Chapter Three.
This trip to Aspen really has me stressing out. I don't even know if I'm going and I'm flipping out about everything. If I go and don't bring Evan, I'll end up doing something stupid, I just know it. So I have to get him to come, otherwise I can't go. I'm safer with Evan, I think more...adult like. With Van I act like a five year old. It's kind of ridiculous. Thinking about last night and how we randomly built a fort and pretended there were monsters, it's so childish. Evan would never act like that. He's stable, whereas Van's unstable. How can I like somebody who's hot one minute and then cold the next? Some days I really like Van and want to be with him, but I know that it can't and won't work out that way.
Besides, I like Evan I really do, he's good for me, he doesn't move to fast, he respects me, he doesn't make perverted remarks, he doesn't call me pet names, and we laugh without having the innuendos that I do with Van.
Van respects me too, it's just a different type of respect. It's just easier with Evan, we don't have all of these complications, there's no secrets. Van and I are complicated and have all of these secrets that keep building into little lies.
When I'm with Van I don't have time to think about these things, I'm too busy laughing, or getting caught up in his amazingly green eyes. Evan's pretty much perfect for me, he's like a constant river whereas Van's a constant jerk.
Then there's the times when he's really cute and adorably sweet and I just want to tell him that I think I'm in...like with him. I will not say the other word. Love is constant too, a constant mess. If love were real, my parents wouldn't be divorced, neither would Vans. If love were real, my dad wouldn't have left, my mom wouldn't have had an affair. There's a lot of proof that love isn't real.
So here I am, awake, almost an hour before I have to get up, just staring at my clock, waiting for the alarm to go off.
I hate being alone, left to think about all of this. Because then there are the times when I think that I'm making the biggest mistake in being with Evan and not Van. Evan's the complete opposite of Van and if I think about it too much, I'll end up acting on how I feel...not good.
When Wednesday finally rolls around I call Evan and tell him that we should go out for ice cream. Really random, but this morning I had this weird craving for chocolate ice cream, extra sprinkles and the best part-the cherry. It might have to do with the weather because it's really hot out today, I blame global warming. Anyways, Van's having the guys over at his house, I'm supposed to go, but for an extra sprinkled chocolate ice cream, topped with a cherry, I'd ditch anybody. I might stop by before I leave, but no last minute swim for me.
Now, I'm just trying to decide what to wear. Looking through all of the clothes that Kim made me get, I don't really know what to wear. I grab a pair of blue jean shorts and just a plain gray tank top. Screw the overly girly clothes. I quickly change and am completely satisfied with what I'm wearing.
I slip on a pair of black flip-flops and put my cell phone and money in my back pocket. See? Now what girl really needs a purse? That's what pockets are for.
I have like ten minutes until Evan's supposed to be here, so I make my way over to Van's house. I don't bother knocking because his dad's not home, I just walk right in and cut through the kitchen and out the sliding glass door, where the pool is.
"Hey, losers," I say, cheerfully. I see all of the usual faces, except Michael's and Van's are missing. I'm perfectly fine without Michael here, I could care less about that dickhead. "Where's Van at?" I ask, looking around.
Nathan and Mitch laugh, like there's a joke that I'm not in on. I just stand here confused and not knowing what to think.
"What?" I ask seriously, stepping closer to the pool.
Then out of nowhere, I feel somebody pick me up my waist and run into the pool. I feel my whole body getting wet from head to toe from cold pool water. Without even looking, I know that it's Van who did it.
I quickly reach the surface for air and already hear Van laughing in the water next to me, along with everybody else.
"You asshole!" I screech. "What the fuck was that for? You got me all wet!"
"Hey, look at that, Abby's wet for Vance," Mitch says laughing, getting everybody else to laugh even harder.
