Just then, my dad, the clean freak, comes in.
“What in the world is going on in here?” He’s already yelling. For the first time this morning, I look over at Kade. He’s smiling at me. When we both look back at my dad, his smile goes away.
“You both are going to pick all this up. Mop and all,” Dad says. Great. My dad walks out of the kitchen and I hear his office door slam shut. Thank goodness my mom’s at work, or it would be double the punishment. I walk over to Kade and push his chest away from me.
“What the hell, Kade,” I say.
“You think this is my fault? You’re the one who woke up today and decided to give me the silent treatment for no reason at all.”
“You are now living with a seventeen year old girl, you better get used to it.” It’s true.
“It’s like you forget I have a sister,” he says. I look up at him and stay frozen.
“I thought you wanted me to forget,” I whisper.
“I want to forget what’s going on, not her,” he says. I know this must be so hard for him – not having a clue where his sister is. I always think about how much pain Cynthia is in. I never really think about how upset Kade must be.
“I’m sorry,” I say and I truly am. He just picks up the mops from the laundry room and starts to mop up the floor in silence. Well now I feel like crap. I walk over to the French doors and walk outside to the backyard.
Chapter 15: Watch Her Heal -->
“Where are you going?” I look up from the mop and see Becca walking out to the backyard. What the fuck is she doing now? She already got us both in trouble and she just keeps giving me reasons to be pissed off. Doesn’t she know that I have lived with a teenage girl my whole life? It’s not like this is anything new to me. I know how to deal with girls when they’re bitches. It just really pissed me off when she decided to give me the silent treatment this morning when we’ve been getting along a lot more lately. I should have just left her alone. But then again, that food fight was pretty fun.
“Wash off with the hose. If we clean while we have the mess all over us, it’ll drip over the floor and we’ll have to clean all over again,” she says. Damnit, she’s right. I sigh then walk outside. Becca is over in the corner of the huge backyard, turning on the hose. I walk around the pool and trampoline then take the hose out of her hand.
“Um, excuse me,” she says. I just ignore her and take my shirt off. I see her awkwardly trying not to look. It makes me smile just a little bit. I wash off with the cold water, getting all the pizza sauce and whip cream off of me. I admit, I did not think she was going to be able to hold her own during the food fight, but I kinda got my ass handed to me. I’m not gonna tell her that, of course. I take the hose and put it on her. I soak her from head to toe, trying to get all the olive oil out of her hair. Her clothes are sticking to her. Don’t look, Kade. Don’t look, you dumbass. Oh god, I seriously need some help. I’m checking out my mom’s basically second daughter. What the hell is wrong with me? Dude when did she get so fucking hot? I’m starting to feel like a dick checking her out right now when for like the past four years I’ve completely ignored her. Has she always had such a nice body? What would Mom say if I told her that Becca is actually...pretty? Dear lord, I’m losing my mind. I’ve only been living with Becca for three weeks and I could already be cool with living here until I get my own place. I need to get myself under control. Plus, this is Becca we’re talking about. There is NO WAY in hell I’m going to have a thing for Becca Georgia. I’ve known her since I was like two. But damn! Yeah, she’s definitely got it going on.
She finally looks over at me and catches me staring. Shit. She blushes a little then looks away. It’s like she knows she’s hot. Well, she tries to look good. But hell, this girl doesn’t have to try. She’s in a t-shirt and track shorts soaked from head to toe with her hair in a messy bun and she’s still freaking hot. I wonder what she looks like at school. Well, the times I do see her at school she looks pretty I guess. I just never really looked that closely. I guess I still see her as a little girl. There’s nothing little girlish about her anymore, that’s for sure. How long has she had such an insane body?
