Pause

by CJ Adler

  “Hi!” I chirp loudly, already knowing he'll recognize my voice—I'm just that good.

  Like I predicted, he turns around swiftly, searching through all the faces until, finally, his gaze lands on me. He scowls at me, his easy-going persona vanishing completely as his aggro one returns.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he asks angrily, taking hold of my upper arm before dragging me away from the crowd.

  Jay meets us halfway. I avoid eye contact with him after our awkward, little encounter. He notices, perceptive, and sends me a knowing smirk, seeing right through my charade.

  I tell you…there's just no pulling wool over his eyes. He notices everything. Grey sees Jay and sends a look between us. “What do you guys want?”

  “Slow down, cockroach,” I answer him. “We're just here…hanging…chilling…chillaxing…ya know, the usual stuff.”

  Grey sends me a glare, one that should have me six feet under by now.

  “Other than that horse crap you just sprouted, what do you really want?”

  I shift over to Jay and whisper to him in secret, “I think Grumpy Face is on to us.”

  “Grumpy Face can hear you, idiot,” Grey blatantly insults me. “I can even see you! You're so discreet.”

  “Thank you.” I smile warmly at him.

  “I hate you,” he states aloud, giving up on me as he turns to Jay for an explanation instead. “What do you need?” he asks Jay, aware that he'll actually get somewhere with Jay.

  Jay just stares at him blankly, clearly having not forgiven him just yet. I frown at Jay and elbow him in the ribs when he makes no move to say anything. He sends me a sharp glare before turning back to Grey. “I wanted to apologize for the other day.”

  Grey shrugs, having already made peace with it. “Long forgotten. I was out of line.”

  “Yeah, you were,” Jay agrees, still giving his friend the cold shoulder.

  “So boys…” I say, standing on my tippy-toes, throwing my arms around both of their shoulders, pulling them in for a group hug, “I need to know, is this bromance back on or what?!” I ask loudly, ecstatic.

  Neither of them says anything. Instead, I'm met by two pointed stares.

  I shrug it off and glance Grey's way. “Huh, huh?” I glance Jay's way next.

  “C'mon now!”

  Grey shoves me off of him in response while Jay pushes my face away from his.

  “This is why I love you guys! You're both so damn lovable!” I retort sarcastically as they walk on ahead, making plans without me.

  ***

  “I still don't get why she has to tag along,” Grey mopes as we sit in my favorite ice cream store. “She's…strange,” he points out, watching me duck behind the menu, not bothering to question my strange behavior.

  “She's hiding from the manager,” Jay replies, unfazed, almost as if used to me by now. “It actually makes sense after how things ended between them.”

  “What? Were they like dating or something?” Grey asks, genuinely lost as he glances Dylan's way.

  Fortunately, Dylan hasn't noticed me because, surprise-surprise, he has a beautiful brunette on his arm. I can tell that they're an item.

  I snort at Grey's assumption. “He wishes. It was one date that ended…well, let's just leave it at 'ended'. It's all Jay's fault really.” I turn to give Jay an accusing glare. He responds with a sheepish yet apologetic grin.

  “Not surprised. Knowing you it's no wonder the date ended in a disaster. I feel for that guy,” Grey replies, taking Dylan's side, which was predictable of him.

  I brush off the matter, not giving a damn about Grey's opinion merely because his opinion is stupid, just like him.

  “I demand a bubblegum ice cream and I don't got money on me.” My gaze strays to my current best friend. “Jay…” I drawl lazily in expectation, knowing that

  Grey will refuse.

  “Knew it!” Jay jokes, snapping his fingers as if he predicted me saying just that. “Sure,” he complies. “I got you.”

  Upon seeing Jay, Dylan's supposed buddy, Dylan takes the liberty to approach us, wanting to take our orders himself.

  “Jay, dude, how's it going man?” Dylan asks him, rather friendly and upbeat.

  “Been a while.”

  “All good and yourself ?” Jay answers in a laidback manner.

  “Great, thanks. This here is my girlfriend, Bex,” he introduces the pretty brunette to Jay.

  I sink deeper into my seat at the sound of his voice, hoping that he won't see me cowering behind the menu.

