Loose

by Coo Sweet

  Downstairs, Sage ate a banana at the kitchen counter. He guzzled juice between bites.

  Nadine came in, purse and keys in hand. She gave him the side eye when she saw his paltry choices for breakfast.

  “That all you're eating? You okay, pooh? You look pale."

  "I'm fine. This will hold me until lunch," Sage said.

  Nadine adjusted the collar of his shirt. She brushed imaginary lint from his shoulders--which slumped by reflex, ready to cart the weight of the lecture that was sure to come.

  "You need to eat better, Sage. Get more sleep. I worry about you."

  "Ma, please--" Sage whined, with a little too much bass in his voice.

  "Hey, pump your brakes now. Don't let your mouth write a check your ass can't cash."

  "I'm not getting fresh, Ma." He pressed his lips together in a not so subtle pout.

  "Then fix your face and lose the attitude. Okay?"

  "Sorry. Can I go now?" This time he remembered to check his tone of voice.

  Nadine dismissed him with a queenly wave of her hand.

  "You coming straight home after school?"

  "Yeah, I need to study for a quiz."

  “Well hit the books as soon as you get here."

  "I will.” He quickly pushed down any lingering traces of his hurt feelings, and flashed a goofy grin at his mother.

  “Can I please get some cash, Ma? I'm tapped."

  “Boy, I gave you forty yesterday. Where'd it go?"

  “Movies. Lunch. Gas." Sage ticked off the list on his fingers.

  Nadine rolled her eyes, opened her purse and rooted around in her wallet. She extracted a twenty, waving it at him.

  Raven’s demand for a trip to the mall briefly crossed Sage’s mind, but he batted the thought away like a pesky fly.

  "Better make it last," said Nadine.

  Sage slipped the money from her fingers in exchange for sloppy kisses on her cheek.

  "Stop, Sage...my make-up!"

  He grinned and backed off. He grabbed his things on the dash to the door.

  "Thanks, Ma. Love you,” he called over his shoulder.

  "Yeah, yeah. Lucky me." Nadine swung her purse at his departing backside.

  Chapter 6

  Sixteen year old Jasmin Grace was a subtle beauty like the flower she was named for. Her quirky clothes--a peasant skirt and crocheted top--along with the untamed mop of sandy colored curls on her head, and skin free from make-up illustrated her tendency toward the unconventional.

  Just by looking at her you could tell she was that rare teen-aged girl who gave little regard to what others thought of her.

  Jasmin bustled around a bright, airy kitchen. She poured herself a steaming cup of jasmine tea then she plucked some fruit and yogurt from the fridge. She carried her breakfast to the dining table. Where she sat and started reading the morning paper. Soon, approaching footsteps interrupted her reading.

  “Morning,” Jasmin looked up and beamed at her mom.

  Sonnet Grace was an earthy looking woman in her late 30's. Her casual business slacks and stylish fitted blouse accentuated her trim body. Sonnet studied Jasmin from the kitchen doorway.

  “Morning, baby. How're you doing? Nervous about school?” She walked over and kissed the top of Jasmin’s head. Sonnet raised a hand to smooth her daughter’s ornery tresses, but she had second thoughts and dropped her hand instead.

  “Nah, I'm good. You nervous about it?”

  Sonnet poured herself a cup of coffee. She took a seat across from Jasmin at the table.

  “Please. You know your mama has nerves of steel. Anyway, what's there to be nervous about? The fact that you're going to a high school with more people than the entire population of the town we just moved from? Pffft! Piece of cake. I can handle it.”

  Sonnet rustled through the sections of the newspaper and laid the pages out on the table when she found the one she was looking for.

  “Mom, there's nothing to worry about. This'll be an adventure for me; A chance to explore different things; Meet new people. I'll be fine.”

  “Will you really? Everybody here seems so...I don't know...serious. They don't smile, don't speak. That's not us. What was I thinking, Jas? Bringing us here?”

  Jasmin reached across the table. She grabbed her mother's hand.

  “You can't be serious, Mom. You're writing for one of the biggest papers in the country. This is your dream. Besides, after the mess with Dad what choice did you have? I sure didn't want to stay back there.”

