I honk for three seconds. Then, I honk for five seconds. Next, I honk to the rhythm of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" while Connor and Nick start to sing the words in the backseat. Finally, two very not awake teenage boys stumble out of my front door. Jay looks he just literally dragged himself up the stairs by the way his t-shirt is wrinkled and haphazardly twisted. Tony seems a little more put together with his hair freshly patted down with water from the sink and his belt hanging limp and undone in its belt loops.
I catch Jay's eye in the rear view mirror as they're putting their duffel bags of football gear in the way back. He gives me a sleepy half-smile. Tony slams the hatch down and gets in the front seat, leaning it as far back as it will go, while Jay climbs in the back with boys. They make him sit in the middle, but he doesn't complain.
"You know there's a third-row, right?" I say to his image in the rear view mirror again since he's front and center.
"I know. I just don't have the energy to climb back there," he mumbles.
"Had both of you gone to bed when I told you to last night," I swat at Tony whose eye lids are starting to droop, "you wouldn't be so tired or running late."
"Just drive," Tony grumbles and turns in his seat so he's facing the door instead of me. I roll my eyes and put the car in reverse. I back out of the driveway and head for the highway.
By the time I turn out onto the main road, all four of my passengers are sound asleep. Not wanting to deal with their wrath just yet, I lower the stereo to the quietest I can get it while still being able to hear it.
Today's the football teams shot at the state championship game. They've been waiting an entire year to make it back to the stadium where they won the school's first football title and bring home a second one. Everyone in town is estatic. Most of the businesses have hung banners and decorated the fronts of their building in the school colors.
Tony and the rest of the foorball team have been treated like total royalty at school, which is why both Jay and Tony were out last night and are now too tired to function.
I check my rearview as I change lanes, and I catch Jay silently watching me. He quickly shuts his eyelids again, pretending to be asleep, but I know that trick too well. The twins pull it all the time because they want to be carried in from the car. I usually leave them in the car until they realize I'm not falling for their trickery.
Everyone's still asleep when I pull into the school parking lot. People and cars are darting everywhere so the silence helps me to concentrate. I pull into the first spot I find, wanting to avoid pedestrian casualties at all costs. "Alright, we're here!" I announce.
A collective groan rumbles throughout the car. The rubbing of eyes and stretching of limbs occurs shortly after that. I shut the car off, and we all tumble out of the car after that. Jay pops the hatch, grabbing their duffels, while Tony attempts to keep his eyes open.
I can't watch the boy be pathetic and sleepy anymore, so I produce a five dollar bill from my purse and hand it to Tony. "Please, just go inside and buy an energy drink. I can't watch you yawn any longer."
"Thanks," he says and hustles into the school. Connor and Nick climb back into the car when they realize how cold it is. When I hear the second door slam, Jay turns to me and says, "You doing okay?"
It's been exactly two weeks since she resurfaced, and Jay asks me the same thing every time we're alone in the same room because he knows Tony won't talk about it with anyone, not even Jay or I, so he feels like he should try and talk to me about it. Though I understand his well-meaning intentions, I'm on the same page with Tony: if I don't talk about it or think about it, it will go away.
I give him the same answer as always. "I'm okay."
He hops up on the edge of the car and pats the spot next to him, inviting me up. I climb up and sit next to him. He turns his head to face me and says sing-songily, "You're lying."
"Am not," I smile.
"Such a compulsive liar," he shakes his head, "Lying about lying."
I sigh and look over my shoulder at the boys, just a foot or two behind us within ear-shot. I decide they probably aren't listening, but just as a precautionary measure, I whisper, "Honestly, I don't know how I'm feeling."
I raise my head to meet his eyes, which are whole-heartedly transfixed on me. Something of a smile slips onto his face when his hand finds my right shoulder and pulls me into his side. Then, he dips his head, and I can feel his lips on my ear just like they were when he held me after her visit. "You're allowed to not know."
I lean back from him and laugh, "I thought that was going to be a little more sentimental, not just regurgitating the obvious back to me."
"I'm just trying to help," he mutters and his arm falls from my shoulders. Realizing I've struck a nerve and hurt him, I grab his hand. "Sorry, but I really do appreciate it."
He squeezes my hand reassuringly, the smirk appearing back on his face. "Anyways, I was wondering if you'd be interested in redeeming that raincheck here some time soon."
It takes a minute for me to register what he's talking about, but then it hits me. After the senior night football game, Jay asked me in the parking lot if I wanted to go to a party with him, but I asked him for a raincheck. I had totally forgotten about that until now.
And I'm elated that he didn't forget.
"I think I might be able to get Bridge or Tony to babysit. How about Friday night?"