“I’m sorry about what I said,” she looks over at me. I can hear the sympathy in her voice. “I really didn’t mean it that way,” she continues. I know she didn’t mean for me to take it in such a serious way. It was just me being a dick. I’m just still really mad at my sister for leaving, that’s all. I mean, if she didn’t walk out without telling anyone, we wouldn’t be in this situation. I love my sister, but it’s hard not to be furious at her. What was she thinking the night she left? That’s right, she wasn’t thinking. She was just thinking about her stupid self. She totally left me. I mean, I understand if she’s pissed at my mom and dad, but she left me too, without even a freaking goodbye. Some people are assholes.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. I shrug my shoulders trying to put on my “it’s not a big deal” look.
“No it’s not, I need to remember your sensitive spot,” she says. She steps closer to me, trying to comfort me. She puts her hand on the bottom half of my arm. I don’t know if she feels it, but I feel this warm electric strand go through my body. My body is getting all hot and clammy. I hope she doesn’t notice it. Her hair is soaked and sticking to her forehead and back. The sun is reflecting off her eyes, making them sparkle.
“Becca. It’s really okay,” I say. I hand her the hose and walk back inside the house. I need to get away from her. I have never felt that weird electric thing with her before. I think it’s just my hormones. I haven’t gotten some lately, so I’ll basically settle for anyone right now. Yeah, that’s why I’m getting this weird feeling from Becca. Whatever.. I feel her watching me from the backyard. She’s just sitting there looking inside the house with the hose water running down her body. I grab the mop, my iPod and headphones, and start to mop up the floor while listening to music. Headphones in, music up, shut out the world.
Chapter 16: Healing -->
My alarm buzzes at six-thirty for the first time in three months. I sigh and roll over on my stomach. I slam my hand on the alarm, trying to get it to shut up. I hear a knock on my door and my dad comes in.
“Get up, Becca. First day of school!” The scary thing is that he actually sounds excited. That’s crazy. Does he even remember his teenage years? Does he know how painful school is? I sigh then roll back over onto my back. I rub my eyes then open them. The light from the open windows blinds me for a second.
“Ahhhh! It burns!” I scream referring to the light. I’m not much of a morning person, especially on the first day of school.
“Don’t be such a drama queen. Now get out of bed or I’ll push you off,” he says. I don’t hesitate any longer to get out of bed. I jump out like a ninja and plant my bare feet on the warm carpet. He’s not kidding; he will push you off the bed. I’ve learned the hard way and have had to pay the price with bruises. My dad walks out of my room and down the stairs to make my lunch. Yes, he still makes my lunch. I make my bed then tie my hair in a ponytail. I walk into the hall then open my bathroom door.
“OH MY GOSH.” I cover my eyes and try to un-see what I just saw. “I’m sorry, I forgot somebody else shares this bathroom now.” I just walked in on Kade just getting done with a shower. All he had on was a white towel around his waist. I know I didn’t see anything but STILL. Ugh.
“Becca, chill you can’t even see anything.” I move my fingers off of one eye and look at Kade. Actually, I can see things. He’s shirtless. “And in the future, I would like to take my showers without having to stare at tampons the whole time,” he says then hands me my box of super “Playtex” sport tampons. I blush a little out of embarrassment then remember how awkward this moment is. I walk out of now our bathroom and back into my room.
I decide to switch up my routine a little. I put on my brown dress with my brown cowboy boots, then do my hair, before brushing my teeth and washing my face. Usually, it’s the opposite, but Kade
got to the bathroom first and it’s only fair to let him finish up first.
Five minutes later, he knocks on my door. “The bathroom is all yours,” he says.
“Finally,” I say. I walk out of my room and into the bathroom. I shut the door then lather my face in my hands then onto my face. Once I’m done, I brush my teeth. Right before I spit out the toothpaste in my mouth, a drop of white yucky saliva drops from my mouth and onto my dress. I scream.
“What! What happened?” Kade comes rushing into the bathroom door without even knocking.
“This is why I wash my face and brush my teeth before getting dressed!” I yell, pointing to the stain on my new “first day of school” dress.
“Should have gotten up earlier,” he responds as he walks out the bathroom and down the stairs.
“Or you can just let the lady go first,” I call after him.
