Chapter 48: Enoch Is Strangely Exposed

Mon, November 23, 2074 11:45 am: Pleasantview Private School- Dorset, Pleasantview



Enoch drew invisible stitches down the corridor, his steady approach binding a taut seam between where he was and where he most wanted to be. The sound of Madeline's laughter bounced off of the walls, lighting his path along the floor. He didn't know what he would say when he reached her but he would damn himself for a coward if he turned tail and ran.

"It was a good effort but it just wasn't there. You know? I wouldn't call it the worst thing I've ever read. The concept was there. But I don't think that it was quite ready for the workshop." Enoch halted. It was a male voice. Madeline was talking to a dude and if Enoch was not mistaken, the dude in question was Shane. God, he hoped they weren't discussing his screenplay.

"I don't know. I thought the part about the bus driver was pretty good," Madeline said. It was all that Enoch could do not to groan. They were talking about his screenplay. He shoved his left hand into his pocket and balled the lining up into his fist.

"So you coming to movie night at the Academy this Friday?"

"I don't know. Is Dewilliker going to go all ape-shit on me again for chewing gum in the sitting room?" Enoch picked up his leaden feet and moved forward, closing the seam. He would pretend that he had overheard nothing. He would tell Madeline that her hair looked nice today. He would think of a positively soul withering insult to throw at the little bedwetting dipshit that was encroaching upon his fiancée.



"Well, I can't really vouch for what the ancient mariner will or will not do," Shane said with a shrug. Enoch pulled the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder and cautiously stepped out of the shadows. Neither party glanced in his direction.

"What's the movie," Madeline asked.

"Metropolis, I think."

"Lame. I'm not watching that capitalist bullshit." Enoch cleared his throat.



Madeline's eyes flickered in Enoch's direction but she did not turn. Shane muttered something about needing to get changed for fencing class and slunk away from the scene, his feet squeaking against the newly polished floor. Punk. Madeline sighed heavily and watched him go, feeling very plainly abandoned.

"So how's it going?" Enoch's voice broke somewhere between how's and going but he refused to let it interfere with his composure.

"It's going fine, Enoch," Madeline sighed. Her lips puckered so sweetly when she was annoyed.



"So what are you doing right now?" Enoch sidled up to her, getting only as close as he dared.

"I'm just putting away some textbooks," she said flatly.

"In where? In your locker? Can I walk with you? To your locker? That where you going?"

"My locker is three feet over there, Enoch." Madeline inclined her head to the left, indicating the location of said locker.



"Just the same. Can I take your backpack?"

"No, I think I can handle it."

Enoch was acting like a pussy but he had it upon good authority that Madeline actually liked pussies. He'd seen the way she looked at Phoenix when they were dancing together at the Lothario cocktail party. And no guy was as pussified as Phoenix was. Well, no guy with the exception Enoch's dad, maybe.

The clay beads at the ends of Madeline's plaits clacked as she took the first steps towards her locker. Enoch resisted the urge to play with them. Madeline wordlessly punched her combination into the keypad on her locker's door.

"So umm... I like your hair. It's really sexy braided like that."

"What do you want, Enoch?" She began rummaging through her locker, tossing notebooks and pens from one aluminum corner to the next.

"I thought- I dunno. Maybe we could go rollerblading sometime?" Madeline pointedly slammed her locker door shut and Enoch briefly panicked.



"Or not. I mean, we could do something else. We could go to dinner. Or to the arcade. Or we could just get plastered," Enoch fumbled. Madeline swerved very slowly towards him.



"Let me get this straight- You are asking me out on a date?"

"Yeah, that's about the gist of it." Madeline smirked.

"Have your people call my people and I'll get back to you at my earliest convenience," she said, hoisting her backpack over her shoulders.

"Like when?"

"I dunno." And with that, Madeline tossed her chestnut hair, taking her first lengthy strides away from a thoroughly confused Enoch. "Are you coming or what?" She shouted behind her without even slowing down. Enoch had to jog in order to catch up, all the while unsuccessfully reassuring himself that he was not at the mercy of her whims.



Maybe it was only fair that he should trail after her a little. Nobody had ever asked Madeline if she wanted to marry Enoch. He wasn't entirely certain of what girl wouldn't want to marry him but she deserved the luxury of choosing. Madeline Burb. His girl. There wasn't a smarter, prettier or funnier one Pleasantview, Enoch was certain.

Flattening his lapels, Enoch was by sheer force of will recovering his courage. His determination gained in momentum as he watched the tartan pleats of Madeline's skirt swish back and forth over the fullness of her ass. If he had to, he would pester her until her defenses crumbled. He would be the needle that bore a tunnel through the face of a mountain.



But all of Enoch's muddled thoughts were dashed by what awaited them around the corner. It was the worst possible pair that Enoch could have imagined encountering. Inwardly, he cursed his luck.



