Wyatt Klinker Section 9

Okay, this is a whole lot easier. All I really have to do is post the next chapter of my book. That makes it real easy. It is a whole lot easier than going home, sitting at the computer ans typing for two hours while trying to keep the kids in line and keep Angie from going crazy (due to said children). I also have a bit of an empty feeling. I'm going to miss writing my story. It almost feels like a child that has finally moved out of your house. Sure, it's nice they are gone, but you do wish them.

Over the next week or so I plan on reading over my book and editing sections of it. I doubt I will do any rewrites. While the story isn't my favorite, it is complete, and that makes me happy.

I've already began formulating ideas for a new book, this time one that doesn't live under the constraints of time and word counts. I want to try to improve my writing and hope that somewhere in my head there is a story worthy of being printed and bound. I think I can do it, and I'm buoyed by the fact that my next novel will not be my first. That really feels good to type that. If anyone who reads this likes to write, I encourage them to try Nanowrimo next year. It is tough, but an incredible rush when you finally finish.

Okay, I've got a lot of work to do here today, so I'm not going to drag this out. Here is the next chapter of my book. Hope you continue to enjoy it.

CHAPTER 10: PICTURES

At the beginning of the term Dr. Swanson had told all the students that once again the school was sponsoring a trip to Washington D.C. for the HIS322 and his other class, HIS403 Presidential History. Wyatt had planned on going all along and was excited to know that the trip was a mere week away.
While Wyatt had been to Washington before, he was actually looking forward to the spring break excursion for more than one reason. First, going on the week long trip meant he didn’t have to go back home and confront his aunt, uncle and cousin again. Secondly, he would be given the chance to go back to the east coast, a place he missed dearly.
After their talk a month previous things had really cooled between him and Alex. He still talked to her in class but only met her for lunch once of twice a week as opposed to sharing a meal with her almost every day. He had been bothered by the fact that she didn’t press to share more time with him, but then he realized that she didn’t share the same feelings he had. She had also cooled on what she said around him. They had stopped talking about personal stuff and settled on discussing the mundane.
Wyatt was happy however to find out that she had planned on going to Washington as well. He was actually overly excited and had to force himself to relax and convince himself that just because she was going to DC didn’t mean things were any different. In fact, he actually became melancholy think about it.
Of course she was attuned to his feelings, or so it seemed, and immediately realized something was wrong. After class she grabbed him as they were leaving and asked him if everything was okay.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he lied.
“No it’s not,” she pressed. “I know you well enough to know when you’re bummed out.”
Wyatt had to think fast, “Well, Wednesday is my birthday and I miss my parents. It’s my first one without them.”
Wednesday was in fact Wyatt’s birthday, but in truth he really didn’t care one way or another. After age twelve his parents didn’t do much with birthdays so they didn’t really mean much.
Alex’s faced turned to a frown. She wrapped her arms around him, instantly flooding Wyatt with emotion. He loved having her arms wrapped around him and didn’t want her to let go.
“I’m so sorry Wyatt,” she comforted him. “Is there anything I can do?”
Wyatt didn’t allow himself to fantasize and instead just answered plainly, “No, I’ll be okay. I’ll get through it.”
“Do you want to meet me for dinner?” she offered.
“No, Dave and I are already planning on ordering pizza and hanging out with some guys on the hall,” he lied.
“Okay then,” she replied matter of factly. You let me know if there is anything you need. “Oh, and if I don’t tell you on Wednesday, happy birthday.”
With that Alex turned and walked away, leaving Wyatt to just stand outside in the cold, utterly frustrated with how his emotions were pulling him apart.

