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When I get home, I see Luciana speaking with my parents in the living room.
"What are you doing here?"
She immediately dashes up to me and hugs me. "I missed you so much!"
I look at her crazily. Okay? "How do you miss me when you see me all of the—"
She tugs my arm. "Come on. We have a lot to talk about."
We go upstairs until we're in my room. She shuts the door and locks it. She instantly went through my dressers, pulling out socks, a shirt and pants. She observes the tags on each of them and jots down something in a mini notepad.
"What are you doing, Luci?" I question.
"Do you wear boxers or briefs?"
"Both," I answer. "Why?"
"Which are you more comfortable in?"
"Boxers, I guess," I answer.
She looks me up and down. "Where's your boxers and briefs?"
"Why?"
"Turn around," she says.
I give the weirdest look. "Again, why?"
"Just do it!" she snaps.
I flinch at the tone of her voice. I turn around, then I'm suddenly shoved onto my bed. "Luci, what the hell?"
Instantaneously, I feel her pulling the back of my pants down at the small area that was showing. Then, she yanks my pants completely from my legs. I don't even have enough time to react until I feel my boxers get slightly pulled. "So, you're size is medium," she states, "I didn't know you had a beauty mark by your butt crack." She gets off of me.
I look at her in puzzlement. "What's going on? You're freaking me out."
"Take off your shirt," she orders.
I avert my eyes away from her. "How come?"
She grabs the base of my shirt and pulls it over my head, struggling. "Why do you have such a big head, Rico?"
"Luci..."
She closely looks at the tag on my shirt. "Okay, just wanted to verify your size."
"What is happening right now?"
"What? I just wanted to know what size boxers my best friend wears."
"Why?" I demand.
"Is that all you can say, Rico?" she snaps, "Why? Why? Why?"
My eyes go big at her snippy attitude. "Well, yes it is. You just pushed me on my bed to know my boxer size."
"I weigh 149 pounds," she blurts, "My panties size is 6. My bra size is a 34 C—"
"What the actual hell?"
She shrugs. "We're best friends. We should know these things about each other."
"For what reason?" I question. "Why would I want to know your bra size?"
She shrugs. "Because we need to know everything about each other."
"I don't need to know your bra size, Luci," I point out, "That's something a boyfriend should know."
Ignoring what I said, she pulls out that same notepad from her purse and scribbles in it again.
"Tell me what the hell is going on, Luci!"
A big smile appears across her face. "Nothing. Just want to keep that in mind."
"Luci—"
"See you tomorrow at school!" She pecks my cheek briefly and runs off.
What the heck just happened? She just barged in and wanted to suddenly know my boxer size, pants size, and shirt size? I'm so confused right now!
"Luci!" I chase after her, but stop when I see that she's gone.
"What happened?" Dad asks, gesturing towards my body.
I look down and completely forget that I am half naked. "Nothing happened," I sputter, "She just... and then.. I don't know what happened."
My mom smiles. "So, you two did—"
"No we didn't!" I cut her off immediately. "She just—I don't know how to explain it."
"She said that there's a trip over Spring Break for your class," Dad says, changing the subject.
"What trip?" I ask in confusion.
Dad chuckles, "She said you'd forget it, so she brought the permission slip and we signed it."
"Permission slip for what?"
"She'll tell you," Dad says. "Your mother and I are going on a trip for most of Spring Break."
"Cool," I respond, "Where to?"
"The Hot Springs," Mom excitedly answers.
"The Hot Springs?" I look at them in surprise. "Isn't that kind of expensive?"
"Luciana gave us a brochure and there's a 40% discount during Spring Break, so we're just like, what the heck? Why not?" Dad says, "Besides, it's been awhile since your mother and I had a trip together." He wraps his arm around her shoulder and kisses her cheek.
"I can't wait!" Mom eagerly squeals.
"I'm happy for you two then." I smile.
During dinner, I couldn't think straight. The only things on my mind were Luciana and Jake. Jake couldn't really like me, right? He's straight! And Luciana? I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened awhile ago.
Mom starts, "Rico, it's okay if you and Luciana—"
"We didn't do anything!" I take quick tremendous bites out of my macaroni and excuse myself from dinner.
That night, I thought about what Ken said. What if Jake is just using history to keep a hold of me? I madly start laughing at the hypothetical possibility. "Who am I kidding?" I think aloud. There's just no way Jake would like me for real. It's not possible. Then, my mind goes back to the whole fiasco earlier, with Luci spazzing out on me. What is going on with her? Why did she want to know the sizes of my clothes?
*~*
I nibble a bit at my peas and corn. Luciana does the same with her food. I couldn't take the silence any longer. "Tell me what's going on."
"You haven't been listening to your classical music," she presumes, "You don't look like yourself, when you don't listen to your music."
"Is it really that noticeable?"
She nods. "You look troubled. Plus, you're usually listening to it at this time, but you're only focused on playing with your food."
"Well, I have a lot on my mind," I hint.
"Of course you do," she says, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"My troubles concern boxers," I hint furthermore.
"I don't know why, since you're more comfortable in them."
"What was that about yesterday, Luci?" I cut to the chase.
"What was what about?"
I look into her eyes. "Luci, you know."
