Chapter Seven: My Recycled Soul by Lynette Ferreira
Why did he ask me specifically and who is Jared? I am just about to ask Jane but when the bell rings I forget about it. As we walk to our first class, excitement floods through me at the prospect of spending time with my friends, outside of school.
At lunch, we sit on the grass in a circle watching the sky
above us intently and suddenly every one of us is a weather expert, predicting
no un-expected rainfall for this afternoon.
During Irish, I quickly text my mum, telling her not to
collect me straight after school, that I am going to the beach with some of my
friends, and I will call her to fetch me later.
Being her usual overprotective-self and not paying attention
to the time, my ring tone echoes through the classroom.
Mr. Halpin stares at me over his little owl glasses and says
in a sharp voice, “No mobiles in class, Elizabeth!”
“Yes sir,” I say embarrassed as I press the mute button at
the same time.
This is now going to cost me another text, I think
frustrated, while I discreetly push the buttons on my phone, under my desk.
Mum. In class. Will call you as soon as the bell goes.
I send the message and then switch off my phone, just in
case.
After school, Aaron waits for me while I collect my books,
and then he walks with me to my locker, not saying anything and looking
anxious.
I get the books I will need for homework from my locker, and
as we walk out through the main door, Aaron guides me in the direction of the
only two cars parked next to each other at the far end of the parking lot.
He says apprehensively, “We’ll drive down to the beach with
my brother.”
I look at him, with a frown. “I didn’t know you have a
brother.”
He seems apologetic. “Sometimes I forget I only know you a
few months.”
I ignore the hint of expectation in his voice and say, “But
surely, I would have noticed by now that you had a brother?”
“He has been at a rugby training camp since mid-term break
and only arrived back very late last night,” he explains.
“He didn’t come to school today?”
“No, he decided to take the day off.”
“Oh, okay.” I smile up at him. “This is kind of a surprise.
So, he has not been at school since I met you?”
“No. He was here the first day you arrived.” He glances at
me and when our eyes meet, he looks away quickly. “He left during mid-term
break. Before you and I became friends.”
He says the word friends as if it has a deeper meaning, and
I feel a twinge of guilt because he likes me so much more than I could ever
like him. He did not evoke any deeper feelings in me, feelings I equated with
love.
We reach the parking lot, and I recognize Connell’s Citroen,
but not the ruby red Jeep next to it.
Jane, Connell, and Sarah, Siobhan and John, are talking
loudly and laughing—happy that the sun is holding onto its place in the sky.
Suddenly, Connell says, at the top of his voice, “So are you
all ready to leave then?” In the same breath he asks, “Sarah, are you driving
down with me?”
I see Sarah hesitate and look toward the Jeep, but then she
turns toward Connell and, smiling, she walks toward him.
Aaron and Jane start to walk toward the Jeep, with me
following, and then I falter, for a moment, as I become aware of him climbing
out of the driver side of the ruby red Jeep.
It feels as if somebody punches me in my stomach,
violently expelling my breath from me and I am immediately attracted to him.
Aaron steps toward me and awkwardly he introduces me to his
brother, Jared.
My eyes look up and into his grass green eyes. For some
strange reason I feel as if I recognize him and although I know I have never
met him before, it feels like I have known him for all my life.
Jared’s expressive green eyes hold my gaze and then one
corner of his mouth lifts into a smile. He does not say a single word, while I
manage a shy, “Hi.”
I am almost one hundred percent certain I used to be more
confident in South Africa. What happened to me?
Jane pulls Aaron firmly by the arm into the back seat of
Jared’s Jeep, so I do not have much of a choice in the matter of sitting in the
front passenger seat.
Jared walks a little behind me as I walk to the door,
scanning my brain for something intelligent to say. He has me on edge, and I
feel inexplicably nervous.
He holds the door open for me, and awkwardly I lift myself
onto the seat. Once I am settled on the seat, he closes the door and then he
walks around the back of the Jeep. Jane and Aaron sit silently in the back. It
is as if I can feel the broodiness radiate off Aaron like heat off the sun.
When Jared slides onto his seat, he looks over at me and
then suddenly, without warning, he leans toward me.
My body freezes and I stop breathing. I push myself
backwards into the seat, while he leans across me and pulls my safety belt
toward him. He buckles it into the slot.
Still very close to me, he looks up at me with raised
eyebrows and he smiles that crooked smile. Cold air rushes into my mouth with
such a gush as I gasp that I almost choke, but Jared only smiles wider and then
settles back into his seat.
While clipping in his safety belt he tells Aaron and Jane to
buckle up.
He starts the car, and we drive off with Connell leading the way out of the school yard. We drive through the traffic in the village and then down the steep, winding back roads toward the beach.
I turn myself as much as I possibly can, with the constriction of the safety belt, so I can speak to Jane in the back seat. After a while, Aaron joins in and we laugh and joke about school, especially Mr. Halpin, with his little, eccentric habits.
