The Jesters Fool- Chapter 2

this chapter establishes more school relationships and a bit of Brookes school history at Timberline

Timberline was the type of building that was just asking to be rained on. The old-fashioned clock towers looked almost elegant while an ominous storm sat, brewing behind them. The steeple of our ancient chapel, a lightning rod, attracting all of the awful Minnesota to concentrate over our small campus.

Lexi and I were walking to the campus center to grab dinner from the cafeteria. We had both grabbed hoodies on the way out of our door and were now pulling them up over our heads to stop our meticulously straightened hair from getting ruined by the impending rain. The sky was ready to burst at any second, the dark clouds beginning to look more threatening by the minute.

“First bad storm of the season and it's the first night at Timberline,” Marcus says, catching up to us. He has his hood pulled over his hair, too, and it makes me realize how real he is. Something so simple that it somehow relates to me, a shared trait of vanity. “That can’t be a good sign.” He tucks his hands into the front pockets of his dark wash jeans.

Lexi and I are both wearing athletic Nike shorts, and we both have goosebumps running up our legs by the time we finally arrive at the cafeteria, chilled by the sharp evening wind. “Shut up.” I elbow him, afraid that his statement is going to jinx us or something. I’m not normally superstitious, but some things just have such straight-up bad vibes that you have to knock on wood or something. “Don’t put that negative energy out there.”

Marcus laughs, “It's okay, I’m sure you have crystals or something to undo that statement.”

“Jeez, Marcus.” Lexi laughs, pulling down her hood and running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get rid of the frizz. “That was such a wildly incorrect assumption. Do you even know us? I don’t think we can socialize with you anymore!” Marcus pouts at her, and I wrap my arms around her shoulders.  

“I’m starving,” I announce, moving our small group towards the food. Those chocolate chip waffles I had at lunch just didn’t hit me the way they used to when I was a freshman.

“So are you two coming to my room after dinner?” Marcus asks, grabbing himself a large slice of pizza. I look at Lexi, who shrugs and plays at indifference.

“Yeah,” I answer for her, smiling. The three of us walk over to the part of the cafeteria reserved for seniors. There are other kids sitting at tables, but most of our grade isn’t showing up until Monday. Senior classes don’t start until Tuesday, so senior move-in is after the weekend, when the underclassmen have to adjust to the dorms. Marcus and I agreed to come early this year so that Lexi wouldn't be stuck at her house with her family for an extra three days.

“My mom was trying to get me to live with her from home this year.” Lexi shudders, and I laugh. Lexi loves her mom. They have one of the best relationships that I’ve ever seen. 

“You should have told her I would live with her for the year,” Marcus says, insulted at the inconsideration towards him.

“You’re foul,” Lexi says, wrinkling her nose. She's had to deal with ‘your mom's so hot’ jokes since we were freshmen, and I know that she's excited to attend a college where her mom doesn’t teach, so she can be free from the torment.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Marcus shrugs, taking a big bite of his pizza. He makes a face as it burns his tongue, and he tries his best not to spit it out. Lexi and I follow his example and nibble at our pizza as well, trying our best to only take small bites and not burn our tongues.

“Hey, can we join you guys?” A voice asks behind me. Marcus raises a brow and nods. Lexi and I turn to see who it was that asked, and we’re greeted by the sight of Aaron and a guy whose face I vaguely recognize.

Lexi kicks my shin under the table and raises her eyebrows, scrunching up her forehead. From her expression I gather that the other guy is Thomas! Aaron sits down next to me, our shoulders brushing for a moment. The brief second of contact making me hold my breath. Thomas sits across from Lexi, next to Marcus. 

“How was move-in day for you guys?” I ask the two boys.

“Intimidating,” Thomas says, shaking his hair out of his face. “I swear, I’ll never find my way around this campus.” 

