The 20 Dates Challenge

Fifteen - Guys Are Such Dicks

Guys Are Such Dicks

I’m not sure whether I should tell Jesse or not. She’s my best friend. But Alex seemed pretty reluctant to tell anyone. I asked Connie about it, but he didn’t tell his mum about us. Or anyone for that matter.

‘Hey, cutie,’ Alex whispers in my ear and quickly places a peck on my cheek.

‘Hey,’ I reply, closing my locker.

He studies my face for a moment.

‘Everything ok?’ he asks.

‘Yeah,’ I say, pasting a smile on my face.

He doesn’t look convinced.

‘Everything’s fine,’ I say quickly, ‘I’m just tired.’

I rub my eyes for effect, but he still doesn’t buy it. He takes my hand and squeezes it.

‘Hey, Alex, who you talking to?’ one of his mates yells from the other side of the locker room.

Alex quickly lets go of my hand and turns around.

‘No one, wait up a second,’ he yells before turning back to me.

‘Nice to know I’m no one,’ I turn and quickly start to walk away.

‘Sav, you know that’s not what I meant,’ he follows me.

‘Go hang with your mates, Alex,’ I say, ‘you clearly don’t want to talk to nobody.’

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ he says, a hint of anger in his voice.

I stop walking and turn to face him.

‘Let’s just say that girls don’t like it when guys say they are just no one, especially when the guy is meant to be her boyfriend.’

‘Shush,’ he quickly puts his hand over my mouth.

I push him away.

‘What?’ I say, ‘don’t you want me to be your girlfriend?’

‘Of course I do,’ he whispers.

‘So you just don’t want people to know?’

He opens his mouth but doesn’t say anything.

‘Forget it,’ I say and turn around again.

‘Sav, come on,’ he yells after me.

I ignore him and walk faster. I find Jesse waiting in line at the tuckshop. The second she sees me, she gives up her spot in line and drags me into the bathroom. She hugs me while I cry into her shoulder.

‘Guys are such dicks,’ she whispers, smoothing my hair.

I step back and blow my nose into some hand-towel.

‘You can say that again,’ I mumble.

‘Guys are such dicks,’ she repeats.

I splash some water over my face.

‘So, what did he do?’ she asks softly.

‘On Saturday, we kissed,’ I say.

‘Wow,’ she says.

‘But now he doesn’t even want to acknowledge that I could be anything more than a friend.’

‘Again, guys are dicks.’

‘He was so sweet over the weekend. But now,’ I trail off.

‘He’s being a dick,’ Jesse says.

‘Yes, he’s being a dick,’ I laugh.

She hugs me again. Then she drags me out and back to the tuckshop. She pushes a group of year eights out of the line and takes their place. The girls start to complain.

‘Learn your place, maggots,’ she hisses at them.

They walk to the back of the line, grumbling about mean seniors.

‘That was rude,’ I laugh.

‘Hey, when they’re in year eleven, they can push the year eights around,’ she laughs back.

She buys me a chicken and cheese toastie and a small carton of plain milk and we go find the rest of the group.