I've never seen the twinkle in his eyes like this before. His eyes are the night sky, the darkest of the light blues, and a million stars illuminate them to their fullest. "Yeah, sounds grand."
"What's grand?" Tony asks as he strolls back over to us. I drop Jay's hand like it's on fire and scoot a few inches to my right, creating as much distance between us as time will allow. Tony, as oblivious as ever, doesn't take note of the scene before him. Instead, he chugs a quarter of his can of energy drink.
"Nothing," Jay says. All three of our heads turn as we hear the beeping of the bus horn and the squeals of the twenty cheerleaders passing by us. Jay and Tony grab their bags, and I give each of them a hug. Jay's hug lasts a fair amount of time longer than Tony's, but Tony's oblivious yet again because his focus is not on his best friend and his sister effectively snuggling but effectively on the too-short-skirts of the cheerleaders.
Finally, Jay and I let go of each other, and I instantly miss the warmth of him. "Good luck and win big," I say to both of them before they hustle over to the bus. I shut the hatch and begin to walk to the driver's side door when I find a tall red-head leaning a certain big-breasted blonde up against my door.
I clear my throat, and both of their heads whip toward me. Bridgette's face has gone red with anger because I ruined her putting the moves on the head cheerleader, but Heather's face has gone red with embarrassment because no one is supposed to know she's batting for the same team. "Um, Heather, the bus is about to leave."
She looks from me to Bridgette and back again, then she scurries off toward the sound of an idle bus engine, her bag bouncing against her back. Bridgette groans and rolls her eyes at me. I shrug my shoulders and say, "Your moment wasn't the only one today to get rudely interrupted."
She squints at me to think about what I said, then the "Aha" look flashes in her eyes. "You and Keely, huh?"
"Tony is such a cock-block," I say with a grin.
"He is your big brother though. You have to give him a little bit of credit for watching out for you."
"More like he was watching out for the cheerleaders' asses while standing right in front of Jay and I."
"Intimidation is best served with silence, dear," she says and then walks over to the other side of the car and slides into the passenger seat. She hadn't brought up the fact that she intended to ride with me today, but I wouldn't mind having someone other than a ten-year-old boy to talk to during the trip. I climb into the driver's seat and start the car.
"Hi, Bridgette," the boys quickly say without taking their eyes off their Nintendos.
"Morning, my babies."
I put the car in reverse and back out of my spot, joining the line of cars that are following the buses out of the parking lot. Most of the cars' windows have been painted with window paint, but I was instructed by Tony that that is the most pointless thing on the planet, and not to mention it's a bitch to get off. Jay thought it was a neat idea but was then shot a very pissed off look from Tony. Needless to say Jay sided with Tony after that. "Oh my God!" Bridgette yells.
"What?" I slam on the brakes, wondering if I hit anything. Bridgette points to the last bus just a few cars ahead of us, and I follow her extended finger to see a lower back and two butt cheeks hanging out of the window with the words 'Bridge' and 'Winter Formal?' painted across them. "Is that Heather?"
Bridgette is in the middle of sending a text to, presumably, Heather when the butt goes back within the confines of the bus. As we pull out onto the main road, Bridgette starts cackling like a witch, bringing me to the conclusion that I, and the rest of the football team's immediate family members, just saw Heather Johnson's ass ask a girl to winter formal.
"I can't believe she did that," Bridge says with a hand still half-covering her dropped jaw.
"Me either," I agree. Last time I checked, her and Heather were on the outs. After Heather told Bridge she didn't think it would work out, I figured that would be the last time I'd hear about it. Bridge can be heartbroken for about 2.5 seconds and then move on to the next contestant about as quickly, and she rarely, if ever, goes back to previous relationships. So this whole Heather thing is currently mind-blowing and breaking all of the rules Bridge has established over the years. "Care to elaborate?"
"She called me last night and told me to meet her at the school a little before eight. I went early, and she pulled me away from her friends and told me that she'd given it some thought and that she was 100% into me. And it got even more crazy, she kissed me. She actually used those dreamy, cherry-chapsticked lips for something more useful than yelling out cheers," she smiles. Then she looks over at me and knits her brow in agitation, "And then you ruined it."
"Obviously not as much as you think since she just pulled that stunt," I take a hand off the wheel and gesture to the buses up ahead. "I'm going to guess she could get in some serious trouble for that. I don't think a head cheerleader would risk a demotion for some girl she didn't feel strongly about."
For the first time in what be must forever, Bridge is silent. I don't think she's ever been silent a day in her life, and this is a girl who literally talks in her sleep. I reach over and place a hand on her knee, "Bridgette, I think she loves you."
She doesn't break her gaze on the yellow limousines in front of her, but she puts a hand over mine and whispers, "And I think I love her."