Lexi smiles, seeing her moment, “I can show you around after dinner, if you want.” She offers, in her sweetest voice.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” He smiles at her, a dimple forming on his left cheek. He’s cute, not my type, but he looks good for Lexi. With the golden retriever like attitude and matching blonde surfer dude hair. No wonder she’s been obsessing over him for years.

“I thought you were gonna come hang out with me,” Marcus whines, but he shuts up as I kick him under the table.

I quickly switch the conversation back to move-in before Thomas has a chance to rescind his tour acceptance with Lexi, “How was everything with your move-in, Aaron?” I ask, “And is your sister adjusting to Timberline alright? Do you think she’ll like it here?”

“It's been great,” He smiles, “Although saving you has been the highlight of my day.” I laugh. “And my sister is loving it here, you know, she’s planning on trying out for soccer, she's incredible, might have a chance at varsity with you.”

I grin, it’s sweet that Aaron remembers small things, like how I play soccer, “I would love to be on a team with her. She seems like a total sweetheart.” 

“She's the worst�" but I love her�" so don’t tell her I said that.” 

“Pinky promise.” I reach out my hand to him, and we interlock fingers. It feels oddly intimate, and I press my lips together in an attempt to compress the smile threatening to split across my face.

“Do you want to hang out after dinner?” He blurts out suddenly, getting the attention of the whole table. I laugh softly, “Just the two of us?” He asks, slightly quieter. The ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ coming from Lexi and Marcus barely even bother me, mostly drowned out by the rapid beating of my heart.

“I’d love to.” We unclasp our pinkies, no longer intertwined with each other. 

This may come as a shock to most people, but I’ve never had a serious boyfriend before. I’ve dated of course, it’s a part of highschool culture, but I’ve yet to have a genuine romantic connection with anyone. Normally after going out once or twice most guys tell me that we’re better off as friends. It hurts, every time�" it hurts. But that doesn’t stop me from saying yes to the next guy who comes around. Besides, someone as sweet as Aaron would think of a nice way to let me down- if we don’t work out.

“Brookies got a date!” Marcus sways side to side, grinning at me with a wicked grin.

“You know that means I’m not hanging out with you tonight anymore.” I laugh, kicking his shin once again.

“Wow, you’re really going to ditch me for him?” He pouts, flinching slightly from the sharp impact of my foot, “You really chose a good one there, Aaron.”

“Shut up, Marcus.” I chastise, and he goes quiet. Aaron laughs at my control over him.

“What a good boy, he listens so well.” Lexi tucks her hair behind her ears, looking at Thomas from the corner of her eyes as she turns to me, “Is he potty-trained too?”

“For the most part.” Marcus grins, “I didn’t pee my pants once this summer!”

“What a relief.” I make a face at him, and he laughs. Marcus is so easy to be around, his sense of humor flowing and blending depending on who he’s with. Marcus is hands down one of the funniest people I know, and he’s a shoo-in for winning class clown as his senior superlative, something that he will likely pride himself on.

I finish my dinner amidst easy conversation with the rest of my table. Aaron's knee is resting against mine, underneath the table. My body stiffens in a sort of anticipation with every accidental touch. “Are you ready to get out of here?” He asks, pushing up from the table. I follow him, grabbing my plate, with an untouched salad still on it.

“I’ll see you guys later,” I call, waving goodbye to the rest of the table. 

“See you tonight, Brookie,” Lexi calls back. 

Aaron and I put up our plates, and I pull back up my hood as we step outside into this miserable stormy night. It had started raining while we had been eating, and the puddles in the beat-up concrete seeped into my old pair of Adidas sneakers. “You wanna head back to my room?” Aaron asks, pulling up the hood of his hoodie to try to stop the rain from completely soaking him. “My roommate isn’t showing up until Monday.”

“Let's go,” I smile, unsure of how I feel about us going somewhere so private, but also wanting to live in the moment and spend time with Aaron in a way I haven’t before. “I’ll race you to the dormitory.”

Aaron grins, taking off at a sprint, “I’ll beat you there!” He calls over his shoulder as I struggle to keep up with him. 

