Tug of War 12

Twenty minutes later, Timothy was back to his bedroom getting ready to school. He took the opportunity to remove the nail polish from his fingernails and toenails, as Susan had agreed with him. She said she would distract his father so he wouldn't notice his son’s nails as the boy left the house. However, she warned Timothy he needed to be fast or it wouldn't work. 

The problem was that Timothy soon realized that removing that crappy from his nails wasn't as easy as he had expected. He had to frantically rubber the remover on his nails for several minutes until it finally started working. What he didn't know, though, was that Susan had given him a remover that wasn't that efficient… 

When he finally was satisfied with the way his nails looked, he picked up his school bag and quickly left home, screaming goodbye to his father and stepmother only when he was already at the door. 

Outside, he took off the ribbon from his head, undoing the ponytail. Only then he realized that there was still a little bit of nail polish on the corners of his nails. "Dammit!" the boy cursed, knowing he would have to spend another day with his hands in his pocket. 

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At the end of his first class, Timothy was crossing a hallway when someone touched his shoulder. 

"Hey, Tim!"

The boy’s mind was so engrossed in his problems that he even jumped in surprise, dropping all his stuff on the ground. 

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." 

The boy then finally looked at the pretty girl in front of him. "Oh, that's okay, Kate" he said, embarrassed, as he gathered his belongings with the girl’s help. "It wasn't your fault. I was just distracted and... well..." 

"Something’s bothering you?" 

"Oh, just the usual stuff, you know… Tests, classes... No big deal!" he lied, wondering what the girl would think if she learned what the boy had been doing at home. 

Katharine had a round face, big blue eyes, light brown hair, and an attractive slim body. She was the same age as Timothy, and they attended some classes together. Oh, another important fact about the girl was that Timothy had a huge crush on her. Not only because she was so beautiful – They also had a lot in common. 

If she wanted to, Katherine could very well be one of the school’s cheerleaders and hang out with the popular girls. Instead of that, though, she took part in the reading club and enjoyed history, just like Timothy. The two of them had already spent many afternoons talking about the futility of war, the evil of segregation, the importance of cooperation and tolerance, among other issues that always made other people move away, bored. 

Timothy was sure that she was the perfect girl for him, and he had a feeling that she liked him back. Even so, he had never had the guts to ask her out. 

"So… did you want to talk to me?" the boy asked, still embarrassed.  

"Oh, that’s right!" the girl exclaimed, strangely looking a little anxious, too. "I was thinking… well… Would you like to go to the movies with me on Saturday? I heard a great documentary about the countercultural movement of the 60s is playing this weekend. Since we discussed this topic a few weeks ago…" 

"Umm... I... Umm..." Timothy stammered, apparently unable to utter intelligible words. "Y-yeah, it sounds great!" he finally managed to say. "I was actually thinking about going to watch this documentary…"

"Great! Then you can text me later to set the time, okay?" 

"S-sure! Can't wait for our date!" he let out without thinking, and immediately blushed furiously as his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "I m-mean... I'm not saying that it’s a date... I just..." 

"You're so cute, Tim!" the girl said, smiling and stroking his arm lightly, which made Timothy's legs tremble so much that he could barely remain standing. "I think we will have really a good time! I have to go now. See you later!"

The girl then walked away, and Timothy remained there, in the middle of the hallway, wondering if that conversation had really happened or if someone had put acid in one of the drinking fountains.

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After looking all over the place, Timothy finally found Martin, his best friend, in the school yard. The boy was sitting Indian style on the lawn under a tree, with his hands on his knees. 

"Man, do you mind if I ask you what the hell are you doing?" 

"I'm meditating" Martin replied, with his usual dreamy smile, completely oblivious to the fact that several people were pointing at him and laughing. 

"Meditating?" 

"Meditating." 

"Why?"

"I read somewhere it's good to relax."

"But you already are the calmest person in the world!"

"Oh, you have no idea of all the intense storms that happen in my mind!" Martin stated, as if he were some kind of old guru. 

"Whatever, man" Timothy said, tired of that crazy talk. "Listen, I have something to tell you. I asked Kate out and she accepted it!" 

"Really?" Martin raised an eyebrow. "Did you ask her out?"

"Well… Technically, she asked me out, but this is the same thing, isn't?"

"Hmmm..." Martin spent a long time thinking about the issue, until he finally said, "I'm not sure, but congrats, anyway, man! I know how much you wanted to go out with her!" and saying so, he got up and hugged Timothy. 

"Yeah, yeah, that’s enough! People are looking!"

"Okay. Now tell me. What about your ankle?"

"What's wrong with my ankle?"

"You tell me. I thought you had twisted it yesterday. Is it better?" 

"Umm... Yeah, sure! I think… I think it's better now. Thanks! So, are you coming to the class?" 

"You can get going, and I'll be there in a minute. I just need to finish opening my chakras." 

"Okay... Hmm... Good luck with that, man" Timothy then moved away, not daring to wonder what the hell chakras were.