She is the One (Part 2)

Nothing feels worse than waking up after crying yourself to sleep. I’d feel humiliated but after everything that happened yesterday, maybe you can forgive me.

I pulled myself out of sleep, my eyes crusted with dried tears and with a heavy weight in my heart. My limbs felt numb, like they’d been drained of blood and then stuck with hundreds of needles. I may have not wanted to get up yesterday but I really didn’t want to get up today. I didn’t want to go to school, to have to see Craig’s smug face as he flaunted his new relationship in front of me. I quote Eric Cartman, Patron Saint of the Fucking Douchebags… “God, I fucking hate Craig!” I smiled a little at that.

My phone chirruped and I pulled it over to see I had three new text messages. One from Joe, one from Tara, and the most recent one…from Kayla.

I read the other two first.

Joe: Hey, man, sorry about Craig and his bullshit. Say the word and me and Brad will pound his skull in. Coz we love you.

Tara: Date went great last night. Let me know if you need anything. I have some insight into the female mind 😉

I sucked in my breath and opened the text from Kayla. It was a long one.

Kayla: Hey Jack! I am soooooooooooooo sorry! I wanted to text you back as soon as I got your number but I was hanging with Craig and I thought it would be rude to keep pulling out my phone. I know, that sounds terrible, but I really did want to talk to you. Oh, idk if you saw on fb but we are a couple now 🙂 he’s a really good guy. Not as refined or sweet as you, though, so you still beat him there 😉 anyway we got home so late last night I didn’t even have time to do my homework. Could you maybe find a way to come over after school to help me with it? It would mean a lot to me.

I stared at the text for a long time. On the one hand, this new relationship she was in seemed like a good thing to her, even though she already figured out some of Craig’s worst traits. On the other hand, she was as sweet as ever and I knew she wasn’t just buttering me up. And I did promise to help her with stuff.

I shot her a text back.

Me: Hey Kayla. It’s all right. I did get a little worried but I’m glad you’re okay. I’d be happy to help you with your homework tonight.

I was just pulling myself out of bed, scraping away the crust from my eyes, when her response came.

Kayla: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And awwww, you were worried about me 🙂

Me: Of course! It wouldn’t be polite of you as one of my new best friends to disappear on me after one day.

Kayla: Awwwww *^_^* You’re so sweet.

Me: Only to certain people.

Kayla: Careful, mister. Flirt with me too much and you might make Craig jealous.

Just the mention of his name was enough to pull me out of my increasing cheerful mood. Yeah, he would be jealous. I was jealous already. It was clawing at my heart, desperately urging me to tell her the truth about Craig. I wanted to, so bad. It would be easy enough to tell her about the previous girls, give her their names, have her talk with them. But then I’d be the jealous prick, breaking up her relationship because I wanted her. Then I’d be just like Craig.

Me: Okay, sorry. Can’t help it though. You’re the sweet one.

Kayla: No, you!

Me: Lol let’s just call it a draw.

Kayla: Lol fine by me.

Me: Hey, do you want a ride to school today? We’re going to be heading out in about half an hour.

Kayla: Craig is coming to pick me up. I’m sorry 🙁

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn and shit.

Me: It’s okay. Just let me know if you ever need one.

Kayla: I will. Thanks, hun. See you at school.

I dropped my phone on the bedside table and rubbed my face. Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing her, in spite of everything. I was still her friend. I would still be there for her.

I needed a shower. But that meant I would have to walk by Alan and Amanda’s room. Just remembering what I saw last night made my mouth dry up, as if I wanted to puke. No, I didn’t care that they were brother and sister, but they were my brother and sister. Jesus Christ, how did they even do it? It must be like looking into a weirdly tinted mirror.

I crept past their room and into the bathroom. Two minutes later I was standing under the hot water, losing myself in the drumming of water bullets against my skin. It wasn’t enough to make me fully relax but I could feel the stress leaving my body. The steam opened up my pores and I almost shivered in pleasure. I wish I could have stayed in here all day.

As I soaped up my body, I thought again about Kayla. More specifically, how to help her. If Craig was being a gentleman while they were dating, fine, but it wouldn’t last. I’ve seen the girls he’s ditched try to talk to him again and if you thought Chris Brown could be an asshole to women, you’ve seen nothing. But I can’t just step in between her and Craig right now. Do it now and it would just make him seem all the more innocent. Maybe if I could make it so she saw the asshole side of him? Maybe trick him into insulting her or demanding that she…

I slammed my head against the shower wall. What a stupid thought. That made me no better than him. Actually, it made me worse. For a moment, I had actually considered letting him hurt her so I could get my way. Suddenly the shower didn’t seem like it was helping anymore. It was just hot water.

