by A. L. Martin
I closed my locker, turning around to find Jayde standing there in the middle of the hall, glaring at me. “What do you want Jayde? Shouldn’t you be following Lucas around?” I asked, looking up and down the hall for Lucas.
“He dumped me, and you are to blame!”
My mouth fell open. Gavin almost dropped his phone when he busted out in laughter.
“How is it my fault? Do you see him here with me? I knew it was going to happen, and it serves you right. Karma is a bitch.”
“He said that you and him were getting back together.”
“What?” I screamed. “And, you were stupid enough to believe him?”
I stood there laughing my ass off for a few minutes, when I happened to glance up at Jayde to find her in tears. I felt guilty for making her cry, but I didn’t feel sorry that Lucas broke her heart. She stomped on our friendship by going after my boyfriend the minute we broke up. That is unforgiveable, and you won’t get any kind of sympathy from me.
“What do you want me to say, Jayde? Please enlighten me.”
She dabbed under her eyes with her finger, then searched in her purse for a tissue. “I was hoping we could be friends again.” She sighed.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I stepped closer to her. “You honestly think I’m going to take you back as a friend after what you did to me? I’ll never be able to trust you again. So, no. We can’t be friends again. You should’ve thought of that before you stole my newly ex-boyfriend the minute he broke up with me.” I turned my back to her. Gavin was standing there with his mouth open and his eyes huge.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing.” He smirked.
Jayde lowered her head, dabbing her face with the tissue she had finally found buried in her purse. I knew I should’ve felt bad for ripping her head off just now, but I didn’t. I felt perfectly at ease with what I had just said to her.
We realized we were about three minutes away from being late to class. We took off down the hall, pushing our way through the crowds of kids. I yelled at Gavin I would see him at lunch, as he sped past me once I got to my class. I sat down so fast in my seat, it bumped into the desk behind me. Good thing Eli was sitting behind me. He and I had been in numerous classes together since freshman year, so he knew I could be clumsy at times.
“Hey, Londyn. Everything okay?” Eli whispered from behind me.
“Yeah. Sorry, Eli.” I scooted my desk up a little.
“Okay. The way you came flying in here, I thought maybe something had happened.”
The teacher wasn’t even in the room yet, so I turned sideways in my seat so I could talk to Eli better. We didn’t hang out, but he was what I would call my “Class Buddy.” Eli Collins was a few months younger than me, and not like the other boys our age. He was more mature, and a great listener whenever someone in class needed a shoulder to cry on. Eli’s short, dark hair was messed on top, and buzzed on the sides.
“You remember Jayde snatched up Lucas the minute we broke up a few weeks ago? Well apparently, he just dumped her too. She had the nerve to ask me if we could be friends again. I went off on her in the middle of the hall.”
“You’re kidding? Wow…What did you tell her? Then again, I probably already know the answer.” He laughed.
“I basically told her hell no, and that I would never be able to trust her again with any of my boyfriends.”
“Good for you.” He raised his hand up to give me a high-five.
Lunch came around quickly, which was fine with me. The closer it got to tomorrow, the better. I needed a week away from my dad and his silent treatment. Gavin was waiting for me outside the cafeteria, looking down at his phone, not acknowledging anyone passing him. A few kids had said something to him, and he completely ignored them.
“You okay, Gavin?” I asked, walking up to him.
“Huh. Yeah. Why?”
“I couldn’t help but notice you ignored a few of your friends as they walked by a few minutes ago. That’s not like you.” I paused.
“Oh, them. They were being complete assholes. I wasn’t going to entertain their childishness.”
“What did they say to you? It was about me, wasn’t it?”
“Londyn, they were being immature jerks. Don’t waste your time worrying about them.” He stepped forward, grabbing the handle to the cafeteria doors.
We started talking about tomorrow and what we were going to do at Mom’s house. It had become a ritual that the first night over there, Gavin would come over and four of us would go out to eat.
Sam was sitting at the table by herself, eating her salad and flipping through stuff on her phone. I looked around the cafeteria, scanning each table looking for Wyatt, but came up empty-handed. I felt a sharp tun on my arm, and bumped into Gavin.
“You about fell over that chair.” He pointed over his shoulder.
“Thanks,” I said, taking one last look around.
“Doesn’t look like he’s here today, Londyn. You need to stop looking for him before you kill yourself from falling over chairs,” Gavin reminded me, pointing at the chair in front of our table.
“You’re right.” I put my book bag down in the chair beside me. “Sam, want to come over tomorrow and go out to eat with us?” I asked, sitting down next to her.
“I wish I could. My parents are going out of town for the day and left me in charge of my brother and sister. You’d think they should be able to keep themselves out of trouble for a day. I mean shit, they are almost in high school.” She rolled her eyes.
“Next time.” I smiled.
“I’m sure they will have me doing something else. According to them, Sam’s not allowed to have a life. I will ask them tonight in advance.” She took another bite of her spinach salad.
