The Crescent

by Jordan Deen

behind a van near the fence smoking pot; others were sitting on tailgates drinking beer. I walked faster as a few of the slackers offered me pot, something stronger than pot, and different cans of beer.

  Several high-pitched girls laughed and squealed from the parking lot. My music definitely wasn’t up loud enough if I couldn’t drown out Lindsey, Ashley and Bridget: Courtney’s best friends. They were walking towards the parking lot linked arm in arm, surrounding Alex. That didn’t take long … he acquired a harem. I half grinned and laughed thinking of Alex dressed up in an Aladdin costume with all the girls wearing outfits like Jasmine running around him while he sang with a monkey on a flying carpet. I’m not sure he could pull off parachute pants and a turban though … or maybe he could … without his shirt on.

  I fumbled my iPod at the thought of Alex shirtless and watched it fall to the ground. When I up righted, I caught a glimpse of Nate Randall in his band uniform getting into his S-10, the first and only guy I had ever slept with. In my sophomore year, Jillian and I signed up for band after the encouragement of our parents. They felt it would help us “make more friends”. It sort of did, but I’m sure not in the way they had intended. We made a pact with Nate and his best friend, Brian, that we would get the whole virgin thing out of the way by Christmas break if we hadn’t found someone. None of us had, so we drew names and just did it. It was the most awful experience of my life. Something was missing and things had been weird between Nate and I ever since.

  I wrapped my fingers around my iPod tightly as I pushed it back into the holder and scrolled through to Green Day. American Idiot started blaring in my ears, taking away the memory of Nate fumbling with the condom, replacing it with the memory of Alex’s huge hand wrapped around mine. Back in the parking lot, Alex leaned against a jet-black classic Camaro and half the cheer squad surrounded him. I tried to get the thought of Ashley’s hand on his arm out of my mind as I turned the corner and cranked the iPod louder.

  The next four hours I spent cleaning out the exam rooms and the holding areas for the animals, trying my best to get Alex out of my head. Aunt Jamie actually let me stitch up one of the dogs that came in and tried to get me to assist in suturing a cat, but I refused.

  It was after 11 by the time she drove me home. Grant sat astute on the front step of the house when we got there, the house completely dark.

  “Oh goodness, he is gigantic!” She walked up to him and brushed both her hands down the length of his body. “I’ve never seen a shepherd this big. Maybe you should bring him in.” She tried to pick up one of his paws, but Grant refused as he did every time I tried to put a leash on him. He let her touch him a few times; then he had enough and settled next to my feet.

  “Are you tired buddy?” I scratched behind his ears as he leaned his head into my side.

  “So have you got them to agree to a car yet?” Jamie motioned towards the house.

  “No, Dad thinks I’m too irresponsible.”

  Jamie is my dad’s little sister; I was closer to her than I had been with my parents’ in recent years. “You are more responsible than any kid I know.”

  “I know.” Grant’s head butted me on my stomach. “I think they still don’t want me going to San Diego.”

  “Your parents are just being protective. You are very special to them.”

  “I know.” I didn’t know how else to respond.

  Aunt Jamie gave me a hug and then took off. I sat on the porch for several minutes with Grant next to me, enjoying the cool night air on my face and the moonlight casting everything in a bluish tint.

  “Come on boy, you ready to go to bed?” I patted his head and led the way to my room wondering what rumors would be flying at school over Alex’s public admission to stalking me.

  “You would not believe the day I had.” I spoke quietly.

  “Jillian and I only have one class together. And I got paired with the most psychotic cheerleader from hell for the first period.” I pulled on my tank top and shorts to sleep in. Grant lay in his usual spot at the foot of my bed, intently listening to my drama. I probably needed to ask for a bigger bed since Grant could stretch across the whole width of it and his paws hung off the side. “Did you get bigger while I was at school?” I laughed and pushed his head away as I lay down in bed. He put his face right up to mine, sniffed and then licked the entire side of my face.

  “Ewww Grant …” I groaned, now smelling like dog breath and hamburger. I got up and washed my face in the bathroom, trying to erase the awful smell. When I climbed back into bed it looked like he would do it again. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Pressing my hand to his nose, I pushed his face away before he could lick me again.

