Bad Liar- Selena Gomez
"Woah, you're taking a fraction of my mind."
---
During lunch time I rush into the bathroom. I was prepared. Call me paranoid I don't really care. I threw on a t-shirt over my dress, not even bothering even to attempt to get out of this tight dress. Over the t-shirt, I decided to wear a light sweater. I felt colder than usual; maybe it's the reflection of my heart.
After the hug from Alice, she walked me into the bathroom and with me, but left me astray to her boy toy Casper.
At this point, I was in front of the mirror; looking deep in the depths of my hellish blue eyes, just staring, analyzing every flaw that was on my face. I had some acne scars on my face, but faint concealer tried to cover the harsh loose lines.
Basic. Simply basic.
I gather my hair in my hand, tossing it in a loose bun. The back of my hand smudges away the faint lip gloss I failed to keep on for more than an hour.
Other girls were in the bathroom as well. I kept my distance trying to seem like I'm just checking for pimples, but really I was stalling for the fact I had to face the cafeteria of eyes.
The girl next to me was checking herself out. Bright lipstick complemented her tan skin color. Dark waves cascaded around her body. She touches her lips, applying more lipstick. Her eyes connect with mine in the mirror. A slight smile arose her lips.
"S!" A supposed friend called to her. "You coming, chica?" Her friend was already halfway out the door.
"Coming." Her smile only widens to me in a semi-creepy smile. She winks through the mirror.
The days are just getting weirder and weirder.
---
I start walking to my babysitting gig right when the bell rang signaling schools ending for the day. Lauren told me at lunch she was meeting up with her soccer friends at the mall. She didn't even bother asking if I'd want to go, then again she could have known my plans on the babysitting matter. Once every other two weeks, I had to babysit these two kids because the parents were out going to marriage counseling. They were going through a rough time since Mrs. Greenly had a miscarriage.
The counseling was for two hours. Then they would go on a date to rekindle their "love." That's where I come in. I fed the kids, helped them with there homework, and put them to bed. The first kid was twelve, and Jonathan was really perverted. He is in the stage of puberty.
The second child was just a complete handful with everything. He had ADHD. Thomas was eight, and all he did was jump on the walls all day.
Sun-bleached my skin, making my skin turn a pink color instead of a tan. I'm pretty sure the girl nicknamed S would have a nice glow...
"Do you need a ride?" I hear a familiar voice say to me as I was walking. I turn around swiftly, to only see Jake in his car staring back at me through his shades. His car was driving as slow as my pace.
After the whole "making up" situation after class, I thought it was going to be simpler, and we wouldn't talk unless the project was at hand. "No thank you," I say, and walk a bit faster. Shouldn't he be in detention?
He drives slow as he tries to be even with my pace. "How many miles is it?"
If I didn't already know who he was, I would think he was a stalker. He's just Jake. A person who likes to be rude and demanding to anyone he crosses paths with. "Four miles," I say only. It was a pretty far walk, and Shannon; who was Mrs. Greenly, has told me time and time that I could always get a ride from her. I always ended up refusing ever since she had a very heated long argument with Dave; which was her husband; over the phone while driving us to her house. You would think they would have enough arguing, but the second time I accepted the free ride, they argued again. I couldn't handle it, so I just walked.
"Four miles is pretty far." He says with an edge to his voice.
"I can man-manage." I stutter a bit for some odd reason. It was pretty hot for a late summer day. It wasn't helping either that my dress was clinging to my sweat very uncomfortably. Another fact that I was wearing a t-shirt and a sweater at that.
"Okay wait!" Jake yells. I look back at him ready to tell him off and to leave me alone. He clears his throat and starts better with the normal tone of his voice. "Look... I'm not good at apologizing, and it seems I can only do a proper one when intoxicated. Giving you a ride is a way of saying sorry."
I contemplate a bit, at the end of it all, it's hot as fuck. The feel of the late August heats my back in a way only fucking satan describes. I shrug my shoulders and start walking towards his car. He lightly smiles to himself as he unlocks the door I'm about to enter. I open it and step into the slightly cooler car from the outside life of the heat. "Thank you," I mumble.
Definite silence distills at the moment, and I have no idea how to break it. Jake was confusing me all the same as he was the night he was going to kiss me. Why would he care if I was burning in the sunlight?
"Dawn?"
"Yeah."
He shrugs uncomfortably."Um... I asked you a question like three times."
I blink my eyes faster while shaking my head. "Sorry I was zoning out. What was the question?"
He sighs deeply. "What's the address?"
"Oh yeah sorry. Um, 2841 Fastby Street." I squeak out. He nods his head slightly. The silence pierces through my ears as we sit. I have no idea what to say to him, and I'm sure he doesn't either. The uncomfortable silence keeps going until I start hearing him clearing his throat every few seconds. I slowly turn my head towards his direction and eye him slightly.!"Are you okay?" I ask.