I got out, the steam not even feeling refreshing. I toweled off and put on my boxers and pants but, shit, I had forgotten a shirt. I pulled open the door and was headed to my room when the door to the twins’ room opened and Amanda stepped out, wearing a bathrobe. She blinked when she saw me shirtless but was otherwise unaffected.

“Good morning, Jack,” she said with a smile. That was weird. She didn’t usually smile at me.

“Morning,” I said, “I’m done in the bathroom.”

“Good,” she replied, “Sleep well?”

“I…guess?” I didn’t mean it as a question but that’s how it came out. “What about you?”

“Wonderfully.” She walked past me and into the bathroom, holding my gaze as she went.

Shit, had she seen me last night? They were already weird enough as it was; the last thing I needed was them dropping hints about their secret relationship. And they knew I wasn’t going to tell mom or dad. Last thing I need on top of everything else is to tear my family apart.

I grabbed a shirt and, remembering that I had gym today, stuffed my uniform from last year into my backpack. It was your standard washed-out gray color with the school name printed above the left breast. I think this summer was the first time I had actually washed it and it felt unfamiliar without its usual sweat stench and stiffness.

Mom and dad, as expected, were waiting at the breakfast table. I may not have been feeling as bad as I had the night before, or when I woke up for that matter, but even dad realized this wasn’t a morning to make jokes. “How you doing, big guy?” he asked, putting down his paper and giving me a concerned look.

“I’m all right.” I sat down and grabbed some bacon. My appetite still wasn’t back. “Oh, by the way, I didn’t have any money in my account yesterday.”

Mom put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot! I’ll put some in right after you leave.”

“Thanks, mom.” I started eating. I had never been a huge fan of breakfast but this morning sucked away any joy I might have gotten out of the meal. I’m serious when I say my greatest wish at that moment was just to crawl in bed and stare at the ceiling for the rest of the day.

“Jack, your mom mentioned you might be having some…concerns about a girl?” I looked at my dad, surprised. He was always there for us but rarely did he bring up one of our problems, preferring to let us decide if they were important enough to take up with him.

“Yeah?”

“Is this Kayla from next door?”

That was just fucking spooky. “How did you…?” I started.

“Lucky guess,” he grinned, “Besides, you didn’t go gaga for any girls last year and she’s the only one I could think of that A) is brand new and B) is pretty enough to make you the Glum Gremlin.”

My mouth twitched. “Doesn’t matter what I think now. She has a boyfriend.”

“She’s already with Craig?” my mom said, astonished. I nodded. “He works fast.”

“More like he works bullshit. I could have done the same thing he did if I were more of an asshole,” I growled.

They ignored my swearing, thankfully. “Jack, do you want to date this girl?” dad asked bluntly

I gaped at him before finally stammering, “Uh…y…yeah…yeah, I do.”

“Why?”

It was a question for which the answer seemed so obvious and yet so hard to put into words. “Because…she’s sweet and funny and not a bitch like—”

“Language, Jack,” my mom snapped.

“Sorry, mom. She’s a good person.”

“That’s wonderful, son,” dad said, patting my arm, “What’s her favorite color?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Does she like sports?”

“I don’t know.”

“What does she like?”

I thought hard. She could trade sarcasm with me as good as dad or mom could, but that wasn’t necessarily something she liked. She liked…hair-bows. And she liked…that I was nice to her. Holy crap, I didn’t know anything she liked.

My silence was enough answer for dad. “I thought so. Jack, if you’re going to date this girl, learn something about her first. I doubt that Craig Carter could tell you what color her eyes are. If you’re able to tell her something about her that even she didn’t realize then you’re going to be A-Number One.”

I chewed my bacon and didn’t say anything. He was right. He was more than right, he was a genius. I mean, yeah, pointing out that Craig was so self-centered he would probably forget her name in a couple days was a nice jab, but what he said about learning stuff about her…even better, telling her something about herself even she didn’t know. That sounded good to me.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, noticeably cheerier than when I sat down.

