Hello, Honeybee

by Caity H.

  “Right, how could I ever forget? Night,” he said, winking and heading to his tent.

  I watched to make sure he didn’t die before he got in his tent. Then I zipped mine all the way up, and got back into my sleeping bag. My eyelids closed and a smile still lingered on my lips.

  Chapter Nineteen – Goodbye High School, Hello Summer!

  Today was the last day of high school. I was sitting in bed, still smiling at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe I was about to graduate from high school, move on to the next part of my life and leave my high school in the dust.

  Bethany had planned a last day party at her house for a few of our friends to come over, including Lex, Desmond, Ryan, and his friends. This would be the first time Ryan and Lex would see each other on pleasant terms, since I’d told Ryan about my rekindled friendship. He’d been surprisingly fine with it, I expected more worry.

  Ryan and I had gone out again, but we still hadn’t talked about whether or not we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, or if we were just going out to get to know each other better. It was all confusing me greatly, but I didn’t know how to ask him about it.

  Sighing, I threw back the covers of my bed and the warm California air met me. I got out of bed and quickly got dressed in a pair of white shorts and a bright green V-neck. I slipped on my glasses and threw my hair up in a ponytail. I looked good enough for our last day.

  I raced downstairs and grabbed a bowl of cereal. “Morning, Mom.” She looked up from her cup of coffee and smiled. “You off to work soon?”

  “Yes. Are you ready for your last day as a high schooler?” she wondered, sipping her coffee. Tears shimmered in her eyes. I knew she was holding in her tears for graduation. She thought it was better to cry then, instead of crying a lot beforehand.

  “I am completely ready.” I glanced at the clock. Lex was giving me a ride since Bethany had to be at the school early for a final project. Today after school, I was going to tell him what two things he had to change about his appearance for the graduation.

  Lex had been pretty good about being nice to me at school. The only time he’d really slipped up was during homeroom on Tuesday, but it was obvious he felt guilty about it. He’d apologized and bought me a smoothie after school.

  “I still can’t believe the past eighteen years have gone by so fast,” she murmured, shaking her head. I was about to reply when the door opened. I turned and lifted my head in greeting when Lex walked in.

  “Hey.” He smiled, glancing over at Mom. “Morning.”

  “Good morning, Lex.” She set her cup down on the counter. “You ready to be done?”

  He laughed, nodding his head. “Heck yeah. I’ve been ready for the past three years.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Mom agreed.

  I moved backward when Lex made a grab for my cereal. “No!” I slapped his hand.

  “Debby! Honeybee is being mean to me. Can you punish her please?” he asked, widening his eyes to try and look more innocent. I laughed and pushed him with my shoulder. He barely budged, stupid muscles. “And now she’s trying to hurt me,” he whined.

  “Olivia, be nice to poor Lexie,” Mom said, winking at Lex.

  He scrunched up his nose. “I thought we talked about this,” he started. “When a man turns eight, calling him ‘Lexie’, is no longer right.”

  “When you ask me for help, you revert to that little seven year old boy who Olivia had no trouble picking on,” Mom explained, shrugging her shoulders. “You want to be treated like a man, don’t come crying to mommy when she gets a little rough.” She winked, picking up her mug and putting it in the sink. “I’m off to work. Have a good day, and I’ll see you later.” She hugged us both and left.

  “You ready to go?” Lex inquired, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Yes, let’s go.”

  Together, we walked to his car and headed to school. On the way, we could see other kids from school, dancing to music in their cars as they drove to their last day of school before the summer.

  The sun shone down on the world, the trees sparkling with morning dew, lighting up like a display. It was like the whole universe was happy for the kids at Riverside High. We pulled into the back parking lot and then walked toward the front of the school where most of the students were waiting for class to start.

  “I’ve gotta meet up with the guys to talk about the end of school tradition,” Lex informed me, adjusting the bag on his shoulder. “I’ll meet up with you later.” He waved and walked off.

