She is the One (Part 7)

I waited for a while but she didn’t send a follow-up message. My fingers hovered over the keyboard and I wondered if I really did want to dive into this ocean of crazy. Well, I had promised. I really wish being the ‘nice guy’ wouldn’t always be so hazardous to my health.

Me: “Okay…what is it?”

Jessica: “Oh, I’m not going to tell you yet lol”

Me: “And why not?”

Jessica: “Because I don’t feel like it. I have to go. I’ll let you know soon! ;)”

She logged off. Son of a bitch! Now I was going to have to spend every waking minute wondering what Jessica was going to demand of me. I mean, really? She couldn’t just say right there, “Hey, Jack, I want you to beat up Craig” or “Jack, I want you to wash my car”? I thumped my head on my pillow. And I had been complaining that life over summer vacation had been dull. In just two weeks, it had gone from ‘rut’ to ‘holy fucking shit, my life is a fucking spider web’. Or something like that.

My phone buzzed.

Kayla: Hellooooooo? Where did you gooooooo? I miss youuuuuuu 🙂

I smiled a little. At least in those two weeks I had been blessed with the best girlfriend I could have ever imagined. And Jessica did promise not to do anything that might compromise my relationship with Kayla. I’d have to hold her to that.

Me: Hey, gorgeous. Sorry about that.

Kayla: It’s okay. What are you up to?

Me: Oh, just thinking about you 🙂

Kayla: Awwww 🙂 what about me?

We chatted for a few hours more, mostly about random things. She was kind enough not to ask about my talk with Amanda, only expressing the hope that the two of them could be friends now. That would be nice but, despite what Amanda said, I didn’t know how easy it would be for her to just forget about her feelings for me. I trusted that she wouldn’t try anything, enough to sleep with my door unlocked, but how deep did those feelings go? Would they just be in the back of her mind or would they try to work their way out again?

Ugh, I was worrying myself into early gray hairs. Were these really going to be nostalgic memories in a few decades?

When I finally checked the clock again, it was around eleven.

Me: Hey, you, shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed?

Kayla: Awwww, do you want rid of me that bad?

Me: NO. Believe me, I want to be over there with you.

Kayla: Lol are you trying to get a sleepover, Jack? 😉

I blushed.

Me: Yeah, I’m sure your parents would love that idea.

Kayla: Well…they go out on business trips a lot 😉

Me: Lol sounds like YOU’RE trying to get ME to sleep over 😉

Kayla: Hehehehehe maybe 😉

I lay back in bed, grinning. I wasn’t trying to rush us too quickly into anything but…well, a guy can hope for the best. And Kayla….well, she was the best. And no one could ever convince me otherwise.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Kayla was the only one who could ever bring the biggest smile to my face, that much I knew. But next morning’s breakfast came very, very close. It was the first time in a long time all of us were sitting around the table, laughing and talking together. Alan was his usual chipper self but the change in Amanda was so drastic, she may as well have been a different person. In fact, both of the twins were different people for a change. They didn’t feel the need to sync up their actions. It felt like, up until now, there had only been two children in our family. Now we had a third.

Mom and dad were surprised and delighted by Amanda’s upswing in attitude. They had looked at me with questioning looks and I just shrugged. If they want to think she got out of it by herself, let them. Who was I to argue?

Something that became immediately apparent to me was just how true their declaration of love had been for each other. The way they spoke to each other, the way they looked at each other, the way they always seemed to be aware of the others’ movements even if they were looking away…it was love. Mom and dad could write it off as a twin thing but to me it was just adorable. It was still weird but…hell, I loved them so I could get behind it.

“So,” dad said, turning to me after laughing at one of Amanda’s jokes (she liked to tell jokes now. Interesting), “How are things with Kayla?”

“Great,” I said cheerfully. I glanced at Amanda out of the corner of my eye but she didn’t seem to have any noticeable reaction.

“Good,” dad said, toasting us with his coffee, “Looks like everything is well with our kids, sweetheart. I think we can retire to the Bahamas now.”

“Leave us your credit cards and the house and you can go wherever you want,” Amanda said, sticking her tongue out.

