Remember When #featured #AllStars

Chapter 18

THE RIFT

I readied myself all morning for The Big Production I was going to be putting on; the one-woman show entitled, "Fuck You, Trip Wilmington."

By lunchtime, I was all fired up. Which, in my world, meant my Big Plan was nothing more than to give him the cold shoulder, letting him know that I wasn't going to be his hungry little lemming anymore, being so available to him in exchange for the few crumbs he'd deign to throw at my feet.

So, when Trip sat down next to me and gave me a big, grinning, "Hey there," I completely ignored him and turned my attentions across the table to talk to Cooper.

"It was such a good game on Saturday! I couldn't believe the score. What was the final? Twenty-eight to ten?"

Coop swiped the back of his hand across his chocolate milk mustache and said proudly. "Twenty-eight to seven."

"Wow, seven! Even better. God, and that wasn't even counting your last touchdown that the ref ruled out!"

Trip, unwilling to be ignored, thought he was being funny when he nudged me in the arm. "Layla? Hellooo. What? You don't even say hi?"

I gave out a sigh, as if I thought him rude for interrupting. I turned my head to face him and used the most bored voice imaginable to say, "Hi," then went back to my conversation with Coop.

"It's so weird that that was the last game. I'm not going to know what to do with myself on Saturdays now!"

Cooper gave me a dirty look out of the corner of his eye, smiled and invited, "I'm sure we could think of something."

I didn't hesitate to smile back and respond, "I bet you could."

Game on.

I knew I was being overbright and more than a little flirty while talking to my ex-boyfriend right in front of Trip. He'd never seen me like that before and I'm sure he'd thought I'd gone schizo. But I wanted to show him that even though he didn't think I was all that and a bag of chips, there were plenty of other guys who did. Plenty of other guys who would be honored to have the full force of my attentions. Plenty of other guys that wouldn't make me feel like I was wasting my time.

I locked onto Trip with my peripheral vision, could tell he was intensely watching my conversation with Coop like it was a tennis match, a dazed look on his perfect mug. Good. He probably didn't know what the hell was going on, but at least I had the satisfaction of throwing him off balance.

Cooper took my response as motivation, leaned across the table and said matter-of-factly, "Well, okay then. We'll have to think of something to do on Saturday."

His tone made it clear that he was asking me out for more than just an ice cream soda at the corner drugstore, and that it was already a foregone conclusion that I'd agree.

I couldn't help noticing how his eyes flicked toward Trip for just the slightest second which was sort of weird in a pissing contest kind of way. But I was even more aware of my surprise at how willing Coop was to take the bait. Even though I'd been flirting like mad with him, I was still startled that he'd actually asked me out so quickly. I felt kind of guilty for leading him on, but I was too far gone to turn back now.

I gave a shrug, like it was no big deal that Coop had just propositioned me in front of our entire group of friends and said, "Yeah. Sure! Sounds like a plan. It'll be nice to hang with, you know, a guy again."

Rymer chimed in with, "So then why the hell are you making plans with Coop?"

Cooper gave him the finger as Sargento and Pickford joined in with Rymer's rowdy whooping, and I smiled so wide it hurt, trying to make it look like I was having the time of my life, all the while ignoring the disapproving glance I got from Lisa.

Everyone knew that I'd been spending a lot of time with Trip, but no one knew for sure just exactly what we'd been up to together. The rumor mill had probably assumed that Trip was only slumming around with me because he was getting some. In one fell swoop, I'd managed to let everyone know that my constant companion was more of a "girlfriend" to me than a boyfriend.

In other words, with one spiteful comment, I'd managed to completely emasculate him.

It wasn't exactly what I'd set out to accomplish- ripping him to shreds while simultaneously giving the impression that I was some sort of pent-up slut- and I realized for the first time how powerful the weapon of words could be. When you're popular, people listen.

Believe me, it wasn't a pleasant revelation.

Trip was uncharacteristically quiet after that, but after what I'd just done to him, what did I expect? I'd felt justified at the time, but I started to feel awful about tearing him down. Technically, Trip was still "The New Kid", coming to some strange town with all new people, trying to fit in, and there I was, treating him like a pariah at the cool kids' table. The pang of guilt ate away at me as I gnawed at my bottom lip through a fake smile.

When the bell rang, Trip followed on my heels across the hall, but I pretended not to notice. Just as I went to grab my books, he stepped in front of my open locker. He put his hand on my arm, did a quick scan to make sure we weren't being watched and leaned in to ask under his breath, "What the hell was that in there?"

I was trying to recover from the bolt of electricity that was running through me at the nearness of him, but I managed an innocent, "What the hell was what?" as I shook off his hand and squatted down to retrieve my books.

Trip stood to the side, allowing me access to my locker, which I was pawing through with abandon. "Come on, Layla. You know what. Why are you treating me like I'm some piece of garbage all of a sudden? Did I do something?"

Ha!

I shrugged off his question and said evasively to his knee, "Trip, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just trying to get to class right now, okay?"

I stood up to leave, but he slapped a hand up on the wall next to my head, obstructing my path. I clutched my books to my chest as he backed me against the lockers, blocking my escape. His eyes were shooting icicles as he spat out, "Oh, really? You have no idea what I'm talking about? That's just an ordinary day for you, then, huh. Hanging all over Coop Benedict, treating me like a disease... Obviously, you're pissed about something."

My heart was beating like crazy, having him that close. His arm braced on the wall next to my head, the entire length of his body just inches from mine, from the tips of our noses right down to our knees. Kids were shoving their way through the halls, bumping into Trip's back every few seconds, pushing him even closer against me, his chest pressing against my book-laden arms in waves. My eyes were shooting up and down the corridor, trying to look anywhere but at his face, not an easy task considering it was only two inches away from my own. "Why would I be pissed?" I said like the fraud that I was.

"I don't know, Lay. Why don't you tell me?"

He looked so broken, so legitimately hurt, but I was determined not to get sucked in. All I wanted was to tear into him, make him explain what he put me through over the weekend, lay everything out on the table. But what would be the point? The only thing I could hope to accomplish would be to force Trip to say out loud what I'd already learned to be true: If I was in love with him, that was my problem to deal with. I didn't think I could bear hearing him say outright that he didn't feel the same.

I guess he took my silence for stubbornness, because the next thing I knew, he pushed off the wall and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. You want to play games, go right ahead. I don't have time for this. You want to talk, you know how to find me." At that, he stormed off, throwing a punch at a random locker mid-stride on his way down the hall.

 ****Oh, Layla, Layla, Layla. What did you go and do? But just what was Trip's deal anyway? Why didn't he call? Do YOU think he's just been playing her?***

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