*****
Ryan was becoming one of my best friends. He was funny and charming, and he was more western than Tanya or David. Which meant I had someone to go to Grizzly Rose with, or go ride horses with. I boarded my horse at the same barn that he did, and he declared that we were destined to meet because of this small fact. He always made me laugh, whether it was by doing amazing impressions of my favorite comedians, or just talking to me.
In fact, we were becoming so close that I invited him to Tanya's upcoming party on Friday. She was throwing two parties in one week. This Friday's party was celebrating our last week as seniors, and the party next Friday was celebrating our passage into adulthood being over.
I let her know as we walked into school on Tuesday.
"I invited Ryan to the party, just this week's though."
"Good," she pushed her bag's strap back up on to her shoulder, "next week's is just for our class and their hot siblings."
We made our way to my locker, where I proceeded to shove all of shit into it haphazardly. Senior check out was next Monday, and I figured I would clean it then. The mess had been a year in the making, and if I was being honest, I was proud of the bio hazard I'd created. Slamming my door shut, I glanced at the clock in the hall. I had two minutes to make it to my Civics class.
Because it was the last week, we were doing presentations and makeup work if there was any needed to be done. My presentation was the first to go, so I could have as much free time that I wanted for my makeup assignment. I'd botched an essay, and I wanted an A in this class.
Sitting down at my normal desk, I pulled out my laptop and booted it up. It was really pretty, David had made a design for me, when I had it custom built. It was deep red, with swirling music notes and in silver, my favorite quote of all time, from the Great Gatsby. "Reserving judgements in a matter of infinite hope." F. Scott Fitzgerald was genius.
It reminded me hold off on my judgements, for the hope that they would prove untrue. While that hadn't been true in most cases, it had made me more open to people, hoping that in return, they would do the same, rendering judgements useless and unnecessary.
I proceeded to write the end of my essay, and turned it in. I had three free periods in a row because I had completed so many classes early in my high school career so I could have the free time my final year. It was time for me to head to the music room and work on the song that I would be performing for Uncle Dan's client.
My music was in my locker, so I ran to it. The halls were fairly empty, with the exception of a few other seniors who like me, had an off period, and a teacher who was supervising to make sure we didn't set something on fire, or get into a fight. They were probably watching us to see if we would pull our annual senior prank.
Our prank was planned for Thursday. During lunch, we would be sneaking around the school, setting up what would be the most epic paint fight of all time. We would be filling up water balloons with paint, and once lunch was over, the war would begin. Designated people would burst into classrooms and begin the bombardment of paint, while others would have hidden the supplies in their bag, to attack their classroom and lead us into the parking lot, where all of the seniors would ditch the rest of the day.
The rest of the day passed by quickly, and I was pleased with the way my song was turning out. I was confident that the client would love it.
Climbing into my truck, I plugged in my phone so I could play music. The radio was OK, but I preferred no commercials and only songs that I liked. It had an incredible sound system. I drove a cherry red Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn with a 6 inch lift. It had been birthday present from Dan, and he even made sure that the paint job had lots of sparkles that flashed in the sun.
Pulling out my space, I fell into the slow moving line to leave the parking lot. My fingers tapped the steering wheel impatiently. I got frustrated and yelled, "It's called a gas pedal fuck heads!"
Still, we made very little progress. Flicking my eyes down, I hit the shuffle button so a random song would come on. Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" began, and I cranked the volume, belting out the lyrics.
"OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you!
But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature!"
The line in front of me began to move, and I put my foot on the gas. I was about to make it to the front, when a black Jimmy cut me off, forcing me to slam the brakes. Punching the steering wheel, the horn beeped loud and long.
And then I was rear ended. My eyes flicked to the mirror, giving the little junker that had slammed into me a death glare. I struggled getting the seat belt off me, thankful that the hit wasn't hard enough to have set off the air bags. Hopping down, I slammed the door shut behind me. I noticed the song change to Come and Get It as I strode towards the GMC in front of me. They were gonna fucking get it. And then the little shit who hit me was next.
My strides brought me closer to the driver door, when it suddenly opened, slamming into my head. I dropped to the ground clutching my now outrageously bloody forehead. A crowd was gathering.
"Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" A guy's voiced reached my ears, and a face appeared with it. He was in my grade, but I had no idea what his name was. His group was the jocks, not my musicians.
"You should be ass hole! I just got rear ended because you cut me off, and then you hit my head with your fucking car door!" I yelled, trying to stop the blood that was running down my face. Getting up, I looked up at him, trying not kick his shins. When you're little like I was, there's only so much damage you can cause.
Well shit. He's fucking cute. What the FUCK?
"I didn't know you were that close to me!" he looked desperately at my face, and reached into his car for some tissues. I took them and pressed them to the ugly cut.