  Sonnet clasped Jasmin's hand in hers.

  “I didn't bring us here to get away from your dad, Jasmin. You know that. ”

  “Oh, right. I forgot. The separation was his idea, not yours.”

  “So you’re still mad, huh?”

  “Aren't you?”

  “Honestly? No. Too many other things I need to be right now.”

  “You still love him?”

  Sonnet peered into her coffee cup. She twirled it between her hands and looked up at Jasmin with misty eyes.

  “We had a lot of great years together, honey. And we had you. That counts for something. I can't just erase what's written on my heart.”

  “Huh. I could! He cheated on you, Mom!”

  “And he was wrong for that. But he's human, Jas. We all make mistakes. I’m sure I wasn’t always a perfect wife.”

  “So you'd take him back? After everything he did?”

  “Love's complicated, baby. There's no rule book to tell you how things are supposed to go. I honestly don't know what I would do. But I'm not counting anything out. There's no shame in giving someone a second chance.”

  “Yeah? Well, maybe there is for me.”

  “I hope you don't really mean that, Jas.” Sonnet rose from the table. She took a long sobering look at her daughter. Then she smiled wistfully and left the room.

  A cacophony of voices, a symphony of industrial kitchen appliances running, and sappy Muzak filled the air in the high school cafeteria. Sage and Peyton shared a mound of fries and intense conversation.

  "Quit bugging me, man. You can slobber over the details later. I don't want my business in the streets," said Sage.

  "Aww, that's cold. How’re you going to hold out on me like that? I'm the one who hooked you up, Sage!”

  “Uh, yeah, don't remind me."

  Peyton’s eyes narrowed. He leaned in toward Sage making sure he wouldn’t miss a word of the details.

  "Why? What happened?" Peyton’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, but the inquisition was sand-bagged for the moment.

  Jasmin walked up to their table. Both boys swallowed the words sitting on their tongues. They gave her their undivided attention.

  Peyton sat up straight and puffed his chest out in a bid to catch her eye first. He obviously missed the mark because Jasmin zoned right in on Sage instead.

  "Hi. Sorry to interrupt, but where are the pay phones?"

  Sage was transfixed. Eyes peeled wide, mouth hanging open, you’d have thought he’d just seen a ghost. Peyton hit him with a sharp elbow to the ribs. Real sharp. That broke the spell. Sage leaped up.

  "Hey. What’s up? Come on, I'll show you. My name is Sage, by the way, and this sorry specimen of a man here is Peyton."

  Jasmin hid a smirk behind her hand. Peyton shot Sage a dirty look.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Jasmin. Thanks for offering to show me where the phones are.”

  She stuck her hand out. Sage grabbed it like Jasmin was rescuing him from a pit of quicksand.

  Peyton rolled his eyes. Such an amateur he thought.

  Raven sat in the school health
center. Her eyes roved across a form she was preparing to sign. The heading read, Statement of Confidentiality, Students' Rights. Pen poised in mid-air, she got distracted when Sage glided by, with Jasmin at his side. Raven ducked away before he spotted her. She lanced Jasmin with a laser-beam glint from her blazing eyes.

  Sage and Jasmin lolled near the phone in the lobby of the school office. With his unwavering gaze, and her innocent brush of fingertips on his arm, it was obvious they were feeling each other.

  "So, you like it here?" Jasmin asked.

  "A lot better now that my dad's not the principal anymore."

  "Whoa. What was that like?"

  "Umm, bit my tongue a lot. Watched my back," said Sage.

  "Didn't want to land in the principal's office, huh?"

  Jasmin chuckled at her own joke. Sage smiled, but it was more to humor her than anything else. He’d heard that joke plenty of times.

  "Not so much that. Folks used to clown me. Call me stuck up. That kind of stuff.”

  "So, were you?"

  "Nawwww. Come on now. You know me better than that," Sage blurted.

  Jasmin screwed her face up. Translation--excuse me, but we just met, I don’t know anything about you.

  They both squirmed under the weight of Sage’s awkward slip of the tongue.

  "I mean people misread things," Sage corrected himself.

  "True. I could see that happening," Jasmin agreed, checking her watch to keep from making too much eye contact with him.