Laurie smiled at them in greeting. Madeline's brother Warren scowled in the subtle way that only he could scowl. And for the second time in ten minutes, Enoch contemplated making a hasty getaway.

For a brief second, the only sounds to be heard were the steady hum of the vending machine and the swish of Macaulay's turned pages. Warren opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and shut his mouth again. He tapped Laurie on the arm with the back of his hand. Laurie cringed away just slightly. Evidently, he didn't know Laurie well enough to keep the physical contact at a minimum.

"I'll catch up with you guys later. I'm gonna... I've got some stuff to take care of," Warren said.

"Yeah, see you later man," Laurie said, unfazed by Warren's sudden departure. Good riddance.



"So you finally broke down and decided that you wanted to be seen in public with this asshole," Laurie asked jokingly. Enoch held his breath while Madeline snickered.



"Not really. I just can't seem to get rid of him."

"Calling him names usually does it."

"Really? I'll have to keep that in mind." With that, Enoch involuntarily buried his head in his hands. Fucking Laurie, leading her into this conversation.

"So what have the two of you been talking about?"

"Oh nothing. Your horse-faced douchebag of a friend here wants to take me for a night on the town. Do you think I should go?" Laurie sucked his teeth contemplatively.

"You totally should, Maddie and I'll tell you why- You see, in all of the years that I've known him, I have never ever seen him make that face."



Enoch didn't realize that he was making a face. He never thought of himself as a pouter. Indeed, he was uncertain of what was keeping him from yelling at Laurie or even both of them. It occurred to him that Madeline might like Laurie better, given the conspiratorial glances that she was languishing upon him. But even that thought did nothing to work Enoch's putty-like woe into a defensive outrage. He felt very strangely exposed. It was as though he were standing before them naked but he couldn't see his own nudity.

"So where are we going and when are you taking me there," Madeline asked. Enoch stared idiotically at Macaulay, who remained absorbed in his book despite the presence of people that he might have termed "friends". Turning the question over in his mind, Enoch realized that he must have misheard Madeline.

"Hunh?" Laurie and Madeline both snickered at Enoch's absent-mindedness.



"Well it's kinda like this, Enoch. You have invited me on a date. I am accepting said invitation. So the next step would be to choose a time for this date. A location might also be helpful at this juncture. You mentioned rollerblading earlier. That sounds like a perfectly grand afternoon to me. So when and where should this rollerblading take place?" Madeline made a gesture with her hand that mimicked the two of them on skates.

"Wait, I don't get it. Are you just agreeing because Laurie said you should?"

"I trust his judgment."

"Ok. How about Saturday? My driver can pick you up around two or something. We'll go to the rink downtown."

"I am in accordance with this arrangement."

"Heartwarming," Laurie interjected. Madeline looked down at her watch.

"I've got to get out of here. My study hall is almost over. Mr. Caliente, always a pleasure," she said, extending a hand for Laurie to shake. As Laurie took Madeline's hand, Madeline grabbed Enoch's.



It was a quick gesture. She threaded her fingers between his and squeezed. A hiccup lodged in Enoch's throat. She'd touched him. And more than that, she'd done it discreetly so that Laurie wouldn't take the piss out of him later.



By the sound of his tone, Laurie was spewing forth some manner of nonsense but Enoch was too far away comprehend it.

"Only thing, Enoch," Madeline began. Hearing his name, Enoch was brought back into reality. "No funny business on Saturday. The second you reach for my tits, the date is over. I mean it." Now it was Enoch's turn to smirk.

"But what if you want-"

"Believe me, I won't." Madeline gave Laurie one final headshake as though the two of them were in on something that Enoch was not privy to and left down the hall. She greeted Macaulay pleasantly as she passed by, her voice taking on the musical lift that girls always used with Macaulay. Enoch couldn't help but wonder what it was about him that merited that sort of treatment. When Madeline was out of earshot, Laurie turned on Enoch.

"Did I just get you a date with a girl who hates you," he snickered.

"Shut-up! She doesn't hate me." Enoch scowled. Something was brewing in his throat and chest. It was his wounded pride lashing out several minutes too late.

"Could have fooled me," Laurie said with a shrug.



"Right. And how far have you gotten with Mr. Perfect over there? The two of you on a first name basis yet?" The quip rushed forward before Enoch had time to mull it over. Laurie winced as though he had been punched in the stomach. He didn't deny his attraction to Macaulay like Enoch thought that he might. He simply recoiled, drawing in his head into his collar like a tortoise and pursing his lips into a thin white line.

Not once had Enoch ever given Laurie any indication of the fact that he knew about his preferences. And now the information was sprawled out against the floor, leaving no room for either of them to tip toe past.