by Anna Howard
"Yeah," he sighed. "But I wish it wasn't. My dad was really cool, he was way funny and super nice and Angela was his little girl. I'm nothing like him." His reminiscent smile turned into a frown.
"Hey, I think you're cool, funny and super nice, too. And for what it's worth, I think all of that only made you a stronger person, I think they made you the person you are now. And who cares what other people think about you now? You're still the amazing Trevor you were before, don't you let a thing they say get to you. Got it?"
He smiled a little and ran his hand through his hair. Then the smile faded again and he just looked defeated and tired. It broke my heart.
"Let's get out of here," I said suddenly.
"What?"
"Let's just go, to the mall or something, or we can just go driving or whatever." I could convince everyone about the newspaper tomorrow, but right now, Trevor needed me.
He looked unsure, but one look at the kids around him giving him weird stares and he was decided. "Lead the way," he stood up and gestured gallantly.
I grinned and skipped toward the parking lot, taking his arm and pulling him along.
"Hey, I just met you! And this is crazy! But here's my number, so call me maybe!" We shouted along to the music with our hair flying behind us. The roof was down and other cars were giving us horribly strange looks, but we just laughed and continued with our wild karaoke jam. After driving around for about an hour, we ended up going to my house, and chilling in my room. The smell of pizza wafted up from the kitchen and soon the timer beeped, alerting us that our food was done. We raced down the stairs and pulled out our creation. This wasn't the normal frozen pizza I usually heat up, we made this from scratch, perfecting it with a huge pepperoni smiley face and mushroom hair.
It smelled heavenly. I wasn't sure what to expect from a homemade pizza, and this was better than I had hoped. I cut it in half with a gleaming pizza cutter and we dug in, betting on who could finish theirs first, but of course I didn't even finish mine. I handed over a twenty with regret, even though I knew he could use it better than me, seeing as he actually had to have a job to get money.
Afterwards we headed back up to my room, and I lounged on the bed while he lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, which wasn't exactly exciting. There were a few glow in the dark stars stuck up there from when I was younger, but other than that, the plain white ceiling was pretty boring. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while, each lost in thought.
"What's your favorite band?" I asked randomly. I'd seen a few posters in his room, but I didn't recognize half of them, and besides, they can't all be his favorite.
He thought about it for a moment. "Red Hot Chili Peppers. What about you?" I've never even heard of Red Hot Chili Peppers. I hopped off my bed and grabbed my silver laptop off the desk and lay down on my stomach, putting the laptop in front of me. Trevor got up and followed me, perching on the bed beside me. I opened the laptop to my screensaver, a gorgeous picture of Dallas, Texas. And when I opened the internet, Google was already set up to search the Magnolia Hotel. The Magnolia is this really pretty hotel, and the inside is super luxurious. When I go to Dallas, and I will one day, I'll stay at the Magnolia.
Californication is the first option on YouTube, so I clicked it curiously. It had a good beat, and I liked it before the words even start. It was mellower than I expected. "Play Snow, that's my favorite." Trevor said. I played Snow (Hey, Oh) and it was better, it was catchier. Trevor started humming along and I smiled at him. He looked so much happier when he was listening to music.
"Okay, so what's your favorite band?" He asked me when the song was over. I didn't even hesitate.
"He Is We," I searched the song Happily Ever After without waiting for him to answer. I had typed the words so many times I barely noticed my fingers fly across the keys. Now I was the one humming along, oh happily ever after, wouldn't you know, wouldn't you know? Oh, skip to the ending, who'd like to know? I'd like to know. Author of the moment, can you tell me, do I end up, do I end up happy?
"Psh, this is girl music." Trevor mocked and laid down next to me, reaching for the laptop. When his arm brushed against mine I felt little tingles spread where our skin touched. I hoped he didn't notice the shiver that ran down my spine.
He played the song It's Not You by Halestorm. It was a lot different than the other one, and the girl singing had a very interesting voice. "This is probably the only good chick music existing." He said and pointed to the screen for emphasis. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore his intoxicating scent of autumn leaves and crisp air.
