FIVE
The week went somewhat normally.
Between jumping into the old habit of school schedules, getting used to not having as much cash from not working, and trying to avoid Jameson as much as possible, I was tired. School physically drained me. I missed summer.
"What are you doing after school?" Jameson asked from beside me. Mrs. Ricketts allowed us to 'chat quietly in our seats' after we finished our lesson. I'd rather she kept teaching.
"I have to work," I said, keeping my head facing forward.
"Oh," he muttered, slumping in his chair.
And then I felt guilty. Maybe Dylan was right, after all. I could just be a nice person and spend some time with him, see how it goes. I wondered how many other poor souls that the daunting Jameson was trying to befriend, or if it was just me. I mentally groaned.
"And there's a back to school party . . ." I sighed. "At the boat landing. Do you want to go?"
Jameson tried keeping it subtle, but he sat up in his seat and turned his body almost completely towards me. "Really? Yeah, sure," he said, then cleared his throat. "You can call me when you get off and pick me up?"
Oh. So we had to go together? Well, okay.
After school, I texted Mac and Dylan and warned them that I was bringing Jameson to the party. Mac was elated, very excited that I was branching out and being social for once. Dylan didn't even respond, but that was typical.
We were kind of busy at work. I guess everyone was treating themselves to some mediocre dining after a successful week. I made fifty bucks in tips, which was more than enough to get some good beer and to stick in the jar for Mom. As fast as humanly possible, I went home to change and then called Jameson.
He told me his address and (after a quick stop to see Jack to get some alcohol) I went on my way. He lived a little ways out, on the edge of town, in an old apartment building off the main road. I wasn't sure I'd ever even noticed them before. The shutters were dirty and the sign was missing letters. I parked out front of the building and waited.
After a moment, I spotted Jameson at the front door. I was almost taken aback. He looked kind of . . . nice. He was wearing a black Polo and some ripped jeans. I looked away when he opened the door and slid in.
I inhaled the scent of his cologne, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
We drove in a slightly uncomfortable silence until I turned on the music. I didn't know what to say to him and he wasn't making any effort to say anything either. A few minutes before we got there, he finally opened his mouth.
"Thank you," he said, and I looked over while at a red light, "for inviting me."
He looked almost childlike, looking at me through his eyelashes. I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by my phone ringing. Thank God.
"Hello," I greeted.
"Where are you? I need boooooze."
"We're on the way, Mac. I got some beer."
"Perfect. See you soon, love you, bye."
I chuckled to myself. She must have been a few drinks in already. There were so many people at the landing this time that I had to park a million yards away. I shut my car off and reached into the backseat to grab the twelve-pack. That feeling in my chest that came around when I was near Jameson was so strong, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest like a caged animal.
Jameson got out as soon as my fingers grasped the handle of the pack and I sat back upright in my seat, taking a deep breath to recuperate. I closed my eyes for a moment, willing my body to chill out.
He was leaning on the back of my car after my little moment. I cleared my throat. "Do you drink?" I asked.
"Nah."
Why the hell would you come to this party then?
"Someone might have some sodas or something, then," I said, walking side by side with him towards the bright lights by the water. "Are you liking Edgewood High so far?"
Jameson laughed beside me. "It's alright. I don't really have anything to compare it to, though."
"You didn't go to school in Washington?"
"Uh . . . no. I was, uh, homeschooled."
"Huh," I mumbled, not really sure if he was lying or just awkward.
I saw Dylan standing with Mac and Marcus by her car. Well, he was standing there and they were making out around the corner on the side. He looked bored, and kind of annoyed. I rushed over to him, Jameson in tow.
"What up, brah?"
He visibly relaxed when I approached. "Thank fucking God," he breathed, gesturing towards the performance on the side of the car. "I thought I was going to have to listen to them fuck in the backseat," he shivered, gagging for dramatic effect. "Please separate them before I leave."
I frowned. Turning around the corner of the SUV, I slammed my hand against the metal, making them jump. They didn't peel off each other, though. I cleared my throat, looking between the two of them expectantly.
"CADE MUSTAF!"
"Mac Pearson?"
"Cade Mustaf!"
She tackled me like a professional linebacker into a hug, which was stupid since she saw me six hours prior at school. I could feel Jameson watching this interaction between the three of us.
"Please pay attention to Dylan. He said he's gonna' leave," I whispered into her ear and she backed up with wide eyes, nodding erratically. "Hi, Marcus."
He just nodded his head at me. Mac brushed past me and sat next to Dylan on the back of the trunk. "Wanna' shotgun beers?" she asked with pleading doe eyes, and I was starting to understand that Dylan was totally fucked. He was in too deep. He broke into the case without question.
"Sorry," I said to Jameson, returning to his side. "Do you want me to introduce you to anyone? Girls here are always trying to hook up. Like, a lot, actually. It's kind of overwhelming."
Almost as if I could predict the future, along trotted Sophia. I glanced over at Mac, who also saw Sophia coming and was trying to say something with her crazy eyes. Groaning to myself, I tried to think of a lie before she even got to me.
