It's too hot and humid to do anything. My thighs are sticking to the seat and I can practically hear my hair frying in this weather.
"I'm leaving" Lexi announces.
"No you're not" Emily says. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I don't want to be here. I't s not like my parents are there to scold me" she shrugs her shoulders and types away on her phone.
I roll my eyes at her. I know, Lexi knows, and everyone at the table knows that even if her parents were there to scold her they wouldn't. Mr. and Mrs. Kane are pushovers when it comes to their little girls.
"What about cheer? You're the co-captain, you have to be there" I tell her. I'm not taking shit from Miligan if she doesn't show up.
"Can't you just tell her I went home sick?"
"You'd have to go to the nurses and be sent home for her to believe that" I tell her in my most condescending tone.
"Well then make something up for me" she demands.
"There is no way I'm lying to her and risking my captain position" I argue. Especially not for you.
"I'll think of something" Alica pipes up. Sofia and I look at each other and roll our eyes. Of course she will.
"Aww, thanks Leesh!" she squeals.
"There's no way Alicia is going to think of something before the end of the day" Sofia whispers to me.
I only snort and shake my head. That's all I can do. This isn't the first time someone has asked Alicia to back them up, and I'm surprised Lexi is allowing Alicia to cover for her.
"Hey Amanda" I hear someone from the right talking to me.
"Oh, hi Marcus" I say back. I hate being so awkward around him. I wish I didn't know how he feels about me, then I wouldn't sound so stupid around him.
"You're going to the game on Sunday, right?" he asks.
"Well, yeah. I have to be there" I say. "It probably wouldn't look good if the captain didn't show up for the first game of the season".
"Oh right. That means you're going to Emily's after, right?"
"I might come for an hour or two, but I don't want to get hom too late" I tell him.
"But Holden said he's saying late" he says.
"I know, but I'm an old woman and I need my sleep" I argue, getting quite sick of this conversation. I'll go if I want to go and leave when I want to leave.
"That's fine. I was thinking of doing the same thing" he says in a tone that makes me think that he was thinking anything but.
"Okay, guess I'll see you there, then" I mumble and turn back to Sofia.
"We're talking about this later" she whispers to me and I groan. Now that she's heard what we've just said, there's nothing she won't do to make me stay for him.
God there may have been only ten minutes left in lunch, but that was the longest ten minutes I've lived through. I couldn't tell if I was paranoid or if he was really staring at me that whole time, but I felt like I was under observation that whole time. I just kept checking my phone, looking for any distraction away from the awkwardness between us.
******
"Amanda please coming with me!" Sofia begs over speaker.
"Sofia I have to stay . I'm sorry" I say. "We can go tomorrow. We don't have school and we have more time to go to get our nails done, and go out to lunch or something, alright?" I bargin.
"Fine. But we're going together. I can't stand those Chinese women by myself. I need someone to talk to" she sighs dramatically.
"I'll be there, don't worry" I assure her. "Just text me when you want to meet up". I've had to bail on her twice in our lives and she thinks I'm spontaniously not going to want to hang out with her one day.
"Okay, bye"
"Bye"
I throw my phone onto my bed and try and concentrate on the almost blank document in front of me. It's a failed attempt as I proceed to type bullshit into the page, but hopefully it'll get me an A anyways.
I close my laptop, slapping the screen down to the keyboard and rub my hands over my face. I could fall asleep at this desk right now if I could, but I promised Holly that I would help her run polka night at the senior center.
Me: I'm on my way
Holly: Okay I'll be waiting
"I really don't want to leave my room" I say to Charlie. I give him a kiss on his wet nose before heading out to my car.
"Amanda!" I hear Holden shouting after me.
I look out the window. "What do you want?" I ask.
"Can you take me over to Jordan's? It's on the way"
"Yeah, come in" I sigh. I really wish Holden would get it together. I'm not stupid, and my parents aren't stupid. We all know what Holden is going over Jordan's house to do. I just hope he cleans up his act when things are ready to get serious. He says he wants to become a lawyer like Mom and Dad, but there's no way he'll be able to handle it in the direction he's going at right now.
I stop in front of Hanson's infamous house. Not just because of what goes on inside the house though. Jordan's mom insists on having their house a nausiating bright yellow color. And because it's at the top of the hill, it stands out even more.
"Don't do anything too stupid, okay?" I plea. "Am I picking you up tonight or tomorrow?"
"Tonight. Just text me when you're here"
"Love you"
"Love you too, Lin" he replies and shuts the door. I sigh looking after him. He's such a good kid, but I wish he would stop acting like such a... boy.