  “I did meet a guy today. Well … sort of, until he was overtaken by the cheerleader harem from hell, although I did picture him singing with a monkey and dancing on a flying carpet without a shirt...” Grant gave me a blank look; I’d definitely lost it. He pulled himself further up onto the bed and rested his head close to mine. “You’re the perfect man, aren’t ya?” Grant started snoring long before I was asleep. I rolled away from him and drifted into my own deep slumber, dreaming about getting my own place and moving away from all the drama. I’m not sure whether to call it a dream or a nightmare.

  c h a p t e r

  FIVE

  A few days later I was diligently working on the yellow slips of paper while Courtney worked on changing the color of her toenails… again.

  “You’re doing a good job with those.” Mrs. Stone said as she crossed through the office carrying more files. “Ms. Wilcox, if you plan on a passing grade, you should concentrate more on the work than your nails.” Courtney rolled her eyes. “Watch the counter for me?” Mrs. Stone headed down the hallway. Thankfully it had been a quiet morning and I had gotten a big chunk of the yellow forms completed before Courtney’s inquisition started.

  “So …” Courtney got up from the desk and started shuffling through a stack of the forms. “Is it true?”

  I didn’t turn to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Alex?” She wasn’t going to leave me alone so easily.

  “What?”

  “Paris? Hello? He seems to insist that you two had a fling … or … well whatever. Is it true?”

  “I’m not answering that. It’s none of your business.” I almost grinned, but resisted. It ate her up to think that Alex and I may have been an item. She tried hard all week to flirt with him but her advances weren’t returned. Even if he wasn’t interested in me, it brought me joy to know he wasn’t interested in her either.

  “Well, I don’t see why he’d lie about having something with you.” She said it as though I was such a bad thing. The front desk bell dinged stopping me from telling her to F-off.

  “Hi, can I help you?” I asked before I even looked at the person standing at the counter. Courtney tossed the yellow sheets on top of the filing cabinet making a mess; more than likely, as retaliation for my not spilling my guts to her over Alex.

  “Hi. I need to sign in.” His voice strained. The dark brown hair of his bangs barely brushed above his eyebrows, accentuating his perfectly fair skin. He was almost six feet tall, but wasn’t imposing. His hazel green eyes were just a few shades darker than my own, although he would never known that with my blue contacts blocking them. He looked briefly at Courtney behind the desk and then drew his concentrated gaze back to me, stopping a breath from escaping my lips.

  “I’m Brandon.” He slid his hand flat on the counter as if it was too heavy for him to lift and then held it out to me.

  “Hi, I’m Lacey.” It seemed so easy for an introduction, at least for me. I anxiously extended my hand to interlink with his. Warmth rushed through my body as his touch transported us to another place. The world dropped away leaving only Brandon and I. He leaned forward; my breath staggered as he rubbed his cheek against mine. His lips perfectly molded to mine; in that moment my world felt … complete. My knees went limp as I struggled to
support myself and maintain the connection with him. My hand still firmly gripped into Brandon’s as he backed away locking eyes with me. His other hand brushed just under my eye.

  Remember. His lips barely moved.

  “Hey, are you ok?” The world suddenly snapped like a rubber band against my brain. I looked around dazed, the office, the counter, my hand in Brandon’s, all still intact.

  “OH I’m sorry.” I yanked my arm back recklessly hitting my hand on the edge of the counter when I misjudged how close I was to it. Stinging pain vibrated through my palm, up my wrist and into my elbow. I grasped my hand tightly as I tried not to grimace over the throbbing pain.

  “Where is the class again?” Brandon seemed completely unaffected.

  “Sorry, she’s in our special ed classes.” Courtney grabbed his class schedule. I was actually thankful; she didn’t realize she saved me from a lot of embarrassment. I listened to their muffled voices, unable to tell anything they were saying as I walked sleepily back to the desk and settled into the chair.

  Courtney flirted and flipped her hair back and forth in front of Brandon’s face. I smiled to myself when he leaned back from the counter and put distance between himself and her. He shifted his eyes to me a few times, but never did say anything further. I carefully examined my hand; there were no marks and no indication of what had just happened.