  “See you later.”

  I found Bethany at one of the tables with a group of students from one of her classes. She had a huge smile on her face. “Can you believe it? Last day!”

  “I literally can’t!” I shook my head. “But I’m so glad it is!” When someone yelled my name, I turned to see Desmond running over.

  “Olivia! Olivia’s friend!” he yelled.

  Bethany frowned. “I have a name you know,” she grumbled annoyed, rolling her eyes. He skidded to a stop next to us.

  “Hey,” I laughed, giving a small wave.

  “Hi!” He glanced at Bethany. “I don’t know your name, or I would use it.”

  “Bethany,” she told him.

  “Right.” He shrugged. “Sorry. Anyways, I need to know where you live so I can come to the party tonight,” he said, smiling slightly.

  “Why you’re invited, I don’t know.” She sighed. “I’ll give the directions to you at lunch, okay? And if all else fails, Olivia will get detention again and explain to you in great detail where I live.”

  “Okay, great.” He was jittery, tapping his fingers against his legs with silent rhythm. “I’m stoked for school to be over.”

  “We all are.” I laughed, continuing to walk towards the schools front doors. Desmond started walking with us. I pulled open the door and walked into the school.

  “Are you guys planning to go to any of the parties?” he asked. Bethany and I exchanged glances. We weren’t really one for parties.

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” I told him.

  “Oh come on. You won’t even come to my party? We’re friends now. You should come to my parties,” he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. What was it with guys throwing tantrums lately?

  “Well, we’re not really party people.” I shrugged. We walked past the crowd of people, moving up the stairs.

  “Hot people are party people, and you two are definitely hot,” he replied, getting the looks of the people around us. Bethany rolled her eyes.

  I laughed. I liked Desmond, he wasn’t afraid to be himself. “Thanks, but I’m not going to promise anything.”

  “Please?” he asked, pushing one of the jocks out of his way as he walked with us. He wasn’t even in any of our classes, why was he following us? “Come on, my party is next Saturday, nine to whenever. You can show up and hang out for a little while. Please, it’ll make me feel better.”

  Bethany shook her head. “No. I am going to be gone next weekend. My parents and I are going to D.C., part of my graduation gift.”

  Desmond scrunched up his eyebrows. “I hope my parents get me something better,” he muttered. Bethany glared at him. He put his hands up defensively. “No offense, it’s just that seems like no fun to me.”

  “That’s why you aren’t going,” she retorted, parting ways with me. “I’m off, see you at lunch.”

  Desmond kept walking with me, but the constant glancing at his watch made it obvious he was running low on free time to socialize. “I’m gonna be late to math if I keep trying to convince you. Promise you’ll think about it?” he asked.

  I stopped and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Why do you want me to come so bad?”

  “You invited me to a party, so I’m simply returning the favor. Plus we’re friends, and good friends don’t let friends sit home on a Saturday all by themselves. Think about it?” he questioned again, a smile on his lips.

  “Fine, I’ll think about it,”
I relented. “Now go!” I ordered, turning to get to my own class before I did get detention again.

  When the final bell rang, signifying it was officially summer, things went crazy. I covered my ears and laughed as the kids around me screamed, laughed, hugged, cried, and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.

  I saw Lex and Desmond running around being crazy with the rest of their teammates. The soccer team had a tradition of making celebratory banners and running around without shirts on, acting like maniacs. They made the cheerleaders look depressed when it came to peppiness.

  The football team had a different way of celebrating. They were throwing the ball around randomly when they saw a fellow teammate. It was more dangerous, and less entertaining, which was why I preferred the soccer teams antics.

  Bethany came and found me in the craziness and we hugged and laughed, so excited that we were done with it all. The drama, the boys, the crazy girls, the creepers, the teachers, the boring lectures; we were done with the drama of high school. Finally!

  “We’re done!” She smiled, returning her gaze to me.