“I don’t know why you don’t just tell her how you feel,” Dave counseled Wyatt as they both sat in their room munching on pizza and watching the basketball game on television.
“Geez Dave, you sound like a woman,” Wyatt chided, throwing a pizza crust at his roommate.
The two of them had become good friends and Wyatt didn’t have a problem opening up to him. He had shared his feelings about Alex as well as all the mess at home, including the progression of the Lindsey issue. Dave, when he took the time to shut up was an amazingly good listener. He didn’t offer advice unless first asked and he admitted when he had no idea what to do. Alex had become a constant point of discussion between the two.
Dave picked up the thrown crust and immediately took a bite out of it, offering a Cheshire-like smile.
“You are one sick SOB Dave,” Wyatt signed, shaking his head.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” the other man replied, shoving the rest of the crust in his mouth.
Wyatt propped his feet up on a milk crate and took another piece of pizza from the box. Just then someone knocked on the door.
“What do you want!?!” Dave yelled; his traditional greeting to the few visitors the two had.
“Do you have to do that,” Wyatt laughed, getting up and going to the door.
He was surprised when he opened it and found Alex standing there, her left hand hidden inside her long winter coat.
“Oh, hi,” Wyatt stuttered, surprised by her appearance at his door. She had never been to his room and he never really expected her to see it. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I felt bad for you because of your first birthday and all,” she looked down, not really knowing how to address the issue. “Well I felt bad considering your parents not being here to celebrate and all so I bought you a present.”
“Is that the stripper I hired for your birthday, Wy?” Dave shouted from behind him.
Alex laughed, “That must be Dave.”
Wyatt opened the door and stepped aside so she to come in, “Alex, this is my roommate Dave, Dave, this is Alex.”
“Nope, that’s not the stripper, but she’ll do,” Dave said, pulling himself up out of his chair.
Wyatt shot Dave a look that told him that he was crossing the line.
“I’m sorry. Hello Alex, it’s nice to meet you.”
Wyatt allowed himself to relax, “It’s good to see you, I really didn’t expect you to come over.”
“Well, I didn’t either, but I really felt bad for you so I brought you a present,” she pulled her hand out of her coat and revealed a tall bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag. “I thought first I would contribute to the delinquency of a minor.
She pulled the paper bag off the bottle to reveal a bottle of champagne, “Do you have glasses?”
Wyatt retrieved a stack of Styrofoam coffee cups from the top of Dave’s refrigerator, “This is all we got, I hope they will do.”
“I really like this girl Wyatt. You should have invited her over earlier,” Dave contributed as he once again settled into his chair.
Wyatt flopped down on the floor, allowing Alex to have the seat he had vacated when she arrived. He watched her as her boney fingers pulled the foil off of the cork. They were long and delicate, the nails painted a subtle pink color. He allowed himself to be mesmerized by her movements.
Once she got the foil off she handed the bottle to Wyatt, “You have the honors of popping the cork, Birthday Boy.”
The bottle was one of those less expensive champagnes and had a plastic stopper which took a little wiggling to remove, but didn’t require a bottle opener. Wyatt struggle momentarily before he felt the cork give way. He held on to the cap as he heard the tell-tale pop as it was removed wholly from its nesting place in the bottle.
“Sorry it’s not chilled. I picked it up on my way over,” she admitted as she pulled three cups from the stack, setting them out on the same milk crate Wyatt had used as a foot stool earlier.
He poured each glass, bringing them as close to the top as he could without allowing a prolific amount of foam to spill over. Each took a cup but before they could drink, Dave offered up a toast.
“To the best person who has ever kicked my ass. Oh, and to a pretty decent roomie too,” he said as he lifted his glass.
The other two touched their cups to his and drank deeply, enjoying the bubbly sensation of the champagne. It was the first Wyatt had ever had and he was immediately smitten with its sweet taste and soda-pop fizz.
“Oh, my turn,” Alex blurted after topping off everyone’s glass from the bottle.
She thought for a moment before raising her glass and speaking, “I propose a toast to overdue library books, cold November evenings, and freshmen with the guts to hit on upperclassmen.”
Again they repeated the glass tipping ritual, Wyatt giving a smile to Alex and she returned the same.
“Really Wyatt, I’m glad I met you. You are a good friend and I’m going to miss you after I graduate. Oh, that reminds me, I got you a present.”
Dave raised his eyebrows at mention of a gift and Wyatt shot him a look that said, “Don’t you dare say whatever is running through that perverted head of yours.”
Alex didn’t notice the exchange as she began looking through her handbag. She found what she was looking for and pulled out a small package. It was wrapped in rich blue paper with a fluorescent pink ribbon. She handed to Wyatt and explained, “It’s not much but I wanted to get you something.”
Wyatt wasn’t accustomed to receiving gifts and took it, staring at the ribbon and the paper. He was stalled, wondering what it was.
“Well open it dummy,” she told him, leaning forward to watch him.
Wyatt took his time, first removing the ribbon without damaging it. Find the tape that held the paper to itself, he pulled it apart and extracted the gift.
“What is it,” he asked, not sure what the small electronic device was that he now held in his hand.
“Push the button on the side,” she instructed him.
He did as he was told, and a picture of Alex sitting at her desk in her down room appeared on the screen. After about five seconds the image changed to another shot of her, this time posing for the camera, her smile shining.
Wyatt spent a few minute looking as the image continued to change.
“It’s a digital picture frame that you can carry in your pocket,” she explained. “I saw it at the drug store and thought it was pretty cool. I didn’t know if you’d like it or not. You don’t have to keep those pictures of me on there; I just thought it would be better to give it to you with something on it.”
“No,” Wyatt interrupted, “I really like it. And I like the pictures too. Thank you. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. You’re a good friend and I like spending time with you,” she said, her voice serious.
Wyatt didn’t know how to reply. This was an odd position he was in. Luckily, Dave broke the tension when he suddenly blurted out, “Oh shit, I forgot my report for my finance class tomorrow. I’ve got to get over to the computer lab before it closes so I can run it off.”
He grabbed his coat, slipped on a pair of sneakers without bothering to unlace them and made his way to the door. “It was nice meeting you Alex, thanks for the champagne.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. Sorry for interrupting you and Wyatt’s little party.”
He waved her off as he went out the door, “Not a problem”. He then left, closing the door behind him, leaving Alex and Wyatt alone.
Even though the television was still on, there was a dead stillness to the air in the room. It was a tension built on indecision. This was an opportunity for Wyatt to stress his feelings about Alex, but fear was also prevalent. He didn’t want to scare her off. He decided to play it safe.
“Thanks again for the gift, it means a lot. I certainly wasn’t expecting it,” he stated plainly enough, looking again as the scrolling pictures.
“Wyatt, I meant what I said. You are a real good friend and I do like spending time with you,” she said as she got out of the chair and sat down on the floor beside him. She took his hand. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I like being your friend and I don’t want to ruin it by letting it become something more serious. I hope you understand because your friendship is super important to me.”
Wyatt was screaming inside, “Why don’t you feel the same way about me that I feel about you! I don’t care! Why can’t we have something more!?!”
Instead, he just said meekly, “It’s ok Alex. I understand. I don’t want anything more than our friendship either. It is important to me too that we stay friends.”
She didn’t seem to notice his deceit, “I’m glad Wyatt. You are such a sweet guy.” She then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. For an instance before her lips touched his cheek he could feel her warm breath on his face and became awash with a sense of euphoria. For a moment he allowed his eyes to close and soaked up her energy. As the kiss ended, he felt a deep depression overcome him. As she pulled away he forced a smile.
“Well, I’ve got to get back to my dorm. I’ve got a bunch of reading to do,” she said as they both stood up. “I’m glad I got to share a bit of your birthday with you.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you stopped by. Thanks for the champagne and the gift,” he replied uncomfortably, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “Oh, you want me to walk you back to your dorm?”
“Oh no, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind the walk,” she replied, pulling her coat back on.
“You sure?” he asked, “Let me at least walk you down to the door.”
She nodded and the two made their way down the hallway to the bank of elevators.
“I’m looking forwards to our trip to DC next week,” she stated, a bit of excitement in her voice.
“Yeah, I am too. I still need to go out and pick of stuff for the trip. I’ll probably do that Friday night,” he revealed.
“Oh! I’ve got to do that too. You mind if I go with you?”
Considering the feelings racing through his mind, he would have rather said “yes, he did mind” but he couldn’t force himself to deny her, nor deny an opportunity to be around her.
“Sure, you can come, maybe we could grab something to eat while we’re out.”
“That sounds like fun. What time, six?” she asked.
“Yeah, that sounds okay with me. We can talk about it more in class on Friday.” He answered as they reached the front door.
She turned to face him, “that will work. Happy birthday Wyatt. I’m glad you didn’t have to spend it alone this year.”
As she spoke he looked into her eyes and saw a flicker of something there. It was as if she was holding back, not revealing everything to him. He refused to believe it and shook the feeling off.
“Thanks Alex, I enjoyed spending time with you. This was a good birthday,” he replied.
She wrapped her arms around him and stood there hugging him, rocking her body back and forth slightly. He wanted to say something but didn’t.
When they finally separated she looked at him again and that same look was there. He wanted to take her face in his hands and kiss her, but he didn’t. Instead he just smiled and said, “Be careful walking home. I’ll see you later.”
“Yup. Have a nice night,” was her only reply as she turned and left. She looked back once to see if he was still standing there, watching her, but he was gone.