She grins. "Oh, that? Nothing special."
I give her the look of doubt. "Tell me the truth."
"I was just curious, Rico."
I fold my arms across my chest. "Oh, really?"
"Look, I got jealous when a relative of mine criticized our friendship, since we don't know everything about each other."
I chuckle, "Really, Luci? You let someone get to you?"
She shrugs. "I guess so."
"And what trip was my parents talking about?"
She comments, "Your parents need a break from you."
"Ouch," I grumble, a little hurt. "But, I wasn't talking about their trip. I was talking about mine."
"You need to pay attention to the announcements," she scolds.
"I do pay attention and as far as I'm concerned, there's no trip—" At the corner of my eye, I spot Ken coming our way. "Ken's coming."
"He is?" she asks, looking around.
Ken nears us, as she looks around. "Luciana," he says.
"Yeah?" she asks, facing him.
"You didn't have to—"
Luci cuts in, "It's okay. I'm sorry for the way I acted, but I'm not interested in being in a relationship right now."
"What?" Ken states, puzzled.
"You're about to ask me out again, aren't you?"
He grins a little. "I came here to give back the perfume. I have no idea how you managed to get this in the locker room."
"I spoke with a few of your teammates and they gave me your combination."
He hands it to her. "This is yours, okay?"
"I can't take that as a gift."
His mouth forms an O. "Crap. Are you allergic or have sensitive skin? Or do you not believe in perfume?"
Luci laughs, "It's just I know how much that stuff costs."
"But, it's yours to keep," he remarks.
"I can't, Ken." He places it by her.
Ken responds, "Just keep it, okay? The perfume's scent will suit you—Not that you stink or anything. Just.." He pauses, palming his reddened face. "Sorry. Just please accept it as a gift, okay?" He starts to walk off. He only says 'okay' at the end of his sentences when he freaks out.
"Wait," Luciana says, standing up.
Ken stops, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I would like to go on a date with you."
Ken folds his arms across his chest skeptically. "Really?"
She smiles. "I've been a hardass, but I'll give you a chance."
"How sweet," a very familiar voice says.
I groan in annoyance when I feel a firm arm wrap around my shoulder. "What do you want, asshole?"
He kisses my cheek. "Just came here to see my boyfriend."
"What happened to giving Veronica a chance?" I growl.
"I am. I actually have a date with her this upcoming Spring Break."
I roll my eyes. Of course he does.
"Wouldn't that be cheating?" Luci questions.
"It sure would," Ken chimes in.
Jake shrugs. "We're not real boyfriends, are we Rico?" He looks at me.
"We sure aren't," I respond, "Like I said, he's only doing this to—"
Jake smashes his lips on mine instantly and Luci's mouth drops in astonishment.
Right in the midst of it, I cringe away. "You're a douche."
"But, I'm your douche," he beams, hugging me, "Even though I'd prefer you to address me as the other nicknames. I don't like that one."
"Douche is your new nickname then," I announce, "Get used to it."
"Looks like that's my queue to go," Ken says, "See you later, Luciana." He starts walking away.
Jake's eyes lay on Luciana. "Luciana? I need to speak with you."
"About what?" she asks, eyeing Ken.
"What was all of that about yesterday?"
Luciana's attention goes to Ken. "Wait." She catches up to him and locks her arm around his. "I'll go with you."
Ken grins nervously and continues walking off with Luciana.
"So, baby," Jake asks, "What's going on with your friend?"
"Best friend," I correct. "And what do you mean?"
Jake grows serious, yet hysterical.
"What?" I demand.
"She's weird."
"And you're a douche," I insult.
"She asked me about my boxer size and practically the size of everything that I wear."
I peculiarly eye him. "You too?"
"You too?" he says, "Meaning she asked you as well?"
"Yeah," I answer, "But, it was because..."
"Because what?"
"Because we're best friends and she wanted to know, I guess." I shrug.
Jake chortles. "Does she have a crush on you?"
I sarcastically respond, "Of course she does. Luciana has an attraction towards her gay best friend."
"It could happen," Jake knowingly states, "Just like heterosexual men fall in love with lesbians."
"She's my best friend, douche."
"Who had an odd curiosity about your boxer size," he reminds.
"So?" I shrug. "We've seen each other half naked before numerous times," I blurt.
Jake strangely looks at me. "You have?"
I blush, remembering Luciana being particular about me not speaking about that to anyone. "She also gave my parents a brochure to a Hot Springs area," I change the subject quickly.
"She did the exact same thing to my parents," Jake states, with his eyebrows pinching together in puzzlement.
My eyebrows do the same thing as well. What is she up to?
He adds, "And she told my parents that I'm going on a field trip with my class over Spring Break."
"Same here."
His eyes meet mine. "What is going on? I'm sure there isn't a trip this Spring Break."
"That's what I thought."
"When I just tried to ask her about it, she ran off." He looks at me as if I know an explanation.
"I don't know," I remark, "She told me that I needed to pay more attention to announcements."
"I pay attention to the announcements," he notes, "It's a must for me to know updates and whatnot, concerning the events. The only trip that's occurring this Spring Break is the expensive trip to China for the Chinese kids."
I respond, "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
"When am I going to see you half naked?" He changes the topic.
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