Hello, Honeybee

by Caity H.

  “It’s okay. Can’t win them all,” he murmured. “I knew coming into it that you were in love with someone else.”

  “Still,” I muttered, mad with myself. “You’re a great guy. I’m stupid for not falling in love with you.”

  He laughed. “As great as I am, I can’t make all the ladies fall for me.” I sighed. “But hey, at least I’ve gained another friend out of this.”

  “Yes.” I met his gaze. “You most definitely did.” Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck, feelings his slide around my waist. “There is a very lucky girl out there somewhere.”

  He pulled away. “And there is a lucky guy sitting on that couch inside.” His eyes dimmed. “I just hope he realizes it before it’s too late.”

  “Me too,” I whispered, feeling an ache in my chest.

  “Goodnight, Olivia,” he murmured, walking backwards toward his car.

  “Night, Ryan.” I watched him get into his car and he waved before driving off.

  When I walked back inside Desmond and Lex were helping Bethany clean up. Bethany laughed at something Desmond said, hair falling over her shoulders. Desmond flashed a flirtatious grin, winking as she walked away.

  Lex looked like he wanted to hit Desmond, but clenched his fists at his sides. When he saw me, his body relaxed. “Thank goodness. I need to leave before I have to hurt my best friend.”

  “I’m a little offended by that,” Desmond shot back, leaving the kitchen.

  “Sorry,” Lex muttered sarcastically. Desmond glared, starting over toward Lex.

  Bethany came to the rescue. “You guys should get going. We all have a big day tomorrow, wouldn’t want to scar any faces before then.”

  “Fine,” Desmond grumbled, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on. Lex had long since put his shirt back on.

  Laughing, Bethany gave me a hug goodbye. “I still want to hear all about the graduation gift you gave Lex,” she smirked.

  “What is there to tell? All the information you need is right here on my head. Bright and blue as ever,” Lex sighed, his eyes glaring at the blue hair that touched his eyebrows.

  “It seems to have faded some,” she told him as we all walked outside, the cool night air making me shiver. I hadn’t realized it was that cold when I’d said goodbye to Ryan.

  Lex paused beside her. “Bridges that may very well be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “Don’t get used to it.” She waved goodnight to Desmond.

  “Night all!’ he called, waving as he got into his car and sped off.

  “Bye,” I called, as Lex and I walked over to his car.

  The ride was quiet, the cool summer breeze blowing past us and making the night seem so peaceful. We got to his house in a matter of minutes. He parked and turned off the car. We both got out of the car and I started to walk over towards my house.

  “Night, Honeybee,” he called. I turned and smiled.

  “Goodnight, Lex. Sleep well.”

  “You too,” he returned.

  I got inside and locked the door, heading up to my room. I changed quickly from my bathing suit into my pajamas and crawled under my sheets, exhausted. I hugged Garth to my chest.

  T-minus one day until I was officially graduated.

  Chapter Twenty One – It’s Graduation, Baby!

  My heart was filled with joy as I watched the lights drop and the principal step up to the microphone. Shuffling feet echoed lightly when the first row of graduates moved toward the stage.

  “It is my honor to be here with you all today,” Principal Bitsley boomed, looking over the crowd. The light gray suit he wore was snug over his portly stomach. He wore a crown of salt and pepper hair, his bald spot almost blinding in the spotlight. “This class has worked hard for four years to be here today, and it is my privilege to hand them the diplomas they deserve.” He smiled, picked up the first diploma, and began reading names off the list.

  I waited anxiously in my seat, watching as he congratulated student after student. Since my last name started with M it would be a little ways before it was actually my turn. Even Bethany would have a while to wait with the huge class graduating with us.

  As each of my friends crossed the stage to accept their diplomas, I cheered loudly. Bethany accepted her humbly, offering sincere gratitude and a smile. Desmond was cocky, winking and waving at the crowd as he sauntered over. Lex was confident, head held high, and shoulders back. He’d styled his hair in a faux-hawk, concealing a lot of the blue under his cap, and he wore his red glasses proudly.