"You're on my shit list." Growling obscenities under my breath, I walked around him and towards my poor baby. I ignored all of the people around me, and the fucker that was following me, apologizing profusely. Once I made it to the person who rear ended me, I pulled out my insurance card. You could bet your bottom dollar, that the little ass hole who hit me was gonna pay for the damage.
"Fuck Lily! Why did you slam the brakes?" The driver asked. Said driver turned out to be a guy that Tanya worked with on all of her instrumentals. Joe...Jason....Jake. That was it. Jake.
"Because this ass hole cut me off. But you shouldn't have been so fucking close Jake," I shouted, "it doesn't matter. The damage is done. Give me your insurance card," I demanded. Thrusting my info at him, I peeled the bloody Kleenex off of my forehead. It had clotted, and I figured that if it was fine. Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out his card and handed it over with a sorry. I ignored it and walked to my truck and hopped in.
There was a tap on my window. Rolling it down, I glared at the cause for all of this.
"Listen Lily. I'm so sorry," he flicked his long hair out his face to look in my eyes, "Let me make it up to you. Tanya Wilson? She's throwing a party this Friday. Go with me?"
"I'll think about it," my anger lessening as I stared into his green eyes. "You're still on my shit list though," I warned. He smiled and walked to his car.
Flipping down the mirror, I checked the damage. And winced at the sight of the nasty cut. I shrugged, and flipped the mirror back up. It's not like I was a stunner. The cut wasn't "ruining my good looks."
Starting my poor battered truck, I steeled myself and drove to mechanic. They were probably gonna keep my baby for a few days, but we would see.
I was right. They would keep my truck until Friday. We had multiple cars at home, but I didn't like them. They were all too close to the ground. Calling David, I was prepared to beg for rides. While the phone rang I cleaned the blood off my face and cleaned the cut. When David picked up, I told him the whole story. He was sympathetic and agreed to give me a ride until my baby was fixed. With that out of the way, I left the shop, walking the mile home.
*****
I woke up the next morning sore as hell. Being rear ended really messes up your back, I guess. Rolling over, I smacked the alarm, trying to turn it off. It wouldn't shut up, and I ended up unplugging it and throwing it across the room, breaking it against the wall.
That woke me up. I hadn't meant to break the piece of shit, just shut it up. That was the third alarm clock to go that way this year. Deciding to use my phone for an alarm in the future, I slid off my bed and onto the floor. Where I promptly tripped over books that littered the floor surrounding my huge canopy bed.
Not even bothering to try and stand up again, I began crawling towards my bathroom to start my daily routine. My lights flicked on as I stood up on the tile and I made my way over to the shower. Music started playing from my stereo and I soaped up my hair while singing along. The hot water woke me up and helped me relax while I shaved my legs.
Once I was out of the shower, I lotioned up and got dressed. A dark blue tank accompanied grey cut offs. Deciding to switch up in the shoe department, I slid on a pair of white sandals that Tanya had gotten me. My hair was towel dried quickly, and I gelled up the curls and pinned the front ones back, leaving the rest to trail down my back. A few short ones fluttered around my cheeks and eyes. I slapped on some mascara and called it good.
My eyes checked out the cut on my forehead. There was no way of hiding it. I hadn't bothered putting something over it, so it's redness was obvious. I shrugged and turned off the radio.
Grabbing my school bag from my desk, I made my way downstairs. I dropped my bag next to the door and made my way to the kitchen. We had a cook, and this morning she had made me chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Wolfing it down, I smiled at Dan who strolled in, all ready suited up and clutching a cup of coffee. He winked at me before grabbing a banana off of the counter.
When I was finished I tossed my plate into the sink and ran back upstairs to brush my teeth. David would be here soon, and I wasn't going to make him wait. After I brushed my teeth, I slid down the banister and tumbled down next to my bag. Laughing, I got up and grabbed my bag off the floor.
A car horn honked, and I knew David was waiting. Calling out a goodbye to Dan, I slammed the front door behind me and bounced down the steps that led to the driveway. Not even bothering to look at the car before I reached it, I was shocked.
Instead of David's dark green Scout sitting in front of me, a black Rubicon waited instead. My mouth hung open as I stared at it like an idiot for a minute before the driver's door opened and Theo popped his head out.
"David's car is in the shop, and he said you needed a ride today. He's sick again today, and I'm not gonna leave you stranded," he explained while staring at me. I shut my mouth, wishing that it hadn't been hanging open like I was trying to catch flies. He hopped down and made his way over to my door and opened it for me.
"Well thank you," I mumbled as I made my way to the car. As I hopped in, I briefly thanked my lucky stars that I had put on perfume and deodorant seeing has I had to practically lift myself into the Jeep because I was so short.