“Ha!” mom laughed, “Free rides! My ass! Join the workforce or you all can just start sampling the trash can gourmet.”

“I got a job yesterday,” I said nonchalantly, crunching into a strip of bacon.

It was like that scene in Inception when Leonardo DiCaprio was in that guy’s dream and almost gave away the scheme: everyone at the table instantly stopped talking and looked at me. The coordination was breathtaking. “They hired you?” dad asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I start training on Saturday.”

“Have you hammered out a work schedule yet?”

“No, I assume that’s one of the things that will happen Saturday.”

Dad nodded. “Well, good on you, Jack! Congratulations!”

Mom had gotten up and came over to give me a big hug. “Well, Mr. Working Man, looks like you can start contributing to the house payments.”

“Okay. Then I’m not going to have enough money for college and I’ll have to end up staying here for a few years and I’d feel bad for missing the college dorm part of life so I’ll just have to make my room—”

Mom and dad shuddered at the thought. “I was kidding!” mom said, “Good for you, Jack. I’m proud of you.”

Alan’s grin was so big, it begged to be commented on. “What’s tickling your happy bone, Alan?” dad asked.

“With you guys working late and Jack having to work after school, we get the house to ourselves!” He pumped the air with his fists. Again, there’s no way mom and dad were seeing what he was actually talking about. They were seeing a couple of teenagers who wanted to pitch homework in the Don’t Give A Shit area of their room so they could watch TV. I was seeing them testing out their newfound love, in its physical form, everywhere they could. I looked down at the table, imagined them splayed across it and sweat lines running across the wood, and suddenly didn’t feel hungry anymore.

“Oh, no,” dad said, flicking a spoonful of oatmeal at Alan, “I’m not going to spend every day at work waiting for a phone call telling me you’ve reduced the house to matchwood. You’re going to get a list of chores to do every day and if they aren’t done by the time we get home, Jack won’t be the only one gainfully employed.”

“But Dad!” Alan whined, crinkling his eyes and raising his voice a couple of octaves.

Amanda put a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, calm down,” she giggled, “At least we don’t have to put up with customers.” She stuck her tongue out at me playfully, something I would never have imagined she would do a week ago.

“Swear to God,” mom said, gathering up dishes, “It’s like having three monkeys. When you all have kids, we’re sparing no details.” We were all silent, blushing inwardly at the thought of having children. I didn’t know if Alan and Amanda had thought about that but with Kayla and I…

Well, we have to actually get that far, first. But it was a nice thought.

“You guys getting a ride with me?” I asked once the table had been cleared and we could no longer deny the inevitability of school.

They looked at each other, smiled, and then nodded. “Sorry again about yesterday,” Amanda said humbly.

I gave her a quick, one-armed hug. “No worries, sis. Go grab your stuff. We’re rolling out in five.” I pulled out my phone and shot a message to Kayla:

Me: We’re heading out in five minutes.

Kayla: All ready.

Me: Alan and Amanda are going to be riding with us.

Kayla: Okay 🙂 I promise I won’t mention yesterday.

Me: Thanks, baby.

Kayla: Of course, handsome <3

I had one of those heart-skipping moments when my heart said something that was too powerful for words alone. My mouth tried to form the words, my fingers tried to type them, but what was said in the little skip of my heart couldn’t be expressed like that. The only thing I could think about was how Kayla could start every day off perfectly just with a single text.

I was aware that I was smiling. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew it was a smile that only Kayla could give me.

Mom came in and happened to see the look on my face. “Feeling okay there, Jack?”

“Hmmm? Yeah, I’m fine.”

She smiled and winked at me. “Kayla is an amazing girl, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, I’ve grown quite fond of her.”

“Invite her over to dinner sometime! We’d love to have her.”

“I will,” I replied, “Just…maybe don’t make that an experimenting night?”

Mom huffed. “Take all the fun away, will you?”

“Love you too, mom.”

Five minutes later, we were piling into the car, the twins in the back seat. They looked quickly at the house, saw no one, and immediately slammed together for some tonsil hockey. “And so it begins…” I muttered.

