Just Getting There

World War III

Think about it. Those were the words that kept replaying in my head. For some reason I felt as if his words had a double meaning.

The first meaning could be to think about the whole situation with Aaron. The way he never wanted to be seen publicly with me. The way he always enforced the fact that we had to be kept a secret.

The second meaning could be deciding whether or not I liked Brian. I already knew I did, but I guess the real decision is embracing the fact that I do.

I was lying on my bed, home from school. My mom and D.J would be back soon and I planned on telling her that I was going to Brian's. I knew how dumb it sounded to tell her, but I just wanted an excuse to talk about him to someone. I never wanted to tell her about Aaron. My mom would start trippin'.

I plugged in my earbuds into my iPod and started listening to "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green. I shut my eyes and tried to push every thought about men out of my mind.

Suddenly, there was a tug at my foot. My eyes opened in fright, until I saw my mother. I removed my right earbud.

"Hey, Jay." she began, "How was school?"

"School was school."

"Still bad? Don't worry it'll get better." she said, rubbing my back.

I sat up. It was time to tell her about Brian. "Umm mom, tomorrow I have to go to my friend, Brian's house." I asked nervously.

"What do you mean by 'have to'?" she asked sternly.

"I have a project with him... for drama class." I said.

"A project? Hmmm. I don't know. What's he like?"

"He's a really cool kid. He's really respectful. He knows how to behave with others- "

"Is he a nerd?" she said with widened eyes. It was funny how my mom hated nerds. There was a whole story about them when she was in high school.

I laughed, "No, mom. Brian is most definitely not a nerd! He has more or less of the personality Taj has."

"Oh, okay. Well I guess it's fine then. Oh, but didn't you want a ride early in the afternoon to Chuck E. Cheese's? When are you meeting with Brian tomorrow?"

The Chuck E. Cheese part was my cover up for that date I was going to have with Aaron. We were actually going to the movie theater about a block down to go see 'No Strings Attached'. "Uhh, no. Taj couldn't go anymore because his parents are taking him to see his grandmother." I lied.

"Alright." she said as she lifted herself off my bed and exited my room.

The rest of my night consisted of me just lying around in my room, blasting music, and occasionally going down stairs to get some food. I honestly didn't want to think. I avoided my cell phone, which I powered off, hadn't logged into Facebook or AIM. I didn't check my email either. I wished I could tune the world out. And as I laid there in bed, it came to me. I was done trying to please everyone and not trying to have fun of my own. I was going to stand up Aaron at the movies tomorrow.

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It was about one o'clock in the afternoon. Outside was a blaring ninety-six degrees outside. The sun was up, shining brighter than I've ever noticed before. I had just finished getting ready to head over to Brian's. After frantically going through my entire closet for the right outfit, I finally settled for an orange sundress and some white flats. I took my brown schoolbag and headed down stairs to my mother's car. I stopped by the mirror to check my newly cut and straightened hair. I couldn't wait to see Brian's reaction to me.