Damien couldn’t believe he was sitting in Mrs. Todd’s living room. The glow from the fireplace caught his eye as Mrs. Todd brought in finger sandwiches. She offered him some coffee or iced tea, but he declined stating that he only drank water. She nodded as she walked away returning with a full glass.
“Ice?” Mrs. Todd asked.
“Yes, please,” Damien said. He was taken aback. Truly this was one of the most bizarre situations he had encountered. Upon hearing about how she had done everything in her power to distance herself from Jay, he had anticipated a vicious encounter.
“Well, why don’t you share what you want to share,” she said with a lisp.
“I-” Damien paused. He didn’t even know where to begin. In a moment of weakness and desperation, he cried out to God begging for the words to speak. He didn’t even believe in God anymore, but he wasn’t sure what else to do in the moment. “I think he needs you.”
“Ok,” she responded.
He continued saying that things were really tough on Jay the previous year. “Why can’t you just, oh I don’t know, give him some love? Even if it’s from a distance.”
“Thank you for sharing,” she said asking if there was anything else.
“Yeah, every boy needs his mother,” he paused contemplating. He didn’t know why he had even bothered. He wasn’t reaching her. Why she had entertained him this long was beyond him. “Please, I have nothing else to give other than just to tell you that without you, he’ll crumble from the sadness.”
Her eyes drifted over to the fireplace.
“If nothing else, just tell him why. Please…please just say something.”
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “Thank you for sharing your heart.”
Damien was then shown out without another word. There was a lot he had to process as he made his journey down the block to his car. He went into it with no expectations, but if he was completely honest, he settled on the worst expectations. He anticipated a door slam, or some tense yelling, something with some passion. What threw him off was not how nice and poised she was, but how desperately she lacked emotion, any sense of passion. She just seemed dead inside. It scared him more than anything having sat in her house. It was a mistake. He regretted his decision. It was a momentary weakness because Jay didn’t even have the emotional energy to speak with him. Why had he even bothered? He so desperately needed someone, anyone to talk to, but now he was alone. He didn’t want to cry out to God again. As far as he was concerned, it was a bust, an experiment gone awry. He would never make that same mistake again. He started the ignition in his car and continued on to freshmen orientation hoping he had finally severed the umbilical cord of high school.
Cadence sat across from Lyra in her favorite table at The Hub. Lyra smiled at her as she sipped a water cup. Oddly enough, she felt conscious about it. She felt embarrassed, but she wasn’t able to put her finger as to why she felt the way she did. She hated that she was so insecure.
Lyra pulled out the flier for the fall show beaming like a child on their birthday. The smile had nothing to do with Cadence. Cadence hated herself even more for ever allowing herself to believe that it had.
“We have to audition together!”
“Wait, we…” Cadence said trailing off.
Lyra nodded excitedly. She went on to explain that the fall show was an old comedy called You Can’t Take It With You. “It’s even got the perfect part for you,” she added quickly.
In the pause she took to take a breath, Cadence responded, “Hold up! Slow down. You only met me a week ago and you’re convinced that there’s a part that’s perfect for me?”
It didn’t seem possible that Lyra could smile any bigger. “And it’s the lead!” she added gleefully.
“Why would I want to audition for some stupid play? It’d be totally humiliating.”
“You’re not giving yourself any credit,” Lyra said deflating from her natural high. “Besides, what better way to take your mind off of boys than getting caught up in somebody else’s life?”
“That sounds creepy.”
Lyra stated that it wasn’t. “This is a fictional person.”
“That’s even worse.”
“Just listen,” Lyra began. She explained that the story was about a girl on the verge of marriage who came from a family full of batshit insane relatives who couldn’t care less about it. “Ultimately she’s able to love them for who they are. Isn’t that perfect for you?”
“No.”
“Aren’t the guys around you as insane as the girl’s family though?”
“Doubtful, but there’s a slight possibility.”
“Come on,” Lyra sighed. She continued saying that all they wanted to do was to spread joy. “Is there anything more admirable than that?”
Cadence admired Lyra and her passion for the arts. There was something a little odd about her, but undeniably appealing and lovable. She knew she wanted to spend more time with Lyra and if she joined the play, Cadence would never see her. Against her better judgment she decided to play along. “All right…all right. I’ll audition with you.”
“Great!” Lyra said walking over and hugging Cadence. “You won’t regret it, I promise you!”
Cadence couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but when Lyra told her that, she believed her 100%.
Julia leaned with one arm against the wall of the music hallway drumming her fingers against the plaster. Itching inside, her heart pounding, she didn’t know how much longer she could wait. In 2 minutes flat, the list of the color guard would be posted on the band room door. She had asked to go to the bathroom for this very purpose. She had to know right away whether she would be in or not. She didn’t want her senior year to be boring. Maybe an extra curricular would keep her intrigued enough in school, although that seemed incredibly unlikely. School was boring and she couldn’t wait to graduate. However, the color guard always looked so stunning, so beautiful. It would ease the pain of high school. Why couldn’t something great ever come her way?