“Who says you qualify as a lady?” He chuckles to himself without looking back at me. I can tell he chuckled because his shoulders moved slightly up then back down. I stomp back into the bathroom and try to get the white stain off my chest so it doesn’t look like I spit-up on myself, even though I did.
I walk downstairs and grab a banana.
“Ready to go in five?” Kade comes up from behind me, a bowl of cereal in his hands.
“Yeah, sure. I’m driving, though,” I say. I completely forgot. Mom wants Kade and I to carpool to school. It wouldn’t make sense for both of us to drive separately to and from school, it would just make our gas bills go up even higher than they already are.
“Heck no. My car, my control,” he says as he shakes his hand.
“Fine then. We’ll take my car,” I say.
“We’ll switch off every week,” he says trying to compromise. I’m not one for compromise unless it’s getting me everything I want. It’s not in this situation.
“Fine,” I say, not in the mood to fight. I sit at the table and open up my laptop, my banana still in my other hand. I open Facebook. No new notifications. I sigh then go to the bathroom to do my makeup. I put on my brown eyeliner, brown mascara and gold sparkly eye shadow. I put my tinted lotion on my face, then my pink cherry lip gloss on my lips. I put powder on the apples of my cheeks, and then I’m ready for action. I check myself once more in the full mirror, making sure everything is perfect, then head out to meet Kade in the driveway. I get in the passenger seat of his truck. This seems abnormally comfortable now; I turn on the seat heater so my butt doesn't get cold.
“Did you get the stain off?” Kade asks, actually caring.
“Yeah, thanks,” I say avoiding eye contact. “So what are we going to do? When we show up in the same car, people are going to start asking questions.”
“You can get out of the car first, acting like you drove here. Then five minutes later, I’ll get out. No one will suspect a thing.” He shrugs like he’s had this thing planned forever.
We ride the rest of the way in silence. I’m not one for talking in the morning. I’m usually just barely waking up by the time I get to second period. We get into the parking lot and I hop out of the car first. I don’t say goodbye to him. I can feel him watching me, though, as I walk to the entrance of the school.
“Hey Becca,” a girl from my English class says.
“Hi,” I say back while giving my best “good morning” smile.
I walk down the hall toward my senior locker. “Nice outfit, Becca,” a girl from my Calculus class says in a squeaky bird voice.
“Thanks!” I get greeted three more times and complimented two more times.
I walk straight into the gym with my head up and smile on. My chin is up and I admit, I’m rocking my dress. Oh yeah, it’s gonna be a good year. I can feel the freshman boys checking me out. I giggle to myself as I make my kick-ass entrance.
“Greene,” I tell the lady handing out schedules.
“Becca?”
“Yes,” I say as she hands me my schedule. I walk away and mutter a thank you, then look at my first period. Math. Thank God. It’s my favorite subject in the whole wide world. I’ve actually talked about majoring in math in college with my parents. Secretly, I want to be a math teacher when I get out of college. I know, it’s nerdy. I walk up to room 804 when my phone beeps.
Chasity texted me.
First?
Math. Jefferson. U?
Orchestra.
Sucks ass.
For sure.
C u at lunch?
Yup. Usual place.
I sigh, feeling sad because I most likely won’t be able to see Chasity until lunchtime. That’s in four periods. Great. I walk up to the math department and into 804. My math teacher is a guy in a blue t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. He looks up at me from his front desk and smiles.
“Pick your seat,” he says. I decide to take one in the front row. My mom always says to take a seat in the front row on the first day. Teachers remember crap like that. Plus, I like showing I have confidence. I like to intimidate people, even my teachers.
Period 1: My math teacher is insane. He has too many rules. My head wants to explode.
Period 2: Dance was amazing. Mrs. Carly is making me lead dancer this year and I’m stoked. I’ve been dancing since sixth grade. The competition is hard in high school. There are so many talented dancers, but my hard work has finally paid off!
Period 3: Bored out of my mind with Government. The teacher smells.
