Kiss and Break Up

by Ella Fields

  “That’s why you won’t let him in?” Mom asked, sipping her wine. Dash had tried to use the front door after I’d locked the window in my bedroom first thing Monday afternoon.

  “He betrayed me.”

  Phil took an interest in his phone, minding his own business. He never tried to step in on parenting related matters, which I think Mom preferred. I knew I did, and I think Phil did too. He didn’t have kids of his own, and after teaching teenagers over at the public school all day, he was probably happy not to have to deal with any more teen drama.

  Mom’s brow arched. “He was concerned. It’s not like you to lie to get what you want.”

  I sighed. “I know, but he did it so I wouldn’t see Byron. It’s so freaking stupid, I can’t even comprehend it.”

  Phil snorted, and both Mom and I looked over at him.

  Feeling our eyes on him, he looked up, startled. “Sorry, just ah, funny picture on Facebook.”

  “Don’t tag me in it,” Mom said. “What you think is funny usually isn’t.”

  I smirked at that, shoveling more food into my mouth.

  Phil frowned. “Excuse me?”

  Mom waved her fork at him. “Never mind. Back to Dash. Don’t leave him out in the cold too long. It’s not good for that boy.” I knew she was referring to the way his parents often forgot about his existence until it suited them.

  Phil made another sound, and Mom groaned. “Go on, out with it.”

  He hesitated, glancing at me. I tipped a shoulder, waiting.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t see it?” he asked, his gaze darting back and forth between Mom’s and mine.

  “See what?” I asked.

  Phil blinked, and Mom gave him a warning look. His face was reddening, so I twirled my finger for him to spit it out.

  “He likes you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s my best friend. He only likes me because some other guy is peeing all over something he thinks he owns.”

  Mom coughed on her next sip of wine.

  “You okay?” Phil moved to pat her back, and she pushed his hand away.

  “Fine,” she said, fanning her face as she set her glass down. “Peggy, I really do think that maybe you should talk to him about it. I get what you’re saying, I do, but—”

  I pushed my chair back. “There are no buts about it. That’s exactly what this is.” It couldn’t be anything else because everything would change. Dash wasn’t boyfriend material. We’d crash and burn and lose the friendship we’d spent a lifetime creating. “I’m going to finish my homework.”

  “That hideous thing you call a dress has been dry-cleaned,” Mom called as I took my plate to the sink and rinsed it. “It’s in your closet.”

  “It’s not hideous, but thank you.” I stacked my plate and utensils in the dishwasher, then grabbed a water bottle from the fridge to take to my room.

  “Is Byron taking you?”

  “He sure is.”

  “Are you going to the football game?”

  “Hell no.”

  My sneakers squeaked over the polished floor as I left the sound of slamming basketballs and closed the door to the gym behind me.

  I was on the tail end of my period, and though I was thankful I wasn’t going to have it tomorrow night for homecoming, I still hated doing any physical activity when I had it.

  My pad fell from my hand, and I bent over to pick it up, slipping it inside the pocket of my gym shorts after making sure no one saw.

  I rounded the corner, traipsing down the hallway that led to the girls’ bathrooms.

  A hand latched around my wrist, pulling me down the opposite hallway. “You need to break up with him.”

  His touch was kerosene, but I didn’t want to catch fire.

  “I’m not talking to you.” I pulled my hand free and crossed my arms.

  Dash’s smirk was infuriating. “You just did.”

  “Ugh. We’re not ten anymore.”

  “Don’t I fucking know it,” he said. “End it, Peggy. He’s a superficial twat.”

  I dropped my arms, scowling at him. “He’s sweet. He buys me flowers.”

  “Flowers? Flowers die, Freckles. I’ll give you my dick. He only needs ten minutes after each round before he’s ready to come back to life.”

  “He?” A laugh slipped free. “You did not just say that.”

  He raised his hands into the air.

  “Dash, stop it.”

  “No.” He crowded me back into the locker. “If you think I’m going to leave you alone and just let that asshole have you, you’re crazy.”