  Bex? Now why does that name sound so familiar?

  My eyes widen. Benley!

  “Nice to meet you,” Jay replies before introducing Grey to him. “This is my friend, Grey.”

  Grey's about to say something when something dawns on me. Friend. Friend. Friend. Suddenly, acting on instinct and impulse rather than pure logic, I chuck the menu aside and stand up, throwing an accusing finger in Jay's face. “Aha! I knew it! I knew you'd eventually confess to him being your friend! I was right!”

  Jay blinks at me, not making a sound as everyone around the table falls completely silent. He gives me a look, motioning with his head to Dylan, making me remember that I'm supposed to be undercover.

  From the corner of my eye, I see Grey snicker.

  “Aqueela?” Dylan asks, stunned by my sudden appearance.

  The name must register in the girlfriend's head. “That's thee Aqueela?” she asks him, whispering a little too loudly seeing as I can hear every word.

  Dylan must've told her everything, fantastic! It means I don't have to waste time introducing myself.

  “In the flesh,” I joke.

  Dylan stares at me for a little longer before shaking his head slightly. He turns his attention back to his girlfriend and nods, silently answering her. “Aqueela,” he glances my way, “this is my girlfriend, Bex.”

  I greet her ever so politely by completely wiping her presence out. I'm only as friendly and sweet as my friends allow me to be, and seeing as she cheated on Benley, who just so happens to be my friend, she can get lost.

  I move my eyes back to Dylan's blue ones, only to find him smirking at me as if proud that he moved on first, as if he won. I see the arrogance in his expression.

  Jay must see it too because suddenly a frown traces his features. He shouldn't worry because I'm Aqueela Lawson and I don't lose. Ever.

  With that in mind, I act on impulse yet again and loop my arm through Grey's arm, snuggling up to him with a smile that implies he better play along or else.

  “Oh, well, this is my fiancé and we're totally serious, so very serious, seriously serious as serious as I can be and I mean that seriously.”

  Grey, startled, begins coughing on his soda, just about choking. I play the 'smile and wave' card, batting my eyelashes up at him in a loving gesture that sickens me on the inside. I would've picked Jay but Grey is closer to me and after my encounter with Jay today, I'd rather not stir up another awkward moment with him.

  Dylan's proud expression falls at my words. I take satisfaction in that.

  Score! Fiancé beats girlfriend.

  “Oh,” Dylan retorts blandly. “Well, congratulations, I guess,” he mumbles, clearly uncomfortable.

  “Yup.” I nod, beaming. “We're so very much in love!” I convince Dylan as

  I place my head against Grey's tense shoulder.

  Grey finally catches his breath, blinking rapidly, confused, as he starts speaking hurriedly, “What?! She's a psychopath! I would rather jump off a cliff than marry—”

  “Forgive him. He's just very thirsty. Been a long day,” I cut him off as I stuff the soda can against his mouth, hoping to get him to shut up before I force the can down his esophagus.

  I stomp down on his foot under the table. He bites down on his tongue to refrain from shouting out aloud at me. I smirk to myself, reminiscing on when I pulled this off with Max, but at least Max was willing.

  Grey clears his throat before correc
ting himself, “I would rather jump off a cliff than marry anyone else but Aqueela.”

  I send him a sickly, sweet smile in response. “Naaw, isn't he just adorable?” I coo, placing a hand over my heart. “Sometimes, my heart just can't take it. I swear, one of these days he's going to give me a heart attack.”

  “I can only hope,” Grey mutters inconspicuously from beside me.

  I kick him in the shin this time 'round in order to get him to comply.

  “I love her so much that I want to smother her in all my love,” he says through gritted teeth as he tries to offer me a loving smile, failing to pull it off, almost as if the mere thought repulses him.

  Dylan and Bex pull disturbed faces at his choice of words. Heck, even I'm disturbed. Nonetheless, I have to save this. “Isn't he so romantic? Always flattering me with beautiful words,” I lie.

  I'm so gonna pay for this later.

  “Yeah…” Bex trails off, unsure. “So romantic,” she concludes, perplexed by what it is that I apparently see in Grey. If she only knew that it's absolutely nothing.