  After what seemed like forever, my name was finally called. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Lights flashed slowly, delayed. Mom’s cheering seemed to be weak, slowly building to a louder volume.

  My knees shook as I walked across the stage, a bright light shining down on me. Flashes went off in the crowd, but I kept my eyes focused on the piece of paper in Principal Bitsley’s hand. Sweat trickled down my neck.

  “Congratulations, Olivia,” his words were muddled together as I accepted the paper, vaguely aware of the screams of excitement around me. My feet carried me off stage as the next student crossed the stage.

  Before I knew it, all the students had crossed the stage, and Principal Bitsley announced our graduated class. Chaos broke out as all the students threw their hats into the air, screams mingling with laughter.

  In a rush, caps and gowns were discarded on chairs while everyone separated to find family and friends. I pulled off my gown, revealing the short charcoal colored dress. It hit just above my knees, and had a sweetheart neckline.

  Pushing through the crowd, I reached the row where Mom and Diamond’s were. Lex was standing by his Mom, her arm around his waist, tears staining her cheeks. Lex had also shed the stuffy black gown, revealing his dark gray slacks and white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The top button was undone, revealing tan skin, and his tie was hanging, undone, against his chest.

  He met my eyes as I walked over, a smile twinkling in their depths. “Honeybee.” He left his mother’s side and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I hugged him back. His breath tickled my neck as he leaned down. “Congrats!”

  I leaned back, his arms still locked around me. “Thanks, Lex. I’m surprised you made it this far,” I jested.

  He laughed, releasing me and shaking his head. “Sometimes you’re so hurtful, Honeybee.”

  “I learned from the best,” I retorted, moving toward Mom. She had tears in her eyes and when she hugged me, I could feel her shaking as they fell down her face.

  “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart,” she cried, standing back, her hands gripping my shoulders. “Your father would be so proud to be here today.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to distract my already frazzled emotions. I’d spent two hours that morning crying because Dad wasn’t going to be there to see me walk across the stage, or hug me afterward and tell me how proud he was. “Thanks, Mom.”

  A hand clasped around my shoulder, as Bethany appeared beside me. I turned and hugged her, laughing. “Can you believe it?” she squealed.

  “I thought I was going to faint when I crossed the stage!” I cried, laughing with her. Behind her, Desmond appeared, joining the hug. Lex stood by, hands in his pockets. “Desmond!”

  “I’m so glad to be done!” he let go and we all stepped back. “No more high school. I’ve been looking forward to this since junior year.”

  I laughed. “I’ve been looking forward to it since freshmen year, so I think I win.” He frowned, nudging my shoulder playfully.

  “Bethany!” her mom called, standing at the edge of the row. “Come on, sweetie. Your grandparents have to get home before too long, and they want to take you out.” She waved at the rest of us standing there.

  Bethany sighed, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Alright, I guess I need to go.” She hugged me once more. “We’re hanging out before I leave for D.C. though,” she decided, looking at Desmond, Lex, and I. Normally, s
he and I would’ve spent the night together after a big event like graduation, but she was spending the evening at a hotel with her family.

  “Of course,” Desmond gasped. “It would be criminal if we didn’t.” She laughed, waving before she turned to meet up with her family. He turned back to us. “I should probably get going also. See you ladies later.” He gave a cheeky grin, sprinting away before Lex could hit him.

  “I can’t believe you’re making me pretend to be best friends with someone so immature,” Lex mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

  “I think you’re matched in maturity,” I quipped, smiling brightly before turning back to Mom. She was wiping her eyes. “Mom, are you going to be okay?”

  “I’ll be alright eventually,” she gave a short laugh. “Why don’t we follow the direction of everyone else and get some food? I can drown my sorrows in fried foods.”

  I looped my arm through hers. “At least now I know where I get that trait from.”

  “I think that is just a girl thing,” Patty inserted, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Oh well. Let’s go, Mama’s gotta drown some sorrows.” She pulled Steve with her toward the exit. Mom kissed my cheek, following her lead. Lex and I fell into step beside behind them.

