Dancing in Circles (Circles Trilogy) (7 page)

"Today a quiz, then a review class. Tomorrow is your chapter test. Today's quiz will tell you what you need to study to prepare for it. Where's Stephan?"

"At home. Broken jaw," a classmate said.

"Dislocated jaw." Robert slouched low in his desk and stared out the window. He didn't turn his attention to the class.
Jeez, get it right
.

The teacher turned on the smart board, clicked a file on his laptop and a list of the questions appeared on the screen. "You have twenty minutes, begin."

A hush fell over the classroom, interrupted only with the occasional sigh of frustration. Julie laid her pen on her paper and glanced at Robert. Instead of working, he was rubbing his temples.

"Times up," said Mr. Ross. "Julie put question one on the board. Phil, two. Christine, three. Brian, four and Robert, number five." The teacher made a minor correction to Julie’s answer and moved on to the next student. When he got to Robert's answer, he paused and studied it. "Robert, where did you get this answer?"

"My head."

The class giggled.

"I didn't mean that to be funny, sir."

Mr. Ross turned. "This was a trick question, and you got it perfect."

"Lucky guess."
Or sheer genius on my part.

The teacher rubbed his chin. "Since Robert got that question, I'm going to have to go home and think hard." The class moaned.

Robert threw his hands up. "Hey, I can screw up if ya want. Ya don't have to make the test hard 'cause of me."

"No, it's time to challenge some of these lazy brains." Mr. Ross sat at his desk.

Julie checked her paper. Other than getting the last answer wrong, she was happy with her results.

Robert crumpled his paper and threw it in the garbage. When the bell released them from class, Julie strolled next to Robert. "Meet you in the library?"

He nodded and continued out the door. Julie wandered through the library to the tables at the back, by the windows. She sat, looked up and smiled. Robert plopped his books on the table and sat across from her. "How's your head?" She fought the urge to run her fingers through his hair.

He rubbed his forehead. "Throbbing."

"Why haven't you seen a doctor?"

"Don't like 'em. It'll stop hurtin' in a day or two. Meantime, I can live on aspirins."

"That's stupid. What if you've got a cracked skull or something?" She pulled out some books and flipped them open to give the appearance of working.

"If my skull was cracked, my brains'd be leakin' out of my head. I did ok in calc, so my brains must still be in there."
You are so incredibly beautiful.

"If your head still hurts tomorrow, I want you to go to a doctor." She shook her finger at him. "And what do you mean, you did okay? You got that trick question. I was so wrong in my answer. How'd you figure it out?"

Robert stopped listening to Julie. Instead, he watched the way her lips formed the words, and the way the sun shone on her hair. There was a stirring deep inside him. It was more intense than he had experienced with other girls. Why did she have to be Westland? If she were North Shore, he'd have a chance. But a Westland girl and a North Shore gang member? Ain't gonna happen.

"Hello? How did you figure it out?"

Robert blinked.
Shit. Figure what out?
He stalled by pulling out his cell phone and checking it for messages.
Oh yea, she was talking about math class
. "Calculus is easy." He fought to keep the grin off his face. "A first approximation would be M2(3), the slope of the secant to the curve at the points where t=2 and t=3. I don't know. I just understand it."

"You're more logical. I'm not. I mean, I can do calculus. I'm smart. But I do better in subjects, like English. When I analyze a book or a poem, I can always find a different angle, rather than just the conventional approach." Julie stared at the small gold hoop in Robert's earlobe.

"We should take my logical side and stick it with your creative side. Rule the world and all that."

She shifted in her seat, glanced around to check if anybody was watching them. "Got to put all that world-dominating mind power somewhere." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Whose body?"

Yours! Who else's?
"We'll share." Robert pointed at her. "Your body on even days." Then aimed his thumb at his chest. "Mine on odd."

"Can I use your brain tonight to study for this test?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, it's an odd day, September twenty-first."

"I'll be creative." She smiled. "How about we study together, and you can show me question number five?"
Did I just ask him for a date?

YES! Whoa. Be cool, dude.
"I gotta work after school, but I can get to the library by 7:30." To Robert, the day just got a little bit sunnier.

Julie ran her fingers through her hair and twisted it into a bun. She snagged it in place with a pen. "How about your place?"

"Ya don't have to prove anything by coming out to Shore." He leaned around her to see how she had put her hair up. "Interesting use of a pen."

"I'm always losing hair ties. Look, it'd be dumb for you to go to the Estate then to Shore and then come back here. Just give me the directions." She dug through her backpack for another pen.
What am I doing? I just volunteered to go to Shore. Why did it sound so logical in my head and yet, so stupid coming out of my mouth?

Robert stared at the offered paper and pen. "Come in to Shore on the eighty two. Take the Davis off-ramp. There's a big empty lot here." He scratched directions on the paper, then marked a small square. "An old factory used to be there. It got torched a couple of years ago. Across the street is a bar, PARTY HARD, then a couple of deserted buildings and a bakery. Park in front. If ya can't, honk."

He tapped the pen on the desk. "You're in a bad part of town. I don't want you walking around by yourself. The door's on the left of the bakery. I live above. Just walk up."

"Got it." She picked up the paper, folded it and slipped it into her purse. "I promise, I'll park or I'll honk."

"Are ya sure ya wanna do this? I don't live in the best part of town. I live down by the water where the rent's cheap. There are non-Westland things around."
Things you'll never understand.

"I can do this. I'll be there about 7:30."
Am I nuts or what?

The bell rang.

She picked up her books and purse. "Guess I should go. It's Francine's birthday. We're going out for lunch."

"Not to Lunch Box. You can't party on lettuce and mushrooms."

