Hidden Cure

New Kid on the Block

She saw the new kid walk around the corner, books in hand. He had slightly above average looks: thin lips and dark brown, shaggy hair. His muscular build was partly masked by his loose button down, dress shirt. He was coming straight at her, and she wanted to run the opposite direction so bad but she was paralyzed. Holding her breath, leaning against the locker next to hers, hoping he would just disappear, but he kept coming. He came over and stood next to her and undid the lock. Slamming her locker shut, she managed to stumble into her Sophomore World History classroom. She sat there in utter disbelief. Now she had someone using the locker above hers.

At least I’m away from him now, she thought, but just then the teacher walked in with his hand on the new kid’s shoulder. She put her head down on her desk, and emitted a barely audible groan. This is going to be a long day.
"Good morning class. Today we have a new student. His name is Jerimah and he has moved to Ohio from Maine. He needs a ‘tour guide’ for the next week or so. It would be best if you had the same schedule as he does. Are there any volunteers?" he asked. Half a dozen hands shot up, all girls. The teacher consulted his clipboard. "How about you Nayla, you seem to have the exact same schedule as Jerimah here. Jerimah, you may go sit down in the seat next to Nayla." She beat her head on her desk.

Why me? Why me? She willed herself not to cry. Nayla sat in the very back of the room. The few lights above her desk were out and no one sat in the desk directly in front and next to her, till now that is. She enjoyed her desk because the teacher never called on her. As a matter of fact besides attendance she didn’t even think that the teacher ever looked back there.

"Whatever," he glanced back at Nayla and weaved his way to the back of the room. Sitting down next to her and tossing his books aside, he pulled out his I-pod and placed the micro buds in his ears. After a moment or two, once Mr. Maupin started his lesson on communist Russia, Jerimah removed one micro bud and turned in his seat to face her. "Hi, I’m Jerimah," he extended his hand towards her. Hesitantly she raised her hand. She brushed her long bangs aside and looked into his deep oceanic eyes for the very first time. They were filled with emotion, excitement, happiness, and just a little bit of fear.

"And I’m…" she faltered, "Nayla, I’m Nayla," she finally got out. He turned back to the white board, accepting her response. An all too familiar felling washed over her, a slight pang of fear mixed with butterflies in her stomach.
Her friends always teased her when she talks about her "rough life." They would always say that nothing could make their life rough if they lived in a large mansion with a complete staff like Nayla did. Her life did have a rough side though, that some of her friends didn’t even know about, or even comprehend. Ever sense she was a small girl she had had symptoms of several phobias. She had the fear of falling deeply in love with someone, otherwise known as Philophobia, and a strange sensation would come over her and make her feel insecure. That’s what she was so upset that she had to be the one who showed Jerimah around the school.

When Mr. Maupin was done with his lesson Nayla quickly shut her book and packed her bag for the next class. "Are you ready for Advanced Placement Abstract Literature?" Nayla asked him absently. He nodded and they left the room and walked down the hall to Mr. Lyke’s room.

Considering that she was stuck with a constant sick feeling in her stomach the day was going fairly well. Until they go to chemistry class that is. Nayla went to sit down at the table with her lab partner and best friend, Neci. Neci and Sybil were the only two of her friends that knew about her phobia. She explained the entire situation, starting with homeroom. "At least I can get away a little during Chem. 1," she wrapped up her little speech.

"Not to ruin your day but look," she gestured towards the front of the room. Jerimah was standing next to the teacher and she was pointing to places around the room. Once to the empty lab table next to Nayla and Neci, once to Sybil, & once to Neci and once to Nayla. Nayla groaned; she knew exactly what her teacher had been saying.

"Nayla, I'm going to," she began.

"Yea, I know. Move me and make my partner Jerimah and switch Sybil to Neci's partner," Nayla said with mild annoyance.

"Um, yes," she paused to contemplate how Nayla had deciphered that, but game up and began to teach class.

Reluctantly Nayla sat down and pulled out her notebook and followed along silently with the lesson. Just as Mrs. Wilk finished writing their homework assignment on the board the afternoon announcements came on of the intercom.

"Good afternoon. Just as a reminder Academic team tryout are today, after school in Mr. Maupin's room. I also want to congratulate the boys B basketball team on their victory over Northmont yesterday," Principal Mason droned on about game scores, team victories, and new records, but Nayla wasn't listening. She was thinking about Academic Team. She had been on the team for the past two years and had done surprisingly well. She couldn't wait for "try outs" tonight. They weren't really tryouts, as much as they were placement tests. (everyone made the team)

The final bell of the day interrupted her thoughts. She packed up her bag and rushed over to where her two friends were waiting. Nayla was all too aware that Jerimah was trailing silently behind them. She quickly placed her books in her locker and closed the door. Realizing that Jerimah was waiting for her to move, she tried to slide past him, but the mass of students in the hall caused her arm to brush up against his. His touch raised goosebumps on her arm as she walked into Mr. Maupin's room for the second time that day.

"Hey, Nayla! How was your day?"