  “I can’t believe it!” I exclaimed, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

  “Believe it, because I’m not sticking around here anymore! We graduate tomorrow, and then, we’re done forever! We’ll never have to go back to high school.” She smiled spinning around in a small circle. I laughed and looked around again. Desmond was still raging on, his shirt on his head and his banner flying about as he ran. The banner simply read 'Done!'

  Lex came running over towards us. His banner read the same thing as Desmond’s, except it had a smiley face on it. He had his shirt on his head also, giving every girl he ran past a good view of his abs, no doubt the soccer players did this as a way to show off as well. I tried not to stare, but he did have nice abs, and they were glistening.

  “Honeybee!” He yelled above the noise. I jolted, my eyes going to his face instead of his abs. A smirk pulled at the edges of his lips, knowing where my eyes had been moments before. “I’m going to be ready to go in about ten minutes. Will you be ready by then?” he leaned closer so he could hear my reply better.

  “Yes!” I beamed.

  “Cool. I’m going to finish up with the guys, and I’ll be ready to go.” He raced away, leaving me staring after him. A pair of fingers snapped in front of my face.

  “They’re just abs, don’t let them suck you in,” Bethany laughed, pushing me.

  I frowned, but it turned into a smile. “I’ll make sure he has his shirt on before he gets in the car,” I promised. “I’ll see you tonight?” I asked.

  “Yes ma’am.” She nodded, slipping sunglasses over her eyes. “Besides, if you don’t come and Sir Abs does show up, I’m sending everyone to your house,” she warned.

  “I’ll be there,” I promised, giving her a hug.

  “See you then.” She waved and we parted ways.

  I made it to the back of the school and walked over towards Lex’s car. I only waited a few minutes for him to appear from the back entrance. He still had his shirt off, and his banner was dragging on the pavement behind him. He stopped when he got to the car.

  “Thanks for waiting,” he said, dropping the banner and getting down on his knees to fold it up.

  “Not like I had a choice. I could either wait for you to show up, or wait for the crazy people to finally leave. This seemed like the faster choice.” I told him. I watched as he finished folding the banner and put it in the back of his car. “Your shirt is still on your head,” I reminded him. He smirked and took it off of his head. His hair messed up slightly because of it.

  “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” He laughed, pulling his bright blue shirt back on. He pulled his keys out of his gray plaid shorts and unlocked the car. After the car started he headed out. He glanced at me a moment before returning his eyes to the road. “So, about tomorrow, what are you going to make me do?”

  I smiled, clapping my hands giddily. I’d been thinking about it a lot. “Well, I think you’re really going to love me for what I chose to do to you.”

  “Oh really? And why is that?”

  “Well, they’re pretty simple things, and they don’t last long,” I told him, watching the yellow lines on the road run by. “Are you ready to hear your fate?” He nodded, not taking his eyes away from the road. “Okay, the first thing, is that you have to wear your fire truck red glasses.” I told him, watching his reaction.

  He didn’t freak out like I’d been expecting. “That’s no big deal. They’re cool, in a retro kind of way. What’s the next thing I have to do?” he turned onto our street.

  “Well, you’re actually coming over to my house to do it tonight,” I told him.

  He stopped at a stop sign and looked straight at me. “Please explain what you mean before I get the wrong idea.”

  I blushed, embarrassed by what he might’ve thought. “I’ve got some blue hair dye. We’re going to give you some streaks.”

  He frowned and started the car moving again. “I don’t really like the idea of that.”

  “It fades away after a few washes, so it’s not going to last very long. We can do this now, or later. Which do you prefer?” I questioned, twiddling my thumbs.

  He sighed, pulling into his driveway. “Let’s do it now, get it over with. That way, the chlorine will wash some of it out, and–”

  “No swimming if you’re only doing it to wash it out,” I scolded, shaking my head.

  “Fine, I won’t go swimming, but I will take my shirt off. You can’t stop me from doing that!” he declared getting out of the car.