I sigh. "You guys are so gross," I tell them, while swimming to the steps. I get out and ring my hair out. Then I realize that my phone is in my back pocket so I quickly go to pull it out and the screen is all messed up. I turn around facing Van. "My phone was in my pocket, you prick!" I scream. "Look, now it's broke!" I say holding it out. "I officially hate you, Van Taylor," I say, examining my now broken phone, trying to
"Well, that sucks because I officially love you, Abby Elliott," Van replies.
I press down the power button, blocking out everybody in the process, and it won't come on. "Fuck! You asshole, now I have to get a new phone!" I shout, probably pouting like a four year old. "I thought I'd be nice and come by, say hi to you guys, and this is the thanks I get? This is why I'm not nice!" I toss my phone back in the water and it makes a splash right next to him. Not like it will make it any worse, it's already broke.
"You can put it in a bowl of rice," Dex says randomly.
I laugh. "What the hell is rice going to do?"
"It absorbs the water," he informs me.
I roll my eyes. "You're crazy."
"No, I'm serious man," Dex says. "It works. You just get a big bowl of rice, leave it in there for a week or two and it's as good as new. Well, except the buttons two and six don't work on mine anymore," he adds. "But I've never had a problem with that."
"Thanks Dex, but I'd like it if all of my numbers worked," I laugh. "Well, I'm going to go change."
"Why not just stay?" Van asks. "You're already wet."
"Yes, jerk-face, no thanks to you," I remind him and he chuckles. "Evan's picking me up and now I have to go change. Again."
"You should bring him over so we can meet him," Dex cuts in.
I sigh. "Fine, but don't mention Aspen, I haven't asked him about it yet, alright?"
"Sure, yeah, whatever just bring him over," Mitch says. "You've met him, right?" he questions Van.
Van laughs. "Dude, he rang the doorbell."
Mitch busts out laughing. "Lame."
"I know," Van agrees.
"I ring the doorbell," Dex says.
"You aren't lame though," Mitch says.
"I'll be right back," I announce, walking through the gate, passing a very dead garden of flowers. I've never been the type of girl to like flowers. I've only gotten flowers from a guy once and it's not really my thing. It's a sweet gesture, but flowers eventually die, so why base a relationship on something that dies? This is exactly my point, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor got a divorce and coincidentally the flowers that have been here since I was a kid, died.
I'm crossing the street right as Evan's truck pulls up to the curb. Damn, I thought I'd be able to change before he got here. He gets out of his truck and looks at me
"What happened to you?" Evan chuckles, walking towards me.
I smile. "My friends tried to drown me."
"I see that."
I grab Evan's hand and pull him behind me. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," I tell Evan.
We get inside and Darren's on the couch. Of all the times he hasn't been here, this has to be the one time he is.
"What happened to you?" Darren asks, laughing.
"I got pushed down a well and my prince charming saved me," I answer, jokingly while pulling Evan up the stairs.
"Is that your brother?" Evan asks, when we reach the door to my room.
I nod, "Unfortunately." I open my door and let go of his hand to go to my closet. "This is my room. Sorry it's a mess," I giggle.
"What's with the...fort?" Evan asks.
I laugh, thinking about me and Van. "Me and my friend got bored, so we um, sort of built a fort and hid from invisible monsters," I answer seriously. There's a part of me that wants him to think that I'm too childish for him and break up with me.
Evan laughs. "You're so...cute."
Surprisingly, I get that a lot. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself," I reply before going into my room and quickly drying off and changing into dry clothes. A pair of new shorts and a baby blue tank top is what I quickly settle on. I grab a towel out of my bathroom and dry my hair better, then run a brush and mousse through it, creating curls. "Okay, I'm done," I tell Evan.
Evan looks at me surprised. "You're seriously ready?" he asks surprised.
I nod unsurely. "Yeah..."
"Sorry, it's just that most girls would take forever," he explains.
I laugh. "I'm not most girls."
He smiles. "You've clearly proven that."
"So, do you want to meet the friends?" I ask. "The friends are my equivalent of meeting the parents."
"And if they don't like me?" he smiles.