  “The only asshole I see is you. You betrayed me.”

  He laughed. “It was a party. Big fucking deal you didn’t get to go. It was for your own good.”

  “Bullshit.” We both knew why he’d done it.

  “Yeah? So you’re telling me he wouldn’t have tried to take advantage of you?”

  “I’m his girlfriend, you moron. I wanted to see him.”

  He made a hissing noise, face contorting. “You don’t know what you want.”

  “I know I don’t want you.”

  His chest rose high, then collapsed. “You’re lying, and you know it, Freckles.”

  He didn’t get it. He wasn’t thinking through every worst-case scenario. He was acting on what he felt now, what he wanted now. Mere moments in the present weren’t worth sabotaging a future. “I won’t subject myself—us—to that. We’d never work. The only person you ever worry about is yourself.”

  “Not true. Who helped you clean up at the party? Not that cocksucker. It was me.” He swallowed, a thick sound, and then lowered his voice to a growl. “Who got you a present that’ll actually last instead of only trying to impress you? Me. And who kept fucking kissing you, knowing you were only doing it to better kiss someone else?” He punctuated his words by stabbing his finger on his chest repeatedly. “Fucking. Me.”

  My eyes ached, but it was nothing compared to the burn in my chest. “Stop it.”

  “Never. I’ve always been there, and I always will be. Who cares if I’m a little conceited? A little too honest? I show up for you because you’re one of the only people I care about. Isn’t that enough?”

  “We’re friends, Dash. Don’t ruin that.” My voice was scratched, breaking. “Please. You don’t want me; you just want me because you feel threatened.”

  His hand slammed into the locker beside my head, making me jump. “That’s it. Continue lying to yourself, and then maybe you won’t want me just as much as I want you, right?” He shook his head, searching, waiting for my response, but I kept my mouth shut. “Right.”

  He stalked off, leaving me limp against the cool metal with my heart pounding a bruising beat and sucking back tears.

  Peggy

  The limo pulled up to the curb, and Mom quickly ushered us into position in front of the small hydrangea bush in our front yard.

  Byron’s parents weren’t here. He said his dad was away on business, and well, his mom was still working some stuff out.

  I didn’t pry. Partly because I knew Byron would talk to me about his mom when he felt comfortable, and partly because Dash, even though he wasn’t here, kept invading my every breath.

  “Okay, a little closer,” Mom said. “That’s it. Cheese!”

  We grinned, and I barely felt Byron’s arm around me as Mom took shot after shot, and when he shifted to lay a kiss on my forehead, Mom cooing behind her phone, I fought back a wave of exhaustion.

  Daphne and Willa arrived a few minutes later, and I grabbed the layers of bubblegum tulle, my boots scuffing over the grass as I joined them and took in their dresses.

  They’d decided upon matching cocktail attire, seeing as they’d decided to forgo dates and attend together. In shimmering bronze and plum, their skirts puffed out around their thighs as if they were wearing hoops beneath them.

  I lifted the hem of Willa’s, discovering an abundance of tulle, and almost regretted not going shopping with them last Sunday. “The
se are amazing.”

  “Check out the back,” Daphne said, spinning to display a large bow with tails draped over the sides of the skirt, ending right at the hem. “Cute, huh?”

  “You girls look like sexy Easter princesses,” Mom said, snapping photo after photo.

  “Easter?” Daphne questioned, her red lips thinning.

  “Ignore her. You look incredible.” I reached out to touch one of Willa’s long curls.

  They were both wearing fake lashes, and though I wished I’d done the same, I’d curled and applied a dozen layers of mascara to mine instead.

  “Group photo.” Mom gestured for us to huddle.

  Just as we smiled, another car pulled up. I heard doors shut and watched Mom’s face drain of color. “May?”

  “Good evening, Peony.”

  We spun around and saw Dash and his mother walking over the driveway toward us.

  May sniffed, her chin rising as she surveyed our small house. “Good grief. It’s worse than I thought.”

  “Great to see you too. You can go now,” Mom said, her hands moving to her hips.