  “I noticed,” I replied, hopping out of the car. I grabbed my bag and looked at him across the hood.

  “I saw you noticing.” He smirked, a twinkle in his dark irises.

  Blushing, I ignored him and turned away. “I’ll get everything set up. Come over in about ten minutes wearing clothes you won’t mind getting blue.”

  With a wave, I walked across the street quickly and went inside. My cheeks were flaming and I leaned against the door.

  Curse his ability to make me blush.

  Chapter Twenty – The Smurf

  Lex came over dressed in basketball shorts and a black muscle shirt. I wore a big white t-shirt and some old jean shorts. My hair swayed in a ponytail as I moved out of the way to let him in.

  Mom was leaning against the banister at the top of the stairs. “Livie told me all about her plot.” She smiled, “If you need any help, just holler.” She disappeared down the hall to her room.

  Lex followed me upstairs and into the bathroom. I had a chair all set up and everything. “Your throne,” I said, bowing sarcastically. He laughed and sat down. Since he was tall, sitting down his head was at my chest, so I could easily reach it and put blue dye in it. I was probably more excited than I should’ve been.

  “I’m at your mercy,” he said meekly.

  I smirked. “Yeah, you are.” After putting the gloves on, I grabbed the bottle of dye, and turned to see his face staring at me in the mirrors reflection. He looked nervous. I held back a laugh.

  “Be gentle,” he pleaded.

  I started to dye his hair, taking pieces of foil and folding strips of his hair into them after I’d plastered it with blue dye. The longer I stared at the amount of foil in his hair, the more I realized that there was undoubtedly a lot of blue in his hair as well. I bit my lip.

  “Bee, please tell me you didn’t make some huge mistake and dye my hair with permanent blue dye, or something worse,” he murmured, apparently having seen my look of concern in the reflection.

  “What? No, of course not,” I scoffed, feigning confidence. I set the bottle down and looked at him. “We have to leave it in for a little while longer for the blue to really set.” I bit my lip again, surveying the nearly empty dye bottle. I’d used too much. Nodding to myself, I accepted that this would be my last day on earth.

  “The fact you’re freaking out more than I am makes me nervous,” he noted, rais
ing an eyebrow as he looked at his reflection. I didn’t say anything, just excused myself to get away to my room for a few moments before he killed me.

  When the blue had been in long enough, I turned him away from the mirror so he wouldn’t see his reflection, and started pulling the foil out. There was so much blue. I was seriously starting to worry for my life.

  With all of the foil out, I moved him to the shower and turned on the water to start washing all the excess out. Blue spilled from his head, pooling in the bottom of the shower below, circling the drain.

  “That is a lot of blue,” his voice sounded nasally since his head was upside down.

  “That means there’s less in your hair.” I hoped I was right.

  When there wasn’t any blue was coming out of his hair, I gave him a towel and he dried his hair out. I made him close his eyes and turn around in a way so that he couldn’t see the mirror. “Okay, take the towel off.” I instructed.

  “Can I open my eyes, too?” he laughed.

  “Yes, you can.” I replied. He opened his eyes and took the towel off. I crossed my arms, one arm against my chest, and I tapped my chin, surveying my work. Yep. He would probably kill me. There was way more blue than I expected.

  “You look scared,” he said, pulling his eyebrows together. “How bad is it?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Define bad…”

  He turned around and looked in the mirror. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. I had told him I would give him a few streaks. I was pretty sure what I’d done was more along the lines of highlights, lowlights, and streaks. There was almost more blue than there was blond.

  “This is catastrophic.” He ran a hand through the blue mess. He turned to me and pointed a finger. “This is going to be horrible for pictures tomorrow,” he worried, looking back at his reflection.

  I cringed. I hadn’t thought about pictures. “Lex, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it would turn out like this.” I covered my face with my hands.

  “How many washes does it last through?”