3 // Pris
The sound of my smartphone's alarm clock wakes me up. I sigh. I don't want to go to school today. Angie's kiss comes to mind. Well, maybe I don't mind so much after all.
I get ready and finally head downstairs, where Neil is sitting at the kitchen table, glasses on and newspaper in hand. I frown when I don't see any breakfast on the wooden table. That was a perk of being with my dad. He made me pancakes every morning.
Neil obviously notices my scowl, "You were expecting breakfast in bed, princess?"
"No, I just thought you'd be, a little more, you know, useful."
"I'm educating myself you know."
"Reading a newspaper? Only old people read that nowadays."
He looks up at me, "You'd only get pregnant in your dreams."
I chuckle, because he really thinks he offended me, "Then we're equal, 'cause it seems like your seed hasn't done much."
He glares at me, as I smirk in content. My mom can't stand when we talk like that to each other. Personally, I think that this incessant teasing is mildly amusing to both of us, on a certain level. Sometimes, it does appear to be misplaced, especially for a stepdad - stepdaughter relationship, but I consider him to be a sixteen year old boy, thus it doesn't bother me.
"When does mom come back?" I ask him.
"Tonight. Why?"
"I wanna know how long I'll have to endure your parenting."
"At this point, you don't need parenting anymore. At least, you shouldn't need it."
I grab a chocolate cereal bar out of the cabinet and munch on that. As soon as I take off the wrapper, the doorbell rings. Shit. It's Ari. I roll my eyes and I'm about to get up, when Neil stands up and goes straight to the door.
Well, I wasn't expecting that. He greets her in and sits back at his same seat.
"Can you hurry up? We're gonna be late."
I roll my eyes, "If you have gum, then we can go."
She rummages through her purse, pulls out a packet of minty chewing gum and throws me one. I catch it and start chewing.
"Going Neil," I tell him, on my way to the door.
"Slay those bitches," he says back, with a straight face before sipping on his coffee.
I roll my eyes as Ari laughs. We leave my house and go into Ari's car. She starts driving towards school, pop music blasting. I'd bike to school, but that looks more like a college thing. You always imagine the students at a liberal arts college biking their way from building to building. I'd be that type of person.
She pulls up in the school's parking lot. We get out of her car and head directly towards the main building. On our way, girls are waving at us, hugging us, asking how our summer was. Well, Ari's the one getting the attention.
As I'm waiting for Ari's fan club to cease bothering her, I turn my head to the one I've been waiting for all along. Angie has arrived. Everybody is all up on her, catching up with her but she barely glances at them. Her eyes meet mine and I blush. She mouths "hey" as she walks by and I wave a little, still flustered by her arrival. She never gets here this early. Maybe senior year has changed her, who knows.
I endure my morning classes, as the long lectures about what the courses will require this year take place. They keep talking about the need for consistent work, effort and attention in order to pass the year. The irony remains that during the part about paying attention, paper planes are already flying around and the students in the back are giggling about something completely off subject. This year will be turbulent like all the others.
Lunch comes around and that's the best part of the day. I get to sit at the same table as Angie, thanks to Arianna. Holding my tray, I make my way to the table that makes me smiles uncontrollably. I always get the seat facing Angie, Ari placed next to me.
I sit my tray down at my usual spot. I lift my head up. Angie isn't alone. She's seated next to Richie Evans, the whole reason why Angie still considers herself bisexual. He's on the football team, a running back I think. I don't really care about the sports team that much, I only come to the games so Neil can bring up some memories, my mom can feel part of the school spirit, Ari feels like I'm supporting her but really, I'm there just for that one cheerleader.
I'm going off subject. Richie is my biggest threat. I can't stand his smile, his sexually connoted sentences, the way girls swoon over him. I hate how Ari swoons over him. I loathe how Angie swoons over him.
Ari places her tray next to mine and we both take seats. To my disappointment, lunch wasn't as perfect as I had imagined it. I walk out, sighing, after the flagrant proof that she doesn't see me like that. As I'm heading out of the cafeteria, Ari is talking to me. I'm not really listening, more like pretending to, mainly because she gossips a lot. That's something I can't tolerate either.
She pauses and looks at me, "I know you weren't fond of Richie's presence during lunch but you know how they are together."
"Doesn't mean I like it."
She takes another break then suggests, "Why don't we go to the coffee shop later? I bet a macchiato will cheer you up."
"Yeah, why not."
"Meet me in front?"
"Yup."
She blows some kisses at me and leaves for her next class. The afternoon seems even longer and more painful than this morning. Mainly, it's because I don't have lunch to look forward to. The same idiots from the previous years are still here and the same boring teachers as well.
I exit the main building and eye Ari standing in front of the stairs, near her car. As I approach her, she sees me coming near her and waves at me, with her huge smile. I've often wondered if we're really friends. We're not all that alike. It started out as a true friendship, a lot fun, but now, given that we've grown apart, it seems like we're friends out of habit and convenience. We're just used to being friends, instead of being actual friends.
She drives us to her favorite coffee shop, a few blocks from the local university. It's a small college, named Duff University, usually focused on the arts, a bit like where I'd like to go next year. I applied for Duff by the way. I never planned on staying home, but it wouldn't bother me.
