Friendship, Love, and Other Things That Drive us Insane

Ch.7 John's Story

I started panicking.

Holy crap what do I do?

"Esmeralda, please."

I checked the time. It was 4:56. My brother said he would be home at five. I did some quick thinking. I would let him in for a little bit, then when my brother got home, i'd send him on his way.

I opened the door slowly. "Um hey John."

He walked in, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to the couch. We sat down, and he let go of my hand.

"Esmeralda, I am so sorry." He paused, then continued. "Let me explain everything to you, from the beginning."

He was so calm. The anger, the frustration, and anything else he had been keeping in, seemed to be gone.

And then John told me his story.

“This all happened in the eighth grade. You never heard about it, mainly because you were in a different middle school than me.”

I was shocked. Eighth grade?

“Okay and before you go judging me, let me finish the whole story okay?”

I was nervous and fidgeting quite a bit, but I nodded anyway.

"In the eighth grade, I was stupid, i mean what boy isn't? Anyways. I was hanging out with some guys. We all acted like we were the shit."

I was about to interrupt but he silenced me with a gesture of his hand.

"That day the subject came up, how many of us were virgins. Now just listen, i can't explain this very well. For guys it matters how many girls you've screwed, don't ask me why, it just does. I guess you can say.. it shows how much of a man you are. At least that's what it meant for us back in eighth grade." He laughed.

He continued. "As everyone started answering the question, I started panicking. No one admitted to being a virgin, and i sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to. I was stupid okay?" He said, seeing the expression on my face.

Beep! Beep!

My hand flew to my pant pocket immediately. I grabbed my phone, I had two messages. It was my brother. He wasn't going to make it home at five like he said. My heart dropped. I really missed him, but i was mildly grateful. I really wanted to hear the rest of John's story.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Just my brother," I smiled. "Can I hear the rest now?"

He looked like he wanted to say more, but nonetheless he continued. He made himself more comfortable on the couch, he stretched out on the couch, and rested his head on my leg.

"Where was I? Oh. right. So when the question finally came around to me, I said what everyone else did. I said I wasn't a virgin. But for some weird reason, one of the guys i used to hang out with, Sampson, asked me who it was that I'd screwed."

It clicked in my head. Of course it would've been Sampson. That's why he'd said that to me that day in class. I really started to hate him just then, I could only imagine Sampson being a jerk in the eighth grade. It seemed to come naturally.

"So I picked a hot girl I saw walking by. I panicked and I lied. Everything Ended up backfiring on me in the end."

　

He paused as if thinking about how to tell me the rest of the story. He grabbed my hand and starting playing with my fingers in a nervous way, and he now looked irritated.

"A couple of weeks later," He continued. "Her belly started growing, at first it looked as though she had gained weight, but eventually it was obvious she was pregnant. And guess who everyone thought was the damn dad?" He looked at me.

I was speechless. John wasn't finished quite yet.

"I didn't come clean about lying, even then. My pride got in the way. So in the end, people assumed what they assumed. It just kills me to realize that it still follows you. All the bullshit. It's like people never forget."

It got quiet then. He was still laying down across the couch with his head resting on my leg, but he sat up. He grabbed my other hand with his free hand, and looked straight into my eyes.

My heart thumped against my ribs. He began to lean in and all the while i sat completely still. He was staring straight into my eyes as he leaned in. At the last possible second i turned my face away just before his lips could touch mine.

He sighed. "Look. Esmeralda. I know i messed up bad. I can't even explain how sorry I am for acting the way i have lately. But I will get you to forgive me. One day I will kiss you." He said this with determination, more like he was saying that last sentence to himself than to me.

"Thanks for explaining all of that to me John." I said. I stood up and started walking toward the door. "I'm going to go shower now, do you mind?" I said it as nicely as i could, but i could tell the words still stung.

"Oh." John said, taken aback. "Sure, sorry about that." He said this in a kind of defeated way, but just as suddenly as the feeling came, it was replaced by a kind of renewed energy. "Esmeralda Jordan, i promise i'll make you fall for me."

He opened the door and began to walk out, but not before giving me a long slightly suffocating hug.

I stood watching him as he got into his car and drove away, when i couldn't see his tailights anymore, I closed the door. As I took my shower, i thought about what John had said.

"Esmeralda jordan, I promise i'll make you fall for me."

My brother had gotten home a few minutes after i'd gotten out of the shower. I gave him a big hug, and told him i was going to bed. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment, and though i felt guilty because i didn't get to see my brother that often, i just wanted to go to bed.

I lay in bed, with John's words replaying over and over again in my head.

He didn't know it yet, but there was a serious obstruction in the way of his promise.

Ayden.