  “Sorry, Peeny.” Dash tugged at his sleeves. “She insisted on being here to take some pictures of her own.”

  “Well, it’s my son’s last year of school. I’d think it perfectly understandable.” She opened her handbag, pulling out a camera the size of my head. “Now, how do I work this thing?”

  Dash sighed, pulling at the lapels of his slate gray tux, then snatched the camera from her and clicked a few buttons.

  Slowly, I shut my mouth, swallowing to rid the dryness that’d infested it.

  Byron cleared his throat. “Um, Pegs? What’s he doing here?”

  “Taking Peggy to homecoming,” Dash said.

  My hands twitched when I saw he was wearing a bow tie. A bow tie the same color as my dress. Byron had decided against it when I’d offered the idea, saying he wasn’t a fan of pink. Dash definitely wasn’t a fan of pink, yet … I shook my head, blinking rapidly. “Dash, we spoke about this.”

  “You spoke; I chose not to listen. Selfish, remember?” He winked, but he was anything but happy as his eyes settled on me, then moved to Byron.

  May slapped at her arm. “Damn mosquitos. Let’s hurry this up before I catch malaria or something.”

  “Catch malaria?” Mom asked, incredulous.

  Knowing this couldn’t end any other way unless we all dived into the limo idling by the curb and left, I trudged over to Dash. “Make it snappy.”

  May frowned, holding the camera up. “I don’t remember you being so snotty, Peggy Sue.”

  “Probably because you paid no attention to anyone but yourself.” Mom was beside her, phone already poised. The sight of them together for the first time in years was startling. So different yet almost as if nothing had changed.

  “Haven’t you got enough photos?” May grumbled, taking her twentieth or thirtieth as Byron stood with Willa and Daphne, scrolling through his phone. “Don’t be such a damn hog.”

  “I can’t believe you actually just said that.”

  May lowered the camera, turning to Mom. “Believe it, hog.”

  “What are you, four years old?”

  “You wouldn’t know because you’ve missed too many of my birthdays, y-y-you selfish slum living witch.”

  Mom’s cheeks flushed, and I gripped Dash’s arm a little tighter, taking comfort in the scent of his aftershave. “What were you thinking, bringing her here?”

  Dash grunted. “I wasn’t. Besides, she was a stowaway. I didn’t know she was hiding in the back seat until I was halfway here.”

  “Oh, I’m the selfish one, am I?” Mom said.

  “Uh, yes. Yes, you are.” May waved her camera around. “You didn’t even tell me that my son was going to homecoming with Peggy.”

  “Because you told me I was a classless whore for not staying with a man I didn’t love and waving goodbye to my McMansion.”

  “Did she really?” I asked Dash out the corner of my mouth.

  “Probably.”

  “I didn’t say you were a whore. I said you were an idiot. There’s a big difference.”

  “Because that’s so much better.”

  “Should we …?” I pointed at the limo.

  Dash nodded. “Yep.”

  I waved at Daphne and Willa, who looked as though they wanted to stay and keep watching years of hurt and frustration blow up in front of my cozy little house.

  We all piled into the car, the door shutting on the yelling match, and then Dash started laughing.

  “What?” I asked, taking a seat next to Byron.

  Dash settled in on my other side, pointing out the window. They were still screaming, but all we could make out were red, enraged faces and flying hands.

  “Who wants some champagne?” Daphne asked, cracking open the top of a bottle that’d been cooling in an ice bucket.

  She poured us all a glass, and Willa sighed. “Do you think they’ll make up?”

  Dash and I spoke at the same time.

  “No way.”

  “Not a chance in hell.”

  “Pity.” She clucked, taking a swig from her glass.

  Byron sat silently beside me, and I could feel the tension start to creep inside the air-conditioned space. “So this limo is nice.”

  Byron huffed, and no one else said a word.

  Daphne raised a brow at me, drinking her champagne to hide what I knew was a shit-eating grin.

  The silence stretched on. My palms grew clammy.

  Dash leaned into me. “So your place or mine afterward?”

