by Amanda Abram
He tossed it over to me and I caught it in my hands. “Thanks,” I said to him. He just mumbled something incoherent and stalked back out of my room.
I glanced down at the skirt in my hands. I remembered how much Jase had disliked my new look, and I smirked.
Jumping off the bed, I rushed over to my closet and opened it up. A lot of the clothes I'd purchased with Trish still had the price tags on them. Some were even still in bags. I started pulling everything out and tossing it all onto my bed. I had spent so much money on all of those “trashy” clothes and it would have been a shame to never wear them again.
That's when I decided I would refuse to continue moping over Jase. He didn't want me, so I wasn’t going to want him. Instead, I was going to do what Trish had been suggesting all along.
It was time to bring back the new, post-breakup Lexi. But not the pathetic post-Jeffrey one. No, this was going to be the new-and-improved post-Jase Lexi. The Lexi who was going to turn heads. The Lexi who was no longer going to take crap from anyone, for any reason. The Lexi who was going to date other guys and maybe, just maybe, be the one who dumped them for once.
And I would start by dating the very first guy that asked me out.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The first thing I did the next morning was throw on an ensemble that would make Amber-Lynne Rose blush.
The second thing I did was take it off and throw on a pair of jeans and a form-fitting button up instead. It wasn't that I was chickening out. It wasn't even that I knew I would have gotten sent home by the principal if I had shown up to school wearing the outfit. No. My decision to wear something very similar to what I always wore had to do with something entirely different.
Right after Jeffrey dumped me, Trish got me to change my appearance. And while it did get Jeffrey to do a double take when he saw me, it also got Jase to notice. Only, when Jase saw my new look, he wasn't all, “Must. Have. You. Right. Now.” This was because he knew right away why I had changed my look.
To get Jeffrey back.
So after giving it some major thought, I realized that after what happened the day before, if I was to show up to school looking different, Jase and his big ego would think it had something to do with him.
I couldn't let that happen.
So when Trish picked me up that morning, I was the Lexi Turner everyone knew and liked only as a friend. At least I was on the outside.
On the inside, however, was a different story. After I went through an entire box of tissues the night before, crying my eyes out, I came to the decision that I would shed no more tears over Jase. Or any boy for that matter. I also came to the decision that I wouldn't let myself fall for anyone ever again. From then on, I was just going to date random guys and form no attachments to them. I was going to become a serial dater.
In other words, the Lexi Turner that was famous for getting her heart stomped on by guys was gone. Missing. Assumed dead.
And she was never coming back.
Trish knew that there was something different about me as soon as I climbed into her car that morning, judging from the sideways glance she gave me and her inquiry of, “Are you okay?”
“Never been better,” I said, my voice chipper. After I buckled myself up, I reached over and turned off the radio. It was a preemptive move; I didn't want the DJ to start playing some crappy pop song about love. I wasn't in the mood to hear it.
“Are you sure you're okay?” Trish asked again, unconvinced.
“I won't be if I have to keep answering that question.” I flipped down the visor in front of me and used the mirror to apply my lipgloss. When I realized we were not moving yet, I turned to her and said, “Are we going to school, or what?”
She gave me one more curious glance before putting her car into gear and pulling out of my driveway.
“So,” she said a minute later. “I meant to ask you last night, what was with Eric giving you a ride home yesterday? I thought I was supposed to take you home? And why didn't you come tell me so yourself? Why did you make him tell me?”
I stared at her in shock. She still didn't know about what happened between me and Jase. “No one has told you?”
“Told me what?”
“Jase and I broke up,” I said, my voice cool and casual. I was pleased with how it sounded.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously.”
“But I thought you weren't breaking up until Wednesday.”
“That's what I thought too, but your brother had other plans. Eric and I walked in on him making out with Kylie in the teacher's lounge.”
Trish gasped. “What?!”
“We caught him making out,” I repeated, “with Kylie.”
“But he...but you guys were...but...he was making out with her? And she was making out with him? Even though she knew he had a girlfriend?”
“Oh, but she knew he didn't really have a girlfriend.” I could feel my blood beginning to boil in my veins, so before I continued speaking, I had to force myself to calm down. “You see, he felt it was necessary to inform her that his relationship with me was fake.”
Trish's jaw fell open. And then, after glancing up quickly in her rearview mirror, she turned the wheel sharply to the right and pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. Turning in her seat to face me, she said, “He did what?”
The fact Trish sounded pissed made me very happy. It surprised me, though, since I thought me and Jase breaking up was exactly what she wanted.
“He told her about our fake relationship. And after I'd caught them kissing, we had a huge argument. We both said some pretty terrible things and I told him never to talk to me again. That's why I didn't feel like waiting around for you to drive me home.”
Trish, looking astonished, shook her head slowly back and forth. “Lexi...I am so, so, so sorry.”
I shrugged. “For what? It wasn't your fault.”
