Chapter Thirty-Four
It was an unassuming spring day out, which reflected on the mood of the students. On the outside, the atmosphere created an illusion of perfection. The sky was a radiant shade of blue, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Heat was everywhere, thanks to the sun, though was bearable because of the warm breeze drifting through the air. Birds were chirping, and not in the oh-so annoying way they had the occasional tendency to. Their notes were pretty, quiet, and suited the day impeccably.
The building of the high school was, like the day, toned down and in no rush. There was neither heat blasting from the loud radiators nor air conditioning to cool the rooms due to the weather outside. A few windows in classes were open, allowing small gusts of wind to swoop in, rustling girls’ hair and easing the temperature of some of the boiling students. Doors that were normally closed were open, and a sense of serenity washed over the entire school. Metal lockers that were ordinarily slammed shut were eased close, lessening the sound in the hallways. Everything was perfect.
I had awoken to a “Good Morning!” text from Chase, which truly set the mood for the day. Being me, I replied with, “I WAS SLEEPING!” I then quickly added, “See ya soon :),” just so he knew I was good humored about the whole situation. From the second my ears met that distasteful buzzing sound of my phone from receiving a text, I knew it was going to be an extraordinary day.
Even my outfit fit the scenery of the day. Oppose to my usual laid back darker colored tones, I had chosen to wear brighter, happier colors. Orange was the color of my top. It’s such an under appreciated color, well, at least in my mind it is. The tank top I had on was loose fitting, and had somehow found it’s way into my possession. I didn’t even remember buying it. On my bottom half were a pair of white shorts that stopped at my mid-thigh. They were cute; appropriate for the weather, and, at least in my mind, fashionable. On my feet were orange Vans that I rarely had the right ensemble to pair with. I looked cute.
From my outfit, to the incredible sense of tranquility in air, I knew the day was going to go well. I was on my way to second period History, in which we were planned to watch a movie. A MOVIE! Nothing could ruin th-
“Jules!” someone said. They didn’t wait for a reply and roughly grabbed my arm, taking me, and my preexisting notions that today would be “perfect” along with them.
My gut reaction was to pull apart, but they weren’t having it, and tightened their fingers around my arm. They led me past the jumble of calm madness, which happened to be a rather oxymoronic concept, and kept walking. I allowed myself to be pulled all the way to the auditorium, not having the desire to start a scene on a day like today.
They quickly pushed open one of the doors, and we entered the dark room. There was no one inside, and it was pitch-black. I was taken over to what seemed to be a middle row of seats, though because of the blackness I wasn’t quite so sure. I sat myself down in a seat, next to them, waiting patiently for them to speak.
“I’m sorry,” they said after what felt like an eternity of silence, though it was probably more likea few seconds.
“You should be,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“No one’s talking to me! I already apologized to them, but Owen still won’t answer my texts, Trent has totally ditched me, Kim blocked me on every single fucking social media site there is, Izzy has been avoiding talking to me in the politest way possible, and even Mia is fucking ignoring me!” they ranted.
“What do you want me to do, Logan?” I questioned, “I’m still pissed at you and you sure as hell don’t get my sympathy. You brought this on yourself.”
“I apologized, didn’t I?” he said.
“Yeah, but what does that five-letter word really mean? Sorry. When I was little, and made a mistake that term would tumble out of my mouth as if on reflex. It didn’t mean a thing to me; it was merely the proper etiquette I had grown up learning,” I paused, turning to see him looking down at the grim black-carpeted floor. “What I later learned is that actions speak louder than words. If you show that you are genuinely sorry, then your apology will hold more validity.”
“So what am I suppose to do, Jules?”
“Apologize again,” I reasoned.
“What if they turn me down again?”
“They probably will.”
“So then what will I do?”
“Show that you’re sorry by your actions, and keep apologizing until it sets in that you are actually sorry,” I said, not understanding how this basic form of logic couldn’t be apparent to him.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” he asked.
“Figure it out,” I said, standing up, ready to leave and continue on with my now corrupted perfect day.
“Jules, wait,” he said, reaching up and tugging on my arm. I sat back down, not fighting it. I turned back to him, and he tried to make eye contact with me, but I wasn’t having it. “I really am sorry.”
“Then why did you do it in the first place?” I questioned less than lightly.
“Because I’m idiot,” he said, causing a small smile to appear on my face.
“Tell that to the others, and they may actually understand,” I said, standing up once again.
“I did it because of Katrina,” he said, as I was about to exit the row of seats we were sitting in.
“Katrina?” I said, spinning around to look at him.
“Katrina,” he nodded.
