by Jillian Dodd
He raises his eyebrows up and down at me, “It’s gonna be very romantic, you know.”
“Maybe I’ll bring Dawson with us. Like if we’re still going out by then.”
He gets his face in close to mine. “You won’t be. You’ll be with me.” (He’s right. She will be. But it doesn’t seem like it at this point. They are both kind of stubborn.)
“You know you keep saying that. It makes no sense.”
“Why doesn’t it make sense?”
“Because you don’t even really like me. Like one minute you act like you like me, the next minute you act like you hate me. I couldn’t have a relationship like that. I always know where I stand with Dawes.”
He looks irritated by this.
“So are you going to tell me about your dream?”
“No, you’re going to tell me about yours.”
“Then you will tell me yours?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, so it started out I was like in this clearing in the woods. It kinda looked like the cave, but there were streamers and ribbons and flowers hanging from all the tree branches. It was gorgeous. I was actually getting married. I had on a white dress with golden embroidery, it was very Robin Hood marries Maid Marian feeling. Anyways. I’m getting married, and I don’t know who the person is that I’m marrying because I can’t see him through my veil, but like I know it’s the guy I’m in love with. So we get married and even when he kisses me, it’s through the veil.” I stop. “This sounds really stupid, I can’t tell you the rest.”
“No it’s interesting, go on.”
“Fine. Okay, so then I’m in Dawson’s dorm room. I’m pretty sure he is who I married. And so the other day, uh, well I was sitting, maybe kinda straddling him in his desk chair, and so in the dream, my new husband and I were doing the same thing. He slowly took my dress off, I was naked on top of him, we were, uh consummating the marriage. But I still had the veil on. And then in the middle of it, like when he was like, you know, we were doing it, he lifted the veil, and I could see his face.”
“Wait, so does that mean you and Dawson did that like for real?”
“Uh, I wasn’t in a wedding dress, and I wasn’t all naked, but uh, kinda.”
He starts the car. Looks pissed. Black eyes, drive me back to school in silence.
He squeals into the parking lot, gets out of his car and starts walking. Doesn’t say a word to me.
I get out of the car. Not sure what to say. I mean I thought he would love the dream. It was him I was with. He was the guy I was marrying him. I was going to tease him about how what he says like is affecting my brain. “Don’t you even want to know who I married?”
“No, not really,” is his response as he marches away from me. (Oh, he’s pissed!)
I text Dawson.
Me: Hey, just got back. Sorry, we’ll have to try that thing this weekend :)
Dawson: Can’t wait. But hey, we’ve got twenty minutes. Come give me a good night kiss at least.
Me: Be right there.
I follow the marching god to his dorm. When he turns to open and go through the door, he notices me. “Are you following me?”
“Uh, no. I’m going to see Dawson for a few minutes before curfew. And um, he and I are going to stay with my parents this weekend, so I won’t be able to tutor you.”
“Good,” he says and marches up the stairs.
Friday, September 23rd
Baby, what the hell?
History
Last night I had a dream about Aiden telling me his dream, then he says since its just a dream we can act it out and it won't be considered cheating. And I happily agreed and he started doing things to me.
I woke really concerned that my mind would say acting out a dream in real life is not cheating.
Well if it was a dream, and you were pretending to be dreaming when you were doing it and possibly in a heightened state of consciousness, would it be cheating?
Surely someone would have figured out that loophole before me. So probably not.
I have a sense of deja vu. I remember more of the dream. In said that to Aiden, and he said, No you think outside the box, you color outside the lines, its not cheating.
I wonder if Aphrodite was good in bed.
I mean we know she was clearly capable of seduction, but like technically once they were seduced, was she? I have a sudden need to find that out.
I'm in first period on my phone googling "Was Aphrodite a good lover?" when Riley grabs my phone and reads it. (Her Internet searches crack me up.)
“Baby, what the hell?”
“Shut up.”
“Aren’t you going away with my brother this weekend?”
“Yeah, so?”
“You’re still obsessing over the god.”
“No, I’m not. I’ve just developed a scholarly interest in Greek mythology.”
“Bullshit.” (That’s exactly what I was thinking.)
But I look at what it says anyways. Basically I learn that Aphrodite represented the power of love. The kind of love from which you can not escape.
No wonder she had so many guys captivated.
I learn she rules all aspects of love, desire, beauty and sex. Here we go. Oh, my. She was also considered the mistress of pleasure. She symbolizes passion, nakedness, and sex.
Holy shit.
Oh wait, there’s more. Once Aphrodite enters into a relationship, her powers go beyond love and sex and include deep friendship and the connection of souls.
Yeah, I’m basically screwed.
I’m completely distracted during the rest of my classes. Between worrying about connections of the soul, I’m also worrying about if I’ve packed well for the trip. I want the trip to go well. I want Dawson to fall even further in love with me. I want my parents to love him. I want it to be amazing.
Baby, please.
5:30 pm
I’m packed and ready to go. I’m a bit nervous. I still haven’t told him about them really. Like who they are.
