NED
Too much was happening at once.
Barbie and the drunk girl in the passenger seat were going back and forth about the meaning of some guy flicking their eyebrows at her. The radio was blasting screaming metal music while a drunk guy was curled against the window, snoring like this was his own house. And Ned's pocket was vibrating, screaming to get his attention. Glancing at the screen, he saw a picture of him and his mother on vacation in Chicago. They detached from the group to take a picture with the bean at Millennium Park.
Swallowing his anxiety, Ned let the phone ring out. He couldn't imagine talking to her right now. Sometimes, she just stressed him out more. His mother never reacted the way Ned needed. Ned was pretty sure the most she knew about Ned was his clothing sizes, his sleep schedule, and his grade.
How could he explain what he was doing tonight if he couldn't even tell her he had a crush on a Hayes kid.
He texted her instead:
[This is Lena. Ned's driving. He'll call you later.]
His mother responded by calling again.
"Sorry," Sam said, elbowing Ned in the side as he was taking his blazer off. "I gotta get this off. Some asshole spilled beer on me."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Of course," Ned said, his phone still buzzing.
"So, what's the plan now?" Lena asked harshly, squeezing her hair out and onto the floor. "What are you gonna do with the Gregor?"
The knot in Ned's stomach tightened. "I don't know."
Lena's brow narrowed.
"I really don't know!"
"Then why didn't we just leave it with the football players? What are we going to do now? This whole Gregor thing isn't even the point of the night."
As she raised her voice, Ned nervously looked through the car and for moment, his eyes caught Barbie's in the rearview mirror. His face flushed and he lowered his voice and body, opposing Lena, "Why are you yelling at me? Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you," she said in a huff. "I'm just wet and freezing and it smells so weird in here like tartar sauce, but also cinnamon? It's gonna make me hurl."
"That's definitely my jacket," Sam muttered.
"But why are you yelling at me?" Ned asked again, his skin itchy from their audience in the car. "I didn't ask you to jump in the pool—"
"Are you kidding me?" She whirled at him, her brown eyes so big Ned felt ant sized.
"Sorry. I didn't—I didn't mean it like that."
"Are you really?" Her words still managed to burn. "Because I don't think you mean it."
"It came out wrong. I'm sorry."
Closing her eyes, Lena took a deep breath. Her hands were curled, resting on her thighs. "You said The Gregor was important to you and because you're my friend," she said as if Ned wouldn't understand as if he couldn't use it in a sentence. "If it's important to you..." She spoke slow and the sound dug into his back even slower. "It's important me. That's how it works. At least that's how it's supposed to work."
"You know," Ned said, tired of feeling so black and bruised all over and on the inside. "I'm sick of you trying to teach me something tonight without actually talking to me. You're hiding something from me."
Lena leaned back.
Ned saw her flinch.
She asked, "Where is this coming from?"
"If this has something to do with this big secret thing you have with Jason then just tell me already. And don't tell me it's nothing. I heard you talking to Jason over the phone."
"I can't tell you Ned."
"Why can't you tell me?" Ned seriously asked. Not as her neighbor or the kid she sat next to at lunch. He asked her as the guy who introduced her to anime. He asked as the guy who went to her very first sleepover and was the only one that showed up. He asked as the guy who wanted Lena to pick him up tonight. "We're friends. You can tell me anything."
"I wish I could, but I can't."
"That's bullshit," he said and hated the taste of it. He never cursed at Lena before and his cellphone wouldn't stop ringing and the music was too loud and Sam was right there, listening to everything.
"Fine." Her nose flared as her jaw tightened. "If you want to know fine. I did the comic exhibition without you."
Ned had to shut his eyes.
He heard once that if facing a car accident, you should relax your body, but in this moment of disaster, Ned tensed all over.
Lena explained, "I really wanted to enter, and you wouldn't work on anything. You wouldn't finish anything. I felt stupid, like I was the only one that cared, and you just gave up because it wasn't important." She threw her hands up. "We didn't even try, but I wanted to! I want to try. Just try. I don't want to regret all the things I don't do. I'm only sixteen, Ned and I already feel like a failure."
Her voice like shattering glass, like the blare of a car horn, and tires screeching. The car felt like it was floating right before the crash.