Someone tapped her on the shoulder making her gasp and jump. When she turned around, she noticed that it was Jay. He snickered in surprise.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I would frighten you,” Jay said half-smiling.
“It’s fine, really. It was pretty funny.”
Jay nodded leaning against the opposite wall. He proceeded to ask her how she thought her audition had gone.
“I don’t know, really,” she said. She continued saying it would be great if they both got it together. “I mean, it’d be just like me and Damien again.”
“I’m not so sure about that…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to label you just like him. It’s just I miss him is all. Maybe,” she paused trying to gauge what Jay was thinking, but he remained deadpan. “Maybe we could be friends, close friends. I don’t really have anybody else in my life right now.”
“Burned too many bridges?” Jay said with a smile on his face.
“Don’t make a mockery of this.”
Jay told her he was sorry. The door opened right as he was taking a breath. Julia no longer cared about the color guard list. She wanted to finish the conversation with Jay. The list posted on the door, but neither of them rushed to see if their names were on it. They remained staring at one another.
“He really cared about you, you know?” she said alleviating the awkward silence.
“I doubt that.”
“Please Jay, can’t we just be friends?”
Jay nodded. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted earlier. I was total dick. I tend to laugh when I don’t know how to react, which oddly enough always gets me in trouble.”
“Well, don’t worry,” Julia began. She continued saying that he wasn’t in trouble with her.
“After you,” Jay said pointing toward the list.
Julia ran her finger down the list. She saw her name first and then looked for Jay’s. It was only two names below hers. She held up a high five, which Jay completed. It was a little strange to her. She thought things with Jay would go as smoothly as they had with Damien, but she was wrong. Jay had a lot more brick walls surrounding him, which ultimately bothered the crap out of her, but she had a feeling that he would be worth it in the long run.
Kerass stretched his calf out on the track. He always tried to run a mile on days that weren’t practice. Gus jumped over the chain-link fence to join him.
“You ready?” Kerass asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Just before they were about to begin, they noticed the coach coming over to post the team roster. They exchanged a single look that expressed they would continue their run later. The team roster was more pressing.
Kerass was ecstatic that the wait was over. However, he was a little concerned for Gus. Gus had a terrible try out on all accounts. It was so abysmal that Kerass didn’t even want to think about it. He wanted to be there for Gus when the pieces broke. There was no way that Gus was going to be on the team and Kerass was heartbroken for Gus even though it was unconfirmed. He saw Cadence walk over to the chain-link fence. He smiled knowing why she was there. She knew he would find out whether he was on the team today. She was there for support. Sure they had fought all summer, but their care for one another was unbreakable. He waved over at her as he and Gus made their way over to the list.
When Kerass looked at the list his mouth dropped. Gus not only made the team, but he was the first-string quarterback. Kerass was in awe. What the hell was the coach thinking? He was jealous and angry at Gus for beating him. Besides all of that, Kerass was simply confused. Having Gus on the team made no sense at all. But wait…he thought. He was being stupid. Gus is a friend. They had an odd relationship granted, but a friend nonetheless, a good friend too. He was still fuming inside, but he recognized that he had to redirect his anger some place else. He knew Cadence was watching. Had she not been, he might not have reacted the same way, he ashamedly admitted to himself.
“Congrats, you deserve it.”
Gus looked off to the side. “This is your world, not mine. I don’t want it.”
“But you have to, you worked so hard for this!” Kerass said angry that Gus wasn’t appreciative of the opportunity that was given him.
“Hey man, I can do whatever I want. This is just not me. This is your place to shine. I’m not going to take that away from you.”
Cadence stood next to them asking if anything was wrong.
“No,” Gus said without a glance towards her. “Kerass got first string quarterback and I, as predicted, didn’t make the cut.”
“Are you ok, Gus?”
“Elated, really.” Gus locked eyes with Kerass. “I’m going to tell the coach thank you for letting me try out.”
Kerass simply nodded his head as Gus walked away.
“That’s so wonderful, Kerass!” Cadence said jumping up and hugging him. “First string quarterback as a junior is astounding. You must be so proud.”
“Yeah…” Kerass said dragging the word out. “Proud.”
Kerass was more confused than ever by how Gus had responded to the roster, but he tried to put it out of his mind. The only thing he could cling onto was that he and Cadence were getting together. She had accepted his apology and had come to forgive him. It was all just some big misunderstanding even though he was right. That had to be why she came to support him. He leaned forward to kiss her, but her hand stopped him.
“Don’t ruin the moment.”
“Why?” Kerass asked. He continued asking what she wanted from him.
“I just want to be friends.”
Kerass bit his tongue to prevent himself from lashing out at her.
“I’ve sworn off of boys for this year, Kerass. I’ve made a pact with the new girl Lyra. She says I should cut men out of my life altogether, but she’s full of it. I know we have a connection, but just wait. A year, a year is all I’m asking. But I still want us to be friends.”
Kerass glared at her. He couldn’t believe it. He had just been friendzoned by the love of his life.
“Say something…”
Kerass tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t open. He couldn’t control himself as tears started to trickle down his face.
“Please?”
No comments:
Post a Comment