I’m sitting on his bed, he’s getting stuff out of his closet when his phone buzzes next to me. The buzzing catches my attention, and I can’t help but glance at it. What I see, however is disturbing to me.
There is a text from Peyton.
It says: Baby, please.
I could look at the rest of the texts, it would be easy, he wouldn’t even notice, but instead I take a direct approach. And I’m probably not going to be very nice about it. I knew this day was going to come. I knew it. I just had started to believe that it wouldn’t and surprisingly, I feel like I got sucker punched in the gut. Knock the wind out of me punch.
“Dawson.”
“Yeah?”
“You just got a text from Peyton.” (Whitney. LOL.)
He walks out of the closet looking white. “Uh, I, um....we’re just talking.”
“Just talking does not say, baby please. I get it. We did it. Yay! Our image makeover was successful. She wants you back right?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You know, I knew this would happen. I’ve told myself all along this would happen. I’ve been expecting it. What I wasn’t expecting was for you to lie to me about it.”
“I didn’t lie. She just started texting me about it this afternoon. And I wasn’t sure what to tell you yet. Here, look at the texts.”
He shows me her texts. She is saying things like don’t go with her this weekend, stay with me and we can hangout, see what happens, she’s trying to rope you in, seriously, she’s like 12 and you’re meeting her family already?
And based on how Dawson replied to her and that fact that he is still not packed, tells me all I need to know.
But first, there is someone else that needs to see this. Jake.
I keep his phone, the door to the bathroom is locked, so I run out Dawson’s dorm room and next door. and barge in his room. He’s standing there wrapped in a towel getting ready to change.
“Keatyn, what the hell?”
“You and
Peyton are still going out, right?”
“Yeah, I’m getting ready to go pick her up right now.”
“You should maybe look at this first.”
He sits down, reads the texts. Slumps and says, “What a bitch.”
I take the phone back and calmly walk into Dawson’s room.
“So, congratulations, you’re finally getting what you dreamed of. What we worked toward. You can go to homecoming with her, be the perfect king and queen couple and be happy. I knew this would come. I knew it would happen, I’m just a little surprised at how bad it hurts. You’re single now. Have a good weekend.”
I managed to some how say all this with out bawling. There were tears streaming down my face, but I stayed in control. I also acted like he was still my friend. I think I just gave a academy award worthy performance.
“Keatie,” he says. “Wait, don’t. I just, you know this is what I wanted, and now she’s like begging me to take her back, to give it a try. I feel like I have to do this.”
“And every time I said that you were going to do this to me, you swore you would never get back with her, that I was the one for you. You lied. She was right. You are a liar.”
He hangs his head.
I walk out the door, well sort tear out the door.
I find myself at Riley’s door with a tear streaked face. I pound on it. He opens it, and I lose it, dive my head into his chest and start bawling.
“Oh shit,” he says, “Am I gonna have to kick my brother’s ass?”
“Maybe.”
He wraps me in a tight hug. Runs his hands down my back, comforting me.
Dallas walks in, says, “Oh boy. I just ran into Jake. He’s freaking pissed.”
“Yeah. He should be.”
“Are you okay? Aren’t you like supposed to be leaving for the airport right now?”
“Yeah. Hey,” I sniffle. “What are you two doing this weekend?”
“Nothing, really.”
“Come to Vancouver with me. See my family, chill with me, please. I promise it will be fun.”
Riley is still hugging me. “You know me and Dallas, baby, we’re up for anything. How much time do we have?”
“How soon can you pack?”
“Give us ten minutes, what should we bring?”
“Um casual, but nice, maybe one nice slacks type outfit, swimsuit, jacket, some shoes. Anything else you need we can borrow from Tommy.”
“Tommy is your step dad right?” (Obviously, this scene was very much changed. Although she had every intention of taking Dawson to see her family, in the final version she realizes that she can’t really trust anyone, so she ends up going to Miami to see Damian perform, and ends up running into Vincent. It’s in that scene that she also finds out that Dallas has a secret and is the son of a senator. However, I love that Dallas and Riley immediately want to go with her. And in this version, they still make the video that pisses Dawson off. Which is the video that starts Riley on his future career.)
“Well, he and mom aren’t married yet, but he’s been with us for five years, and I adore him, so yeah, he basically is.”
I hug them both, say, “Okay, I gotta run do something. The car will be outside my dorm,” I look at my phone, “Well it’s probably there now, so just meet me there when you get packed.”
“Don’t we need to order tickets? Are we gonna miss our flight?”
I smile a little. “Um, naw. I think they’ll wait for us.”
I decide to face Peyton before I leave. Walk to her room, knock on her door. She’s sitting on the phone, talking to Dawson or getting yelled at by Jake, I can’t tell. She looks very surprised to see me.
“So I thought you wanted to be my friend. I know you were in charge of pairing the big and little sisters. I thought you chose me to be friends, but really, you were just keeping an eye on me. Well, the jokes on you. I gave Dawes an image makeover. After you destroyed him, I helped him give a shit about life again, helped strengthened his relationship with Riley, made him look trustworthy, settled, desirable. All to get you back. And guess what? It worked. You fell for it. And in the process, you lied to your boyfriend and made Dawson lie to the one person who actually really cares about him. I wish you two the best. You deserve each other.” (Although this ends up being Whitney and this portion of the scene gets cut, I kind of like how she went and stood up to her here.)