March 25th -Dear Starlog

Alex just left and I can’t help but feel that she wanted me to kiss her when I walked her out. This is so confusing. I know we would be perfect together, so I don’t know why she won’t just let go. I know she’s graduating, but Rockford isn’t all that far. I think we could make it work. Besides, she could easily find a job here in the city. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just desperate.
Well, I’ve got to take what I can get. Right now it just means being friends and being happy with that.
What the hell am I saying? She has been clear that she doesn’t want anything more than a friendship. I’m acting like a stupid little freshman. I have two more months of class then the summer will be here. I should make the best of what time I have left here because going back to live with my aunt and uncle is going to be completely depressing. I think I’ll just find a job to keep me occupied all summer. That way I don’t have to be around much.
I am looking forward to going to Washington on Sunday. It has been at least eight years since mom and dad took me there on our summer vacation. It was fairly interesting then, but of course that was before I really had an interest in history. There are a few places I would love to go, namely the National Archives and the Smithsonian. The monuments are cool, but once you’ve seen them once they aren’t that big a deal. Of course, if Alex wants to go see them I’ll take her, but it doesn’t much matter to me.
I suppose I should get some sleep. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow to get some stuff at the library. I don’t know why I’m even going to try though. I know that, like most nights, I’ll lay awake thinking about her. I always do.