Period 4: One more period until lunch! But right now I’m stuck in AP Spanish 4.
When the bell rings I get the hell out of there. My Spanish teacher is a freaking freak. Dear Lord the woman desperately needs help. During the beginning of class, she complained about how dull looking her classroom is. She said she wanted to paint the walls, yet that would be against the rules, but she doesn’t care. She also said she wants a waterfall instead of a wall, and maybe a garden behind the classroom. Like a waterfall? Is she kidding? She does know that to make it a room, you have to have a fourth wall, right? She probably has like seven cats and no husband.
“Hey babe,” Chasity says walking up to me.
“Yo. How was the first half?”
“Painful.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Pep rally after lunch?” Shoot I totally forgot about the “Welcome Back” pep rally after lunch before fifth period.
“You got it. Meet at the stadium?” We walk down the hill and past the grassy area.
“Sure,” I say smiling as people say hello to me. We walk up the ramp that leads to our lockers. Finally. A top locker!
We walk back down the ramp and onto the grassy area where we have eaten lunch since freshman year.
“So how’s Kade?” Chasity asks right when I sit down on the grass and open up my lunch. Really? Could I just have five minutes where I don’t have to think about the guy that is showering in my shower?
“Fine,” I say then take a bite of my sandwich, signaling I’m done talking about the Kade topic.
“Have you talked to Cynthia?”
“She stopped calling. We all just got kind of busy. But, I’ll call her tonight and tell her all about my first day of school,” I continue. I can’t wait to go home. I promised Cynthia the last time she called that I would call her right after my first day. Too bad I don’t really have anything interesting to tell her.
Now I’m on the verge of tears. I would always come home last year after an interesting day, help her do the laundry and tell her about what happened. The best part is, she actually listens. And cares. And gives advice. She’s like a free therapist. When I need her the most, she’s there. Plus, she is always the one that can make me laugh when I want to cry. But now, I’m not going to have her to go to every day. Even though she says I can call every day, I know neither of us have the time for that. I feel my eyes start to well up with tears. I bat them so a tear won’t slip away. Gosh, it’s only been three weeks without her. How am I supposed to survive a year without Cynthia? Maybe even more than a year? WHAT ABOUT THE HOL
IDAYS? Every Christmas Cynthia and I get together to make cookies and brownies and take them to the people we love.
Thank God the bell rings. Like seriously, God totally has my back right now, ‘cause if I stay any longer thinking about Cynthia, I’ll ball my eyes out.
“Pep rally time?”
“Yup. Our last ‘Welcome Back’ pep rally!” I squeal, having a total attitude adjustment trying to get myself to perk up. It worked...kind of. Not really. Whatever.
We walk down the hill and toward the football stadium. They are sorting everyone by grade. Chasity and I make our way to the (OMG) Senior Section! She grabs my hand and leads me up the bleachers to the top row, where all of our friends agreed to meet.
“Seniors, bitches!” People to my left scream.
When we get to about halfway up the bleachers, I see Kade. I didn’t really think about what it would be like to see him at school. I never see him at school. Though, he clarified, he sees me. There he is with the football team. Staring directly back at me. I don’t wave to him, though, and he doesn’t wave to me. I glue my eyes to his, but then he looks away. I feel a strange rush of disappointment. Why? He always looks down at the ground when I look at him. It’s not like it’s anything new. I sigh, then continue to follow Chasity up to the last row. Right as we sit down in the middle of our friends, the rally starts.
“DANA HOW DO YOU FEEL?” The lame class president yells into the microphone. The microphone is there for a reason. It projects your voice. You don’t have to scream in it. The whole school stands up and completes the chant.
“WE FEEL GOOD, OH WE FEEL SO GOOD, UH!” With the uh, we push our hips forward and our arms back, yes, a sex sign. ‘Cause, you know, the “feel good” thing is also a sex term. Wow, if you still don’t get it this is really awkward. I shouldn’t be having to explain this to anyone.
When I Forget You Page 7