That sounds sexist, it really does, but there's no other way to describe him. He's a typical, irrisponsible, pain in the ass teenage boy. I can only hope he grows out of it.
I park outside Holly Hocks Retirement Village and fix my hair using the rearview mirror when something, or should I say someone, catches my eye.
"No. Way" I breathe. I adjust my mirror to get a clear look at the person. Why is he here? Marcus Fucking Sloane is here at the retirement home. I don't understand.
I get out of my car and slowly begin walking over to him. "Marcus?" I ask.
He turns quickly at my voice and his face lights up. "Hey Amanda, it's nice seeing someone I know here"
"Are you here to help out?"
"Yeah I have to get last minute hours in so my mom signed me up for tonight" he explains, fiddlinng with the long, gold chain on his neck.
"Well do you want to come in with me?" I ask. Even though things are sometimes awkward between us, I feel even more awkward walking into a building alone.
"Sure" he replies, smiling and I feel a twinge of guilt. I hope I didn't just lead him on, because my mind still isn't changed.
"Hi Amanda!" Holly greets us at the door.
"Hi Holly"
She looks a little past me and sees Marcus. "Hello, you must be Marcus" she says holding out her hand.
"I am" he says shaking her hand. I don't know if he notices, but I can tell she's sizing him up, and I for sure know why.
"Well come on in, we need to set up the tables and chairs" she explains everything that needs to be done in the next hour to Marcus and me, who is standing real close to me right now. Just a tad too close for comfort.
"How's it going with Lexi?" Marcus asks, following me with two chairs in hand. I roll my eyes at the subject. I don't even want to think about her and all the drama right now.
"As good as it can be, I suppose" I answer shortly and he lets out a breathly chuckle.
"I guess that's the only answer I could expect" he says.
This hour goes by faster than I expected. Before we know it the doors are open and all the old men and women pile into the ballroom.
"Oh hello Amanda! I'm so glad you've come back!" a man named Henry says with his huge yellow smile. In recent years I've become close to he and his wife, Rita.
"So am I" I tell them both and hug the pair. What I like a lot about the two is they don't have the typical old-person smell. Henry smells like soap and Rita smells like a classy perfume.
"Who is this young man with you?" Rita asks, turning her attention towards Marcus.
"I'm Marcus" he greets them, extending his hand to her while bending down to meet her height.
"I assume you know our Amanda?" Henry says, glancing over to me.
"Yes, we go to school together" he answers, giving that smile I've seen all my friends swoon over, boyfriend or no boyfriend. I'd say it's pathetic if I didn't also get so smiley when he flashes his pearly whites. Damn him.
"Oh my, that's wonderful that you came out here! We've never gotten to meet one of Amanda's friends before".
"I'm glad I've had the chance to meet you" he replies politely, smiling even wider. I look at Henry and Rita, watching them fall for his insane charisma. I don't know how he does it- how he captivates everyone he meets.
"Oh Amanda, what a charming young man" Rita comments when Marcus is whisked away by Holly.
"Yeah, he's super nice" I reply, not knowing what else to say. What do I say without them getting the wrong idea?
"Oh and he's so handsome. He would be such a great boyfriend for you, darling" she contines.
"Rita I think you're giving the child a panic attack" Henry says, trying to calm his wife down.
"I'm just putting the idea out there" she turns from him to me to say, "But take my idea seriously, because that boy was looking at you like you were the only girl in the world". She lightly pinches my cheeks before dragging her husband to the dance floor.
"See, even old people think we'd be good together" I hear a familiar voice behind me say. I quickly turn coming face to neck with the one person I could only hope wasn't listening into the conversation.
"Please not right now" I beg, looking into his eyes. I would have this argument with him any other time or place, but not in a room full of elderly people. That's just embarrassing.
"What do I have to do to prove to you that we're good for each other?" he asks, gently playing with a lock of hair.
"You don't have to do anything to make me think it. I'm just not ready"
"When will you be ready though? Do you really want your first relationship to be when you're thirty?" He comes closer to me and rubs his hands up and down my arms. "Please, just let me show you".
I sigh deeply and look down at the ground. Good God what am I even doing thinking about this?
He puts his fingers and delicately lifts my face to his. "Please?" Oh God those eyes are my undoing. I feel guilty for rejecting him all these years, but shouldn't he have moved on? But on the other hand if the gets what he wants and it's not like he thought, he'll finally move on from me.
I look him straight in the eye, uncertainty and hope filling the light blue orbs. I take my hands and place them on his forearms and squeeze lightly, making him bite his lip, causing me to do the same.
"So what's it going to be?" he whispers, "I know we'll be good".
"Alright" I say, "Prove it".