The first lesson I learned at Timberline this year was to never race the school track star. Aaron beat me to the dorm and was waiting for me, holding the door open for quite some time as I struggled to catch up. At some point, my hood had blown off, and my hair was sopping wet, the perfectly straightened strands already curling up into strange and uncontrollable little waves. 

Stepping through the door, I wring my hair out in the entryway, making a small puddle on the ugly green tile floor. Aaron laughs and tentatively reaches out, raking my short hair through his fingers, getting out the windblown tangles. Shivers run down my spine as his hand brushes against the back of my neck. Aaron must have felt the hitch in my breath because he pulled away sharply. “Sorry.” He mutters.

“No, it’s okay.” I made that really awkward, really fast, poor boy. 

I follow Aaron down the hallway to his dorm. We pass the boys’ common area, where two guys in our grade, whose names I can’t think of off the top of my head, wolf whistle at us. “Ata boy, Aaron!” One calls, then, “And on the first night too, what a man!”

“Don’t be gross, Zach.” Aaron reprimands, wrapping an arm around my shoulder protectively, before turning a corner. “Sorry about them; they haven’t learned manners yet.” He sighs, pulling out a dorm key and unlocking his room.

Despite the fact that he moved in today, he’s almost completely unpacked. His bed is made, the sheets a clean, crisp white, with a navy blue comforter and pillow cases�" the stereotypical bedding choice of a teenage boy. He has a couple of pictures of himself and his friends hanging up on the wall, and his closet has sweatshirts hanging up, jeans folded neatly on a shelf beside them. 

“Are you sure you haven’t been living here for a couple of months already?” I ask, noticing that even his desk is set up, ready to begin work as soon as our classes start giving out assignments. 

Aaron shrugs, “I don’t do well in messy environments.” 

“Makes sense.” Not to me, I thrive in my dirty room with clothes strewn about the floor, but I’m sure loads of people don’t handle messy spaces well. “I appreciate how organized you are.” I hope that if I end up dating him, he won’t expect this level of cleanliness from me.

“Lots of girls do.” He smirks with a laugh. Is he really this confident, or is this an act? 

I feel bold and am empowered to ask, “How many girls have you brought here so far?” I draw closer to him, my face just inches from him, hopefully coming off as flirty and not overbearing.

His facade falls, immediately intimidated by me, “In the whole six hours I’ve been living in this room?” He has a subtle blush on his tanned cheeks. I smirk, nodding, waiting for him to answer, “Too many to count.” He admits, with a shrug.

“Aw,” I pull back, playfully, “At least tell me I’m the favorite one you’ve brought here. Make me feel special.” Aaron now draws closer to me, my back bumping against the corner of his bed in an attempt to reopen some space between us. He takes another step, and I jump up a little bit as my legs hit the back of his lifted bed frame. I land on his mattress with a less-than-elegant thud.

“You’re the only one who got to meet my family first.” He tells me, coming around to sit next to me. “Not many people get that opportunity.” 

“Oh?” I raise my eyebrow, rolling onto my side so I can look into his face. “I guess that does make me pretty special. Meeting the Rashids is probably the greatest honor I’ll ever get.”

“Yeah, it very likely is.” He tells me, carefully reaching out to caress the top of my hand. Slowly, I turn it over, intertwining my fingers between his. At some point, my breathing stopped, and I feel giddy and light-headed from this simple, innocent touch. Should I kiss him? No, I like this moment too much; I just want to savor his presence with me.

“So, you used to really like me?” I ask, pushing myself closer to him, his hand follows my movements, squeezing my fingers tighter. 

“Maybe I still do.” He admits, grinning. Our noses are touching. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to anybody before.

“Good,” I breathe, “I really like you too.” And that's when I finally get my first kiss. It's this monumental moment that I’ve been building up in my head for years, and it's finally happened, and it is just as perfect as I had always imagined. 