"Good," she lied. Mr. Maupin was one of her favorite teachers. He and Mr. Levo were the two coaches and were very kind towards Nayla and her two closest friends. She helped Mr. Maupin set up the buzzer system and took a seat next to Neci and Sybil who had just walked in.

They were talking about their homework when Mr. Levo walked in. "Hey, Mr. Levo!" they called out. The two teachers and three girls had grown very family-like in the past 2-3 years. Around 3:00 P.M. they got ready to start. Nayla had begun to feel her stomach loosen as Mr. Maupin stepped up to speak and Mr. Levo went to shut the door.

"You'll never guess who just walked in the door," Nayla heard Sybil whisper in her ear. She didn't need to look to know who it was. She didn't want to look. He walked in and stood behind Nayla, not having anywhere else to sit.

"Oh good. It looks like everyone is here," Mr. Maupin said as she surveyed the room. He wrote all of their names up on the board.

Neci                      Sayamak
Shay                    Jason
Sybil                    Vian
Nayla                  Jerimah

Nayla stopped reading there. It seemed that everywhere she went she was stuck with Jerimah.

"After we test you to see where your strengths are I will assign you a team. You will be with this team for most, if not all of our season matches," Mr. Maupin said, as he started passing out the papers.

She looked down at the paper. It was just a recycled Alphabet round sheet. "Easy," she thought. As it turned out it was easy. Mr. Levo stood up, read off the answers, and began to tally on the board who got which questions right. Nayla was proud of herself. She had gotten 15 out of 20 right. She started to compare her scores with the others. Neci got 15 correct, Sybil got 13, and, her heart sank, Jerimah got 15 as well. She looked closer at his score, compared to hers. Horrified she double and triple checked. "Now I'll never get rid of him," she cried to herself. Not only had they gotten the same score they had answered the same questions. That meant that they would probably end up in the same rounds.

"Ok, for round 1 I have put Shay, Jason, Sybil and Vian together. Round 2, Neci, Nayla, Brendon, and Jerimah. Alphabet round is Sayamak, Keith, Beth, and Sam. Lightning round is Neci, Sybil, Jerimah, and..." Mr. Maupin paused, looking at the numbers again.

"One time is bad enough right?" Nayla asked silently. She put her hands in her lap, not wanting anyone to see her white knuckles.

"Nayla, you will be the other member on the lightning round team."

She instantly released her clenched hands before she could hit something.

"And we will need teams for round 1 and 2 up here now so we can do a few practice games," Mr. Levo added.

Slowly Nayla got up and took her seat next to Neci. Brendon sat opposite of Neci forcing Jerimah to sit across from Nayla.

Nayla doodled on her paper mindlessly like she always did during a game. They had just entered the math portion of the round when she looked up from her paper. Embarrassed, she realized that she had been drawing little hearts. How long had she been doing that? She didn't want to know. Nayla's eyes wandered over to Jerimah's paper. She had noticed with her peripheral vision that he had been watching her. He had followed suit and began drawing. Unfortunately for Nayla's conscience he was sketching out small, simple, hearts.

Her cheeks reddened and she quickly flipped over her paper and wrote down the problem Mr. Levo had just read. She concentrated as heard as possible so she could not be caught doodling again.

Nayla always found comfort in talking to Neci about things like this, so when she got home that's exactly what she did. Locking her bedroom door and shutting her blackout curtains, her room became the dark, comforting, cave she wanted right now. She curled up on her bed and called her friend.

"Want to talk about today?" Neci asked immediately.

"Yea, I just can't shake the feeling that he is purposely following me. Did you even see him at today's practice? He was, well..."

"Drawing hearts? Yes, I saw. It didn't really help that you started it."

"I know, but I don't know what to do. What if I do end up liking him?"

"I don't know. I'm no pyciatrist, but maybe you should just talk to him."

"About what? The weather?" Nayla asked sarcastically.

"Well that's better than nothing. You're going to make yourself sick if you don't do something about it."

"I know. I'll try to strike up a conversation tomorrow," she paused, "It's not like I don't have enough chances," she added darkly.

"That's the spirit. Let me know how that works in Chem."

