Spells

Sunday passed quickly and uneventfully. Eve told Kim about how the rest of her night with Abby and the two boys went and asked Kim about her time with Robert. Kimberly limited her narrative to the view from Fortune Hill Monument and part of the farewell.

However, this was enough information for Eve to sense that there was more to it than that. Knowing Kimberly's skittish nature, she refrained from asking any further questions but revealed her suspicion with a knowing smile.

The next week began, and Kim arrived at the classroom just in time for the start of class. She was restless. Especially because she had realized that she hadn't given Robert a specific time for their meeting. It had come to her in bed the night before. A sleepless night that had left her in this restless state.

It could only be the break between 11:00 and 11:20 a.m. or lunch from 1:20 to 2:05 p.m. or maybe after school or maybe before school she pondered. In the latter case, Kim had already waited for over half an hour in front of the cafeteria until 8:53 a.m. and then had to hurry to make it to registration on time.

To make matters worse, her manager had already scheduled a meeting with her after school. It didn't seem unusual, as recording for her second studio album was about to begin in a few weeks. But it meant she wouldn't have time to go to the cafeteria after school and would be picked up straight away.

While Kim's thoughts revolved around the uncertainties of her reunion with Robert, the lessons drifted by and soon it was break time.

Together with Eve, she made her way to the cafeteria. Through one of the windows, they quickly spotted Abby and a group of other girls whose names Kim had once again forgotten.

Kim sent Eve away under the pretext of a meeting with Robert so that she would not feel compelled to stay with her, away from Abby's group. She could do without conversations that inevitably kept coming back to her music career and the fame that came with it. Something Eve still enjoyed.

The twenty minutes passed slowly, but they passed nonetheless. And Robert didn't show up. Kim wasn't ready to despair yet. Why did she even want to meet him? It has been just one night. There would still be another opportunity with the lunch break anyway.

She returned to the classroom and spent the next two hours lost in thought.

Maybe she should ask Abby about him. Eve’s date seemed to not be a close friend of Robert. But he had mentioned Gail. That he forced him to attend. And Abby also had set up the night out.

Her avoidance of Abby wasn’t motivated by unpleasantness or any annoyance caused by the smaller girl, but Abby was just always surrounded by a crowd of friends. Group conversations about everything and nothing weren't Kimberly’s thing. She should be able to endure lunch with them once, to gain knowledge about Robert’s whereabouts.

Kim remembered that she still had to sit down later and write some lyrics. Eight songs were finished, but two or three were just rough outlines floating around in the corners of her mind, refusing to take shape.

Maybe she should have invited him directly to the next concert. It wasn't long to go. Only two weeks left. She would have liked to see his face. His reaction to the revelation of her success.

Maybe he had already found out? Had learned of her fame. Maybe it had hurt him. Showing her face to the whole world, but not to him. She had kept it a secret for no good reason. A secret to no one but him. Even the other two boys seemed to know. Had he spoken to them? Asked about her? Inquired about her job and why she had come to the city? Kim dismissed that thought.

He wasn't like that. Was he? He wouldn’t care. Not with his background. And she had been open to him otherwise. Shown to him a glimpse of her, unknown to almost everyone else. But what would happen next? She had to know.

Kim tried to divert her thoughts to other things. To the class, to her music, to anything. Again and again. But it all spiraled down to that night and him. She wasn't like that at all, was she? Longing for some rich boy she barely knew. Well, at least that's not how she used to be.

She wasn't that simple-minded. He was good-looking, came from a good family, and was educated. But... Everything had just come together. She couldn't deny that his more obvious qualities played a role, but there had been more to it than that.

After a few more twisted trains of thought that kept leading back to the epicenter of her distress, class was over. The lunch dilemma was now upon her. She decided to wait for the first twenty minutes. She would then still have enough time to get some information out of Abby.

Eve and Kim strolled through the entrance hall on their way to the cafeteria.

“You seem even more upset now than you were before. Doesn't it seem a bit desperate to just wait for him the entire break? How long do you plan to keep this up? Today? Tomorrow? The entire week? I could just ask Blake if he has Robert’s number.”

Kim sighed.

“I'm allowed to act like that this one time, aren't I? I don't think Blake has his number either. They didn't exactly seem like friends.”

“True. But Abby's crush did. This Vandermer dude seemed to me to be the glue that held the boys together.”

“Uh-huh. I’ll ask her. But give me another few minutes. Maybe he shows up.”

“I can also ask her for you. I know that the other girls annoy you with all the fuss they make about us.”

“Yes, but Abby herself is actually okay. I don't want you to act as some kind of messenger and make it look like I'm avoiding her.”

“Okay, then. See you in a minute.”

Eve went into the building to look for Abby's group. And Kimberly? She waited outside. A quarter of an hour. But the third ordeal did not lead to the encounter she had hoped for either.

So, she stepped inside and looked for Abby and Eve. Kim quickly found them, sitting at a table on the eastern side. Four more girls were with them. One of them got excited as she approached. Eve also turned to look at her and then said something to the girl that had spotted Kimberly first, whereupon she lowered her gaze.

Kim sat down in one of the two empty seats at the two tables the group occupied. Eve was on her right, Abby diagonally across from her. The girls smiled at her.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” The group replied in unison.

Abby took the lead.

“Nice to have you back. Did you get home okay on Saturday?”

“Everything went smoothly. Did you have a good night too?”

“Oh, yes, it was great. A bit cold, but I love the view of the bay at night.”

“You were out on Saturday? You didn’t tell us! Unfair!” One of Abby's friends chimed in.

“Sorry. The whole thing went down kind of spontaneously.” Abby lied.

“Hey, do you know if Gail could get me Robert’s number? I left my scarf in the car.”

Abby understood.

“I’ll ask him later.”

“Thanks, Abby.”

“Gail? Robert? You were out with some boys? Are they from the academy?”

“Yes, but it’s not like that. They just gave us a quick tour of the harbor and then took us home.”

The other girls' questions and Abby's subsequent deflections continued for a while, and Kim was pleased to find that she was no longer the center of attention, which gave her time to satisfy her hunger.

The rest of the lunch break and class flew by. Not least because of the relief Kim felt at knowing she would be able to reach out to Robert after all.

She quickly changed in Eve’s and her room, said goodbye, and went out to the parking lot. Her manager didn't keep Kim waiting for too long. In less than five minutes, Franca pulled up in her Cadillac Seville and without wasting any more time, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter got in.