“Ready to go?” Marissa asked Brayden.
“We have to swing by Chad’s house on the way back to see if he can spend the night,” Brayden told her.
“Don’t count on it,” Chris mumbled, catching up to the crowd.
“Are you kidding, bro? Mom and Dad love Brayden! I’ll totally be able to go!” Chad sounded confident.
“That was before he became your cover story,” Chris pointed out. “How many times did you claim to be with Brayden when you were running off and getting into trouble? They won’t trust you to actually stay there. And before you even ask, I have a date tonight, so no, I will not be tagging along to babysit my twin brother.” Chris turned down a side street and disappeared from view.
“I guess I forgot about all that.” Chad’s mood fell.
“Won’t hurt to ask,” Brayden told him, but he wasn’t sure either.
Chad’s parents eventually did agree to let him stay, but only after talking to Lynn and being reassured that he would not leave the house that night.
After dinner, Marissa made her way to the basement, where the boys were hanging out. The basement consisted of Brayden’s bedroom, as well as a common room, which her cousin claimed as his living room. “Don’t mean to interrupt, but Aunt Lynn wanted me to make sure either of you didn’t sneak out a window or some…” She stopped abruptly when she saw Chad was sitting on the couch crying. Brayden was nowhere in sight.
Chad wiped his face. “It’s true. She really has moved on. Everything I have done, all of the trouble I got into, was just to keep her happy. And now it’s over, just like that.”
Marissa didn’t know how to react. With the exception of funerals, she had never seen a boy cry before. She walked to the couch and sat next to him. Silence filled the room while Marissa worked up the courage to put her arm around him, expecting to be pushed away. Instead, Chad turned toward her and buried his face in her arms.
After a few minutes, Chad began to compose himself. “I’m sorry.” He sat up, wiping the tears from his face. Judging by how bloodshot his eyes were he had apparently been crying for quite a while. “I shouldn’t have lost it like that. I knew it was too good to be true. Why would an nineteen year old be interested in a sophomore? It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t put it all of you. Your cousin will be back soon. We can play cards or watch a movie, or do something tonight.”
“I’m not supposed to stay down here. I’m just supposed to make sure you’re both here and give you guys your space tonight. Where is Brayden anyway?”
“Please don’t get him in trouble. He did it for me.”
“Did what?” Marissa asked. “I’m not going to tell,” she added when he didn’t answer right away.
“He snuck out when Tamara snuck in to give us time to talk. He said he would give us an hour, so he should be back any minute now.”
Just then, the window opened. “You done?” Brayden’s voice called from outside.
“Yea,” Chad answered.
Brayden was halfway through the window when he noticed Marissa sitting there. “Crap. I’m in trouble.”
“No, she’s cool,” Chad told him. “Let’s watch a movie or something to get my mind off this horrible night.”
Brayden made it through the window and settled on the couch, still worried that his little cousin could get him in major trouble at any moment. “Was it that bad?”
Chad laughed. “Worse. She hooked up with Brent the night I was arrested. A few days later, she moved on to Dave. Now she’s dating some college guy from La Crosse.”
“I’m sorry man.”
“Are you? You never liked her.”
Marissa was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “Maybe I should go.” She started to stand up.
“No, please stay,” Chad said.
“I didn’t like her because she changed you,” Brayden cut in, ignoring Marissa. “After barely five months, she had you robbing liquor stores. At sixteen years old. You could have anything you wanted just by asking, but instead you had to go stealing. You were lying to everyone, about everything. I hadn’t seen you in months.”
“Six months,” Chad told him.
“What?” Brayden was caught off guard by Chad’s interruption.
“It’s been six months since we’ve hung out. In March, Tam was sick for a couple of days, so I stayed here. Until I started sneaking out at night. That’s when you confronted me and told me that if I kept expecting you to lie for me, that we weren’t friends any more. That day has haunted me since I turned and walked away from you. I thought I had ruined everything. I never thought you would forgive me. I never expected to be able to get my best friend back. But then I got your first letter. I had only been in there for less than a week, and you were already reaching out to me. In the last three months, you were the only one there for me. That’s when I knew things had to change. I knew I still had my best friend, and I sure as hell will never throw that away again.”
“At least not over a girl,” added Brayden.
“Especially for a girl.”
“And no more guy bonding in front of my little cousin,” Brayden added.
Chad laughed. “Sounds good to me.”
“So did you find out if she’s pregnant? “
Chad sighed. “No. She stormed out before I could even ask. But since she didn’t say anything, and she didn’t look like she was, I’m going to assume that she’s not.”
Marissa stood up. “I’m going to go assure Lynn that neither of you snuck out the window and make some popcorn. Drinks?”
“Mountain Dew,” Brayden answered.
“Bud Light. Or tequila.” Brayden gave Chad a look. Chad started laughing. “I’m kidding! I told you I was done with that. Extremely caffeinated sugar water would be great.”
Marissa disappeared upstairs. Brayden waited until the door closed. “What is your deal with my little cousin?” he asked his friend.