After Trevor left, I looked at my bed suspiciously. I couldn't help but lean down and sniff the covers where he had been laying. Yep, it totally smelled like him. But then I realized what I was doing. What the heck was I just doing?
.o.O.o.O.o.
"So I heard you were setting up Trevor Rushton?" Mary Bradley asked me right before lunch, flashing a flirty smile. Her posse followed her obediently. Mary was short and stocky with a shock of obviously fake blonde hair and a spray tan so fake she made Snooki look good, but somehow she still passed as pretty in this school. No, Trevor definitely needed someone better than her. I inspected the trio of girls behind her. Bella was too young, she's barely a freshman, Hailey was too Barbie doll-like, and Casey… was perfect!
"Actually, I am," I smiled sweetly at her. Casey Woodhouse was a total party girl, enough like what Sarah sounds like that Trevor should like her. Her blonde hair was always curled to perfection and her face was flawless and her hazel eyes were huge and gorgeous. She was known to be a little flakey when it comes to guys, but Trevor wasn't really looking for someone serious anyway.
"Casey, you don't have a boyfriend, do you?" Mary looked shocked that I wasn't asking her, and Casey looked shocked that I was asking her.
"Not at the moment, I broke up with Liam yesterday." She tossed her hair expertly and smiled gorgeously at me, clearly over her earlier surprise.
"Perfect. What are you doing on Friday?"
"Sounds like I'm going on a date." She smiled knowingly and Mary glared daggers at her.
"We'll will pick you up at 7, see you then." Her face fell.
"You'll be there?"
"It's a double date, Trevor just broke up with a girl and he isn't quite ready for anything serious yet," Yes I totally just made that up. But oh wait, crap, who was I going to go with?
"Oh, well that's fine. I'll see you then." She looked considerably less excited, but her glossed lips curled up and she and her giggling friends (all but Mary) sauntered off.
As luck would have it, I got a text message just then. I miss you babe, can we talk? It was from Collin. Ugh, I am so over him. I didn't even reply, because he's pathetic. But that does remind me that he once texted a friend of his on my phone, and I think I saved his friend's number because he was freaking hot. Let's see… yep, there he was. Austin Skye.
I shot him a text explaining that Collin and I are broken up and I needed a date for Friday. He texted back shortly asking who it was, and I explained to him again that I was Collin's girlfriend, Ariana. Then I headed outside to my table, where everyone was already gathered.
"You are going on a date on Friday." I shoved my finger at Trevor's chest. He looked bewildered, and a little angry.
"No. I'm not."
"Come on, it's just a little date. I told you I'd find a great girl for you, and I did. You said you'd let me, so now you need to keep your word and go on this stupid date. Don't make me beg," I pled, pulling out just a little pouty charm. He sighed. "Great! It's this Friday, and I'm buying you a new outfit, because your whole jeans and a tee look isn't going to cut it."
"Great, girl's day!" He replied with mock enthusiasm, clapping his hands like an idiot.
Lyssa giggled and then asked, "Am I invited?"
I guess it would have been smarter to tell Trevor during math or something where she wouldn't overhear us, but I guess she'd hear the news either way. That's Lyssa for you.
&
nbsp; "Uh, well actually I don't think…" I stumbled, and thankfully Trevor came to my rescue.
"Sorry Lyssa, but I don't really know you or your boyfriend, and I'm not really good at making new friends amongst strangers, maybe another time?"
"Omigosh I totally didn't even think of that! I'm so sorry, Trevor! Of course, we can all hang out another time! And besides, Gordon and I broke up so I wouldn't have anyone to go with anyway. Well I hope you guys have fun! And I hope this girl is cool, whoever she is. Who is she, Ari? Oh, that's the bell! I was supposed to get to English early, oops! Gotta go, see ya guys!" And she scurried off, her heels clicking across the sidewalk. Amber rose and followed shortly behind her, and I noticed for the first time Drew wasn't there.
"So really though, who is she?" Trevor asked while we were walking to Calculus together.