“Oh, that looks good. I think I might go make me one.” I got up from the table and made my way over to the salad bar, looking at the fresh spinach and other veggies. Not taking my eyes off the spinach, I reached for a bowl, but was unable to bring it closer to me. I glanced up to see Lucas holding onto the other side.
“Let go of my damn bowl!” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?” He sneered.
I let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. “Boyfriend? You’re not serious are you?” I managed to get out between laughs.
“Yeah. I want to get back together, and well, we all know you will take me back.” He smiled.
I dabbed the tears from the corners of my eyes. “I hate to burst your delusional bubble, but I don’t want you back, ever. I don’t know where you came up with that ridiculous assumption.” I burst out in laughter again.
“How dare you laugh at me!” he yelled.
Before I could even say anything back to him, Wyatt was putting himself between me and Lucas. I couldn’t really see anything except for Wyatt’s broad shoulders and defined arms. Each time I’d try to see around Wyatt, his body would move with me. I found myself staring at the back of his head, wondering if he truly did have eyes in the back of his head.
“Who the hell are you?” Lucas yelled.
“I’m a friend of Londyn’s. I think she told you to leave her alone. You need to learn when to take a hint. She doesn’t want you back. Not now, not ever!”
“What? Are you her new boyfriend? Hunter couldn’t handle being with her, so he got out while he could?”
“I told you, I’m a friend. No, Hunter hasn’t dumped her. He’s been out of town. Anymore idiotic questions?”
“How about if I beat your ass right here in the middle of the cafeteria?”
“I’d love to see you try!”
I didn’t see what happened, but I heard hysterical laughter echoing all around me. I looked over at Gavin and Sam, who were leaning over, pressing their shoulders together to keep from falling on the floor in laughter. I couldn’t take it anymore and had to see for myself what everyone was in hysterics about. I placed my hand on Wyatt’s hard bicep and peeked around him. Lucas was h
unched over a nearby table. I stepped out from behind Wyatt, turning to face him.
“Let me guess. He slipped and lost his balance?” Annoyance escaped my mouth.
“Yeah.”
“Just like yesterday?”
“Well, not exactly like yesterday, but close.” He turned his head slightly, laughing at Lucas trying to get up off the table covered in food from his head down to his waist.
He had spaghetti noodles in his hair, dangling down into his sauce-covered face. I couldn’t tell if it was pudding or gravy on his shirt, and I wasn’t about to find out either. He got what he deserved, and I missed it, thanks to Wyatt. I wasn’t buying the whole “he lost his balance” story again. Lucas was many things, but clumsy had never been one of them.
I walked back over to Gavin and Sam, who were still laughing so hard they both had tears streaming down their faces.
“Oh. My. God. That was better than yesterday. Where did Wyatt come from?” Gavin blurted out before he started laughing again.
I stood there wondering the same thing. Wyatt was nowhere around me when I walked up to the salad bar, or I would’ve seen him. I turned around to look toward the salad bar. It was good ten to fifteen feet away from the doors. There was no way he could’ve got to me that fast from the doors. I stood there, trying to come up with a logical excuse as to how he got to me so quickly.
“Londyn, you okay?” Wyatt asked, walking up to me.
“Yeah.”
“Something wrong?” He turned in the direction I was looking. “What are you staring at?”
“Nothing.” I wanted to flat out ask him how he managed to show up so fast, but I knew he would give me some lame-ass story that he was right behind me or was in the lunch line to the left of me.
“I’m glad I was close by to help out. You sure you’re okay?” he asked, looking down at me.
“Yeah. Thanks.” Thanks? Ask him. What are you waiting for?
“You’re welcome. What are you doing this weekend?” He turned around to sit down at the table next to Gavin.
“I’m going to my mom’s house for the week. Why?” I asked, looking down at him.
“Do you care if I drop by sometime this weekend?”
“We are going out to eat tomorrow evening, and I don’t know when we will be back.”
“You should come along.” Sam smiled.
I lowered my eyebrows, pressing my lips together to keep from yelling at Sam for her idiotic comment. I didn’t want him anywhere around in case Hunter happened to show up at my mom’s house. I didn’t want to have to explain Wyatt to him. They continued to make plans amongst themselves, forgetting they were not including the main person. I didn’t know if I should be upset or not about them not including my opinions in their plans. After a few minutes of them talking back and forth, I finally gave up and sat down in hopes they would realize they had forgotten I was still there.
They stopped talking long enough for me to get in a couple words about what time they should be at my mom’s house tomorrow. Sam apologized for not asking me first if it was okay that they all tagged along for dinner. I told her it was okay and that I didn’t mind if they came, which was half true. I didn’t mind if Gavin came along because that was the original plan, but Wyatt coming along was a different story. There was something about him I didn’t trust. The more I was around him, the more my gut told me I should run far away from him.
Jules met me at the doors to go out the side entrance of the school. She was asking me if Asher could come over to the house tomorrow and go eat with us. I told I didn’t mind. What’s one more person. The one I didn’t want to show up was going. She asked me what was wrong when we got to the car, and I told her what happened at lunch with Lucas and Wyatt. She couldn’t believe that it had happened again. On our way home, she wanted all the details about what exactly happened, and like me she wondered how Wyatt was able to get to me so fast if he was nowhere in the lunchroom. We drove the rest of the way home in silence. I kept replaying the scenario over and over in my mind. Maybe I had missed something, and he was closer to me than I had originally thought. No matter what I did, the fact remained the same. He was indeed nowhere close to me.