“What the hell does Katrina Selby have to do with this?” I asked, moving my hands up to my hair. I undid the tight elastic that was holding my wavy hair in place, and placed it around my wrist, beginning to push my hair back with the use of my hands into a ponytail.
“Everything,” he said. “I’m sure Aiden told you parts of the story, but he didn’t tell you the whole thing.”
“What he did leave out?” I asked.
“You want the whole story?”
“Sure,” I said, taking the hair tie off my wrist and mindlessly wrapping it around my hair like I had done so many other times before.
“It was the beginning of freshman year, and I was walking to football tryouts-”
“You play football?” I questioned skeptically.
“I used to,” he shrugged.
“Chase plays football,” I commented.
“Yeah, we can discuss your shit taste in guys after I finish my story,” he said, shaking his head.
“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. I sat back down in a seat, knowing that I would most definitely be missing an “educational opportunity”, or in my case, sleep. Who actually pays attention to movies during school?
“I was walking to football tryouts, and I passed the bleachers. From my side eye I caught a glimpse of a girl sitting by herself, under them. She had blonde hair, and though I couldn’t fully see her face, she was pretty,” he shared, closing his eyes probably to capture the sight in his head. “I stopped, backed up, and went up to her. I asked why she was alone. She held up a joint, and I nodded, understanding. I told her my name was Logan, and she said hers was Katrina and that talking to her at that moment probably wasn’t the smartest idea, considering she was higher that a kite caught in a tornado.”
“I don’t like weed,” I said, yawning.
“I know,” he said, resuming his story, “but Katrina did. I didn’t go to football tryouts on that day. I went behind the bleachers, and smoked pot with her. It was the first time I had tried it, and I liked it. After that day, the two of us became… pot buddies I guess you could call it.”
“Gross,” I mumbled.
“One day, I asked why she smoked. She told me there was no reason to live her life and that weed was the only thing that got her through it. Something inside of me compelled me to kiss her, so I did. She wasn’t expecting it, but went along with it. The next day, I returned to the area we had claimed as our own, under the bleachers, and she was there, as usual, but this time, she was smiling. She told me she didn’t want to smoke anymore, and that she thought we should go out with each other.”
“So Katrina stopped smoking, but did you?” I asked.
He sighed, looking down. “No,” he whispered shamefully, “but she stopped. She changed her life around. She became a cheerleader, and began talking to people. One of those people was Aiden Heath. I had witnessed them conversing with my own eyes, but at the time hadn’t assumed anything. The two of us were dating, and we were happy. I-I loved her.”
“It’s okay,” I said, patting his knee in an attempt to be comforting, something I think may not be in my ability span. When I was younger, and if either Emily or Taylor were for some reason in hysterics with mascara streaming down their faces, I was not the person to go to fore condolence, and they knew it. I’ve always sucked at calming people.
“A couple months passed, and we were happy- at least, I thought we were. One day, out of the blue, I received a text from Katrina. I smiled when her name appeared on my screen. I read the text. She said that she had kissed another guy, and was breaking up with me. I flipped. I tried to talk to her the next day, but she wasn’t having it. She had broken up with me via text, and that was that,” he said, running a hand through his dark hair.
“Bitch” I muttered.
“I cried. I actually cried when I realized that we were for some unknown reason done. I had offered to get back together with her, but she turned me down. I broke. When I found out that Aiden was the guy she had kissed, it sent a rampage of uneasiness through me, and I exploded,” he said.
“You punched him,” I said.
“I regretfully did,” he sighed.
“Violence is never the answer.”
“Depends what the question is,” he muttered.
“Why did you kiss me, you wee dating Kim?” I asked.
“Because after hearing what Katrina had done, I wanted symmetry. I wanted to do the same so it put us on the same playing field in a way,” he explained. Something sparked in my mind, and I smacked his shoulder… hard.
“Oh!” he said, rubbing the stop my hand had just made contact with. “What was that for?”
“I told Kim that if you broke her heart, I would break you,” I replied.
“Don’t you think I’ve been broken enough?”
“Nope,” I said, hitting him again.
“Stop it!” he complained.
“Why did you ask Kim out?” I questioned.
“Because I thought she was cute, and I liked her personality. When we got together, everything we did reminded me of Katrina. I’m… not over her yet,” he exhaled, as a disciplinary bell sounded.
“I have to go, I already missed a movie on whatever the hell we’re learning in History, and I can’t miss Science too. Tell me when you’ve made decisions about your life. If you need advice, I’m here for you. If you need empathy, try someone else,” I said, rising, determined to exit the vast room once and for all.
“Fine. We can talk about Chase and you later. Oh and Jules,” he said. I looked at him for a brief moment, before he continued, “Thanks.”