Chad shrugged. “She’s cute.”
“Well you can stop. It’s not going to happen. She’s way too young for you. You are way more, um, experienced than she is. She will be leaving in a few days, and she lives four hours away. Oh yea, and she’s my cousin. Ew.”
Chad smiled. “I don’t know. I just like being around her. I know it won’t turn in to anything, but having a good girl like that might be good for me. As a friend,” he added when Brayden started glaring at him. “I like talking to her. She doesn’t judge me for my past and she really listens. And it’s only a four year age difference. Tamara was three years older than me,” he pointed out.
“You had a good argument until your last point, which didn’t help you a bit.”
“So what’s the plan?” Marissa had returned to the basement carrying a bowl of popcorn and a case of pop.
“Let’s watch a movie. I’m too exhausted for anything else,” Brayden answered.
~five~
The three settled down on the floor. Just minutes into the opening credits, Brayden had fallen asleep. Chad took the opportunity to learn more about Marissa.
“When do you go back home?” He still had almost three weeks before school started, and he hoped she had the same.
“Any day now,” she answered. “School starts Monday.”
Chad’s heart sank. It was already Wednesday. He had to meet with his probation officer the next day and probably wouldn’t get a chance to see her again before she left.
“And that’s pretty far away isn’t it?” he asked.
Marissa nodded. “Four hours.”
“You should give me your number and we can keep in touch.” The worst she can do is say no, he told himself. “If you want to.”
Marissa pulled her notebook out of her bag and wrote down her number. She ripped out the page and handed it to him.
“So I feel like you know a lot about me, but I barely know anything about you,” Chad told her. “What do you do for fun?” he asked.
“Come up here,” she answered instantly.
“I meant when you
’re not here.”
“I stay busy at home. I have a four year old sister that I baby sit a lot. I play volleyball and basketball.” She didn’t mention that she also played the clarinet in the school band and had overloaded her school schedule with advanced classes.
“What grade are you in?”
“Starting 7th next week.”
“You must be pretty smart to be starting junior high already. Aren’t you twelve?” He couldn’t believe how easy she was to talk to. “Do you like your school?”
“I’ll be thirteen next month,” she told him. “And I really can’t stand the school I go to. It’s such a small town that if you don’t fit in with the popular crowd you are basically treated like dirt. But I have Melissa. We have been best friends since third grade.”
“I know the feeling about the small school. I’m really dreading going back, because everyone knows what happened. I was on top of the world in January. A lowly sophomore dating a girl that was already out of school was a pretty big deal. And now I’m going to have to deal with all sorts of people talking about me. And I am still considered a sophomore since I missed a few weeks of school, so I failed a couple of classes.” He was embarrassed to admit his faults to Marissa.
“Are you going to be able to catch up before wrestling starts?”
Chad shrugged. “I hope so. That was the one thing in school that I was good at. If I can’t wrestle, I don’t know what I would do.” He picked up her notebook. “Why do you always carry this around?” he asked her.
Marissa blushed. “I write a lot,” she admitted.
“Like a diary?”
“Not exactly. I want to be a writer someday so it’s just something that I’m always working on. Short stories. Poems. Song lyrics.”
The television grew silent and drew their attention. The movie was over. They had talked through the entire two hours.
“Want to watch it again?” Chad asked.
“It’s late. I think I am just going to go up to bed.” Marissa started to stand up and gather her things.
Chad reached out for her hand. “Stay here.”
Marissa thought about it. Clearly he was asking her to stay with him, but did he expect anything to happen between them? Marissa knew she wouldn’t let it, but she also knew that Melissa would love hearing everything about this night.
“I’ll sleep on the floor, you can have the couch,” he told her, as though he was able to read her thoughts. “I like being around you. I feel like I don’t have to be ashamed of who I was. I feel like I can get passed it all. I just feel like myself when I’m around you.”
Marissa agreed and moved to the couch, not realizing how completely exhausted she really was. “Good night,” she mumbled as her head hit the pillow, already half asleep.
Chad sat up and watched her sleep. He had always had sleeping problems. They didn’t bother him so much back when he was high or drinking himself to sleep. As he started the movie over, he considered reading her notebook but quickly decided against it. Who am I kidding? he thought to himself. She’s too good for me. If only I had met her before Tamara, before I got into this mess. Before my world fell apart. He eventually drifted off to sleep.
~six~
When Marissa woke up the next morning, Chad was gone.
“He’s meeting his probation officer,” Brayden told her when she looked down at the empty blankets.
Marissa kept herself busy around the house that day. She knew she would be heading home soon, so she spent most of the day going through the house and packing her things.
Just before dinner that night, her grandparents showed up to take her back home. They had decided to leave that night instead of waiting until the following morning.
Marissa was heartbroken. She knew it was stupid to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help it. As soon as school started, Chad would probably find someone else, hopefully not someone like Tamara, and he would forget about her. She knew she would never forget about him, but was excited to get home to see her friends. She called her mom and her best friend, Melissa, to tell them she would be home that night. Melissa told her that she would be at her house waiting for her, which probably meant she would be babysitting her little sister, Kayla.