"Hi, Cade," Sophia peeped.
I smiled. "Hi, Sophia."
She was cute. Not cute like I'd want to make her my wife. No, more like a pet bunny. Very cute. I wouldn't ever own one, though. She had a round little face and probably came up to my elbow in height. Cute.
"How are your classes?" she asked, and I saw her glance over at Jameson nervously. When I followed her gaze, I found him glaring down at her dauntingly.
"They're okay," I said and cleared my throat, making Jameson look away. "Yours?"
We continued the small talk for a few minutes. I didn't mind talking to her, necessarily. I just knew she liked me (and I think she had for a while) and I just didn't want to give her the wrong impression. She was very nice, though, and I was polite.
"Do you want to go sit on the dock?" she asked sweetly. I guessed she wanted privacy.
"Oh, uh . . ." I looked at Jameson, finding him looking at me with an emotion I couldn't quite place. "I would, but I'm here with Jameson and I don't wanna' just leave him alone, ya' know?"
She looked between us for a moment before nodding quickly. "Of course! Yeah, sorry. I'm Sophia, by the way," she said with a smile, and Jameson just looked at her.
So he wasn't so friendly with other people.
Sophia's friends called her back over to where she came from, leaving the two of us alone. I dug in the dirt with my shoe, not really sure what to say. Thankfully, he broke the silence.
"I like your shirt, by the way."
I looked down at my vintage Pokémon shirt that I found at Goodwill. My head snapped up to his face so fast that my neck cracked, my jaw dropping. "You like Pokémon?"
He smiled. "I love Pokémon."
Okay, maybe I could deal with him.
"Dude, no one in this town likes Pokémon!"
"Well, we do," Jameson said, a sly smirk on his face.
"What's your favorite?"
"Infernape," he said, like there was no other answer. And I almost lost my shit.
What are the chances that out of the nine hundred Pokémon that he could have picked from, his favorite was also my favorite?
"Um, that's my favorite."
He looked at me for a moment, shaking his head. "It was pretty much the only cartoon I watched when I was a kid," Jameson said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "We didn't have cable most of the time but when we did, I was watching it."
I pulled out my phone and showed him the app I played and all of my achievements. We huddled up and I could feel his body heat next to mine. I could hear his breath and smell that cologne again. His fingers reached over to turn the screen towards him a little bit and brushed against my fingertips, making my body freeze upon contact.
It was like lava surrounded our bodies. Like a swarm of butterflies and moths flapped their wings across my skin until they burrowed in and brushed against my insides. Like the earth itself shattered beneath us and all I could see was white.
I had to step away with an awkward chuckle.
Mac snapped me out of it. "Cade! Come drink," she yelled way too loudly. I glanced at Jameson before pocketing my phone, gesturing for him to follow.
Mac, Dylan, and I chugged two beers back to back before Mac felt like she was going to puke. She went to sit in the car with Marcus so I sat next to Dylan and leaned back on my hands. Jameson lingered nearby, but I couldn't imagine this was all that fun for him.
"Want another?" Dylan asked and I shrugged, taking the beer that wasn't all that cold anymore.
I wasn't sure if it was because we'd drank those two so quickly or because I hadn't drank in a week but I was feeling more than tipsy. My eyes trailed along the heads of people standing around with drinks in their hands, talking amidst each other over the booming trash music blasting from someone's speakers.
When I let my eyes drift back over to Jameson, I tried not to think about the weird feeling that came over me ten minutes ago.
He was standing there, hands in his pockets, but there was a tenseness about him. His squared jaw worked as if his teeth were grinding against one another, nostrils almost flared. I followed his gaze across the parking lot. I furrowed my eyebrows.
To preface, there used to be four of us in our friend group. Basically, Dylan, Mac and I were also friends with a girl named Julianna.
Julianna Hernandez was a grade above us when we'd met her. She lived next door to Mac so naturally they started hanging out, slowly blending into our group. I liked her from the start. She was eccentric and kind, always looking out for the rest of us. We all meshed so well for a while.
Something happened almost three years ago that I could barely remember, but we didn't talk to her anymore.
So imagine my shock when I caught Jameson holding a fearfully intense eye contact with Jules across the landing. I looked between the two strangely, trying to figure out if this was anger or sexual energy. Did they know each other? Had they already met at some point?
Did they like each other?
It felt like hours before Jameson looked away, his eyes immediately meeting mine.
"Y'alright?" I asked, a bit of a slur in my voice.
He cleared his throat. "Do you maybe want to show me that skatepark?"
I shook my head, looking over at Dylan who was distracted by something on his phone and then back at Mac who was leaning her head against the window of her car.
"I don't think I can drive yet," I said truthfully, feeling the sway which felt more like the liquid in my brain sloshing around in my head. "And we only just got here–"
"I'll drive," he offered with pleading eyes.
I didn't want to say no, because he looked like he really wanted to get out of here for some reason. But I always stayed with my friends at these parties until the end (or until someone needed to go to bed with some Tylenol and a heating pad).
But maybe it was the alcohol talking when I replied with very little hesitance, "Okay, let's go."