“No problem. Bye,” I said, walking away, leaving him alone with only his thoughts and emotions. I hurried out of the auditorium, and entered back into the world of all things good. I smiled as a girl passed me, waving. I watched her move down the hall, and flip her hair so a long braid drooped down her back. Kim.
I joined the rush of people, becoming one with the crowd of students herding themselves to their next class. Science would be fairly easy, considering we would pretty much only be taking notes the entire time. On what the notes were on, was the tricky part. I haven’t really been paying attention too much in Science, but I do the homework, and act moderately intrigued. I think we’re doing something with chemistry… or maybe it’s biology? I don’t know, and I really don’t care.
“Whoa!” someone said, as I felt my forehead come in contact with a firm wall. I lifted my head up, and smiled at the boy before me.
Like me, his look fit the day flawlessly. His chocolate brown hair was brushed every so slightly, and looked messy, yet put together at the same time. He had on a bright yellow T-shirt with a brand logo sprawled across the chest, and a pair of gray, mesh, sports shorts. On his feet were a pair of Nikes that came just above his ankles, and were the same color as his shirt. He looked good… for Chase.
“Hi!” I said, stopping my migration to my next class.
“Hey,” he said, smiling at me.
“It’s so nice out today!”
“Yeah, definitely,” he agreed.
“You’re not still freaked out about the whole dinner fiasco, are you?” I asked hesitantly.
That dinner the other night was a freaking nightmare! My parents were interrogating Chase like he was a criminal and that the crime he had committed was the most heinous thing to ever have been done. They grilled him to the point where he had to discreetly text Talia to pick him up. It was scary.
The first time I introduced my parents to Josh, they instantly liked him. There was something about Josh that everyone, including myself, was drawn to. He was open, outgoing, fun, polite, and overall a good guy.
My mom and Josh were really close. There would be times when I wasn’t home, and Josh would come over to my house, knowing that I wasn’t there, just so he could chill with my mom. They used to joke that one day he would legally be her son… Sorry to ruin your plans mom, but that bastard and I are over! Though she had met him in the past, I think she didn’t really know who Chase was, and was having mixed feelings about Josh.
Between my mom making inappropriate comments about how “amazing” Josh was and my dad asking uncomfortable questions, the evening was very… tense. The questions my dad asked were along the lines of, “Have you ever taken drugs?” and “How many girlfriends have you had?” or, my personal favorite, “Are you still a virgin?” The look on Chase’s face when asked that was priceless! He excused himself from the table, as Adam burst out laughing.
After Chase did eventually leave, I yelled at my parents, explaining to them that he would now dump me thanks to their behavior. They told me that if he’s willing to tolerate them, just to be with me, then he’s a keeper. Though Chase had assured me multiple times that he’s only partially scarred for life, I just don’t know.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Did I ever tell you how Adam’s first encounter with my parents went?”
“Nope,” I said, as we began to walk in the direction of the room I needed to be in.
“He and Talia were playing football in the back yard, and he had tackled her to the ground, and wasn’t letting her get up,” he said.
“That sounds creepy,” I said.
“Yeah, kinda. Anyways, I was chilling on the deck, so was able to watch the entire scene unfold. My dad got home, and saw them. He walked over, and started freaking out! He pretty much threatened to kill Adam if he broke Talia’s heart. Both Adam and Talia were shaking by the end. When my mom got home, she too wasn’t the happiest person about Adam’s presence, but wasn’t as bad as my dad,” he said, as I noticed our strides were matching.
“Adam never told me,” I said.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t have either. My dad scared the shit out of him!” he said, entwining our hands together.
“So, was my dad really that bad?” I asked.
“You’re dad scared the shit out me, but was still better than how mine reacted to Adam,” he laughed, squeezing my hand affectionately.
“Sorry about that again,” I apologized.
“Not your fault, and I completely understand it.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. If I had a daughter, and she was dating a guy, I would want to make sure that he treats her right, and I would probably kill him if he ever did anything bad to her,” he said, as we stopped at the room I would have to spend fifty-five minutes of dread in.
“Is that how you’re planning on treating your girlfriend?” I questioned.
“Yes, I plan on treating my girlfriend the way I would want my daughter’s boyfriend to treat her,” he said, as I released his hand.
“Who says you’re having a daughter?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Are you saying that you think we should have a son?” he mused, cracking a smirk, as I flicked his bare arm.
“Bye Chase,” I said, waving with the use of two fingers.
“Bye Jules,” he said, leaning into me, and placing a delicate kiss on my cheek. I watched him retreat into the mass of students, and sighed. Chase Ryan. Who would’ve thought…