She sighed. “What happened yesterday was exactly the kind of thing I was afraid was going to happen. And you can deny it all you want, but I know you had feelings for him.”
“I'm fine with everything.” Gosh, that almost sounded sincere. “Yeah, maybe I thought I had feelings for him, but when I saw him kissing Kylie, I felt nothing. I mean, I was angry because he had gone against our original plan. And I was pissed, of course, that he told her the truth about us. But I wasn't jealous he was kissing another girl. Not at all.”
I couldn't tell whether or not Trish believed me, but she probably figured it was easier to just act like she did. “You're sure?”
I drew an X over the center of my chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“Okay, if you say so.” She put the car back into drive and pulled away from the curb.
“Actually,” I continued, “I'm glad it all ended before Wednesday. It gives me two extra days.”
“Two extra days for what?”
“To begin my new life as a serial dater.”
“A serial what now?” Trish asked, barely able to contain her laughter.
“I mean, I'm not expecting to get tons of offers, but I've decided I'm going to date every single guy that asks me out from here on out. And no more serious relationships. I'm way too young for that kind of commitment, you know?”
Trish nodded. “Yeah, I know. I'm just shocked to be hearing you of all people saying that. You're a hopeless romantic. There is no way you're going to be able to just date a bunch of guys without getting emotionally attached. It's not in your nature.”
“How do we know that for sure? I've never given it a try. I've been with Jeffrey for practically all of my dating life. I've never known what it's like to casually date boys. Fake dating your brother gave me a little taste of it, and I kinda liked it. I think that's why I got fooled into thinking I could possibly have feelings for him.”
I could have won an Oscar for that performance.
“Okay,” Trish said slowly. “Then I think that's totally awesome you're going to give it a try.” I k
new she was having a hard time swallowing everything I was feeding her, but she was doing a great job in trying to hide it. That was, after all, what best friends were for. Being supportive, or pretending to be supportive, no matter what.
But where was that support the other night, when she told me to end things with her brother?
I spent the rest of the trip bracing myself for the possibility that we might run into Jase when we got to the parking lot. However, I did not see his car anywhere as Trish pulled into an empty spot.
I felt a wave of instant relief.
“So I guess things are going to be weird now,” Trish said as we climbed out of the car. “Between you and Jase, I mean.”
I gave a slight shrug. “Not really. Things will just go back to the way they were a few weeks ago; the way they were for the last three or so years, when he and I never spoke to one another.”
“Right. So things are going to be weird between you two,” Trish reiterated. “Because I never thought it was normal that you two stopped talking to each other for so long.”
“Look, I'd really prefer not to talk about your brother, like, ever again. Okay?”
Trish pursed her lips in a disapproving pout but nodded. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Thank you.”
“So then what would you like to talk about?”
“Um...” I thought for a moment. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really feel like talking about anything at all. “We could talk about—”
I stopped talking when someone in the distance caught my eye. Eric had just arrived in the parking lot and was waving at me. Not as a greeting, but as an indication he wanted me to come to him.
“About what?”
I turned to Trish, who was staring at me with narrowed eyes. “Uh, actually, I have to go talk to Eric about something. I'll see you in history class.”
She looked confused, to say the least. “Eric? Why do you have to talk to—”
I didn't wait for her to finish before I jogged off in Eric's direction.
“Hey,” he said with a lopsided grin as I approached him.
“Hey. What's up?”
“I wanted to see how you were doing.” He flung his backpack over his shoulder and titled his head slightly as he studied me. “Is there something different about you?”
I grinned and shook my head. “Nope. Nothing different. And I'm doing fine. Great, actually.”
“Good. I'm glad to hear it.” He paused for a moment. “So, I talked to Jase last night.”
My heart rate accelerated at the mention of his name. “Oh yeah? And?”
“And he refused to talk about what happened yesterday. He was in a really bad mood about it, I could tell.”
“Good. He should be in a bad mood about it.”
“He seems really pissed off at you.”
“He seems pissed off at me?”
Eric nodded. “Yeah, he does. But he won't tell me why. Whenever I tried to bring you up in conversation, he just scowled at me and I knew to shut up.”
I sighed. “I'll bet I can tell you why he's pissed. He saw me kissing Jeffrey Saturday night, and now he assumes I lied to him when I told him our little scheme had nothing to do with trying to get Jeffrey back.”
Eric narrowed his eyes at me. “And you somehow neglected to tell me that part of the story?”
“Yes, I did, because it wasn't important. I mean, yeah, I kissed Jeffrey, but it didn't mean anything. And I wasn't kissing him because I wanted him back. But Jase never gave me the opportunity to explain that to him before he went off and cheated on me with Kylie.”
Eric shook his head. “Wow. So you're both angry with each other for kissing other people?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. So doesn't this tell you something?”
“It tells me that our plan was just doomed from the beginning. It tells me that he and I never should have tried to rekindle our friendship. It tells me that Jase and I are destined to never speak to one another again.”