Aaron pulls away from the kiss slowly, wrapping his arms around me and holding me to his chest. I’m so comfortable in his strong, capable arms. This boy is perfect at everything, and I can hardly believe that he likes me, of all people.

“What are your goals for this year?” I ask, unsure of what you’re supposed to say after a boy has kissed you for the very first time. “You know, it being our last year at Timberline and everything.” 

“First, I want to make you my girlfriend.” He pauses for a second, waiting to see if I’ll respond. His statement, however, has left me very speechless, and I stay silent. “Secondly, I want to beat my PR for the 200-meter sprints.” I think that he thinks that he made me uncomfortable with his first statement, and like the wonderful gentleman that he is, he has oh-so-eloquently flipped the conversation to his running career.

“You’re very talented,” I tell him, readjusting slightly, pushing myself closer to him. He takes it as a good sign, I assume, as he continues to ask me out.

“Talented enough to talk you into dating me?” He asks, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I suppose.” I try to nonchalantly shrug, but I know that a giddy smile is breaking across my face. 

Nothing can break this beautiful moment between us�" except my phone buzzing awkwardly from my hoodie pocket. I mutter a very cruel oath to murder whoever it was that sent me a message quietly under my breath, and Aaron laughs, pushing himself off the bed slowly. I roll my eyes as I see the call is coming from Lexi. The stupid girl knows I’m with Aaron right now.

“What's up?” I ask, trying to keep the frustration from my voice.

“Sorry, hope I didn’t bother you guys,” Lexi starts.

“No, it's fine,” I say, looking over to Aaron and giving him an apologetic smile, “What's up?” I think my voice is still shaking, over the excitement, and an odd sense of humiliation over having finally gotten my first kiss. I wonder if she can hear it, if she can tell from my speech alone.

“I forgot my room key again.” I can hear her utter embarrassment through the phone.

“Again, Lex? Seriously?” I’m incredulous over this girl's ability to forget it inside our room, “I’m gonna have to glue that thing to you so you can’t leave it behind anymore.”

“I know, I know, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, you’re fine, I’m heading up there now.” I get up from Aaron's bed, turning to smooth the covers where I had messed them up. The phone is still tucked between my shoulder and my ear, and when I straighten, I catch it quickly before it falls.

I check the screen to make sure that Lexi hung up on me before putting it back into the pocket of my hoodie. “I’ve gotta get going for the night.” I smile sheepishly at Aaron, “I had a great time�" talking to you, though.”

He smiles, “I did too.” I turn to leave, but Aaron catches my arm in his hands. I raise my brow, looking back to see what he wants, “Let me walk you over there. You never know, there could be weirdos like you who keep body parts in boxes walking around.”

I give him an odd look before remembering what I had told him earlier about the weight of my box. I laugh as he panics over my confused expression. “We wouldn’t want me to be a murder victim now, would we?” I ask, laughing, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door with me.

“You’re too pretty to die.” He tells me, squeezing my hand, and I blush furiously.

“I wouldn’t say that.” I shrug.

“I would.”

“You’re very sweet, Aaron.” The perfect boy really knows how to give a compliment.

“I know.” We head up the stairs, and he turns to me, smiling and dropping my hand, “You wanna race again?”

“Um…no, I’d rather die.” I laugh, taking off at a sprint. Aaron overtakes me quickly and beats me to the top of the steps, but it's nice to think that I had a lead at first. I meet him at the top, laughing and winded. “I’m gonna need a minute to catch my breath before we move on.” I grab at his arm to stop him from walking forward while I put my other hand on my knee, dramatically hunching over and gasping for air.

“Don’t you run in soccer?” He asks me in half disbelief, pulling me upright and dragging me, reluctantly, down the hallway with him.

“Yes.” I’m indignant. “Just not outside of it.” We both laugh as we make our way to my dorm. Lexi is sitting, her back against the wall, waiting for me to be her knight in shining armor and unlock our door for her.

