Raleigh leaned against Melody’s locker, reusable lunch bag in hand, and waited for her to meet him. He liked this time of day. He’d tolerated the boredom of Remedial Senior English for the Formerly Delinquent, Entry Level Drawing for the Untalented, and World Religions for the Argumentative, and now had hanging with his girlfriend and Auto Shop to look forward to.
Actually, World Religions wasn’t so much boring as it was a subject that permeated every aspect of Raleigh’s life. His mom owned the recently opened Rosedell New Age Emporium and was the type of person who thought prayer beads were the perfect gift for any occasion. He’d been trying (with ALL his might!!) to date a pastor’s daughter for the past seven months and had sat through youth group, Bible study, and Sunday and Wednesday church services, all so he could be with her. His Jesusometer was at full capacity. And, as if that wasn’t enough, last summer he’d spent a little time as a soul, clinging to his corporeal form. A form that now had to wear long sleeve shirts no matter what the weather because it was covered in some pretty hideous scars. This had resulted in earning him the nickname “Flannel Boy” when he’d started his senior year of school during the hottest September on record.
So yeah, some days he wanted to scream, “Hey Miss Contemplative Agnostic who spends the entire class period trading barbs with White Dude Who Half-Assedly Practices Rastafarianism, there is an Afterlife and if you don’t go to the Light, it’s a hell of a lot like high school.”
But he didn’t. He zoned out and kept his temper in check and he tried to be someone Melody deserved. Besides, he’d never be able to really explain how he knew what he knew anyway. Raleigh kept Melody’s family secrets to himself.
He glanced at the clock hanging above the locker bank opposite him and did his daily countdown under his breath. “…3,2,1.”
Melody rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, flipping her hair back off her shoulders. Her long, tanned legs stretched out from underneath a black mini-skirt, striding toward him, her face lighting up as they made eye contact.
He liked this time of day.
“Hey, you,” she said, dropping her books to the floor. Oblivious to everyone else in the hall, she barreled into him, flinging her arms around his neck.
A tall, golden Goddess. His World Religion. Lips like…Raleigh kissed her, encircling her waist with his free arm, done with contemplating, preferring to use the body he’d almost lost.
“Mmm,” Melody said, pulling back from him slightly. “We’re totally good at that.”
He smiled. “I feel like there’s always room for improvement on my part. I might need more practice.”
She sidestepped over the books she’d dropped and opened her locker. “You’re in luck, then. I’ve convinced Dad to let you take me on a Valentine’s date.”
Raleigh bent and picked up her books, some of his dark blonde hair slipping from his ponytail, and handed them to her one at a time. “Is there a dance at the church or something?”
“Nope.” Melody stashed the last book and grabbed her completely un-ironic Hello Kitty lunch box. “I have to be home by eleven, but we are free to move about town as though we are a normal couple and do normal couple-y things.”
Raleigh took her hand and led her to the cafeteria. “An unchaperoned movie? The eating of greasy foodstuffs?”
Melody snorted. “I hope you can come up with something better than dinner and a movie, dude, because we won’t get another chance like this until I’m sixteen in June.”
“No pressure, then.”
She frowned. “I could plan the date, if you want. I just thought it might be nice to not know what’s going on for once.”
Raleigh brought her hand up and kissed the top of it. “I believe they call that a surprise.”
Her frown morphed into a grin. “Oh, I’m not familiar…”
“Well, get familiar. I’m going to plan the best Valentine’s Day surprise this side of the Willamette.”
Her face lit up again.
“And no fair asking your sister to get a little glimpse of the future,” he whispered.
Melody held her lunchbox to her chest in mock indignation. “I would never abuse Zel’s power like that!”
“Please, I know you and Claire got someone to future snoop on your Christmas presents.”
She shrugged. “We were just trying to get an idea of dollar amounts.”
Raleigh swiped the price gun over the row of dream catchers he’d laid out on the counter and then handed them to Avery to hang on the wall.
“What are you and Zellie doing for Valentine’s Day?” he asked as he untangled another batch and lined them up to repeat the process.