"They probably won't, but that's just because they'll secretly want to kick your ass," I explain.
"A bunch of girls?" Evan checks.
I just laugh. "Sure, we'll go with that..." I respond, reaching up and kissing him on the lips.
Evan pulls away for a second to say, "Wait, what does that mean?"
I smile. "Come on," I reply, pulling him by his hand.
We make it all the way to Van's house and through the side gate. I can already hear the guys laughing and talking about perverted and gross things that I've become immune to. We finally reach the pool and it gets really quiet. I notice Lia's here now, over in the corner with Kyle. They are just too cute together.
"Guys this is Evan my..." I trail off, not knowing what to introduce him as.
"Boyfriend," Evan fills in for me, making me smile.
"Evan this is Mitch, and Nathan," I say, pointing to each of them. "And you've already met Van and Kyle," I add.
"So, this is the college guy?" Mitch asks, being a smartass.
"So, these are the high school guys?" Evan replies, being a smartass.
Mitch laughs. "Not bad," he says, approving.
Van gets out of the pool and grabs a towel off of the table outside, using it to dry off. "Okay, so here's the deal, Kevin," Van starts and suddenly all of the guys are in on this. "Since you guys are official or whatever the hell you want to call it. Abby stays happy, and you stay alive," he finishes simply, then plastering on a fake smile. "I think that sounds fair. What do you guys think?" he asks the guys rhetorically.
"It's Evan," Evan corrects, swallowing nervously. Why shouldn't he be nervous? Sure, they may be high school guys, but five high school guys on one college guy? The odds are pretty slim.
"I don't care," Van says.
Then Dex comes out, holding a huge bowl of something. "Alright guys, I have the rice. Vance, where's the phone?"
I laugh. "And that's Dex," I say.
"Hey, Kevin," Dex smiles.
Evan takes a deep breath. "Hey."
Evan and I leave in his truck. I figured that five minutes around the guys was enough torture for him. Well, the only one that's giving him shit is Van, the rest of them don't have a problem with Evan.
When we get to the outside ice parlor, Evan and I walk up to the counter where a girl in very sleazy clothes is waiting to take out order. I expect Evan to start checking her out, like Van would do, but he doesn't, he completely ignores her looks.
Evan orders his ice cream and then looks at me.
"I'll have a double scoop chocolate ice cream with sprinkles and a cherry on top," I tell her.
The girl looks at me like I'm stupid. Did I stutter? I don't think I did.
"Are you serious?" she asks. "How old are you? Five?"
"No, but your clothes look like they were made to fit a five year old," I reply. "Come on, would I have said it if I wasn't serious?" I add.
Evan stifles a laugh while the girl glares at me before going back to get our ice cream.
The girl comes back minutes later with our ice cream and tells us to have a nice day. I don't say anything, mainly because it isn't anything nice.
Evan and I sit at a bench. "You know, you never stop surprising me," he tells me.
"How so?" I ask.
"Well, I meet your friends, expecting them to be girls, and they're all guys. You build forts like a kid, you order ice cream like a five year old, but yet, you're the biggest smartass I think that I've ever met," Evan explains. "I just can't quiet figure you out as easily as I can other girls."
I smile. "My evil plan is working," I joke. I start eating my ice cream. "So earlier when you called yourself my boyfriend, did you mean that?" I ask quietly.
"Do you want me to mean it?"
I nod.
"Then yeah, I meant it," he smiles. "I'm a little cautious though," he informs me.
"I won't break your heart," I tease jokingly.
Evan chuckles. "I've never dated a girl with boy-friends," he admits.
"Me neither," I smile.
He laughs.
"Okay, well, I have another surprise for you," I say. "This weekend is Mitch's birthday and he's taking all of us to his cabin in Aspen," I start. "I was wondering if you wanted to go. I mean, I know that my friends come off a little strong, but I promise you that Van is the only one that's actually an asshole," I say, finishing.