And then, because apparently karma hates me, Alan and Amanda came bouncing into the room, both in unsettlingly high spirits. Maybe they had another…God, kill me…romp before coming downstairs. “Morning, everyone,” they said together.

Mom and dad greeted them cheerfully. I didn’t want to look at them. Looking at them might remind me of last night and I did not want to clue them in that I had been watching them.

“Good morning, Jack,” Amanda said to me.

I looked up at her in shock. What was this new attitude she had going on towards me? She had been taking a much larger interest in me since yesterday. Since catching me staring at Kayla. Was she trying to tease me? Pretend to be interested in me so I knew just how uninteresting I was to other females?

“I already said good morning to you,” I said.

“Not to Alan,” she said, rubbing her twin’s back.

I swallowed hard. “Good morning, Alan.” He just grunted in response.

That breakfast was one of the most uncomfortable meals for me, even including the time I had been caught looking at porn by mom when she came up to get me for dinner. Everyone else was getting along just fine but all I was seeing were two couples who were happily having sex and clearly loving every minute of it. It wasn’t the sex that got to me. It was…well…

Confession time: I wasn’t all that interested in sex. Okay, that’s kind of a lie. I was interested in sex, but I wasn’t going out of my way to get it. Honestly, what I was looking for was a relationship more than anything. I wanted…okay, I wanted love. There, you happy? I was a romantic at heart, in the sense that I wanted to have romance in my life. I wanted a girl I could talk for hours to, could go on long rides that were way too short with, could hang out with and not have to look at my watch. Yeah, sex would be the cherry on top, but that’s not what I was pining for most. I wanted my first time to mean something.

Let me put it this way: if I lost my virginity after a drunken night of partying to some random girl I would probably never see again, I’d consider getting my man downstairs removed.

“Time for school,” mom said, clapping her hands, “Chop chop!”

“New day, new ways to learn to love school,” my dad said with a goofy grin. Apparently this would not be a joke-free morning. Mom flicked his ear and he tossed her over his shoulder and spun her around, both of them roaring with laughter.

Ten minutes later, it was déjà vu time as we piled into the car and I started backing down the driveway. I was forcing my eyes to not look in the rearview mirror to make sure the Terrible Twosome was keeping their hands to themselves. What was I going to do about this? Just ignore it forever? Pretend I didn’t see anything? Should I confront them? No matter what, I wasn’t seeing a good end to this.

I saw Kayla standing at the end of her driveway, looking both ways, an unhappy look on her face. As I passed by, I slowed down and rolled down my window. “Hey, Kayla,” I said.

Her mood brightened. “Hey, Jack,” she said, leaning against the car door. “Is this your brother and sister?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep that uncomfortable shiver in my spine down, “This is Alan and Amanda.”

“Hey, guys,” she said brightly, “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.” Alan clearly had no problem getting enthusiastic about meeting her. Amanda, on the other hand, just nodded and stared at her.

“I thought you said Craig was going to pick you up,” I said.

“He’s supposed to.” She had mouth twisted in what can only be described as a disappointed smile. “Maybe he’s stuck in traffic.”

There was no traffic this time in the morning and I knew she knew it. “Hey, offer still stands,” I said, “Just hop in and you can meet him at school.”

She sighed, looked around, and said, “That sounds like a good idea.”

But no sooner had she walked around to the passenger-side door than Craig’s Chevy came barreling down the road, screeching to a halt right next to my car. “Sorry I’m late,” Craig said, smiling at Kayla after giving me a death glare, “Would you rather go with him?”

Kayla gave him a smile. “Well, you promised to give me a ride…”

“Go ahead,” I said resignedly, “I wouldn’t want him to break a promise.”

She smiled at me as she walked around his car. As she was getting in, Craig gave me a look that would have wilted fresh flowers. They peeled away, Craig’s arm hanging out the window so he could flip me off as they drove away.

“She’s dating that asshole?” Alan said in disgust.

“Yep,” I said shortly, the matter closed as far as I was concerned.

“If she’s dumb enough to date him, she isn’t worth your time,” Amanda said with a small smile.

I turned around. “You don’t know her, Amanda, so just keep your mouth shut.”

She looked hurt and I immediately regretted saying it. I heaved a heavy sigh and drove off. Fuck me, this was going to be a long day.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-


“She’s what?!” Brad snarled. Joe just looked disgusted.