Amanda emerged and frowned at me. “We’re going to have to put up with you and Kayla making kissy-faces at each other without having to hide it. Let me get my sugar while I can!” She pulled Alan’s mouth to hers as their hands gripped fistfuls of clothing and skin.

“You have until we get to Kayla’s house,” I said, putting the car in reverse, “So about ten seconds.” The lip-smacking and moaning in the back seat increased and I almost wished I had a spray bottle to hose them down with.

They managed to split apart just as Kayla was skipping down the driveway towards us. “Good morning, Jack,” she said cheerfully as she leaned in for a quick kiss. “Hey guys!” she said to the twins as she settled herself into the seat.

“Morning, Kayla,” Alan said just as cheerfully. Amanda rolled her eyes and poked him in the side.

“Glad you guys are coming with us,” Kayla said, clicking her seatbelt.

“What, you didn’t like it when it was just me?” I teased.

She shrugged. “I can take it or leave it.” She got a jab in the ribs for that and squealed.
Amanda leaned in between the seats. “Kayla,” she said, “I’m sorry we haven’t really had the chance to meet yet.”

“That’s okay,” Kayla replied, smiling, “I’d love to get to know you more.”

“Me too,” Amanda said, “Especially if you’re going to be the one holding Jack’s leash.”

“Yo!” I said, miffed, “I’m right here.”

“We know,” Kayla replied, patting my leg, “But hush now. The girls are talking.”

And talk they did, the entire way to school. You’d think they’d been friends for years the way they chatted, leaning in close, putting their hands on each other’s arms, laughing uproariously in that way only teenage girls could do. For appearances sake, I rolled my eyes and pretended to be irritated (they would have been disappointed if I hadn’t) but secretly, I loved it. The last thing I wanted was for the two most important women in my life (mom had her own special pedestal that she built herself) to be at odds with each other. With all the crazy shit that had been going on recently, it was nice to finally have a win.

Now I just had to deal with the other two lingering problems…

One of those problems was waiting for us right outside the school.

It was something I probably should have asked Amanda about earlier but I had been so relieved by her change in attitude that it must have completely slipped my mind. And as we walked up to the school, joking and laughing like we’d been a group since preschool, I got a big reminder what it was I had wanted to ask about. Craig. He was standing at the edge of the sidewalk, looking expectantly at Amanda.

She saw him and her mood immediately soured. “Shit,” she muttered, “I forgot about him.”

Alan instinctively moved in front of her. I had my arm around Kayla and, were society a little more forgiving, Alan would have probably put a protective arm around Amanda as well. “What do you want to do?” Alan asked.

“Just keep walking,” she said, “I don’t want him talking to me, especially not after what he was saying yesterday.”

“What was he saying yesterday?” I asked.

“I really don’t want to repeat it.”

Fair enough. Kayla hadn’t told me any of the things Craig had said to her and I knew better than to ask.

Even with Alan standing in front of her, Craig’s face was set with his usual unearned cockiness as he watched Amanda. When we were a few feet away, he moved forward. “Hey, Amanda,” he said, trying to add a swagger to his steps, “Sorry I didn’t—”

We walked past without giving him so much as a glance. I had hoped that would be the end of it but Craig couldn’t take a hint even if we nailed it right to his nuts. “Hey!” he said, trying to catch up, “You didn’t call me! You said you would!”

Amanda walked a little faster. Kayla was looking furious, as if she wanted to turn and deal with Craig herself. I squeezed her tighter to me as our pace quickened.

Craig shoved himself between Alan and Amanda, forcing her to stop. “I’m talking to you, you stupid—”

“Craig,” I said, stopping and facing him, “If you continue that sentence, we’re going to have a problem. Leave my sister alone.” Amanda smiled at me.

Craig saw the smile and almost sputtered with rage. “Again?! Fuck you, Jack! You’re the problem, you fucking piece of shit!” He leaned into Amanda’s face. “Listen, whatever he said about me is bullshit. Just give me a—”

She walked past him without saying anything. He reached out to grab her arm but she pulled away in time. “Seriously, dude,” I said, staring him down, “Walk away. Last chance.”

I could hear the sizzling as his blood boiled. “What the fuck is your problem? Why do you fuck up every relationship I try to have?!”