Eric opened his mouth as though he were going to say something, but then he immediately closed it. He appeared for a moment to be thinking before he eventually did speak.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I decided last night that I'm going to begin dating. Starting with the very first guy who asks me out.”
Eric arched an eyebrow. “The very first guy? What if the first guy is Herman Kessler? I've seen him eying you in the cafeteria before.”
Herman Kessler was the captain of the chess club. He was a star Mathlete. He played the triangle in the school band.
“Then I guess I'll be going out on a date with Herman Kessler.”
Eric glanced at me warily. “Seriously? The first guy who asks you out? That seems a bit extreme. If you're going to start dating, why not date guys you are at least remotely interested in?”
“Because there have been only two guys I've ever been remotely interested in and look what happened with both of them.”
“So you're going to date guys you don't care about?”
“Why not? It's better when you don't care about them. If you don't care about them, then they can't hurt you.”
Eric frowned and shook his head. “Wow, that's...well, that's sad, actually.”
He was right, it was. But I plastered a grin on my face. “Says you. But it sounds like fun to me.”
Eric just shrugged. “Whatever you think will make you happy, I suppose.”
But it wasn't going to make me happy, and he could see that.
He let it slide, though. He started asking me something then, something about Trish I think, but I couldn't be sure because my attention suddenly wasn't on him anymore. It was on the two people who had just gotten out of a car. A black Ford Mustang, to be exact. And the two people were Jase and Kylie.
It was the perfect scene. Like something you would see in a crappy teen flick. They exited the car at the same time. They both looked beautiful. They were both smiling, laughing. And then, when they met around the back of the vehicle, they stopped and kissed each other, full on the mouth. Not chaste. Not lewd. Just...the perfect kiss.
I stopped breathing around the same time I felt a sharp pain shoot through my heart. Was I was too young to die of a heart attack?
How about a broken heart?
As much as I tried to stop it from happening, I could feel a single tear emerge and slide down the side of my face. I quickly wiped it away, before anyone could notice it.
Eric noticed it, though. I could tell by the way he placed his hand gently on my arm.
His touch brought me back to reality. Regaining what composure I had left, I returned my gaze to him. “I should go find Trish before class. I need to copy down some of her notes. We'll talk later, I promise.”
I literally ran off before he could say anything. I wanted to get away from the parking lot as quickly as possible. Away from Jase and Kylie.
As much as I told Trish and Eric that I was okay, I knew I wasn't. I guess I wasn't expecting Jase and Kylie to start their relationship so soon after what had happened yesterday. I mean, as far as I knew, no one at school was even aware yet that Jase and I had broken up. So flaunting his new relationship before our lack of relationship became public knowledge just seemed kinda tacky.
“Hey, Lexi!”
Somebody grabbed my arm as soon as I entered the building and yanked me over to the side, away from the other kids piling in. I could tell it was Trish before I even saw her. I could tell by the way her long, manicured fingernails dug lightly into my skin. She had the sharpest fingernails ever. It was like she was expecting to have to use them as a weapon someday.
“Ouch,” I whined, pulling my arm out of her grasp. Sure enough, I had four red half-moon marks embedded into my skin. “Seriously, Trish, you should consider filing those things down.”
“Sorry.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she went right on to ask, “So what's up with you and Eric?”
I stared at her blankly. “Huh?”<
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“You and Eric. Yesterday, he drove you home from school. Today, you're rudely running away from me to go talk to him. What's that all about?”
I could have asked her the same thing regarding her sudden interest in me talking to Eric. “He's my friend.”
“Since when?”
“Since...I dunno. I mean, we're not good friends. But he was really sweet to me yesterday.”
“Sweet? Eric?” A look of disbelief washed over her face. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Why? He's a good guy. Certainly better than that ass of a best friend he has.”
Trish narrowed her eyes down at me. “Are you thinking of using Eric to somehow get to Jase? You're not trying to make my brother jealous or something, are you, by suddenly hanging around his best friend?”
Believe me, I'd thought of it. It seemed like the perfect plan, for me and Eric to start 'dating' one another. Not only might it have stirred up something in Jase, but maybe in Trish as well, judging from her current reaction to me hanging around him. But it was just way too obvious. Jase would see right through it and assume I was trying to do exactly what Trish was accusing me of doing. I couldn't have that.
“Of course not. Like I said, he was really sweet yesterday. He's a nice guy and I like hanging out with him.”
Trish frowned just as the warning bell rang. “Whatever,” she said. “I'll see you in class.”
With that, she disappeared into the crowd of kids rushing to get to homeroom. I just stared after her in confusion.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn Trish didn't like the idea of me hanging around with Eric. And something told me, it had nothing to do with me and her brother.
***
Unfortunately, that was one of the days that Trish and I did not share the same lunch period. And while sometimes I would just sit by myself at a corner table in the cafeteria and read a book, I didn't feel like hanging out there, because that was where everyone else spent their lunch period.
Everyone else being Jase and Kylie, of course.