  I could’ve punched him square in the nose. “Shut up.”

  “What did you just say?” Byron asked, leaning away from and around me at the same time.

  Dash moved an arm behind my head, and I knew without even looking at him that he wore a taunting grin. “Just seeing what our girl’s plans are for later this evening. Nothing to worry your pompous head about.”

  “And why would you think those plans would involve you?”

  I turned to Dash, pleading with tight lips and huge eyes. He wasn’t looking at me, though. He was staring straight over my head as he said, “You didn’t know? Peggy and I had this sweet ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement.”

  Daphne or Willa coughed.

  I died.

  “Peggy?” Byron asked the back of my head. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Nothing,” I said through gritted teeth. “It’s nothing. Not anymore.”

  Dash set his eyes on me then, his brows furrowed. “Nothing, yeah?” His lips curled as his gaze stayed steady on mine. “I wouldn’t say making sure our Peggy Sue was ready for you is nothing. But you can thank me later.”

  The girls gasped, and I heard a thud on the floor of the limo.

  “Dash, Jesus.” I was about to cry or slap him. I couldn’t decide on which.

  “Ready?” Byron’s tone was filled with warning.

  Dash ignored it. “You know, making sure she gained just the right amount of knowledge.” He lowered his voice, leaning over me. “When you kiss her, you need to make sure you hit that soft and sweet, work your way up to ravishing her mouth the way we’re dying to. Know what I’m saying?”

  I slapped him hard in the chest, speechless and unable to catch my breath as the limo turned a sharp corner.

  Dash steadied me, and I ripped my arm away before turning to Byron.

  He swallowed, his fists two balls of concrete in his lap. “You’ve kissed him, Pegs?”

  Laughter sprang from Dash. “She did more—”

  Willa practically shouted, “Oh, look. We’re here.”

  I’d never been so thankful to see the gates of school before, and I all but leaped over Dash to get out into the fresh air.

  I inhaled one crisp breath after another, resisting the urge to fan my heated cheeks.

  After sending me questioning looks, Daphne and Willa linked arms, heading toward the gymnasium’s entrance.

  An ar
ch teeming with roses and a petal-lined path led inside. Streamers littered the grounds. Music pounded through the doors. Laughter, catcalls, and some shouting pierced the darkening gardens. I stopped walking well away from the entrance, not exactly sure what I was supposed to do with my two unlikely dates, especially now that Dash had opened his traitorous mouth.

  Dash hadn’t been invited to go with me. After just showing up and what he’d done, the right thing to do would be to ditch him and head inside with Byron.

  Byron took that opportunity away from me when he walked ahead, not even looking back to see if I was following.

  A hand grabbed mine, and Dash tugged me with him toward the path riddled with soft pink petals. It almost killed me to crush them beneath the weight of my boots. Though it helped to picture Dash’s balls as I tried to remove my hand from his death grip.

  We stopped to have our photos taken, and I found myself smiling for real when Dash whispered into my ear. “You look like heaven.”

  The camera flashed, and then we walked on, my palm growing slick in his as people turned to watch us enter the crowd. Before we got lost within it, he walked us over to an empty corner, and before I could step away, he framed my face with his hands.

  “You just love causing trouble for me, don’t you?” I whispered, wondering if Byron would even speak to me after this.

  His lips hitched, his eyes dark blue beneath the dancing disco lights above our heads. “That will never change.”

  I licked my lips. “Never? Dash—”

  “I love you.” His expression volleyed the admission, yet it still stunned me. “More than a friend should. The kind of love you fall into and desperately try to crawl out of, but it’s fucking futile.”

  “What?” I shook my head, trying to peel away from his hold. “No, you’re lying.”

  “Think about it, Peggy. Climb back down to reality and think about it.” His grip tightened, and he stepped forward, his voice holding a determined edge that scraped at any resolve I had left. “You know I’m not. I won’t cause any more trouble for you tonight, but if you think you might love me too, ditch him. For the love of God, please just ditch him.” He pressed a firm, desperate kiss to my forehead. “Then come find me.”