I was relieved when I didn’t see Dad’s car in the drive by the house, which meant he was still at work or on his way home. If he was on his way home, I still had time to get something to drink and head to my room. My room was my safe haven from my dad’s never-ending, condescending tone about how I should only socialize with those he deemed suitable. Most of the ones he deemed suitable were just like him, which really made me not want to talk to them.
“Hey, Valerie. Is Dad on his way home?” I asked, getting some sweet tea out of the refrigerator.
Valerie was wiping down the counter next to the stove. “No. He will be home late again tonight. Do you girls need me to stay with you?” She walked over to the sink, rinsing out the sponge.
“No. We will be okay, Valerie. I’m sure Jules will probably be with Asher later, and I’m going to get my stuff ready for Mom’s tomorrow.” I smiled.
“Well, dinner is in refrigerator whenever you girls get hungry. I put together a casserole that you can put in the oven.
I went back over to refrigerator and opened the door. There on the middle shelf was a glass casserole dish filled with chicken, broccoli, pasta, and mushrooms. Just looking at it was making me hungry. I closed the doors, turning around, and caught the aroma of sweet melted chocolate. Valerie opened the oven door and pulled out a pan of chocolate chip cookies. I was amazed I didn’t weigh more than I did from Valerie’s cooking. I loved my mom and her cooking, but Valerie’s was like none other.
“Valerie, you’re going to make me fat.” I laughed, reaching for a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie.
“You don’t have to eat them. I could just let you smell them.” She laughed, trying to snatch the cookie from my hand.
A few minutes later, Jules came in the kitchen, grabbing a cookie while she got herself a drink. She hopped up on the stool next to me, enjoying the warm cookie. We sat there and talked to Valerie for a little bit. It was nice to be able to talk to her without worrying about Dad coming in the kitchen.
****
I woke up earlier than I wanted too, but it was Saturday and that meant Jules and I were headed to Mom’s for the week. I rolled over to face my nightstand, grabbing my phone to see if there were any texts I had missed last night. I accidentally fell asleep late last night while in the middle of texting both Sam and Gavin. They were always the ones to fall asleep on me, so now they got to feel my frustration. I had not texts from them whatsoever. They fell asleep before I did again, them shitheads! I sat up in bed, propping more pillows behind me so I wasn’t resting up against my hard headboard.
“Londyn, are you awake?” Jules asked through my closed door.
“Yeah.”
Jules opened the door as quietly as she could, then turned around to ease it shut. She walked over to my bed, sitting down the edge. “What time are we heading to Mom’s today?” she asked, looking toward the door. The solemn look on her face told me that Dad had been on her ass about something. And that something was more than likely me.
“What did Dad say about me?” I demanded.
“Same shit. How I shouldn’t be like you, and how I need to be more careful with who I associate with. Does he never give it a damn rest?” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s hard to ignore him a lot of the time, but you just have to bite your tongue and not say a word in objection to what’s bitching about. I wish you could go live with Mom after I go away to college, but he would never allow it. Then, he wouldn’t have so much control over your life.”
Jules crawled over me and slid her legs under my sheet and comforter. I handed her another pillow to prop behind her. We sat there talking about her and Asher, when I go away to college, and last by not least, Wyatt and Hunter. I didn’t expect my own sister to bring up Wyatt to me. I thought she was the one person who would avoid the
topic with me. I told her there was nothing to talk about. He and I were just friends, and that was stretching the truth. I was rather mad at him for not being honest with me about Lucas. I was probably never going to get the truth out of him, but I was sure as hell going to try my hardest.
I decided we would head to Mom’s house after we got ready. Jules ran to her room to get ready, while I went to my bathroom to take a shower. I realized in the shower I still had more stuff to pack for Mom’s. I dried off, then put on my lavender fluffy robe so I could go finish packing more clothes for the next week. I grabbed some jeans, leggings, nice tops to wear out, and ones to lounge around the house in. I was taking a long time, so when I got ready we could leave for Mom’s. Besides, she was probably getting ready to make a late breakfast for us anyway. I grabbed my phone real quick to request French toast for a late breakfast. It sounded so good this morning for some reason. She sent me back a thumbs up with a smiley emoji. I hurried up and threw a few more things into my bags. I threw on a pair of grey leggings and a long, lightweight, burgundy, off-the-shoulder sweater. I knelt down in my closet, shuffling shoes around to find the right pair of black flats.
I went and dried my hair, and had to make the tough decision of wearing my hair down or put it up in a bun. I made an executive decision to let the weather outside decide for me. I walked out of the bathroom and past my bed to the other side of my dresser to look out the window. I looked to the west and saw the bluest of skies, without a single cloud. I went back to the bathroom and plugged in my curling iron so I could curl the bottom of my hair.