I pull my green Timberline lanyard out of my pocket, turning the key in the lock, the click of our door opening welcoming us home. “Thanks, girly.” Lexi smiles gratefully, stepping into our room and sighing dramatically, “It just smells so stale in here! I need to open the window.”

Aaron and I follow her in. Aaron wrinkles up his nose, “It smells like too much of your perfume, Lex,” he tells her, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“Oh, go away,” Lexi tells him, playfully pulling him off of me, and pushing him out the door.

“Goodnight, Aaron!” I call as Lexi closes the door in his face. We are now like Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers separated after a romantic evening. The force of my evil ward and roommate keeps him away.

“How’d it go?” She asks me excitedly as soon as we hear his footsteps retreating down the hallway. 

“I got my first kiss.” I smile proudly, and Lexi jumps up, wrapping her arms around me excitedly.

“My baby’s finally grown up!” I knew she’d be excited, but this is just excessive. 

“And how many boys have you kissed?” I laughed, knowing every detail about Lexi’s love life, which is just slightly more exciting than mine.

“Three.” She bites her lip, sitting on her bed across from me.

“I thought it was only two?” 

Lexi nods, and then I get it, “I kissed Thomas,” I should have known, something about her signature Lexi glow is more glow-y than usual right now, “Tonight.” 

“Yeah?” I ask, excitement growing in me for her.

“Yeah!” I begin to pull off my hoodie and put on an oversized t-shirt, then slip off my pants, beginning to get ready for bed. Lexi follows my lead and pulls her hair up into a messy bun. Neither of us has ever been night-showering people; we’d rather wake up thirty minutes earlier in the mornings than go to bed with wet hair.

“We’re being set up for such a good year.” I smile, heading to the bathroom and pulling out my toothbrush. I wet it, squeeze out some toothpaste, and then wet it again.

“Knock on wood.” Lex laughs, hitting her fist against the doorframe, coming in next to me, and grabbing her toothpaste. She puts on the toothpaste and sticks it straight in her mouth without wetting it at all. I make a disgusted face at her, tucking my hair behind my ears before I spit out my toothpaste. I love Lexi, but the fact that she brushes her teeth dry greatly disturbs me.

“Lexi, can you please brush your teeth like a normal person?” I beg, grabbing my face wash from my half of the corner and splashing some unexpectedly cold water against my face.

“No. Creeping you out is the only thing that gives me an edge over you.” She laughs, grabbing a makeup wipe and washing her mascara off her already perfect lashes.

“Psycho.” I laugh, drying my face and popping out my contacts. Lexi giggles and shakes her head, pulling her long hair out of her messy bun and braiding it down her back at an abnormally fast pace. 

“I haven’t been this tired since school ended last year.” Lexi sighs, lying in her bed and wrapping the blankets tightly around her.

“Just being here is exhausting,” I agree, flipping off the lights and jumping into my own bed.

“What did you and Aaron talk about, ya know, before you kissed?” She asks me in her tired voice.

“How I’m too pretty to be murdered,” I tell her.

“Oh, goodness.” She mutters, “If you keep saying things like that it’s going to manifest or something.” I laugh, and then go silent, hearing how Lexis breathing deapend. The girl fell asleep already. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to her about her evening with Thomas yet.

I pull out my phone and text Marcus, partially because I’m lonely for Lexi's company, and also partially because I feel bad for blowing him off tonight.

Me: How did your night alone go? Marcus responds almost instantly.

Marcus: I missed you. How’d your date go?

Me: Finally got my first kiss !!!!!!

Marcus: Dude, finally! 

Marcus: Me and Lex have been waiting for the day it would finally happen

Me: You two are so unsupportive.

Marcus: Love you ! 

Me: Whatever, I’m going to bed now.

Me: <3

Marcus: Goodnight loser

I turn off my phone, lean over my bed, and plug it in. I stick it underneath my pillow after double-checking to ensure the notification volume is turned off.