"A girl named Casey Woodhouse, you know her? I'm sure you've seen her at parties, she's usually the drunk one dancing on the table."
"Ah, a crazy drinker party girl, just my type." He said sarcastically. Was I wrong about Sarah?
We walked into the classroom to find Miss Carmandy was absent, and in her place, an ancient guy sitting on a chair that looked like it was about to break under his weight. I mean seriously, his butt was hanging off the sides and almost touching the floor, it was so flabby. He sneezed loudly and wetly and wiped the back of his hand across his slimy nose. Many of the girls in the classroom squealed and jumped back away from him, but he hardly noticed. The guys didn't even try to stifle their laughter.
"Take a seat. Your teacher is sick or something, I don't know. I'm your sub, Mr. Johnson. Open your books to page 102 and copy the questions, and do them. Don't bother me. You," he jabs his finger at some poor kid near the front, "take roll on this and take it to the office." He handed the kid a clipboard and swiveled in his chair to face away from the class, opening a magazine that I really hope wasn't what I think it was.
The class went silent for a moment, and then we all started talking. Some of the nerdy people started copying questions in their books, but most of us ignored that completely. In fact, I'm pretty sure we did all of those problems yesterday.
"Where are we going on Friday?" Trevor turned and asked me. He stood up and sat on his desk, facing me, and leaned forward to put his face in his hands.
I pulled out my iPod, unraveling the earphones to give myself something to do while I tried to think of an answer. Where were we going?
"Not sure exactly, I was thinking Copper Steer, what do you think?" Copper Steer Steakhouse was one of the fancier places in town, and the shrimp was to die for.
"Never heard of it, is it good?"
"Well, it has four stars, and the steak is pretty good. It's not so bad, and if all else fails we can go to the kissing rock and have some real fun," I winked at him.
"Not bloody likely," he attempted a British accent, and failed miserably.
"Eh, keep to the Yorkie accent, it fits you better," I said, trying not to laugh too loud. He made a face and crossed his arms. Then he smiled and leaned forward again.
We talked some about the restaurant, and he finally agreed to let me drag him to the mall to get a new outfit. Then we made fun of the sub and laugh about all the annoying people in the class. Too soon the class is over and we parted ways.
After school I got a text, all it says was Sure. It's from Austin, great! Now I could actually go on this date with Trevor. I texted him back the details, and told him just to meet us there because I didn't know where he lives and he didn't know where I live. I drove home singing along to Red Hot Chili Peppers, smiling to myself because tomorrow Friday.
I told Casey at school on Friday that we're going to Copper Steer and that I would be picking her and Trevor up because my car is the coolest. She shook her head at my strange car obsession, but agreed to let me pick them up. She looked extra pretty today. Huh. I wonder why.
Trevor hopped in my car after school wearing his hat. We got to my house first and I tossed my bag into my room. Trevor followed me into my dad's room where I tracked down a credit card in his sock drawer and we got back in the car.
"Won't your dad notice that's gone?" He asked once we were on the road. I realized he hadn't said a thing since we got in the car after school.
"Nah, he never notices things like that. Half the time he's too drunk to even remember my name. Don't worry about it," I said nonchalantly to hide the bitterness in my voice.
He didn't reply, he just took one more nervous glance at my purse and turned to look straight forward. He still didn't say anything when we got to the mall, and he just shrugged when I asked him where he thought we should go first. What was up with him?
We went into Hollister first, and the cute guy working there tells us we're a cute couple, which made me suddenly very grateful it's so dark in there, because my face was probably bright red. Trevor looked so uncomfortable I decided we better find something quick and get out of there. We found him some dark jeans with subtle designs on the pockets, which he didn't even comment on. Then we got him a cute dark gray button down shirt with the little logo on the front pocket. It was a really stylish outfit, and I was pretty freaking proud of myself for finding it in the dark in less than half an hour.
I bought the clothes and told him I had enough clothes to last me the night, so we started towards the exit. It was astounding, really, because we didn't even stop at Macy's or Bath and Body Works or even Buckle, which are my all time favorite stores that I always go to. But then, we couldn't just go to one store. That almost defeats the whole purpose of coming to the mall in the first place. So we made a stop at Cold Stone and I got us some ice cream. I got a coconut mango with gummy bears mixed in, Trevor just got plain vanilla.
