One of the Guys

by Dawn Doyle

  Sian scowled.

  “I see you’re wearing Logan’s clothes. How cute.”

  The sarcasm wasn’t lost on me. The bitch was going down.

  “I see you’re wearing your little sister’s.” I replied and I almost burst out laughing with the horrified expression on her face.

  “Listen here, Chase.” She pointed at me. “My clothes are high fashion and highlight my figure. Yours make you look like a fat boy.”

  “Come on Sian. Enough.” Lex snapped, clearly irritated.

  “What? You’re sticking up for her?” She shrieked, attracting the attention of the other customers.

  “Sian, you’re causing a scene.” He said.

  “You know what? I’m not standing for this I’m leaving.” She stood to walk out. “Lex!” She barked.

  “Fuck.” He muttered. “Sorry guys.” He said and left with Sian, whining to him all the way out.

  “There goes the eye candy.” Carl sighed.

  “Yeah.” Pike agreed. “I’m pretty sure I could see her bra through her sweater.”

  “Guys!” Logan interrupted.

  “Oh, sorry Chase.” They said, although Carl looked anything but.

  “Why are you sorry?” They hadn’t said anything about me so they had no need.

  “For talking about Sian’s tits.” Said Carl, and I rolled my eyes.

  “I meant talking about Lex’s girlfriend when he isn’t here!” Logan clarified to them.

  “Oh, Yeah right.”

  Though I didn’t like Sian, and neither did Lex by what he’d said, I agreed with Logan. It was wrong of them to talk about her like that. Especially as she was still Lex’s girlfriend.

  That made me wonder what they’d said about me when I wasn’t there. It wouldn’t have been like what they’d said about Sian. They couldn’t see through my clothes.

  “Are you ok?” Logan asked as I sat in silence.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m glad she’s gone though.”

  “You don’t look like a fat boy.” He said quietly as the other guys were laughing about our argument.

  “I know.” I didn’t believe it myself, but it still hit a nerve.

  “You…” Logan paused and then Lex walked back in… alone.

  “Thanks Chase.” He said with a smile as he sat down again.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I was. I didn’t want him to get an earful.

  “No, I actually mean thanks.” He grinned. “Her being such a bitch to you gave me the reason I needed to break up with her.”

  “Oh, ok.” I was confused.

  “Dude, what happened?” Pike asked, pushing his mop of blonde hair out of his eyes.

  “She yelled at me for not sticking up for her. I told her I wasn’t going to when she was being such a bitch to my friend.” Lex scooted closer to me. “She said if I don’t apologize, then she wouldn’t sleep with me again. I told her I wasn’t going to and we were over because she insulted my friend.”

  Lex put his around me and gripped my shoulder, pulling me in for a side hug.

  Then, he stilled.

  “Jesus!” He looked at me in shock.

  “What?” I thought I’d done something wrong.

  “You’re actually tiny!” He said with a huge grin.

  “Ok…” I dragged out the word as I wondered what the hell was going on with him.

  “You’re pretty hidden under that jacket.” He said, his eyes looking me up and down, and Logan shifted in his seat.

  “Not really, I have slim shoulders.” I lied.

  “Anyway…” He continued, sneakily side glancing over my body once more. “…You totally pissed her off. Nobody talked back to her like that before, and when you showed her a mouth full of pizza…” He snorted. “Hilarious.”

  The guys started talking and I was, once again, ignored. Not that I liked Lex’s attention, it would just be nice to be included in the group rather than in the spotlight or nothing.

  I never used to feel like this.

  I would’ve welcomed the dark corner, but as I got older, and the guys were talking more and more about girls, I wanted to come out of the corner to be seen.

  To be noticed.

  To actually be wanted for more than a friend.

  I just didn’t know how to do it, or who would even look at me. After all, I was still the girl that it sucked to be with.

  Only Logan made me not feel that way. But… he was just my friend.

  And I loved him.

  *****

  After the diner, Pike and Stu came with us and I asked Logan to drop me home.

  “Are you sure?” He asked. “Don’t you want to come to the movies with us?” He asked.

  I shook my head, no.

  I could tell that he still thought I was mad at him for what happened at the track. I wasn’t entirely sure myself, but I couldn’t be around the guys anymore tonight.

  It was probably PMS, but I was really not in the mood to listen to their shit.

  Getting into the house, I went straight to my room. Ruffles, my black and white cat, was asleep on my bed, stirring with a ‘meow’ when I closed the door.

  “Hey, Ruffles.” I said, stroking her head. “Why are guys such douches?” I asked her. I got another meow in response before she went back to sleep.

  Stripping off my jacket and my converse; I turned on my TV to watch a movie. Flicking through the selection, I chose ‘Fifth Element’.

  It was my favorite movie.

  The way Leeloo was supposed to be a strong, kick-ass woman, but really she was just as in need of love like the rest of us. She saved the world because she was loved by Bruce Willis. Ok, not actually Bruce Willis, but by his character, Korben Dallas.

  Logan still thought it was Fight Club, and yeah, I loved that movie but Fifth Element was my real favorite.