"Ok, I will."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye." Nayla laid her phone down on her bedside table. She sat there, wrapped up in her blanket, trying not to think about Jerimah.

~~~~~~~

The lines of a love poem drifted around her head. She found that someone's arms replaced the blanket that once surrounded her body. Turning her head she saw the beaming face of Jerimah. He leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek. Nayla found herself smiling back at him and enjoying his closeness.

They were sitting in a small clearing surrounded by woods. Little spots of sunlight filtered through the canopy giving the meadow a glowing radiance. Bird songs and a babbling brook added to the peaceful and romantic setting. She rested her head gently on his shoulder. There was on essence of time. She couldn't tell whether she had been sitting in his arms for 5 minuets or 5 hours.

The strange sensation of not being able to control your own movements overcame Nayla. She was now sitting up; Jerimah's arms still around her waist. Facing him, she could see the excitement blooming in his crisp blue eyes. Slowly he began to lean down. She knew exactly what his intentions were but she couldn't stop herself. Her hand shot out and rested behind his head, pulling him closer, faster. Jerimah smiled and closed the final distance, their lips meeting...

"Are you ok?" he asked. a closet door replaced the tree and the sunrays now were eliminated by the curtains on her window. Jerimah had knocked on her door and poked his head inside. Her mother had unlocked her door and went back downstairs.

"What?" Nayla asked drowsily. She jumped when she realized who was standing in her doorway.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up? I'll just get them form you tomorrow." He blushed and began to close the door.

Nayla had to admit that she really wanted to let him leave, especially after that dream, but that would be mean, rude and besides her mom would probably find out and yell at her anyway.

"No, it's ok. What did you need?"

"The notes you took for all of our classes," he took an awkward step into her room, not sure what to do.

"Oh, sure. Let me get my bag." Nayla shrugged off the blanket and went to her desk. She pulled out all of her books and sat down. When she looked back at Jerimah he was standing there, reminding her of a little kid being introduced to a stranger. His hands were folded in front of him and he was shifting his weight back and forth.

"Here," Nayla said sliding another chair next to her. He took the seat gratefully. It could have been her over-reacting senses, but it seemed that, while sitting down, he scooted a little closer. I have to be paranoid, she thought to herself. Sighing, she sifted through papers, handing the notes to Jerimah.

He copied silently for about half an hour until he was the one brave enough to break the tension filled silence. "Are you always like this around people?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem tense and jumpy today. Are you always like that?"

Oh, crap. He had noticed. "Um, truthfully no. I'm normally not this bad."

"What's wrong?" She could see deep caring and understanding in his eyes. It compelled her to answer the question.

"No offence, but it's you. You are the one making me all 'jumpy' as you put it."

"Why?" It was a simple question. Many easy fibs could have covered the truth but something wouldn't let her lie to him. She couldn't tell the truth either, so she just shrugged off his question with a lame, "I don't know."

"Why?" he repeated, puzzled. When she handed him another set of notes his hand landed surprisingly on top of hers. An electric sensation ran through her body at his touch. Jerimah had felt it too. Nayla could say she almost enjoyed it, but she pulled away, afraid of what might happen next.

"I'm sorry," they both apologized at the same time. Nayla blushed and Jerimah looked away, nervous, and began to copy more notes.

It was the second day after Nayla had the dream and Jerimah came over. She had tried to avoid him as much as possible, and when she was forced to be around him thet didn't talk, at all.

Nayla sat at the lunch table all by herself. Sybil was out sick and Neci was stuck in the very back of the mile-long lunchline with the rest of Nayla's friends. Needless to say non of her friends would be joining her soon. She was deep into her book that she was reading when somewhere behind her a voice asked, "May I sit here?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," she said. No longer did she have an apitite and she gave a slight shiver.

"It is kinda cold in here," he said quietly sitting down.

"Yea," she lied pulling her jacket tighter around her.

After a moment of scilence Jerimah finaly decided to get what he had been thinking of off of his chest. "Look," he started, suprizing her, "I'm sorry about what happned the other day. Its been bothering me that you were upset and we can't even have a civilized conversation afterward."

She looked up into his eyes, a big mistake, in shock at what he said. Emeidately icy fingers griped her stomach and she froze in shock. He had just said that he was worried about her.

Seeing that she was still in distress he added, "I was hoping we could just be friends, ya know, just hang out at school, nothing more. That is ok, isn't it?"

"Yea, I guess," she said giving up and putting down the book. The knot in her stomach remained but she didn't feel as paniced. It was possable that he truely just wanted to be friends and didn't want any other relationship with her. She still wanted to doubt him.

“So what’s the book about?” he asked leaning a little closer to look at the cover.

“Star Wars,” she commented, “It’s long after the movies and it focuses on Han, Leia, Luke, Mara, and their kids.”

“They have books after the movies? That’s cool. I’ll have to look for them the next time I go to the library.” They continued to talk books until Neci and the others sat down at the table.

“Hi Jeremiah,” Neci said setting her tray down and taking a seat. She looked over at her friend but Nalya skillfully avoided her gaze. When finally she did look up she gave Neci one of those “we’ll talk later,” looks.

“So why did you decide to sit with us today?” Sayamak asked, “Don’t you usually sit over there?” he gestured.

“I had to settle something with Nalya and decided to stay at least for today.”

She felt awful inside for thinking this, but Nalya wished he would return to his lonely existence at the table in the corner with the other loners. The thought of him regularly sitting at their table unsettled her as well so it was just a lose-lose situation for her.

Towards the end of lunch she was putting her book back into her bag and a piece of paper fluttered out onto the floor. Jerimah leaned over and picked it up. “Is this our schedule for the year?” he looked at all the dates.

“Yes,” she took it back from him and glanced over it. Their first match was in about a month and she pointed it out to him. “Ross, they are usually a team we don’t have to worry about, they’re an easy win.”

“Ok thank you,” he smiled down at her, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Needing an excuse to look away she turned to her bag and put the schedule back. This “friendship” was going to be hard on her.