"Yeah." He says. He tightens his hands on the wheel of his car. His cheeks turn slightly pink for some unknown reason. It would be so much easier to read his moods if he took off those stupid glasses of his. A moment passed once more, and his sighs increase. I decide to ignore them. "So you changed?" He takes in my sudden different wardrobe.
"Yeah, some asshole made fun of me because all I wanted to do was have confidence." I don't regret anything for saying that.
He sucks in a breath. "This asshole now realizes maybe he was a bit harsh."
"It's too late now."
"Too late for what?"
"I don't know," I say cryptically. For my forgiveness. Does he even want it? Is this fun for him? Does he like playing with girls. Saying there beautiful when they look in the mirror, but tells them the mirror lies just as much as he has.
His fingers tap against the steering wheel loudly. "You need a ride home after?"
"No, I don't. Dave gives me rides." I say casually.
He narrows his eyebrows."Who's Dave?" His hands again tighten more around the wheel, his tapping halts.
My eyes narrow at his rude tone of voice. "Dave's one of the parents. Mr. Greenly."
"Oh." He says. His hands loosen around the wheel. His face relaxes once more. I try to focus on his eyes, they seemed angered, but relaxed in a way that I can't describe except for expressionless.
"Oh." I raised my eyes and my eyebrows and continue to look up ahead of me. "Shouldn't you be in detention today?"
He scoffs. "Do you really think I attend detentions?" I don't answer that. "Why aren't you?"
"Rescheduled it."
He nods his head. We finally arrive at the house that I'm babysitting at. I awkwardly take off my seat belt and wait for him to unlock the door. He does so, and I open my door. "You didn't have to give me a ride."
He gives me a grim smirk. "Now we're even."
I frown, and shake my head." Not even close." I shut his door in his face roughly.
I climb up the steps of the house and shut the door without even glancing back to him. As I stepped into the house, I let out a breath I didn't realize I kept in. I couldn't stand to be near him, yet he was all in my mind, even when he wasn't.
"Dawn! You are here early?" I hear Shannon coming to me from the foyer.
"Yeah, I got a ride."
"From a friend?" She asks me. She looks out the window. Jake's car was still there, but once I turned around to see his car, it sped off with a gust of smoke coming out the back.
I almost scoffed at the word friend. "You could say that." I laugh to myself. My eyes finally settle to Shannon. Her graying hair, with her aging eyes, take hold to me. She was still young, you could say. She was only 37. She was 37, and already having a troubling marriage, her aging blonde hair that was turning gray from possible stress upon her and her husband, Dave.
"Hey sweetheart." I hear Dave as he comes downstairs. "You're early." He starts walking into their kitchen.
I raise my eyebrows at him and nod my head. "Where the kids?" I ask.
"In the living room," Shannon says.
"Aunt Shannon I'm heading out now-" I look up to hear the new voice that has appeared. It's a boy. He seems to be around my age, maybe a year older. I've never seen him before, "Oh, hi." He laughs awkwardly to me.
"Hi," I reply just as awkwardly, my eyes locking into Shannon with confusion.
"Dawn, this is my nephew, Conrad. He's on Dave's side of the family. We live near his high school, so he likes to take naps before his part-time job afterward."
Conrad takes steps down towards the foyer where I stand, his smile is kind, along with his soft brown eyes.
"Mom! I need help with homework!" Thomas yells from the living room.
Shannon rolls her eyes playfully, "Be right back." She says as she walks away from Conrad and me.
I stand there awkwardly, my fingers playing with the hem of my dress.
"So... uh girls like to wear t-shirts over dresses nowadays." His eyebrows furrow in confusion at my outfit.
I look down at my attire. It's a bit silly at what I'm wearing, but I wouldn't say it's out of place. "Um... no, but I think it's cute. Why you ask?"
"Oh- nothing. It's just my little sister birthday coming up soon, and I-I uh wanted to think of a gift for her." He tumbles with words adorably.
I've never met a guy with such kindness and an interest in something so small. "So you babysit my cousin often?" He asks.
"Every once in a while." My voice soft, fixing myself a smile to him.
"I hope to bump into you more often." He says coolly with his hands ruffling his short dark hair.
"And why is that?"
"You seem like a girl who already knows the answers."
I didn't know what he meant by that, so I just smile and pretended like I knew.
"I'll see you around then." He says while heading out the door. His eyes still lock on mine.
"Maybe."
"See ya, Dawn."
"Bye." I wave to him.
It was nice to know there was still nice guys out there. It almost made me forget about you know who... but not entirely.
I walk through the hallway, to see the little devils that are sprawled across the living room. Thomas was already jumping off the walls.
Thomas eyes land on me." Deedee!" He yells my name and tries to run towards me with his sticky hands from a popsicle stick he was eating. He knew how to say my name, but he chose to name everyone that was his friend's nicknames, which was pretty limited as it was, so I let the nickname slip. Also because... Well, no one bothered to remember my name in the first place.
"Hands off." I hold his head away, as he tries to grasp me. "Wash your hands." His hand's grotesques the smell of cherry.