Before she left, Brayden pulled her aside. He showed her a piece of notebook paper with her name and number written on it.
“I’m assuming this was meant for Chad, seeing as I already have your number.”
Marissa blushed. “Yes, please make sure he gets it,” she told her cousin.
“I’ll do what I can, but don’t get your hopes up.” He gave her a hug and started toward the basement. “See you in May, little cousin,” he said before disappearing down the stairs.
Marissa walked outside and climbed into her grandpa’s truck. She slept most of the way home.
It was after 10 that night when her grandpa pulled into her driveway. Melissa tore out the front door before the truck was even stopped.
“Don’t you dare stay gone that long ever again!” she told her. “I’ve been so lost without you!”
“Oh, I am definitely going back as soon as school is over!” The girls grabbed Marissa’s bags, said goodbye to her grandparents, and disappeared into the house. As soon as they were in her bedroom, Marissa started telling her best friend everything about Chad. It was almost 2 in the morning before she was done, making sure she didn’t leave out a single detail.
“Who would have thought that you of all people would fall for a bad boy?” Melissa exclaimed when Marissa was done. “You should call him!”
“I don’t have his number, but he has mine! Maybe he will call tomorrow!”
The girls stayed up all night, talking and giggling, while telling each other about their summer. They both agreed that Marissa’s was definitely more eventful that Melissa’s, who had spent most of the summer babysitting.
~seven~
Marissa and Melissa spent the weekend getting ready for school to begin. They were about to enter their first year of junior high.
On Monday morning, the girls were eager to compare their schedules, although they soon found they didn’t have a single class together. Marissa was alarmed to see that she had a couple of advanced classes, which would mean she would be venturing into the high school for two hours each day, for math and English.
School was a few weeks in before Marissa stopped waiting by the phone.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” she told Melissa as they walked home from school one day.
“Maybe he just lost your number,” Melissa suggested.
“If that were the case, he could get it from Brayden if he wanted to. He probably found someone else. Or even worse, he’s back with Tamara.”
When they arrived at Marissa’s house, Melissa didn’t stick around. Marissa was a cheerleader and had a game to be back at the school for in less than two hours. Melissa, having not made the squad, decided she didn’t want to go.
Brayden, Chad, and Chris were hanging out at their local pool hall on a Friday night. School had just started for them. Chris and Chad had started their junior year, while Brayden was a freshman. It was like old times for the three of them.
“Did you call her yet?” Brayden asked.
“I don’t think I should,” Chad told him. “Besides, it’s not like she has tried to call me either.”
“Does she even have your number?” Chris asked. He couldn’t understand how his brother was still hung up on some kid he barely knew.
“No, but she could if it if she wanted to.” He looked at Brayden. “Have you talked to her?”
Brayden shook his head. “We don’t really talk much throughout the year, and we only see each other during the summer. But I think you should call. Unless you really don’t want to.”
Chad racked the pool balls and waited for Brayden to break. “I think she was just being nice giving me her number in the first place. I don’t even know if it’s even her real number. She would be crazy to go for a trouble maker
like me anyway.”
“Oh, it’s her real number. And you’re not a trouble maker. Well, not a horrible one anyway. You just made some mistakes. But if you want to call her, then call her. If not, don’t. Your shot.”
Marissa soon fell into a routine that was busy with cheerleading, volleyball, and her friends. Even with the insane amount of homework the high school teachers assigned each day, she never fell behind. She even found the time to help Melissa with her math homework, which was Melissa’s worst class.
When the weather grew colder, her sports changed. Instead of cheering at football games, she moved on to basketball. Instead of playing volleyball, she joined the girls’ basketball team. She didn’t enjoy basketball, and she definitely couldn’t stand most of the girls on the team, but she took every opportunity to get out of her house. If she was at home, she was expected to take care of her sister. On weekends, she alternated staying at Melissa’s house or Melissa staying at hers.
Winter sports meant wrestling season was beginning for Chad and Brayden. Both of the boys easily claimed spots on the varsity team, despite Brayden being an underclassman. Chad struggled to keep up in his classes, especially since he had to make up some classes that he had not finished the previous year. He barely managed to keep his grades high enough to remain eligible to wrestle.
No matter what Marissa and Chad were doing to keep themselves busy, they couldn’t help but wonder what the other was doing, or wondering if they were forgotten about.
The school year ended for Marissa the Thursday before Memorial Day. Her grandparents had already called to let her know that they would pick her up early the next morning. Melissa stayed the night to help Marissa pack.
“I can’t believe he never called. Maybe I should just stay home this summer.”
“You are not changing your plans just because some boy never called. You go up there every summer. Why would this summer be any different? As much as I would love to have you stay here this summer, you can’t. I need the babysitting money!” Melissa threw a shirt at Marissa. “Wear that when you see him.”
Summer Love (First Love Book 1) Page 2