  My Mom peeked her head into my room and looked around.

  “Where’s Logan?” She asked, surprised to not see him there.

  “He’s gone to the movies with his friends.”

  “Aren’t they your friends too?”

  “Mom. They’re not really my friends. They just tolerate me being there.”

  Wow, was I feeling sorry for myself or what? It was so depressing.

  “Honey, you’ve been friends with Logan for a long time. I’m sure his other fiends like you just as much.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Mom. They don’t really talk to me. I feel like I’m not included. I mean, yeah, they accepted me but I don’t feel part of the group. Also, they talk a lot about girls now, and they try to curb what they say in front of me. They shouldn’t have to. I don’t belong with them.”

  Oh my God I felt like crying.

  Crying!

  Yes, PMS was definitely upon me.

  “Chase, they’re seventeen-year old boys. They’re growing up and, yes, more interested in girls so they will say things. Actually, I was a little concerned about you with them, to be honest.”

  I didn’t see why she should be. It wasn’t as if they saw me that way.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Well, you’re a young woman now. Boys will be noticing you more, if they haven’t already. I’m not sure I like that you’re the only girl in the group.”

  “Mom! It’s not like they like me that way.” I almost shouted.

  “How do you know?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.

  I groaned.

  “Because they ignore me most of the time and Logan’s just a friend. I’m perfectly safe, Mom.”

  “Well… Ok.” She said, seemingly satisfied. I knew what she was going to say when I saw the look in her eyes and the smile on her face.

  “How about you and I have a spa day? We could get our nails done and get a massage…”

  “Mom!” I whined.

  “Oh come on Chase.” She pleaded. “I’ve been looking forward to doing things like this with you since you were a little girl.”

  “Mom, it’s not my thing, you kn
ow that.”

  “Just this once and then I won’t bug you anymore.” She said, giving my a pout.

  “Fine!” I gave in. “Just this once, and then no more.” I said, like I was the mother.

  “Yay! Oh honey, we’re going to have fun!” She squealed. “I’ll book us in for tomorrow.” And then, she left me to watch the rest of my movie.

  My phone buzzed beside me, and I saw that Logan had sent me a text.

  I was tempted to ignore it, but I immediately felt bad for thinking that.

  Swiping the screen, I read his message:

  L: This movie sucks ass! Wish you were here.

  The smile that took over my face actually hurt. He was thinking about me.

  C: Too bad. This movie is awesome!

  L: Can I swing by after?

  C: What about the others?

  L: I think they’ll cope without me. :)

  C: Ok, sure.

  L: CU soon.

  Why do I do this to myself? Logan is coming over soon, we’ll be alone and I’ll want to run my fingers through his hair and kiss him, just like I always do. I groaned into my pillow, and Ruffles meowed her distaste for me disturbing her.

  “Logan’s going to be here soon.” I told her.

  Her tail flicked, and she started to purr.

  “Hussy.” I said, laughing at her. She loved Logan a lot.

  “Chase! Logan’s here!” My Mom shouted about twenty minutes later, and my heart jumped into my throat.

  I quickly checked my reflection in the mirror and sat back down on my bed, leaning against the wall.

  My room was big enough to have the bed in the center, with a small table at the end, but I liked it next to the wall, giving me some floor space to exercise. I didn’t compete anymore; however, I still liked to keep myself flexible and I still went to gymnastics to keep up my fitness levels, even though I was now too top-heavy for some movements.

  “Come up!” I shouted, and then I heard Logan’s footsteps on the stairs; my heart rate increasing with each one.

  “Hey.” He said as he walked in.

  “Hey.” I replied as he sat back on my bed and, as usual, putting my pillow across his lap.

  I tried to hide the fact that I was taking every detail of him in with my eyes. I swallowed the sudden rush of saliva in my mouth.

  Ruffles opened her eyes and purred again, lifting her head for a stroke from Logan.

  “Hey pretty kitty.” He said, getting a meow in appreciation. My cat was such a flirt.

  “So, how was your movie?” I asked, trying to start the inevitable conversation about the night.

  “It was awful. I wanted to leave. I almost did after forty minutes.”

  “Is that when you texted me?”

  “Yeah. It was boring. I wanted to talk to you instead.”

  “About?”

  “Anything.” He said with a shrug.

  “So, you only wanted to talk to me because the movie sucked?” I teased. I meant it a little, though.

  “No.” He laughed. “I wanted you to come with us and if the movie was good, then great. It just happened to not be. If you were there we could’ve left together to talk instead.”

  I couldn’t help the happy dance that was going on in my head at hearing his words.

  “What about the guys?” I asked. Surely they could’ve kept him company.

  “They’ve gone to Carl’s. Sian called Lex to meet her. I didn’t want to go to Carl’s. I wanted you to be with us too, but you’re here so, here I am.”

  That had to be the sweetest thing he’s said in a long time and I swear my heart melted a little.

  Don’t get me wrong, Logan’s a really sweet guy, and every now and again he’d say something so nice I wanted to say ‘aww’ out loud. I didn’t though. Just in case he thought I was getting the wrong impression.

