The Space Between Us(2)

“Are you ok?” Asher asked, walking up the hill towards me.

“Um, yeah, I think so,” I said, still trying to rub the pain away.

“Is it your first day?”

“Yeah, I just moved here.”

“Do you want me to take you to the nurse?”

“No, I'll be ok, but thanks.” I gave him a small smile and turned back to put my notebook into my backpack.

“So, you've got a weird name too?” He asked.

“It's not really a weird name. It's just not supposed to be a girl's name.”

“What is it? Bob? Max?”

I laughed. “My name is Charlie.” He tilted his head to the side, seeming to contemplate what I'd told him.

“That's not a weird name. There's another girl who goes here whose name is Casey. That's a boy's name I guess. It's could be worse; you could be Frank or something.”

I laughed again. “Asher isn't a weird name, either. I like it.”

“Thanks,” he said as he came up right next to me. “So, why'd you move to Willow Falls?”

I shrugged my shoulders, trying not to let on that I didn't really want to talk about it. “I just go where my dad tells me to.”

“Oh. Are you sure you don't need to go see the nurse? I don't mind showing you.”

“No, I'm good,” I said with a small smile.

“Well, I guess I'll see you around.” He gave a small wave and walked back down the small hill. I continued to put my things away and the longer I thought about Ryan and the rocks he threw at me, the more I thought about why I was here in the first place.

Thinking about my mom and how she died was never fun, but it was something I found myself doing often and usually at times when it was inconvenient - like now. The tear that fell down my cheek wasn't because Ryan had thrown rocks at me, but because my mom died. My dad didn't know what else to do, so he moved me away from my friends I'd had all my life to be closer to my grandparents. That was the reason for the tears, not Ryan. But I couldn't let anyone see. I'd never live it down if I was caught crying on the first day at a new school.

No one would know that every time I wiped away a tear it was because I pictured my mom laying in a hospital bed, tubes and wires coming seemingly from every available inch of skin, eyes closed, chest moving only slightly with each shallow breath. It was not because some idiot didn't like my name. My shoulders slumped, my backpack came to rest at my side, and I looked up to the sky trying to calm down enough to go back to class. Deep breaths - one after another.

I managed to get my emotions under control and headed back to my classroom. The rest of the day dragged on, time slowed down by the loneliness of not being around anyone I know. A girl sat in the desk next to me and I caught her looking in my direction more than once since lunch. My eyes drifted over to her and again, she looked at me. I pushed my black, stick-straight hair over my shoulder, turned my head towards her and gave a faint smile. She smiled back and just that one moment made the day not totally suck.

I gave my attention back to the teacher at the front of the room but a few minutes later I felt something poking my elbow. I looked over and the blonde girl next to me handed me a note. Taking it from her, I hid it under my desk to unfold it.



Hi! My name is Reeve. Did you just move here? What's your name?



I looked over at her as she stared straight ahead at the teacher, convincingly looking like she was interested in the geography of Africa at the moment. I took a pen out of my bag and replied to the note and then, when the teacher turned his back to the class for a moment, tossed it onto her desk.



My name is Charlie. I did just move here. First day.



I watched her read it and then she scribbled under my writing and handed it back to me.



How do you like it so far?



I read her question and shrugged my shoulders. Then I wondered how I was supposed to write that in the note.

It's ok, I guess.



When she read my response, she looked over at me and smiled. She folded the note up and put it in her backpack. She didn't pay much attention to me for the rest of the day.

When school was over, I walked out of the building and headed towards the field that sat on the side of the building.

“Charlie!” I heard my name and turned around to see Reeve running towards me. “Hey! Where are you going?” She came to a stop in front of me, her backpack swinging from side to side behind her with every step.

“Walking home.” Home was such a weird word to use. Home was hours from here, back in my old neighborhood. I was really walking to the house we'd just moved into, but it didn’t feel like my home.

“Cool. I walk home too, but I live that way,” she said as she gestured in the opposite direction. “There's this place, The Range, it's just a few blocks over. Sometimes after school I go there to hang out. It's kind of like a coffee shop, but cooler. You can just be there and hang out with friends. They have some video games and comfy couches to read on. Anyway, maybe sometime you would want to go with me? It's better than just going home and doing nothing,” she said with a smile. Before I could think about it I was smiling back at her.

“Ok, I'll have to ask my dad first, but I think it will be ok.”