FIRST KISS (High School Romance - FYI - In need of redrafting/rewrites)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

If Luke had had a phone, I might have called it. But I knew he didn't have it, and that gave me some breathing space. I needed to think about what he had written, before I charged in and spoke to him.

I locked the letter in my desk drawer along with the money. I wasn't going to spend it; it felt dirty even holding it. And besides, it wasn't mine: it belonged to Bryce.

I was disappointed that the letter hadn't come from Bryce. I was disappointed that he hadn't felt the need to explain himself too. Didn't he care what I thought of him right now? I lay in bed at night, just before I fell asleep, and again in the morning when I woke, thinking about him; thinking about what he might be thinking.

Really I needed to talk to him, but I didn't want to. If this friendship meant anything to him, if I meant anything to him, then he would come to me. Wouldn't he?

And then again, if he had done it because he wanted to protect me from some other guy messing me around, then did he really deserve what I was planning?

I was torn. Could I really help Jimbo steal Bryce's girlfriend with a clean conscience? Probably not.

So was I going to do it?

Hell, yes.

I wanted to make him hurt. I wanted to make him feel what it felt like to be ignored and treated badly, because even if his motivations had been good, it didn't stop what he had done being really shitty.

Of course, a lot of what I wanted to achieve depended on the fact that he liked me, and that seeing me with Jimbo would bother him. And that Taylor might still have feelings for Jimbo...

The more I thought about it the more I realised just how many variables there really were, and it wasn't at all reassuring.

*

I slid into a pair of skinny black jeans, which I paired with a baby blue cashmere sweater and black heeled suede boots. It was smart-casual; which was ideal for a house party. I didn't want to look like I had tried to hard.

The last thing I did before I left my bedroom, after checking myself out in the mirror, was slip the hundred bucks into my pocket. Just in case.

"Looking good kiddo," said Jimbo, winking at me. I had a leather jacket on and a blue scarf that matched my jumper. I wasn't really warm enough, but hopefully I wouldn't' be outside that much.

"Do you have a gift?" I asked.

"No. Do you?"

I shook my head. Did I have to bring a gift if I wasn't even invited?

"Hmm. Oh well. I have snacks and stuff we can bring as an offering to the party," he said, indicating a bag of stuff in the back seat. "So," he began, pausing to buckle his seatbelt, " are you ready?"

"Umm, I think so."

"Do you wanna talk through the strategy?"

"OK." I reached out to turn up the heater. It was snowing again, and suede boots probably weren't the best choice I could have made.

"Right, so we're here together because" - he paused to pull at his earlobe - "we're dating."

"We are?"

"Yup. We met through Frank and Ali, and just hit it off. OK?"

I nodded, all the while wondering how on earth I was going to lie convincingly about something like this. How could I lie to Anna? To Bryce?

"Are you listening?" he asked.

"Yeh. Sorry."

"Mel, what do you want to get out of this evening?"