Back to the Dream Page
Sharon entered the cafeteria and dropped her backpack off in one corner along with everyone else's. "All right, I'm here. Point me in my direction."
"Hi Sharon. Let me see where you are…" Mrs. Faulkin flipped through a couple of pages on her clipboard. "I think you're over with Ana at the salad… Oh wait. I forgot that the arrangements changed. You're with Damon at mashed potatoes."
Sharon suppressed the tingling she got in her spine at the news, but couldn't hide the smile as she approached the table where Damon was standing and talking to another class board member. She came to a stop next to Damon and listened in on the conversation…
Or at least tried to listen until Damon shifted his weight and casually wrapped his left arm around her shoulders. The act had been innocent enough, but the action had immediately sent a warm feeling rushing through her body.
Damon finished his conversation with Heather before he turned to Sharon, enjoying the feel of the girl in his arms. "So my dear, are you ready to spend the next hour working with me?"
"Somehow, even though spooning mashed potatoes isn't normally my idea of fun, I guess I can tolerate it with you around," she answered with a grin.
He smiled back and gave her a quick squeeze before letting her go. As reluctant as he had been, a motion out of the corner of his eye let him know that he'd let go not a moment too soon. Vin had just arrived and was on his way over to talk to Mrs. Faulkin. He wasn't sure what Ana had in mind for their friend but he figured it would be best not to try and jeapordize anything just then.
Sharon took a deep breath in hopes of calming her racing heart, but it wasn't helping that Damon was still standing right next to her and her skin was still tingling from his touch. 'Kelly's going to kill herself for missing that! I can just see her screaming later when I tell her. Then again, she'll probably kill me for not doing anything more about it too. Oh Kelly…'
A small chuckle escaped her and Damon was quick to notice. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about something."
"Me?"
Sharon's jaw dropped open for a moment as she stared at Damon before she started laughing. "What makes you think that?" she laughed.
"I was just curious. No need to laugh like that," he said, but he was laughing along with her anyway.
"If you must know," she continued after she got her breath back. "I was really thinking about Kelly," she replied, telling herself she was telling the truth, if not the complete truth.
"Ahh, I see. She's coming to the feast, right?"
"She wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Good, because she'd be missing out on some serious mashed potatoes otherwise."
"Oh, like you slaved over the stove all day to make these," she retorted sarcastically.
"I was in class same as you so no unfortunately. But she would still be missing out on our wonderful service."
"Because it's so hard to scoop the potatoes onto a plate?"
He found himself laughing again. "You know, you're just asking for trouble Sharon. I don't think I've ever gotten this much sarcasm from you before."
"True… I guess that means I'm getting very comfortable around you."
"And is that a good thing?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"Do you want me to stop?"
Damon hesitated only a little bit before answering. "Never. It makes me like you even more."
This time, Sharon was sure he could hear the beating of her heart and felt the beginnings of a blush coming on her face. 'Did I just hear what I think he said? Surely, he didn't mean it the way I think he does, or does he?' she asked herself in her mind even as she spoke. "And is that a good thing?"
"That depends," Damon found himself echoing their earlier conversation.
"On what?"
"Do you want me to stop?"
Sharon opened her mouth but found no words coming out. Her heart was hammering in her chest telling her to say no for fear of rejection, but at the same time, her mind was screaming to finally admit out loud to the person she liked that yes, she did like him as more than a friend. 'Strange,' she let herself dwell vaguely. 'My mind's telling me to go with my emotions but my heart is telling me to do otherwise…'
Thankfully, she did not need to reply. Mrs. Faulkin chose that moment to clap her hands to get everyone's attention. "All right, all right everyone. Listen up." Once she was satisfied she had everyone's attention, she went on. "I just want to thank you all again for helping out today. It may not seem like it, but we really do appreciate what you're doing. You are all helping to maintain the strong bond between this school and the rest of the community," she paused, taking a little break to smile proudly at all the student volunteers in the room. "Anyway, doors open in just a few minutes. Make sure you have your gloves on and have fun!"
With that, Mrs. Faulkin gave a final smile and headed towards the doors to make sure everything was all set to go there.
"Gloves, milady?" Damon asked, holding a pair of the thin plastic gloves towards Sharon.
She wrinkled her nose but accepted the pair anyway. "You'd think they'd make these just a little bit smaller to fit real people's hands, wouldn't you?"
"But then I couldn't make fun of how small your hands look in them," he teased.
"Be nice. We're going to be stuck together for at least the next hour."
"And I'm looking forward to every second of it," he smiled.
"So you can make fun of me the entire time?"
"Of course not. I just like being around you."
"Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with that," she answered back slowly.
"There better not be because I intend to do it more."
"I guess I can deal with that," she grinned.
"Good, because I like you."
This time, Sharon could not stop the fierce blush that came unbeckoned onto her face. She mumbled something unintelligible but Damon knew better than to push his luck just then. It was enough that what he'd been meaning to say was now out there, and he did not regret it one bit. 'She won't be telling the whole world, and at least Ana will be off my back now too.'