"So..." Her chin trembled, but she swallowed her sadness and rolled her shoulders back. She looked so sure of herself, dripping wet and looking Ned right in the eyes. "I asked Jason to help draw the panels. He's not as good as you, but somehow, we won the competition and starting January our comic is going to be at the museum and there's going to be an exhibition."
Ned didn't think he was going to walk away from this accident without needing medical attention.
"I can't believe you did it without telling me..." Ned shook his head, recalling all those times she cancelled hanging out because she had too much homework. "You know some of those ideas were mine."
Lena's face twisted again as she rolled her eyes and huffed closer to a roar. She shook her head and called up to the front seat, "Hey, Barbie, can you drop me off at the Jumpin' Beans Café? My boyfriend is getting off soon. He'll drive me the rest of the way."
"You got it, girl."
She turned back to Ned. "I might have wanted it, but I couldn't make you want it."
"I did want it!"
"I can't make you put in the effort, Ned. You don't understand! I go out for tons of things and get rejected over and over again. Do you know how many times I've submitted a short story or a poem to our high school newspaper? And got rejected? My own high school newspaper doesn't even want to print my stuff and I can't even inspire my best friend to get behind a project either? It feels like shit."
She crossed her arms and sat back in the seat. If she had a door, she'd slam it. "I'm not sorry."
"I can tell," Ned said. "You know it's not fair that you're making it out like I've done some sort of bad thing. I haven't done anything Lena."
"Sometimes it's what you don't say. Sometimes it's what you don't do. I can't keep telling you everything is going to be okay because I don't know if it's going to be okay."
"I don't know what you want me to say, Lena."
"A congratulations would be kind of nice, but I don't expect anything from you. Ned, I don't expect a single thing because it no longer involves you, so why should you care?"
"That's low, okay? You're pissed, but that's just mean."
"Maybe," Lena admitted, her voice brittle and on the verge of a sob. "But it's how I feel."
Barbie rolled the car up to the Jumpin' Beans Café. She put the car into park and unlocked the doors. Lena wiped her face and maneuvered out of the car. She held onto the door as she stood outside. It was cold enough now that Ned could see her breath as she spoke. "I have to go home no matter what and get changed. Text me if you need help or don't. I don't know. Just... just be careful, okay?"
Ned nodded.
"Are you coming?" She asked Sam.
Sam shook his head. "No. I'm gonna stay."
Lena smiled. "Okay, good. Take care of Ned."
She closed the door and Ned felt somehow worse that she didn't slam the door. All the fight had already burst out of her. What was left was just sad and Ned did that. Barbie waited until Lena made it inside before she put the car back into drive. "Well, boys, where to now?"
"Can you go here?" Sam asked, showing Barbie his phone screen. She titled her head but nodded and started going again. Sitting back down, Sam buckled himself again and glanced at Ned. Ned wasn't a writer like Lena. Not a talker. He never knew what to say. He might after a few drafts and some careful editing, but for now, he'd be lucky if he could even spell his own name right. He was never good at saying the right thing in the moment.
"Do you think I was in the wrong?" Ned asked Sam.
"That's not up for me to decide," Sam said, looking down between them. He hesitated, but soon slipped his hand into Ned's. He gave his hand a quick squeeze and Ned's fingers folded around his.
If it were up to him, he didn't do anything wrong.
If it was up to Lena, he was.
If it was up to his stomach, it wouldn't settle. If it was up to his heart, it'd be breaking. If they were to ask Santa Claus, even Ned knew he had been more naughty than nice tonight. He wanted to text Lena immediately... but he wondered if she would've even believed him if he apologized again, so soon after their fight? Ned wasn't sure what he'd be apologizing for.
He had never fought Lena. Period. Ever.
Which mean he didn't know how to make-up with her either. He glanced at The Gregor in his arms, doubting himself more than ever. Everyone was supposed to be winning alongside The Gregor, but Ned just kept falling flat on his face. When was it his turn to win?
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Little peek into the writer's head: This was the HARDEST chapter to write yet. It took me the longest to draft, edit, and reread. I probably rewrote the ending five different times? My game for this story is to finish it before Christmas and then, do a serious round of editing while I write the next book.
Which leads me to the question? Do you guys want another romcom from me? Or would you like a paranormal book? 👀 Let me know for science.