Come again?"

"My mother's friend's daughter," I repeated slowly, "likes Hanson and I'm forced to hang out with her every time we go over there. One time she showed me their official biography and there was a picture in there of them with short hair. In the corner you could see the date. It was in 1990 or something like that," I lied.

"So when did you start growing your hair long?"

"My hair has always been long," I said.

"Not true," Julian said, coming up from behind me. I must've jumped a mile out of my seat.

"Oh?" I said with challenge in my voice.

"Yes. You didn't have long hair back in kindergarten," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "I had long hair for a five year old," I said. "I didn't say 'long for a boy.' I just said 'long.'"

"Sure you did," Rob said.

"Where's Juliet?" Eddie asked.

"She's over there with Devonny's group signing their card or whatever," he said, gesturing carelessly.

We all turned our heads in the general direction of Devonny's table where Juliet was bent over the card with a black marker, writing what seemed to be a rather long message. Devonny giggled as she read it.

"Traitor," Rob mumbled as she walked over to where we were sitting and sat down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"You're signing a card for one of the Hanson brothers?" Eddie said incredulously.

"Yeah? So?" she said.

"So you hate Hanson," Caleb pointed out.

"I don't hate them," she said.

"This coming from the girl who dressed up like a boy for Halloween and said that she was Taylor Hanson's twin sister," Rob said.

"A thought that I find offensive to this day," Julian said.

"I didn't say I like them either," Juliet said. "You didn't let me finish. I don't hate them, but I don't like them either. I think it's kind of a nice gesture. I mean, after all, the guy is sick and everything. Don't act like you didn't like that card the whole of Mrs. Klein's third grade class sent you when you were in the hospital after you got your tonsils out."

"That's different. You guys knew me," he said. "It's not like sending them to a complete stranger. A famous stranger at that."

"So? The guy is still sick and he might just appreciate a note of sympathy from some of his fans--and a couple non-fans," I spoke up without meaning to.

Everyone stared at me like I had a satellite coming out of my ass or something.

"What?"

"Well, gee, Parker, if you're so partial to him, then why don't you go over there and sign the card?" Rob said teasingly.

"Yeah," Eddie agreed with the challenge.

They smiled at me mischievously, resting their chins in their hands and waiting for me to defend myself so that they could swoop down and attack again. I wasn't about to buckle under the pressure.

"You know what," I said, standing up, "I think I just might."

I walked casually over to the table where Devonny and her friends were sitting, the card resting in the middle of the table. So far it didn't say anything on the cover and I had the feeling it had nothing but signatures and individual get-well wishes on the inside. None of them noticed me until I cleared my throat.

"Oh, hi Parker," Devonny said with a smile two miles wide. I saw one of the girls slap a five dollar bill into another's open palm.

"Hi, Devonny," I said.

"What do you want?" asked the girl who had handed over the money skeptically.

"I would like to sign the card, if that's okay with you," I said back defensively.

Devonny's smile grew wider as she slid the card and an array of markers over to me from the center of the table.

"How come there's nothing on the front?" I questioned.

"We can't think of anything," she admitted. "All the rest of the cards were store bought but we decided to make it a little more personal this time."

"Oh," I said as I opened up the card to a number of get-well wishes. Juliet's was in the bottom left-hand corner of the left section of the card. It simply read:

"Hey Taylor, I'm not really a fan, but I know that when most people are sick, they like a little cheering up. I hope this works for you!

Get well soon, Juliet Drew"

I bent down and rested my elbows on the table tyring to think of something to say. Finally, I decided just to go the traditional route.

"Taylor, Get well soon.

Parker Lowell :)"

I added the smiley face just to indicate to him--if he ever got the thing--that it was sort of an in-joke. Of course, as an in-joke, no one else at the table got it.

I straightened back up as Devonny and the girl sitting across from her bent over what I had written.

"Well, that's original," the girl said.

"It was either that or 'Get Well in an MmmBop,' but I thought you'd want that for the cover," I told her as I laid the marker back down on the table.

"That's really good!" one of the girls exclaimed.

"It's kind of corny and one of the stupidest things you could ever say to a Hanson brother, but hey, we don't have anything else," said the girl sitting across from Devonny.

"Thanks," Devonny said. I smiled at her and went back over to the table where my friends were sitting, mouths agape.

That was corny, wasn't it?
Index
Chapter Thiry
Chapter Thirty-Two