  I merely smile, in turn.

  “So, let's see the engagement rings,” Bex suggests happily.

  “Oh, yeah…” I mumble, totally forgetting about that. Fortunately, I'm a skilled liar; I’ve had a lot of experience over the years. “Well, this is personal, but Grey is poor, like really, really poor. I mean, you can probably tell by his disheveled hair and clothes, and you know…just him in general really. He has that poor look about him. When I first saw him, I was wondering who pulled him out from underneath the bridge, if you get what I'm saying. Anyway, Grey can't afford to meet his basic needs like hygiene let alone rings, but fortunately, his love for me covers all that.”

  Grey sends me his infamous death stare that signifies he'll be killing me for this later. He's just mad because I insulted his appearance.

  “Oh, I see,” Bex replies dryly, unimpressed.

  I glance Jay's way to see him yet again amused by my actions. There's a small, lopsided smile curving his lips as he tries to stifle his laughter.

  I begin talking again, “So, other than Grey and I being soulmates and hopelessly in love, yadah, yadah, ya—”

  I'm suddenly cut off by a high-pitched, very distraught shout. Before I know it, I've been tackled to the floor, my chair collapsing right on top of me. Startled, I look up to find obese hands reaching out to me. I spot his ever-present smile when he lifts me up. Simo.

  “Sprinkle can't love 'GreysFace'!” he shouts, squeezing me against his chest

  before swinging me around in his arms as I slowly begin to suffocate. “Simo want Sprinkle. Simo love Sprinkle more than GreysFace. Simo marry Sprinkle and look after Sprinkle forever and ever and ever.”

  Jay, like the gentleman he is, begins laughing aloud, no longer able to hold back anymore. I'd glare at him if I could see past all this blubber.

  “Grey, my love, a little help,” I plead, needing to get away from Simo and save this entire charade before Dylan sees through it.

  “Not now, Honey, I'm on the phone with a client. You know I need this job since I'm so so so poor as you described in raw detail,” he responds before I hear his footsteps leaving, letting me know that he totally just ditched me. I guess I deserved that one.

  “Simo!” I hiss quietly. “Put me down.”

  Fortunately, it is Dylan who comes to my rescue and tells Simo to get back to work. Simo reluctantly lets go of me and places me back down to the floor as he leaves, looking heartbroken.

  I glance at Dylan and Bex, sheepish. “Well, it was lovely meeting you, Bex, and nice seeing you again, Dylan, but we really should be going.”

  “But you haven't even ordered anything,” Dylan points out, confused.

  I wave the matter off and begin pushing Jay outside of the store. He's laughing so much he can barely walk on his own. I'm just glad that he got some sort of entertainment out of this.

  As soon as we're out, Grey's up in my face. “You!” he shouts as he approaches me, shaking his head. “I could kill you.” He lowers his voice when bystanders notice us. “You infuriating, attention seeking, selfish…” he falters when seeing something behind me before continuing, “beautiful, gorgeous, intelligent love of my life…”

  I zone out, bored. I turn around and see Bex leaving the ice cream store, staring directly at us as if suspicious. When Grey continues complimenting me, she takes that as a sign of our 'true' love and leaves.

  I take advantage of the moment. “You think I'm gorgeous?” I ask him tauntingly. He narrows his gaze at me, not saying anything. “Okay, okay.” I huff, holding my hands up in a surrendering motion. “I'm sorry. I just needed to win and so I used you to do it—probably not my wisest move.”

  “You think?” he mutters, agitated, as he runs a hand through his brown hair.

  It's then that Jay finally manages to pull himself together. He stops laughing like an imbecile and comes to stand beside me. “Loosen up, man. It's just Aqueela being Aqueela.”

  “Yeah, well, I don't like Aqueela very much,” Grey retorts in an irritable fashion. “She's psychotic. I believe that for real now. Concerning you, JT, we're good, but Aqueela…” he turns to glare at me, “stay away from me.”

  I grin after him as he leaves before clapping my hands in excitement. “Well, that went well. I think he's warming up to me.”

  Jay shakes his head in disbelief. “Of course you'd think that.”