From a few tables down, Ana was giving Damon a look. Once she'd caught his eye, she nodded her head over towards Sharon, whose face was still bright red. He just smiled and shrugged. She gave him a quick smirk before turning back to the girl next to her.
Damon grinned to himself as he put on a pair of the plastic gloves and grabbed a serving spoon. 'This is going to be one interesting day…' he thought to himself as he watched Mrs. Faulking prepare to open the doors.
Sharon rolled her shoulders back and stretched her neck. After more than an hour of spooning potatoes, she was getting a little tired of standing on her feet.
"You want to take a quick break? I can cover for a couple of minutes if you want to get some fresh air," Damon offered.
"Only if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Most everyone is eating at the moment. I can serve for a few minutes. Just don' stay out too long – it's cold out there."
"Thanks Damon. I owe you one."
He smiled and shrugged it off before shooing her away.
She left him behind and dropped off the gloves in a trashcan on her way out. She braced herself for the cold before pushing the doors open and walking outside. A brisk wind was blowing and Sharon was thankful that she'd kept her sweatshirt tied around her waist. She pulled it up over her head and drew it on, thankful for her arms being covered and for being able to breathe in some fresh air.
The past hour had been a great one. She and Damon had just used the time in between people to chat and laugh and just hang out. His family had said hi when they had come in, Ros proudly wearing the pilgrim hat she'd cut out from school. Kari had, as always, ignored Sharon and did her sweet-talking to Damon before moving on to eat with a bunch of the other cheerleaders at the other side of the gym. Her parents hadn't shown up yet with Kelly, but a glance at her watch let her know that they'd be coming in any minute now.
One more turn around the front door and sure enough, she heard familiar faces calling out her name.
Sharon smiled and walked a little bit towards the parking lot to join her parents and Kelly as they walked up.
"Are you crazy Sharon, staying outside like this? It's freezing out here!" Kelly exclaimed, her breath coming out in puffy clouds as she spoke.
"And it was getting stuffy inside. I needed the fresh air."
"Did you eat yet?" her mother asked, coming up.
"Not yet. I wasn't really hungry inside."
"Damon distracting you?"
"Hush Kelly! I'm on school grounds and I don't know who's around to hear."
Her best friend smirked as they opened the doors and a wall of warm air and tantalizing smells greeted them. "I'll take that as a yes," she replied even as Sharon rolled her eyes.
"The food line starts right here," she ended up pointing. "Just grab a plate, fill it up with whatever you want, and find a place to sit. I'll find you guys when I'm done, okay?"
Her parents and Kelly agreed and began their trek around all the food stations. She herself went straight back to the mashed potatoes and took the fresh pair of gloves that Damon was holding out towards her as she came back. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. I see you found some people."
"What can I say? I have perfect timing."
"Yeah right! If I remember correctly, I was the one who told you to take a break in the first place."
"But I could have refused you so there."
"You're not going to refuse when you're tired."
"Are you telling me I looked like crap?"
"What? How did you come up with that one?" he laughed.
"You haven't heard that that's usually a guy's way of saying that a girl looks terrible?"
"No, I hadn't heard."
"But it makes sense."
"Well if you put it that way, but I was just commenting!"
"Yeah right," Sharon grinned back. "I see what you really think of me now."
"You have no idea!" he laughed.
"Then tell me!"
"What do you mean you have no idea? I already told you," he smiled.
"And that could mean anything," she replied back easily.
"You better tone it down you two lovebirds. Aren't you guys supposed to be working?"
Kelly's remark produced its desired affect on her best friend, who felt some blood rush to her face.
"It's nice to see you too, Kelly," Damon smiled. "How's the vacation treating you?"
"Great food, great company, no teachers on my back about homework – I'm not complaining."
"And what about you Damon?" Sharon's stepfather asked. "How are you these days?"
"I'm not injured and I'm not failing my classes so I guess I'm doing pretty well actually."
"That's good to hear. Are you two done soon?"
Even as Sharon shrugged, Damon replied that they'd find them as soon as they were able. "It should only be a little while longer before it turns into a self-serve buffet," he added.
Soon after he had said those words, Mrs. Faulkin announced to the volunteers that they were being relieved and it was their turn to eat.
Despite the gym being pretty full of people already eating their fill, there was still plenty of food for the volunteers to eat and Sharon and Damon each piled their plates high with food before meandering their ways over to their own families. Sharon took a seat next to Kelly and easily entered in on the conversation her family was having with Marty, who had come down for the feast, while a couple of tables down, Damon and Ana took seats at the table their families were sharing.
"You told her, right?" Ana found herself asking Damon quietly as everyone around them continued to talk. Damon just nodded and left it at that. Ana smiled and nodded back a little, her mind already working at how else she could help to bring Sharon and Damon closer together.