“Hey, you don’t need help with that,” I replied, “You’re perfectly capable of fucking up on your own.”

He wanted to hit me. I could tell. His fist was clenched and his arms were quivering as if he could barely keep himself under control. “What is your problem with me?!”

“What is my problem with you?” I snarled, “Maybe the fact that you’re a manipulative, skeezy douchebag who treated my girlfriend like shit. Or the fact that you’re going after my sister next. Or the fact that you can’t seem to stay the hell away from me or the people in my life so, yeah, I’m putting up fucking fortifications, pal. Come at me!”

He wanted to. Another second and he probably would have. But the arrival of the twin brick shithouses, Joe and Brad, made him check those thoughts. “Problems, Jack?” Brad asked, folding his arms so that his muscles bulged like ship cables.

“Nothing that isn’t going to take care of itself,” I replied, glaring at Craig. He opened his mouth to say something, closed it, then stalking off, throwing us a middle finger over his shoulder as he left.

“Are you okay, Jack?” Kayla asked, feeling me still quivering with rage.

“I’m all right,” I said, taking deep breaths. I was more furious than I could ever remember being. And it wasn’t just the fact that he wanted to treat Amanda like crap for rejecting him. It wasn’t just the fact that he clearly wanted to lay my guts out on the floor. It was the fact that, no matter how hard I tried, he still somehow managed to worm his way into my life. And I had a whole year ahead with him in three of my classes. One deposit of Joy, please.

“You know,” Joe said, cracking his knuckles, “You wouldn’t even have to pay Brad and me at this point. We’ll toss him a beating free of charge.”

“Thanks guys,” I sighed, “This is my problem.”

“If it’s your problem, it’s our problem,” Joe said seriously, “Shit, man, we ain’t going to let that turdscicle annoy you. That’s our job.”

Kayla giggled. “Is that another entry in your extended resume?”

“Of course.”

Kayla laughed and suddenly brightened. “Ohhhhh,” she gasped, then shook my arm, “Remember what I said yesterday, Jack?”

“What?”

“About what I wanted you to tell them?”

Ah, crap. She remembered. “Which part?”

“Jack,” she hissed, grinning, “You know…about what you are to me?”

“A boyfriend?” Alan said.

“A free ride?” Amanda said.

“A sugar-daddy?” Joe said.

“A poster-child for ugliness that you carry around so you look even better by comparison?” Braid said.

And Brad is the winner! And the Grand Prize is…one swift kick in the balls!

“Noooooo,” she giggled, looking at me expectantly, “Tell them, Jack. Please?”

Ugh. No man can withstand a ‘please’ from a beautiful girl. I sighed. “I’m her knight in shining armor,” I said as stoically as I could. I was proud that I was but I was going to get enough shit from the Doofus Duo without letting them know I wanted it.

If a twelve-year-old boy had been given a limitless credit card and complete access to an upscale whorehouse, he could not have grinned as large as my present company did. Alan and Amanda were in stitches, leaning against each other for support, but laughter wasn’t enough for Brad and Joe. Oh no. This was going to be a long, slow process, parceled out in individual payments over what was probably going to be the rest of my life.

“Yes you are,” Kayla said, kissing me on the cheek.

“Jack, will you be my knight in shining armor, too?” Joe asked innocently, batting his eyes.

“Ha ha,” I said dryly, walking past them.

I don’t know why I thought that would get them to let up but it didn’t. “But who will protect me from all the ruffians?” Brad asked, looking around terrified, “Why, I could jumped at any moment!”

“And it’d be a crying shame,” I replied, opening the door for Kayla. Before I could walk in after her, the morons sauntered through.

“Why thank you, Jack!” Joe said sweetly.

“What a gentleman!” Brad cooed, blowing me a kiss.

“Keep that up and you’ll find out what it’s like to suck dick with no lips,” I snapped. Seriously, I loved these guys, but there were times when I thought a good elbow-smash to the hinge of their jaw would benefit them immensely.

Kayla and I said our goodbyes in the foyer, giving each other a tight hug and a slow, lingering kiss. “See you in an hour and a half, sweetcheeks,” I said, smiling.