  “So where is Cassy?” I wondered, turning to look at him.

  He opened in his mouth in question, as his eyes scanned over the crowd. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her for a few days.”

  “Isn’t it something couples do? See each other on big days of the year,” I trailed off, raising an eyebrow. “How can you not see your girlfriend on graduation day?”

  He shrugged. “How can you not see your boyfriend?”

  I chose not to correct him. “That’s different. We’ve known each other a few weeks and he has work. You’ve been dating her since last summer-”

  “Off and on,” he interrupted, putting a hand on the small of my back as he led me out of the school. I bit back a shiver. “And he can’t possibly work all day.”

  “He might,” I argued, a grin on my lips. “Besides, you guys separate for a few hours at best before getting back together. So what happened?”

  He chewed on his bottom lip, like he was contemplating whether or not to trust me. “Something did happen,” he admitted.

  “Are you going to tell me about it?” I prodded, nudging his arm.

  He sighed. “It’s not exactly exciting material.” I nudged him again. “I sort of went over to her house to surprise her. Turns out I’m the one who got to be surprised. She was entertaining another guy.”

  I cringed, turning my face away. “I’m sorry, Lex.”

  “Me too.” He held the door open, and we walked outside. The cool night air was a relief to my warm skin. Standing in a gym for two hours with two hundred students, plus all the other people in attendance was not fun “But it isn’t the first time.”

  “Why are you still with her if she keeps cheating on you?” I wondered, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. I didn’t know she was cheating on me at first, and then when I found out…” he shrugged. “I guess it was pride. I didn’t want people to know she was cheating on me, so I ignored it.”

  “Maybe you should get over yourself and stop dating someone who doesn’t like you enough to be exclusive,” I murmured, biting my lip. Friends were honest with each other, but I wasn’t sure how honest he wanted me to be with him.

  “Way to bash me,” he snickered, turning his head to watch me. “You know, Honeybee, I’ve underestimated you. You’ve got more guts than I ever gave you credit for.”

  I blushed, turning away. “If that’s a compliment, I can’t tell.”

  “I think it is,” he supplied as we reached the cars where Mom and the Diamond’s were waiting for us.

  “Slow pokes,” Patty chided, her arm tucked under Steve’s. “Let’s go before all the restaurants are closed or full of graduates.”

  We ended up picking a burger joint. The booth we sat in was circular, with dark green leather covering the seats. The dark cherry wood table, which was clean when we got to the restaurant, was now littered with plates as we ate and laughed.

  “Remember when the kids had a pool party in the bathtub?” Patty questioned, sipping her iced tea. Lex glanced my way, eyebrows raised nervously. He was on one end of the booth, Steve on the other. I was sitting between Lex and mom.

  “Oh I remember,” Mom muttered. “It took me two days to clean up the mess they made.” She shot us both glances, which we avoided.

  “It took me a while to clean up the catastrophe that became our garage when they tried to make their own lemonade stand,” Steve chuckled, glancing at Lex. Thankfully, Lex had a smile on his face and didn’t glare. Maybe things were getting better between them, or he was just in too good of a mood to be mad.

  “If that had taken off, we would’ve made you guys rich,” Lex claimed, stealing a French fry from my plate.

  “Or something,” I agreed, pushing blonde bangs behind my ear. Lex was still sporting his red glasses, and actually seemed to be taking back part of his old personality. He wasn’t worried about who would see us together, or what people would think. He was just enjoying himself. My heart swelled with happiness.

  “I still remember the excitement on your faces when Max and I built your tree house,” Steve murmured, glancing at me. I clenched my jaw, forcing a small smile. “You two were so excited, you couldn’t stop jumping, even though it took a little over a month for us to finish it.”

  “Least we got some good exercise in, right?” Lex jested. Was he trying to lighten the mood I could feel falling over me? It was possible he was that observant, he did know me better than most people.

  “Yeah.”

  “My goodness, remember the first time you two slept in the tree house for the night?” Mom wondered, resting her elbows on the table.