He started the car after I buckled up, and backed out. I reached the radio. Car manners didn't matter to me. Music was needed to alleviate the tense silence that hung between us. Touchin On My by 3OH!3 came on, and I smiled at it. Seeing as 3OH!3 was from Colorado, I had a soft spot for them.
Sitting back I hummed along to the song. Theo softly joined in with them, and I hid a smile as his deep, off key voice sang the lyrics.
"Girl you know I want you, want you, want you now and I know you want me, want me, want me now cuz it's not that much to figure out so baby let's get down."
My heart sped up at those lyrics. He stopped singing right after that line ended. What was that supposed to mean? Clear Headed Lily pointed out that he only sang that part out of the entire song. Whatever.
"So what happened to your head?" he asked as he turned down the radio.
"I got rear ended yesterday, and when I went to yell at the ass hole who cut me off, he opened the door right as I walked up," was my rushed explanation. God! I sounded like I wanted to tell him everything, I thought to myself.
"Are you OK?" He sounded concerned. Was he concerned?
I simply nodded, focusing on where we were. We were a few blocks away from school. I found myself wishing that we weren't so close to my destination. I had missed him. He was never far from the front of my mind.
We slipped back into silence. Yet this time, is was comfortable. We pulled up outside the front doors. I looked out the window, and felt a brief case of nerves.
This school had been my home for four years, and it was about to be over. It was scary to think that I was about to be a real adult in little more that a week. Shaking my head slightly, I reached for my seat belt. Theo had already jumped out of the Jeep and was walking around to my door. Girls stopped to stare at him as he opened my door for me.
I grabbed my bag and stood on the skid guards while mentally preparing myself for the huge jump that it would take to reach the ground. My truck was lifted too, but Rubicons sit much higher, even with a normal set of tires and no lift. He had 37's at the very least, and what had to be an 8 inch lift. I'd ask him about it sometime.
My eyes flicked to him, and he smirked at me. Stepping closer, he grasped my waist and lifted me easily away from the Jeep. He pulled me in closer, and I set my hands on his muscular arms as he lowered me slowly to the sidewalk. Our eyes locked. His left eye had a lighter ring of blue around the pupil. It made his eyes even more beautiful.
My feet touched the ground and the spell was broken. His arms dropped, and he backed up. I blinked and realized that I was getting death glares by a large percent of the female population. And that included a few old teachers too.
"Thank you for the ride," I mumbled, looking down at my sandals, and noticing that they had flowers on them.
Holy shit. How did I not notice that? These are even cuter now...
My thoughts trailed off as I noticed that Theo had been talking for a few moments. I was so easily distracted.
"...not a problem. I'll see you at 3?" he asked. I nodded and gave him a small smile. Returning it, he walked around to his side, hopped in, and drove off.
My heart leapt at that. What promises those 5 words held. Smiling to myself, I headed up the stairs to the front doors.
*****
The day passed by in a blur. Tanya and I spent most of the day in the music room, fooling around and gossiping. I told her all about Theo giving me a ride, and she just smiled knowingly at me the whole time.
Now, as I loaded my bag up with more personal belongings from my locker, I reflected on the ride here. He had only sang that one part. I smiled at the thought. He was a truly terrible singer. What did that mean though? Did he want me? Or was he acknowledging that I had wanted him?
I shook my head and shut my locker. My eyes checked the time, and I headed for the front door. School was finally over. I was stoked for tomorrow. We were gonna have an awesome day.
Then I frowned. If David's car was in the shop, how would he and I be making our getaway? I pulled out my phone and shot him a text. And promptly smacked into Theo's chest. While I had been thinking and texting David, I had made it outside, down the stairs, and over to the pickup lane.
Backing up, I rubbed my nose and glared up at him. He was bent over laughing his ass off at my surprised and angry expression.
"I'm sorry," he wiped tears from his eyes as he continued, "the look on your face!" he laughed some more as he opened to door. I turned my nose up at him and hiked my bag higher on my shoulders before lifting myself into my seat. Theo shut my door and hurried over to his side.
Starting the car, he glanced over at me and chuckled some more as he pulled out into the moving traffic. I rolled my eyes and turned on the radio. He had put the top down some point during the day, and the beautiful outside air rushed in, lifting my hair and sending it flying around. Theo reached over and grabbed a curl.
"You've got some insane hair," he observed as he tugged on it and dropped the curl on my shoulder. I shivered at the touch of the soft curl landing on my skin.
"Thank you. I think."
He merely smiled. We sped home, where I thanked him again and walked up to the door. Turning around, I waved before going inside. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. David had responded. Theo would be our ride. I smiled. He was gonna help out us young juvenile delinquents as we endeavored to escape the school? I shot back a response ad headed upstairs to find my outfit for the fight tomorrow.
Sorry, again for my lame timing! Haha what do you think? Vote, comment, love, share! :*