"At least she eats her mushrooms." Julie smiled and waved.

His gaze tracked the gentle swish of her hips until they were no longer in view. He rubbed his face.
What the hell am I getting into?

***

The five friends went to DREAMS for lunch and gorged on double chocolate hot fudge sundaes and Diet Cokes. Julie and Tricia made it back to class just as the bell rang. They hurried and slid into their desks.

Mrs. Wolmsley stood near the board. "Class." She waited until all was quiet. "I don't want a lot of ruckus and drama, but I'm handing out two assignments today."

The class groaned.

"One is due Wednesday. The other in January. I'm assigning that now, in case any of you wish to do it before the night before it's due." She handed out the assignment papers. "It's all explained here, but simply stated, I want you to write an essay, or an analysis of the works of a writer, or write a story. Length is up to you. You can submit a one-page essay, but it will have to be the most amazing one page ever written." She walked back to the head of her classroom. "Any questions?"

Several students raised their hands. When those inquiries faded, she proceeded with the next assignment. "Next, by Wednesday, I want you to read and analyze the poem Situations by Anthony Edwards-Smythe."

As the teacher discussed the homework, Julie watched Robert shake his head and rub his temples. When the bell rang, he raced out the back door. Julie exited and walked towards biology. She met him near the vending machines.

Robert poured some change into the machine, pressed a button, and a can of Coke crashed to the bottom. He pulled a bottle of headache medicine out of his backpack and downed several tablets with a couple of chugs of the soda.

Julie shook her head. "You're only supposed to take two at a time."

"Not when your head feels like this." He gulped down the rest of the drink and tossed the can into the recycle bin. "Walk you to biology?"

***

Class dragged until the final bell rang. Julie exited and whispered, "7:30" as Robert walked past her.

When she arrived home, her mother was seated at the kitchen table, helping her youngest daughter with her homework. "Good day at school, love?"

"Yes, Mom." Julie put her books and purse on the table. "I'm going out tonight. We have a calc test tomorrow, and there's this guy in class, we're going to have a study session."

"Sure, just don't be too late. Uh, yes, Ashley, your homework's done. You can go play." Her sister scurried from the room.

Julie poured herself some orange juice.

"Who is this young man?" Mrs. Anderson was always curious and delighted when her daughter had a date. She suspected most boys were too afraid of Julie's intelligence.

"No one important, Mom, just a guy. I'm going to go get my other homework done. Call me if you need help with dinner." She picked up her things and rushed to her room.

***

By six forty-five, seven outfits lay scattered around her bedroom; some were on the floor, some on the bed, the chair and the dresser. The outfits ranged in style from special boy/special date to washing dad's car on Sunday afternoon.

Her mother knocked and walked in. Stepping around the mess, she perched on an open corner of the bed. "I thought this was just a study session?"

"It is, but I don't know what to wear." Julie heaved a sighed. "I don't want to appear like I'm not interested." She threw the latest outfit on the floor.

Mrs. Anderson bent over and picked it up. "So do tell, what's this boy like?"

"He's the guy I told you about, Robert. I'm not his type, we're just going to be friends. Only part of me wants to be way more than friends. I didn't want to tell you, because I didn't want a lot of grief over his being from North Shore. He's cool and awesome at math." Julie kicked at a sweater. "I'm probably getting my hopes up even dreaming he might like me.” She rummaged through the mess. “That's it then, jeans and a sweat shirt."

Her mother picked up a pair of slacks and a sweater. "Try this, unless the homeless look is in this season."

Julie dropped the jeans and put on the clothes her mother handed her. She grabbed her calculus books and reached for the doorknob.

"You be careful." Mrs. Anderson placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I'm not pleased you're going there. He should be coming here. But I'll trust your judgment on this one."

"He suggested we meet at the library. I'm the one who decided to go to his place. I want to show him I'm willing to accept where he comes from." Again, it sounded like a good idea until she verbalized it.

Mrs. Anderson's eyelids rose. "Even if it gets you mugged or raped?"

“He’s already taken care of that." Julie turned and opened her door. "If I can't park in front of the bakery, I'm to honk until he comes out. He’s warned me what kind of neighbourhood he lives in. He's not sugar-coating anything. I want to do this. It won't be dark when I get there, and I'll have him walk me to my car when I leave."

She stepped into the hall, turned and gave her mother a reassuring grin. "I'll be okay. I trust Robert. I know from the way he protected me from Chris that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me." Julie led her mother to the kitchen, picked the car keys off the counter, and strolled out the back door.

Not believing her luck, Julie pulled into a spot in front of the bakery. With a trembling hand, she locked her car.
Why am I nervous? It's just a study session. He's not going to try and seduce me. All we're doing is calculus.

She rang the doorbell. No response. She knocked. No answer. She turned the handle and opened the door. The sound of loud voices boomed from behind a door at the top of the stairs. Taking a big breath and slowly releasing it, she ascended the staircase and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Bob, someone's at your door," a voice from the other side shouted.

"So answer it."

"Not my door," the first voice replied.

The door swung open, and Robert stood before her. He wore jeans, but was barefoot and shirtless, his hair wet and dripping. Her mouth dropped as she watched a small drip trickle down his ripped abs. He absentmindedly rubbed it off.

Julie knew his lips moved and words were coming out, but she was too mesmerized by his six pack and tattoos to focus on what he said. "Pardon?" She shook herself back to reality.

He motioned for her to enter. She stepped into the kitchen area of a tiny apartment. The furniture was old and worn, and the walls were faded and drab. People sat on the floor, or the sofa and kitchen chairs. Julie didn't recognize anybody. Several glared at her, but most ignored her.