  “No.”

  “Are you kidding?” Patty laughed, but she sounded so far away. “If they don’t, I do. I don’t think I’d ever been so afraid for them in my life.”

  “We had it under control,” Steve chuckled, kissing Patty’s cheek. “You just didn’t trust us men to take care of the young ones. I don’t know why.”

  “Yes, because you two were so trustworthy when you were together,” Mom’s voice was garbled. Lex glanced at me, but I couldn’t look back at him. My mind was already falling into that memory.

  “Daddy!” I screamed, curling up in a ball against the wall of the tree house, my tree house. It was so pretty. Daddy made sure it was pretty because I was a princess, and I needed a pretty castle. Daddy and I put lots of pictures of butterflies, frogs, and princesses on the walls. Heavy footsteps crossed the deck below, and then the tree swayed lightly as he climbed up. Blond hair appeared at the top of the ladder, a bright smile shining on his face. I instantly felt more relaxed.

  “Sweetheart, I’m right here. You don’t have to be afraid.” Daddy pulled himself into the tree house, and crossed the floor to sit next me. He picked me up and cradled me in his lap. “What happened?” I shrugged, snuggling closer to him. Daddy turned, steel blue eyes narrowing in on Lex who was sitting in the opposite corner. “Lex, do you know what happened?”

  Lex shook his head, shaggy blond locks falling into his green eyes. “No, Mr. Martin.” I frowned. He did know what happened! Lex shot me a look, fear in his eyes. He was scared of getting in trouble.

  Daddy hugged me tighter, his arms acting like a cocoon of safety. “Well, whatever scared you, you don’t have to worry about it, Livie. I’ll protect you.”

  I smiled up at Daddy, snuggling closer to him. He smelled like cocoa, probably because I had spilled it on him earlier. But I liked the smell. Maybe I would have to do that more often. “From all the monsters?”

  “Of course, sweetie.” He kissed the top of my head, settling back against the wall. “So, what were you two up to before you got scared?”

  “We were spying on the neighbors,” Lex piped up, a toothy grin o
n his face. He was so lucky. He’d already lost some of his teeth, and the tooth fairy had visited his house. I still hadn’t lost one yet. Lex told me I wasn’t old enough.

  Daddy chuckled, the sound louder in the confined space. “Really? See anything interesting?” he wondered.

  Lex slipped out of his sleeping bag, binoculars in hand, and walked over. “There’s a new puppy down the street.” There were only a few other houses that we could see into from the tree house. One of them belonged to the Avery’s, and they were the ones who got a new puppy.

  “Really?” Daddy leaned forward, taking the binoculars. “What kind of puppy was it?”

  “A really big one!” Lex clapped his hands, settling down next to Daddy. “Dad told me we could have a puppy.”

  “Are you going to get a big one?” he adjusted the binoculars and looked out the window toward the houses.

  “A really, really big one!” Lex nodded, puffing his chest out proudly. “It’ll eat all the other dogs.” I squealed, hiding my face in Daddy’s shirt.

  Daddy’s arms clasping around me again. “Livie, is that what scared you?”

  “I mean-” Lex tried to correct himself before he got in trouble. “It’s going to save all the puppies!”

  “You’re lying!” I shouted, glaring at him. “You said it would eat all the puppies! You’re mean!”

  “I didn’t mean it!” He claimed, jumping to his feet.

  Daddy put a hand on Lex’s shoulder. “It’s okay, buddy.” He turned to me. “Olivia, I’m sure Lex didn’t mean it like that.”

  “No!” I shouted again. “He did! He wants to hurt all the puppies!”

  “I didn’t mean it!” he tried again, clenching his fists tighter. “I swear!”

  “Mommy says not to swear!” I screamed, pulling from Daddy’s arms and shoving Lex.

  He tumbled back, knocking over the little table with our milk and cookies. The milk splashed to the ground, soaking into the bedding. Lex collided with the wall, a small sound escaping his lips as he hit it.

  “Olivia!” Daddy scolded, moving over to Lex. “You okay, Lex?”