  It's been a long day. I had class all day and then I had Grey for the rest of the day. That's enough to tire anyone out. It didn't help that Jay forced me to go and speak to our school's guidance counselor. I had to tell her about everything that has happened thus far—that was draining in itself.

  I tug on Jay's arm. “Let's go home, please,” I suggest tiredly, ready to curl up into a ball and sleep.

  I back away from him and begin walking to his car before his arm unexpectedly wraps around my waist and brings me to a halt. He forces me to spin around so that I'm now facing him.

  “What?”

  He places his hand on my cheek all too suddenly. My heart begins to race when I notice him staring intensely at me. “Next time…” he breathes softly, closing distance between us, “make me the fake fiancé.”

  Chapter 27

  Game Over!

  “Aqueela, please get the door! I'm gonna head up stairs to shower,” Jay calls from somewhere in the kitchen as the doorbell continues to rings over and over again, the sound echoing throughout the entire neighborhood.

  “I would, Jay, I really would, but I'm very busy with an important project. You get it, packrat!” I shout back.

  “What did you just call me?!” He raises his voice from the other side of the room, displeased.

  The kitchen door slams open as Jay strolls past me with a frown. When he sees me, he stops short and directs his cool glare at me. It's enough to send shivers up my spine. He is in actual fact quite intimidating when he wants to be.

  “This is what your important project is?” he questions calmly yet his blue eyes are saying otherwise, revealing a raging storm.

  I nod meekly, aware that his laidback aura is about to blow.

  In three, two—

  “Aqueela!” he finally snaps like the volcanic eruption he is.

  I wince at the sound. I've gotten good at predicting his mood swings seeing as I'm the cause of them.

  “Yes, J-Bear?” I answer casually, blinking innocently up at him from my comfortable position on his pink couch. He gives me a look for the new nickname I invented for him. I shrug teasingly. “What? You won't let me call you JT so it's either J-Bear or JJ. Your choice.”

  “How is painting your toenails important?” he asks, annoyed and not even trying to mask it.

  “How is showering important?” I return the question, sticking my legs up in the air, wanting my toenails to dry faster.

  “You always make me answer the door because you're always busy with stuff that you always claim is important wh
en really it's not,” he complains, clearly needing to get a few things off of his chest. “You have no boundaries and you take everything I offer for granted. The least you can do is…” he trails off when he realizes that I'm not listening anymore, or that I wasn't listening from the start.

  I blow on my fingernails absentmindedly, forgetting that he's currently speaking to me.

  “Why do I even bother?” he mutters to himself and I can't help but wonder why too. If I was him, I would have kicked me out a long time ago. I'm a pest.

  Feeling guilty, I completely forget about the neon blue nail polish on my toes and make a move to sit up. Jay must see what's coming next because his head snaps up and his eyes widen in panic. “Aqueela!” he warns just as I plant my feet straight down onto his couch.

  The blue nail polish smears over the painted couch. He sighs as a result. I shrug apologetically and try my luck. “Sorry.”

  He runs a hand through his hair as the doorbell continues to ring, working at his temper all the more. He glances from my sheepish expression to the pink couch with blue blotches everywhere before grumbling something to himself. “Just forget about it and answer the door,” he orders as he walks upstairs to finally go take his shower.

  Feeling awful about ruining his couch, I decide to obey and just answer. I waddle like a penguin to the door across the slippery floors, almost bailing in the process, as I reluctantly open the door.

  “Took you long enough,” Max whines, impatient.

  “Well, well, well,” I begin slowly, “if it isn't the trader who sold me out,” I greet sternly, crossing my arms over my chest to give off a more threatening vibe.

  “You're the one who left me stranded to face Troy's wrath with your elaborate scheme to kidnap your best friend. Grey bailed on me and you guys left me. You're the traitor,” he replies back cheekily, too cheekily for my liking.

  “I don't like your tone, Mister,” I retort, offended by his blatant rudeness yet allowing him in anyway.

  He flops down onto Jay's couch like it's his before telling me his life story; that being that his parents want a divorce because his mom is cheating . He found out and told his dad and now he's doubting the decision he made . He 's getting quite worked up about it.