She returned the smile. “I’ll be counting down the minutes,” she replied, kissing me one last time before disappearing down the hallway.

Joe tagged along at my heels all the way to class. “Dude, you do realize how lucky you are, right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, so whatever genie you wished to for Kayla, can I get in on that action?”

I blew a raspberry. “Too fucking late, man. I pitched that sucker back in the ocean.”

Joe hung his head. “So I guess it’s back to Rosy Palm and her five sisters.”

Too much information. Way too much information.

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

All classes without Kayla were filed under the Not Important part of my brain. I mean, yes, I sort of paid attention, sort of learned stuff, retained some information…all filed away under Shit I Might Or More Accurately, Might Not Need. Maybe it was cockiness or overconfidence in my own abilities, but when we’re set to sand blocks of wood into circular spheres, my mind is allowed to wander. Even Joe, who loves this stuff as much as porn, looked like he could be doing anything else and get more out of it. Now, if we were welding, that would be the shit.

Joe was big enough that I needed about two strides for every one of his, but even he was fighting to catch up with me as we walked to homeroom. “Were you promised ice cream or something?” he asked when we got the classroom.

“How do you mean?”

“Seriously, dude, I know you’re into Kayla and all, but this is gonna be hazardous for your health.”

“What? Cardio?” He threw up his hands and slouched into his seat. I grinned and patted him on the head. “One day you’ll understand.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, “Hopefully soon.”

Wait…was he jealous of me and Kayla? He’d dated a couple of times in his life but he always seemed to be much more interested in the singles’ game. It was high school, after all. Time to live it up. Okay, I wasn’t, but I had Kayla. Did Joe want a girlfriend as well? Hmmm.

I had just sat down and pulled out a couple textbooks when Kayla came in and, as usual, everyone and everything else slid away from my attention so I could focus purely on her. She sat down and turned to me, giving me a smile. The combination of her smile, the angle of her head, and the bow in her hair (light green lined with silver) was so cute my heart skipped painfully.

It must have shown on my face. Kayla frowned and put her hand on mine. “Are you okay?” she asked.

I squeezed her hand. “You are aggressively beautiful.”

“Aggressively?” she said, giggling a little.

“As in, you’re so beautiful, just looking at you is like a punch to the gut.”

She thought about it for a second, then decided it was a compliment. “Awww,” she said, bringing my hand up to her lips, “And you’re aggressively handsome.” Joe made puking sounds behind us.

The bell rang and Mr. Spakler looked up from his desk. “It’s been reported to me that my attention span is not conducive to a proper educational environment.” He picked up his book. “As such, consider yourselves under stricter attention.” He opened the book and started reading, offering us not the slightest bit of attention. What a guy.

“So how was Philosophy?” I whispered to Kayla as we pretended to studiously examine our textbooks.

“It was all right.”

“Did you have your big speech about beauty yet?”

“Less of a speech and more of a conversation. You wouldn’t believe how many people think beauty equals boner.”

“Well…” I said, looking her up and down.

She colored instantly but her eyes suggested that my words had a different effect somewhere else. “Jack,” she whispered, looking around, “Dooooooon’t.”

“Just speaking the truth, beautiful.”

She pinched my upper arm. “Well, anyway, I argued what we said before, how beauty was unique to each person and that it was impossible to pin down as an absolute. The teacher claimed that answer was ‘too easy’.”

“Seriously?” I said, “They really think there’s some concrete answer?”

“Apparently. Now I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and think about what beauty is. I could go the smartass route and just saw beauty is something that’s pleasing to the eye. That’s what it is in the most technical sense.”

I squeezed her upper arm. “Well, just use that as a baseline. I’m sure you’ll find something else if you keep going.”

She smiled at me. “Thanks, Jack.”

Homeroom drifted by with more small talk, mostly about her work on the concept of ‘beauty’. I had been right that her completely technical explanation of beauty was a good starting point for her argument; she kept digging and finding more and more that she could talk about. In the end, she had a few sheets of paper graffitied with tiny notes here and there as one thought led to another, and then another. I stuck to my assertion that beauty was Kayla and that everything else was just lucky to get caught in her glow.