"Ok, what is up with you?" I asked when his barely touched ice cream dripped on his pants.
"Me? Oh, nothing…"
"Well, obviously something's wrong, you haven't even touched your ice cream." He picked up his spoon and played with his ice cream. "Hey, we still got a while before we have to pick up Casey. Let's do something? There's laser tag on Main, wanna go?"
He actually glanced up from looking sullenly at his ice cream. I took that as confirmation, and I drove us to the little place on the corner. It's one of those cool glow-in-the-dark laser tag places, but I still had to drag Trevor out of the car and take his ice cream from his hand and throw it away. But once we were inside, he started acting like himself again, flirting a little (or a lot) with the girl working the counter, and tapping his foot anxiously while we waited for the group in there to finish up.
Finally we were let in to the darkened room to collect our gear. The room was eerily silent because it was just Trevor and me. We stalked into the black room on opposite sides, and the game began. I sneaked around corners, lurking in windows and checking for Trevor, the place was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Then I heard a wild battle cry and Trevor leapt from the shadows making me scream bloody murder. He would shoot me right in the heart, and then disappear again. It continued like this for a while, until someone on the intercom beeped in and asked if it would be okay if another group joined us, making me jump ten feet in the air. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to give away my location, but apparently Trevor had the same idea. I called yes to the ceiling, figuring they'd probably hear me, and soon two loud groups crashed through the doors, and Trevor poked my shoulder from behind.
"We're on the same team now," he gestured to our matching vests. We spent the rest of the time in there back to back, taking down each person in the other groups, one by one and laughing the whole time.
Chapter 6 - First Kiss
"You guys are late!" Casey shouted from the door and stalked out to my car. She was wearing a flashy little white dress with hot pink pumps. She glanced between Trevor and me, taking in both of our sweaty clothes and messed up hair.
"It's only 7:30, chill." Trevor said, getting out and opening the door for her.
She smiled in spite of herself and ste
pped gingerly in. Trevor scooted in next to her and threw an arm over her shoulder. Ugh I felt like some lame chauffeur, but at least they weren't kissing or anything. We arrived at the restaurant and found Austin waiting outside, pulling out his phone and checking the time.
"Hey, sorry we're late. I'm glad you waited, shall we?" I breathed and linked my arm with his.
He laughed and put his arm around me in one of those awkward half hugs, only it wasn't awkward with him because he was just… Austin. "You're just as beautiful as I remember. I'm surprised it took you so long to break up with that jerk." He pulled away and took my hand easily.
We walked in and I gave the waiter my name. Of course I made reservations, because waiting around to get a table would be so super boring and awkward. Besides, sometimes this place is so packed you have to wait hours to get a spot.
Our booth was tucked away in a corner of the restaurant, giving us the illusion of privacy without completely exiling us. Austin and Trevor stood aside to let Casey and me in first, watching each other warily. For a terribly awkward moment we all just sat there silently, not making eye contact with anyone. This was not what I had in mind.
"OMG, what is that, Trevor?!" Casey suddenly exclaimed, making us all jump. She was pointing to Trevor's arm.
"Oh, uh, yeah, that – that's uh, nothing," Trevor stammers, blushing and pulling his arm under the table quickly. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out at him. After we won at laser tag, Trevor flirted with the counter girl more, and she, thinking she had a chance, wrote her number on his arm and covered it in hearts. On the way to Casey's house Trevor had tried to smear the hearts with his spit, and ended up with black blotches everywhere.
"Obviously." She spat and glared at me.
I held my hands up in surrender, confused at her hostility. "Whoa, Casey, we were just having a little fun, is all."
"Yeah, I can tell. If you two just wanted to 'have a little fun' why did you invite me and Austin anyway?" She stopped glaring at me for a moment to bat her lashes and smile sweetly at Austin, to which he grinned goofily back, oblivious to her attempt to be flirty.