---
I sat at the kitchen counter doing my homework. Wild right? Jonathan sat across from me with his hands on his cheeks, staring at me deeply with his deep encrusted dirty fingernails. "Hmmm." He sighs. A moment passes. "Hmmm." He sighs again. Then he clears his throat.
I finally take my eyes away from my stupid science homework to his eyes. "What do you want, egg head?"
"Why don't you have a boyfriend?" He asks, seeming as if he was really concerned about this matter.
"I don't know?" I shrug growing bored of this usual question that he would ask me daily.
"You're very pretty." He says.
"Thanks, kiddo." I smile slightly while roughing up his hair.
"First! I'm not a kid, and don't touch my hair." He fixes his hair, with a scowl of embarrassment.
"Whatever kid," I say while taking a sip of a soda I got an hour ago.
He rolls his eyes and walks out of the kitchen.
A couple of hours roll by smoothly, and Thomas is sprawled across the couch with chocolate on his hands and his cheek. Jonathan's already in bed sleeping. I grab Thomas, and swung him over my shoulder, and march to his bedroom. Walking there halfway, my phone starts to ring annoyingly.
I roll my eyes and take it out of sweater pocket. Without looking, I answer the phone. "Hello," I say gruffly as I try to balance the boy over my shoulder and my phone.
"Oh... Uh... I didn't think you'd answer. Hi." The voice seems frantic.
"Who is this?" I furrow my eyebrows. I try to register the voice, and my mind can only connect to Jake. "Jake?" I ask the questioning voice.
"Hi." He says again pausing.
"Hi," I say back as I finally take a big breath when I plop Thomas on his bed, walking swiftly out the room.
To say that Jake called me was surprising is an understatement. Why did he call me at this time of night? "Sorry." I start while blinking my eyes faster." But why are you calling me?"
"Sorry. I- I accidentally called you." He seems rushed. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that statement, he hangs up the phone.
I take my phone away from my ear and stare at it weirdly.
Again, why is everything so weird?
---
I felt my heart race at the thought of Jake. He confused me entirely in a way I didn't understand. He invaded my thoughts, and now I couldn't shake him like a flea. As I got home that night, my head felt fuzzy, and I could only think about Jake. Why? I roll my eyes to myself as I lay in bed in contemplation on what to do with this matter.
What were my feelings exactly? Was it a measly crush? Was it an attraction? Or maybe it was just plain curiosity? I didn't know what to think or how I felt, so without thinking, I call the number that he called me from and started biting my lips as I waited for him to answer.
"Dawn?" He answers. His voice seems sluggish but semi-normal.
"Hi." I greet timidly.
"Hi." He says back just as softly. I don't know if that was to make fun of my voice of how shy it sounded, or because he was just as nervous as I was in that moment.
"Why did you call me earlier?" I click my index finger to my thumb. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
"It was on accident, that's all." He seems rushed in his tone, but sure of himself. "Is there any other reason why you called me?"
Maybe I'm overthinking everything. "I'm pathetic," I say more to myself, then to him, to really even think that he wanted to try to apologize to me.
"Yeah, you are." My chest hurts from that sheer answer. I know he's an asshole, "But that's okay; we're all pretty pathetic at times." His words bring a soothing to the pain but only slightly. I didn't know what he even meant by us.
"You aren't pathetic."
"Oh please, sunshine. I'm pathetic. You're pathetic. Everyone is, but that doesn't describe us wholly. That doesn't describe me, or even you in that little prissy mind of yours."
I squint my eyes. I don't know if that's a compliment or not. "Thanks... I guess." I say with hesitation clear in my voice.
"Shit." He curses. "I'm not good at consoling if you can't tell." He laughs to himself.
"No you're doing fine; it's not like you've hurt my feelings in the past week," I say, sarcasm rolling off my tongue. The playful attitude that Jake and I play off each other makes me want to smile and cry all at the same time.
He laughs at my poor joke, but the silence and sensitivity with his next words leave me a little in shock, "Yeah, sorry about what I said to you today, and for what I said Sunday."
"I told you. You're not even close to being even with me."
"Hm." He hums to himself. "So how am I suppose to make it up to you, baby?" The pet name sounded so natural on his lips. It was different from Miss. Priss. It was even different from sunshine. And I liked it a lot.
Before I can say anything back, I hear another voice in the background." Jake, are you ready for my hands to get on you?" Her voice seems slightly familiar, but I can't put a face on it when I'm distracted with my heart beats. With the words coming out of the girl's mouth, I've realized I'm mistaken. I'm talking to a manwhore. Flirty with a manwhore. The actual thought of going on a date to make it up to me crossed my mind not even ten seconds, and now I want to throw up.
"I have to go," I say rushingly. "Goodbye, Jake."
"Wait-"
Before he can say anything, I hang up. I look up to my ceiling and pray this desire for him would end. My phone rings again. I jump and look back to my phone to see Jake trying to call me again. I shake my head and end the call.
What am I doing?