And I walked out the door, went to my room, grabbed my bags and loaded up in the back of the town car. I’m very ready to go home.
Jake texts me.
Jake: I’m so fucking pissed.
Me: I told you this would happen.
Jake: Yeah, you were right and funny part of it is, I was planning on using her, and somehow she managed to use me.
Me: Yeah :(
Jake: You okay? Dawson’s an idiot if you ask me. I saw him last year with Peyton. She like ruled him. He was so much happier with you. He’s gonna realize what a big mistake he made.
Me: Idk but thanks.
Jake: So I used to have a date for Homecoming. You wanna go together?
Me: I think that would look bad. Like we are trying to get back at them, I have an idea of someone you could ask though.
Jake: :) do tell Jakey.
Me: Vanessa. (This is funny. I forgot I put this in here.) And here’s why. Her high kicks are better than Peyton’s, and Peyton hates that. She dislikes Peyton because they competed for captain and P won. She’s also extremely flexible, and her moral compass points just a little north of sleazy. And she doesn't have a date yet.
Jake: We hooked up a little soph yr. I’ll text her and see if she can hang tonight and wants to go with me. Piss P off. What about you? Who will you go with?
Me: Idk. idc.
Jake: <3 U :)
Dawson: Keatie, look, I keep trying to call you. You need to let me explain.
Me: You weren’t packed. You don’t need to explain. Don’t text me this weekend. I don’t want to talk to you. Have fun with your dream girl. Bye.
Looking good is the best revenge.
6:20 pm
Riley and Dallas pile into the town car, and we head to the airport.
“So what did you mean by, they’ll wait for us?”
“You’ll see.”
We get to the executive airport, the town car pulls out on to the tarmac, and our pilots start unloading our bags. Mom did get me a fractional jet membership, but since they weren’t using our jet, they sent it for me.
Our pilot, Captain Michaels, gives me a hug. We get in and the boys let out a whistle. “Damnnn. This yours?” Dallas asks.
I nod my head.
“My brother’s missing out,” Riley states.
I start crying again.
Marcus has sent Billy and James as our personal escorts. Once in Vancouver, apparently someone thinks I need security.
James comes over and sits down next to me. “Kiki, what’s wrong? Oh, wait. Marcus told us you had a change on the guest list.”
“Haha you could say that. This is Riley and Dallas, my best friends. This is James, and that petite boy over there is Billy.”
James says, “You look like you could use a drink. You want some of Tommy’s scotch? That’ll put some hair on your chest.”
“I’m pretty positive I don’t want hair on my chest. I’d like a shot of Don Julio and a lime please.”
Then I add, “And maybe a valium.”
“Very funny,” James says.
“Well, it’s worth a shot, I mean if you’re passing the shit out.”
“Make it three shots, we all need to relax,” Riley says.
“Not me,” Dallas says as he reclines in a supple leather seat, “I’m as cool as a cucumber. But I will definitely take a shot.”
Riley says, “So this is like your family’s jet?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s sweet.”
“What do your parents do?”
“Um, they are in the entertainment business.”
Dalla
s butts in, “Like are they porn stars or something? Cuz that’d be cool.”
“Not that kind of entertainment. Like just normal movies and stuff. You’ll see when you meet them. Maybe you will recognize them or something.”
James says, “And please, for all our sakes, if you don’t recognize them, pretend that you do.”
He sets our shots down. I start to down mine, and Riley says, “Not so fast, Kiki. Here’s to the three best friends anyone could have. I love you guys.”
And yeah, he even sang the three best friends part like they do on that hangover movie. It was funny and sweet.
I drink the shot and start crying again.
My phone keeps vibrating. I have like eighteen missed calls from Dawson.
“Riley, please tell your brother to stop calling me. It’s stressing me out.”
He gets on the phone, calls him, says, “Just thought I’d let you know me and Dallas are headed to Vancouver with Keatyn. Also she wanted me to ask you to please quit calling her because she’s not going to answer.”
“Um, yeah, very. What the hell did you expect?”
“Yeah, well you know how I feel about her. And that makes you an asshole in my book.”
“Yep.”
Then I interrupt Riley and say, “Wait! I do want to talk to him.”
Riley hands me his phone and I say, “Why do you keep calling me?”
He replies, “Keatie, I screwed up, I don’t know why I even considered it.”
“Bullshit. You did more than consider it. My advice to you is spend the weekend with her. See how it goes. This is what you wanted. You got it. You won. Now, enjoy it.”
“Will you stop saying that. Yes, it’s what I wanted, what I thought I wanted, but when you walked out that door, I felt like part of me died.”
“Good. I’m actually glad to hear that. If you and Peyton aren’t back together on Sunday night, maybe we’ll talk. But I doubt it. Bye.”