“She’s dating him now,” I said. We were leaning against the outside wall of the school, taking our last breaths of freedom before the day began.

“So you’re right there, in front of her face, and she goes for Craig Cuntface? Is she retarded?”

“Knock it off,” I snapped, “She made the decision. If that’s what she wants, it’s what she wants. Just fucking bad luck, all right?”

“We’ll talk to her, man,” Joe said, “I know you don’t wanna ruin her relationship so don’t. We’ll just tell her about him. We don’t wanna date her. If she gets mad at us, so what? You don’t have to do anything.”

“Guys…Just let it go.”

“But you know what he’s going to do!”

“Of course I know what he’s going to do!” I shouted. Several passing students jumped and looked at me in shock. “I know! Don’t treat me like I’m stupid! That’s why I have to be her friend, so maybe, maybe, I can protect her from it! But right now, Craig’s turning on the charm so he’s the good guy to her right now. If I go ruining that, how’s that going to make me look?”

“But that’s why we’d do it,” Brad said.

“And I’d know the whole time. Look, trust me on this, okay? Can you do that?”

They didn’t like it, that was obvious, and I wasn’t sure how true they would hold to their word but they nodded and, shoulders heavy with dread, we walked into the building.

Kayla had beaten both Joe and me to homeroom. “Hey, Jack,” she said brightly, “I don’t think I got to meet your friend yesterday.”

“Joe,” he said, shaking her hand, “And you’re Kayla. He couldn’t stop talking about you yesterday.”

I reddened instantly. So did Kayla and she lowered her head, hiding a smile. “Why couldn’t you stop talking about me, Jack?”

Oh, Jesus. Joe gave me a sly grin. “Because…you’re awesome.”

“Oh, please, one day and you’re already calling me awesome?” She sounded pleased, despite her words.

“What else would I call you?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

There had been something different about her today that I had noticed back at home and now I put my finger on it. “Where’s your hair-bow?” Her hair was still tied up but the hair-bow was gone.

She actually looked a little sad. “I didn’t want to wear it. It was a little silly.”

“No way!” I said, “It was cute!”

She blushed again. “You think so?”

“I know so! Who told you it was silly?”

“…No one.”

Craig. It had to be Craig. “Well, I think it looked great. If you want to wear it, wear it.” She didn’t say anything. “What color hair-bow do you like wearing best?”

She thought about it. “Green,” she replied, “It’s my favorite.”

And now I knew her favorite color. Something I’m sure Craig didn’t. “Awesome.”

“You don’t strike me as being a green type of guy, though,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me, “You seem more like a…purple type.”

Joe sniggered behind me. I just gaped at her. She guessed my favorite color right off the bat. Why do people keep saying it’s a girl’s color? Purple is for everyone. “You got it.”

“Really? Wow, I just guessed!”

“Good guess,” I said with a grin.

The bell rang and, once again, we went through the regimen: roll call, Pledge of Allegiance, announcements. I was tuned out for most of the announcements until they suddenly announced, “…and finally, auditions for the school play, The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare will be held next Friday after school in the auditorium. Anyone interested in signing up should post their name on the audition form by the Black Box.”

Interesting choice for a play. I mean, The Winter’s Tale is dark. Like, seriously dark. As in, there’s stuff in that play, not exactly overt, that most high schools would run and hide from. But, hey, it’s a great play. And I’ve always enjoyed doing theater stuff so it might be worth a look.

A few minutes later, the bell rang again and I was off to Shop class. “Where you headed?” I asked Kayla.

“Philosophy,” she replied.

I blinked. “No kidding. You a deep thinker?”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “Well, someone’s got to do the thinking while you do the heavy lifting.”

“Stereotype much?”

“I’ll have to pay for it later,” she said, walking out the door, “See you back here next period!”

Joe and I were both headed to the same class and the whole way there I had to listen to him go on and on about how into me she was, how I was a better guy than Craig, how I was being irresponsible letting her stay with him when I knew what would happen.

“Joe, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to make you hump the table saw.”

“And I’m going to drill into your skull and see what they replaced your brain with.”

“Just…let me be friends with her right now, okay? Just give me that? You will be the first to know if I plan to move beyond that.”

He put up his hands. “Whatever you say, Jack Attack, but the less you flirt with her, the less interested in her she’s going to think you are.”

The sentence was horrendously constructed but he had a point.