We enter the café Ari loves so much, "The Green Life". Their card of teas, coffees and other similar beverages are endless. I get my creamy macchiato, and she takes a green tea. We receive our drinks and I directly start observing my surroundings. They're mostly students at Duff, living the hipster life.
"Let's see if there're any cute guys - or girls," she winks at me, before entering the back part of the café.
We walk around and finally settle at a table. I turn my head and see Dani sitting near us. I don't think she sees me though. She's with some other people at the table, laughing.
"Who are you looking at?" Ari asks. She sips some of her tea.
"I know her."
"Then go talk to her," Ari smiles, in her encouraging voice. I hate when she starts pushing me. "C'mon, go over there and talk to her."
I reluctantly get up and start walking towards Dani's table. I'm not mad that Dani's here, I'm actually happy I'm going to talk to her. What I dislike is the literal getting up and approaching people part. It makes my heart race. I get all nervous before I speak my first words and then, I get more comfortable. The fact remains that, right now, my heart was thumping, as I move closer to the table of one familiar face.
"Hi, Dani," I say.
Had Arianna done this, it would have been much smoother. She would have probably asked for the sugar, and then pretended as if she hadn't noticed the person she wanted to talk to. The conversation would move on from there, and she would have looked smooth. I'm the complete opposite.
I only realize now, that there's a chance that Dani doesn't remember me from last night, or worse, doesn't want to admit she remembers me in front of her friends, thus I'd be ignored and look stupid. I hope that's not the case. She'd really disappoint me.
She lifts her head at me, green eyes just as friendly as when I met her.
"Hey, Pris," she tells me, as she gets up to hug me.
The hug is tight; I feel her body pressing up against mine, my head against her shoulder, as her hands travel from my mid-back all the way down to my lower back. The scent of her cologne is just the right amount. It's just enough for me to remember the smell, but not enough for me to start sneezing.
She pulls out of the embrace and scratches the back of her neck, as she smiles. She's so cute, I can't even handle it.
"What's up?" Dani asks.
"I'm just here with my best friend," I stutter out, blushing uncontrollably. Her smiles aren't helping much. "I just wanted to say hi."
"You can sit with us," she proposes. She must see that I look hesitant, because she adds, "Otherwise, don't worry, it's fine."
"No, I, uh," I stammer and she smiles some more. I really have to catch my breath, this is getting ridiculous. "We'll come over."
"Neat," she says.
I go back near Arianna, who's on her Instagram, scrolling down pictures of girls she doesn't even like, yet hearts their photos. I can't really blame her, most people do that. She puts her phone away and looks up at me.
"So?"
"They invited us to drink at their table," I grin beyond my control.
Ari smiles back at me, "You really like her, don't you? And, yeah let's go."
I grab my drink and we move to where Dani is. I take back what I said earlier. There is a strand of friendship in us. Maybe, it's just not as evident as it used to be, when we played Barbies at each other's houses. Support and being a source of motivation is part of friendship as well, especially, when it's a mature friendship.
The table makes room for us. I end up facing Ari and next to Dani. Only then, I take notice of the other people at the table. Dani introduces us to Alex, a blonde with short hair, wearing a leather jacket over a white pullover, Blue, the nickname for this Latina stud, with a crew cut, wearing a red Henley and a snapback and finally, Tony, a transgender guy, sporting a simple white T-shirt.
Of course, as I expected, they all take great interest in Arianna, the pretty one. Who would have guessed that in the lesbian circle, just like in the hetero one, they all jump on the pretty feminine girl. It's almost too predictable.
I sip, in silence, my cup of coffee. I'll admit, that is pissing me off. Dani, at first listening to Arianna and her friends, shifts her head to me.
"What are you drinking?" she asks.
"A macchiato, my favorite. What are you drinking?"
"Guess."
I look at the dark beverage. It smells like strong, "Espresso."
"You got lucky," she smirks.
"I know my coffee very well."
"Pris' a coffee expert. Don't even try to test her," Ari adds.
Dani looks amused and gulps her coffee down. I realize that she has a pen in her other hand and is writing something down on the other piece of paper.
"What's that?" I ask her.
"Book report."
"You're in school?"
"Yeah, at Duff. With them," she answers, gesturing at her friends.
Now, I feel a bit stupid, "What's the book report on?"
"French literature."
"Why are you taking a French literature class?"
"Because it's interesting. College is the only place where you take classes and the only reason being out of interest."
Dani glances at her watch, "We've gotta go if we wanna catch the bus at seventeen."
I sigh. I don't want it to end already.
They get up and are about to leave. I really want her number, but I'm kind of scared to ask her. I don't know how to ask her especially. She puts her jacket on and they're moving out of the café. I just missed the occasion.
I suck so badly at this.
I hear footsteps coming back my way and someone leaning in to seize something.
"Forgot the pen," Dani smiles, looking at me.
Out of a weird compulsive gesture, I grab the sleeve of her jacket.
She turns around abruptly and looks at me, not quite sure what to think.
"Wait," I tell her. "Can I have your number?"
She smiles, "I'm so dumb. I forgot to ask you. Of course, you can."
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