"They're okay with me going?" Evan checks.
"Yeah. Well, expect Van, but you can just ignore him, I always do," I smile.
He thinks for a couple of seconds. "I'll go."
Evan drops me off at my house about two hours later and I give him a quick kiss before going inside.
"I'll call you," I tell Evan before stepping inside.
I walk into the living room to see my mom carrying a suitcase. Well, it's about time. "Finally leaving, are you?" I ask, smirking.
My mom sighs. "I have to go to Las Vegas for a couple of days, I won't be back until Monday," she tells me. "I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of food so you won't starve, not that I wouldn't want you to," she adds, joking.
I fight a smile. I hate her and I'm not going to please her by smiling at her lame attempt at a joke. "Okay, whatever, have fun," I reply sarcastically, walking up the stairs.
"I hope you'll be okay while I'm gone!" my mother calls to me.
"I hope you get jumped by drug dealers!" I call own to her, then hear the front door shut.
I get to my room and the first thing I see is that damn fort that's still up. I yawn as I walk closer to it, seeing a yellow Post-It stuck on it.
I pick it up and read: It's funny how forever never seams to last long enough.
It's the things like this, that Van does, that makes me wonder if I'm making the greatest mistake in being with Evan.
I wake up in middle of a deep sleep to somebody making the most obnoxious sound ever. Van, crowing like a rooster.
"What the hell, dude?!" I ask, throwing a pillow at him, then pulling the covers over my head.
"I missed our wake up calls, so I figured I'd come over here and annoy the hell out of you," he says.
"Job well done," I snap, while peeking my head up at my alarm clock. My eyes widen in anger when I see that it's two thirty-seven in the morning. "Van, what the hell?" I shout. "Are you aware that it's two in the morning?"
"Yes, I am, but I thought that I'd pay you al little visit," he smiles innocently.
"If you don't get out of here, my foot is going to pay a kick to your ass!" I yell.
Van laughs, plopping on my bed next to me. "I just love how you're such a classy girl," he replies sarcastically.
I sigh annoyed. "You're really pissing me off, Van."
"I know, but the only way I could fight doing something really stupid was to come over here and have you distract me," he explains.
"What where you going to do that was so stupid you had to come over here at two in the morning and crow like a rooster, ergo annoying the hell out of me?" I grumble, just wanting him to let me go back to sleep.
"Kendall called me," he answered simply.
I sit up and rub my eyes, attempting to wake up a little more. "That's not stupid, that's plain retarded," I say seriously. "Why'd she call?" Kendall's supposed to be with Michael, but I guess the work of a true slut-bag, has to keep her options open.
He shrugs. "I don't know, why does anybody call the opposite sex at two in the morning?" he questions, hinting at one thing.
"I wouldn't know," I say. "You mauled me like a beaver on crack and tried to drown me, which killed my phone, so nobody's called me, you ass-face!" I remind him.
Van laughs. "I need to wake you up at two in the morning more often, you're even funnier when the lights go out."
"Yeah, and if you give me food after midnight, I'll turn into a Gremlin," I joke.
Van smiles. "Abby, do you remember anything that I said to you today?" he asks.
I think hard about everything he's said to me, but nothing jumps out at me. "Nope, why?"
"Oh..." he trails off.
"Why, what did you tell me?"
He hesitates. "Just that...Kevin seems like a great guy."
"Do you think that you could at least get his name right?"
"He's not that great," he replies, shaking his head no.
I laugh. "Just be nice, okay?"
"Abby, I'm never nice, and I'm not going to start with Evan-what's-his-nuts," He tells me.
For some reason, this conversation seems too familiar. He told me to be nice to Kendall when he was with her. This is much different though, Evan's actually nice to Van. I don't know why, but I wouldn't blame Evan for being a jerk to Van.
"I can't be nice to Evan, he's the enemy," Van informs me.
I sigh. "Well, you know what they say," I start. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
*****
<3JustKaylay.