  There was a time, when he used to braid my hair, we were sitting in my room and he was brushing my hair back when he suddenly said, “Your hair smells nice.”

  “What?” I said, and I saw that he was blushing.

  “Yeah it smells like blackcurrants.”

  For a second, I thought he might have liked me. Not just like a friend, but then he put in my hair tie and started talking about the new Fall Out Boy album. Yeah, I’d read that all wrong. He was just making a point. My hair did smell nice. My blackcurrant shampoo was my favorite. Still is.

  “So, what did Sian want?” I asked, trying not to look into Logan’s beautiful eyes.

  “Lex said she wanted him to meet her. Something about apologizing. I don’t know.”

  “Wait, Sian apologized?”

  Sian never apologized… ever.

  “Yeah.” Logan snorted a laugh. “I guess she didn’t like being the one that got dumped.”

  “I guess not.” I laughed. “Can I ask you something? And you don’t need to hold back the details.” I asked. I wanted to know.

  “Sure.” Logan shifted uncomfortably.

  “What was said about me when I went to the jukebox?”

  Logan flushed and ran his hand through his hair.

  “Um…”

  “I know something was said, Logan. It was written across everybody’s faces and everyone stopped talking when I got back.”

  “It was Sian.” He said with a sigh. “She said that you hung out with us… to get some.”

  “What?!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  I thought she’d say something about my appearance but that I was hanging out with them for sex was just plain nasty.

  “I put her straight.” He continued. “I told her that we were all just friends.”

  “What did Carl say? He looked happy about it.”

  “Nothing.”

  I raised my eyebrow.

  “Honestly. He laughed, but that’s it.”

  “I see.” I said calmly.

  It shouldn’t have done, but Carl laughing hurt, and I didn’t want Logan to see that it did. I didn’t like Carl, and he didn’t like me.

  “Sian can be a bitch.” Logan interrupted my thoughts.

  “No shit.” I snorted.

  “Don’t let her get to you Chase, she’s just jealous.”

  “Jealous? Of what?”

  Seriously? Why would Sian be jealous of me? She stands out, for the reasons she wants, and she’s noticed and looked up to.

  “You. You comfortably hang out with guys, and you probably have more in common with Lex than she does.”

  “I guess.”

  Logan was right. Lex was like the rest of us. Fans of rock and metal music, liked dirt bike racing, horror movies and eating pizza with our hands.

  Sian liked manicures, trips to the salon, and shopping.

  I only ever got my hair cut when I needed it.

  “The guys actually asked what was up with you. Pike said you seemed more pissed than usual.”

  “He did?” I didn’t think I showed that I was irritated… much.

  “Yeah. I said it was probably PMS.”

  My eyes and mouth popped open in shock, and Logan burst out laughing.

  “Oh my God!” I shrieked.

  “I didn’t really; I’m just kidding!” He continued to laugh.

  “That’s not funny.”

  “To see that look on your face? It is.” He said as his laughter subsided.

  It was scary how he guessed that.

  “No. I said that you wouldn’t take any of Sian’s crap.”

  “You got that right.” I said, picking up a small, red throw pillow and threw it at him.

  “So what do you wanna do?” He asked.

  “I want to eat ice-cream. Want some?”

  “Sure.” He replied. Logan loved ice-cream.

  “Ok. I’ll be right back.”

  *****

  I went to the kitchen and grabbed two small tubs of ice-cream. One chocolate, Logan’s favorite, and one strawberry; plus two spoons.

  My Mom had bought a new brand, and they looked yummy.

&nbs
p; I got back to my room, and Ruffles was purring loudly as Logan was scratching behind her ears.

  “She’s such a floozy.” I said, sitting down next to Logan, handing him his pot and spoon.

  We were sitting so close I could feel the heat from his body, and I could smell his ‘man-scent’. Clean and fresh but with a hint of aftershave.

  Logan wasn’t one of those guys who practically bathed in the stuff. No. Just enough to smell it when you got up close, or he walked past. It made me want to bury my head in his neck and sniff him.

  “Chase?” Logan asked, and I realized I hadn’t heard a word he’d just said.

  “Sorry, what?” I asked, my face flushing.

  “I said, what are you doing after school tomorrow?” He asked with a frown.

  “Oh, um…” Then I remembered. “Oh God.” I groaned.

  “What?”

  “I’m going to the spa with my Mom.” I cringed.

  “You’re going to the spa? You? Seriously?” He asked, like I was telling him some sort of joke.

  “Yes.” I groaned again. “My Mom begged me to go with her, just once. I couldn’t say no.”

  Logan laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” This was getting old.

  “It’s just… you don’t do spa’s. You do video games, horror movies, bikes… Not spa’s.”

  My gut twisted. He was right but the fact that my best friend was laughing at me didn’t make me feel good at all.

  “Gee, thanks.” I said, sarcastically.

  “So, what’s happening at the ‘spa’?” He smiled.

  “Ugh. Manicures and massages.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Massage?” Logan stopped smiling.

  “Not for me though. I don’t want some stranger’s hands on me, even over my clothes, let alone half-naked. Ew.”