“So, did she fall for it?” Hawk asked almost as soon as I stepped into the music room.
I didn't say anything, I just walked past him – all the while, keeping a morose expression on my face.
“Hawk,” I started weakly, leaving him staring expectantly back at me. “The thing is,” I continued. What followed was a long pause, and that was how far I was able to go before breaking the façade, a grin immediately stretching on my lips at my declaration of: “she totally fell for it!”
“Really?” He echoed, the sheer excitement on his face clear, making me beam more – if that was even possible.
“Trust me, SpongeBob, if everyone doesn't know about our break up by tomorrow, then Amy must have been kidnapped or something.”
“Yeah, Amy moves fast,” he chimed between chuckles, with me echoing the mirthful sounds from beside him.
With the decline of our mirth however, an empty silence remained. That kind of silence that begged to be broken, but whose request was hard to heed because the words to do so were difficult to find.
“So,” I started unsurely.
“So,” he echoed.
I, however, suddenly found myself playing with my hands, saying, “I guess we’re officially broken up now, right?”
“Ehh...more like unofficially though.” That earned a chortle from me, and from him, a smile. “Remember the first time we were here together?”
“You mean, when we made those ridiculous fake dating rules.”
“Yeah, those were pretty ridiculous,” he echoed in agreement.
“And remember that piano?” I asked slyly, watching in amusement as he rubbed the nape with a sheepish chuckle. “You almost melted into the piano that day. You were so red, I was scared you were sick or something,” I sallied.
“No, I wasn’t.”
But if anything that just made me laugh. And despite his initial protest, he soon joined in – the both of us fully aware of the fact that he was.
Soon though, my voice was slicing through. “Hawk, there is something that I really need to ask you?”
I could sense his attention on me, his questioning eyes holding mine. So, I took that as my cue to add, “now that you're no longer my ‘boyfriend,’ can I still call you ‘SpongeBob?’ You do realize that was kind of my couple's nickname for you, right?”
He laughed at that, saying, “yeah, I kind of figured it was. And you know, that's actually the best nickname I've ever gotten. It beats Beef Jerky and Pepper Chicken by about a hundred points.”
This time, it was my turn to laugh. “You're so weird.” However, a second later, and I was shooting him an accusing stare. “Hey, now that I think about it, you never did give me a nickname.”
“But what about that one?”
“Which one?”
“Round Eyes.”
“Oh! That one,” I started, pretending to consider it. “How about ‘don't even try calling me that,’” I mused, repeating my words from that day in the hallway.
“To be fair, it’s not that bad though.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s beyond bad,” I remarked, fixing him with a sly smirk.
“You're so mean,” he huffed, leaving me chortling – and despite himself, it wasn't long before he joined in as well.
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After leaving the music room, I wasn't exactly in the most educational mood, so I’d decided to skip the last period and head on home. And if I wasn't sure it was the right decision earlier, I sure did when I arrived home and checked my messages.
Yeah, believe it or not, I took the whole no texting or checking messages while driving, pretty seriously.
Now though, I stopped to check the latest messages – all from my friends.
Shay: Omg, B! What is this I'm hearing? Did you and Hawk really break up? When? Why? How? Why didn't you tell me? Where are you now? Are you ok? Ok, I’m not going to load you with questions now. But you have a lot of explaining to do when we see later.
I couldn't help chuckling to myself. She was not going to load me with questions? Trust Shay to say that right after loading me with questions.
Sunny: Oh, B, is it because of the fry issue of yesterday? I knew it was a big deal, but I didn't think you'd break up over that. Are you ok?
That brought a small smile to my face. I checked Beck's message next.
Beck: Just say the word and I'm taking Hawk to live with a wolf pack. But seriously though, are you ok? Coming over with Shay and Sunny after school. And hey, I'm not kidding about that wolf pack thing.
I felt myself chortle as I read through the last part.
Looking over at their messages again though, I couldn't help thinking of the one similarity they all shared. That question: ‘are you ok?’
Was I okay? I mean, I was, ‘cause you know, why wouldn't I be?
So, with that in mind, I texted them back saying I was fine and that I'd explain what happened later. I guessed that meant I had to start cooking up some great stories before they got here.
Now, however, I looked up from my phone, only to find the most unexpected sight lying ahead of me.
“Mom?” I questioned, wanting to ensure that my eyes weren't playing a trick on me. Because my mom standing in a house which she hadn't visited in five years, had to be a figment of my imagination.
But it was proved that it wasn’t when I saw that familiar smile ease its way to her face, with her soft voice floating through my ears soon after. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Hey,” I greeted back, albeit a little unsurely. But I still went over to give her a hug. We’d barely pulled away before I was asking, “what are you doing here?” Although, I was quick to add, “I mean, it's great that you're here, I'm just a bit…”
“Surprised?” She offered, leaving me to nod my agreement. “Well, I came to drop your bracelet.”
“You found it?”
“Yeah. I found it in one of the shopping bags we didn’t empty out. I know how worried you were about losing it, so I thought to bring it to you. I just dropped it with Carla a moment ago.”
By the time she was done, I could only offer a small: “oh.”
I really was pretty worried about losing that bracelet. It was gifted to me by my grandma, and I’ve always loved its simple customized design.
“You're back early from school,” mom piped up, breaking off thoughts of my grandma, and well, of how it's been a long time since I gave her a call. I'd add that to my to-do list right after: ‘find a good excuse to give to my mom who was now staring questioningly at me.’
“Yeah, I uh, I wasn't feeling too good.” That'd have been a pretty good excuse if it didn't end up sounding more like a question at the end.
My mom, however, didn't seem to notice. She instantly got into her mom-nurse mode.
“Honey, are you okay?” She questioned, with the concern in her voice matching the one on her face as she inspected me for any signs of ‘not okay.’ “What happened?”
Uh oh.
I really did not think this lie through. So, in the end, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I broke up with Hawk.”
Technically, that wasn't exactly a lie. So…
“Really?”
I nodded, immediately adding, “but it's fine. It's no big deal.”
However, my mom’s next words were nothing like I expected. “No big deal?” She echoed, looking like I just told her chickens could do back flips. “Sweetie, I've never seen you beam as bright as you did that day at the park. It was clear from miles away that you were both really into each other.”
Say what now?
“So, you don't have to act like everything's okay, baby. I'm your mom, I know you better than that.”
Although she was definitely way off base with the whole ‘really into each other thing,’ I couldn't help pondering on the rest of what she said. Was I just acting like everything was okay? Was I really okay?
If I was being totally honest with myself, there was this strange feeling inside me as though I’d lost something important – which was weird, because I hadn’t.
Seriously, what was wrong with me?
I didn’t get to wonder on my own question for much longer, as my mom’s voice was soon slicing through my thoughts. “What happened?”
Ok, that was officially my least favorite question.
Now, how do I tell her that nothing could have happened, because there was nothing there in the first place?
Yeah, even to me, that didn't make any sense.
Thankfully though, I was saved from having to think of a reply by the latest arrival to the room.
“Dad?”
“Hey, honey,” he greeted, features moving in a soft smile.
Great! Right on the day I decided to skip the last period, my parents had to be home. No kidding, it was almost as if all the gods of education were against me.
But wait up, it seems they weren't entirely against me. Now, my dad's attention had moved from me to the other person in the room, leaving his eyes widening slightly.
But that surprised look of his, soon gave way to an awkward one, which for the record, was about as awkward as the small smile mom had on when she said, “hey, Dave.”
“Brianna,” he breathed, managing to give an even more awkward smile of his own.
I, however, could only stare between them, silently wondering how much more awkward things could get.
Well, I sure as hell was about to find out.