This Friday was the first football game of the season and in response, some junior was hosting a huge party that everyone was buzzing about.
"You're coming to the party on Friday right?" Skylar asked me as we worked on English homework.
"If we don't have family dinner then of course," I answered him
Skylar nodded, "Sounds good. How was the ball? My parents said that they ran into you."
I wonder if they told him that they didn't run into the rest of my family. I wasn't going to confess, because it wasn't like I did anything.
I was just keeping my options open.
I looked at him, "It was fun. They really know how to throw a party."
"I guess Parker got that from his Dad." I realized
Skylar let out a laugh, "I saw some pictures and it looked nice."
"He - it was nice." I responded as I closed my English binder
I looked at the text that was sent a minute ago, "My parents are on their way home so you should probably get going."
"Who is throwing the party on Friday?" I wondered as Skylar began to get his stuff together
"I'm honestly not sure, I just got the address from someone. I'll tell you when I find out." Skylar spoke
I walked him outside to his Infiniti coupe that was in my driveway.
"Bye, Pey." Skylar ended as he began to lean in.
"Bye, Skylar." I whispered as we were inches away from each other.
I took a small step back and brushed my hair behind my ear.
This was so awkward.
I didn't want to kiss him. I only wanted to kiss him.
"No kiss?" he questioned me.
"My throat is a little sore. I don't want to give you strep or anything." I lied.
So Skylar leaned in and kissed my cheek.
"Love you, bye." He ended without another thought
My heart dropped as I watched him get into his car and pull off like it was nothing.
What. the. fuck?
And for the rest of the week, he never bought up the fact that he dropped the L-bomb on me. Not when we were getting student council things together, during study dates, nothing. It was weird.
The memory of him saying kept running through my mind and I hated it. No matter how hard I tried to forget it, I couldn't.
It wasn't that I didn't like Skylar.
I liked the three freckles on his face, his obliviousness, the fact that he was somewhat shy. It was also weird that the things that attracted you to someone could turn you off.
I was someone who read into every little thing, Skylar was the exact opposite.
Sometimes I hated the fact that Skylar was kinda shy. I was the type of person who fed on the energy around me and his nerves would radiate on to me. I hated being clammy and nervous.
I liked Skylar as a person. I just didn't know if I liked him as a boyfriend.
Life was weird.
But I knew I had to stop leading him on. I just didn't want to break his heart.
What was weird was the fact that it was the first football game of the season and the theme wasn't even related to our mascot like usual. But everyone thought a change was needed so hello Luau theme.
I stood in the stands with all of my classmates cheering on our football team. I never realized how Parker and Asher were quite the duo on the field. Maybe if I hadn't been so busy on my phone or talking for the past few years, I would have realized
Thankfully, we won 27-20. It was safe to say this year was off to a good start - for the football team anyway.
After the game, my parents forced Asher and me to take pictures together that I knew would be all over Facebook.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming when I saw Parker's parents at the football game. They came for a little bit of the last quarter and then after that, I didn't see them.
I felt bad for him but I was happy that my parents were there at least to support him.
I changed in the backseat of my car to a bright blue tank top and white shorts - both of which were from Lululemon. I brushed my hair a little bit and used a wipe to take off the paint.
The part was at a junior's house. Her name was Kendall Coran and her house was packed. It felt like everyone in our junior class was there, some I wasn't even sure if they still went to our school.
"You want something to drink?" Skylar asked me as we walked through the crowd
I shook my head, "I have to drive, remember?"
"Oh yeah, that's right." He remembered, "I'll be right back."
He gave my back a pat but as he tried to walk off I grabbed his wrist.
"Do you remember what you said to me on Sunday?" I wondered
He frowned, "Peyton, what does this have to do with anything?"
A hell of a lot.
I rolled my eyes, "No, go ahead. Just go. I'll find Lilia or someone."
Ugh, Peyton you just need to tell him!
Tell him!
"Peyton! Come on you know I didn't mean to come off like that." He defended himself as he pulled me closer to him
"I do remember and I still mean it, ok?" He said to me before he kissed my forehead and walked away
Cause that made things better?
I kept digging myself in a deeper and deeper hole.
I walked around the house for what seemed like a million times before I found Zara outside sitting by the pool?
"How's it going?" I ask, sitting down next to her
"Fine, just kinda tired. I might head home." She started, "It was fun for a while but the fact that I woke up at six in the morning is starting to hit me now."
I nodded, "I get that. I really wanna be in my bed asleep but Skylar dragged me here."
"Yeah, Josh went to go get something but I'm about to ask him to take me home." Zara spoke of her new not so boyfriend, "Could you come with me to find him? It's been a while and I need to tell him something."
"Of course."I agreed
We walked throughout the backyard looking for her boyfriend and he was nowhere to be found. So we slipped into the house and walked towards the kitchen. Josh was walking downstairs with one of his friends holding a stack of Uno cards.
We all gagged as we looked at the freaky couple making out in the kitchen.
The girl was on the counter with her legs wrapped around the guy who had on a sweatshirt that had our school name on it and number...6.
Run me over with a fucking bus or maybe I should be thanking God?
I walked into the kitchen and pulled the guy back by his sweatshirt.
"Oh, so you really meant what you said on Sunday, huh?" I yelled, "You lying asshole!"
Skylar had her lipgloss all over his mouth, his eyes were wide, but he didn't look ashamed.
"It's not what he looks like!" Skylar spoke as I let out a laugh
"You're full of shit." I realized, "I can't believe that liked your sorry ass for a day. And for the record, I was coming to end whatever this is with us."
Skylar rolled his eyes as he wiped his mouth, "Your problem isn't me, your problem is Parker. Let's all be honest here. What girl wants to spend the night with Parker rather than her own boyfriend? And you didn't think I would see the pictures of both of you at the ball, huh?"
Honestly, I think every girl would want to spend the night with Parker than their own boyfriend. Even if they didn't want to admit it.
I pressed my lips together, "Why are you so jealous of Parker? He's Parker! I've known him since he's had braces and he weighed fifty pounds! Parker helped me sober up and that's it! I literally did cotillion and ballroom lessons with Parker because I was one of the only tall girls. Also, you were never my boyfriend."
I turned to Zara, "I'm going home, I'm fine."
As I walked quickly to my car, I realized that I wasn't fine.
I wasn't sad either.
I was just so angry and had so many feelings built up.
No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that Skylar meant nothing to me, he clearly meant something to me considering what I was feeling.
I just wanted someone to talk all of this shit through but Lydia was probably drunk at some frat party, my Mom was asleep, and my friends were all with their boyfriends.
I knew where I wanted to go.