  "Um…I better head to class. First day and all. Don't want to get lost and walk in late. Thanks for your help, Sage."

  Sage seriously wished he could kick himself in the ass.

  "No problem. See you around?" he asked, with a tad too much desperation in his voice.

  "Umm…sure. See you."

  Jasmin turned in one direction. Sage turned in another. Backward…right smack into Raven. The fire in her eyes burned hot enough to incinerate bone. She shoved Sage so hard it shook his balance.

  "Hey! What’s your problem, girl?" Sage protested.

  "You bumped into me," said Raven.

  Jasmin stood at the fringes of their stand-off. Raven zeroed in on her like she was fresh prey, and just when Raven started to swoop in for the kill, Sage muscled his way between them.

  "Move out of my way," Raven growled.

  Sage didn't budge.

  Raven pummeled his chest with her fists. He tried to grab her wrists, but she was too quick. Raven slashed him on the arm with her fingernail. Before she had a chance to do more damage, the bell for class and the sudden appearance of a hall monitor stalled the skirmish. The trio scattered before security had a chance to get in anyone’s face.

  Chapter 7

  Sage walked into his next class. He was surprised to see Jasmin in the first row. He slipped into a seat next to her. In the process, he exposed the welt on his arm where Raven had clawed him. Jasmin pointed to it.

  "You should put something on that," she said.

  "It's nothing. I’ll be fine."

  "No, seriously. You never know where a person's hands have been. It could get infected."

  Sage grinned inside at her show of concern.

  "What, you want to be a doctor or something?"

  "Yeah…actually I do. I’m going to start volunteering at the county hospital a few days a week, and I’ve taken some advanced first aid classes, so trust me, I know what I’m talking about."

  "Well I hope you're around next time I get hurt.” Sage poked at the scratch on his arm.

  “Hey, I…um…I’m sorry about that scene in the hall."

  Jasmin shrugged. She doodled in her notebook to divert his attention from the disappointment she felt creeping up on her.

  "Who was that? I saw her in the Health Center when we went to the phone."

  "That was Hurricane Raven," Sage sighed.

  "She your girl?" Jasmin kept doodling.

  "Hell no! In her dreams maybe. I'm not with anyone right now."

  "So what's the deal? Why was she so mad?"

  "It's complicated. But we're definitely not a couple. Trust me."

  "Okay. If you say so."

  Jasmin finally looked up. Her eyes bored deeply into Sage’s, mining them for any hints of deceit. He wilted under the intensity of her gaze. He tried to play it off by poking around at the scratch on his arm.

  "Man, I’m glad this day's almost over. Way too much drama," he said.

  "Speaking of drama...do I need to watch out for her? This Raven chick?"

  "Nah. She's just a bunch of hot air."

  "Yeah? Well hot air can burn, you know."

  "Don't worry, I--"

  Sage was interrupted by the teacher rapping on his desk to signal the start of class. Jasmin pulled supplies from her backpack, grateful for the distraction from their sticky conversation, but Sage couldn’t let things just hang like that.

  “For real, don’t let her bother you. Okay? There’s nothing between us.”

  Jasmin gave him half a nod and turned her attention to the front of the classroom. Sage settled back in his seat and yanked a notebook and pen from his backpack. He slapped them on the desk with just enough force to make Jasmin squirm a little.

  “Sorry,” whispered Sage.

  After school, Sage sat out front waiting for Peyton. He was perched on a low concrete fence with his head bowed. He had muted everything around him. No incessant chatter, blasting music, nor random thigh bumping his knee evoked even a nanosecond of reaction.

  Raven sidled over with a big Kool-Aid grin on her face. She planted herself directly in front of him. When he didn’t look up, she reached out and tapped his shoulder. He raised his head with herculean effort.

  "Hey, Boo. Why the long face?" Raven asked.

  Sage snorted a quick mirthless laugh.

  "You have to ask?" he sneered.

  “Oh, that's squashed.” Raven flapped her hand at him for emphasis. “And sorry about your arm,” she said, pointing to his injury.

  Sage shoved the arm behind his back. “Whatever, Raven.”

  “Aww…come on. Don’t be so sensitive. Anyway, you owe me a new shirt, remember? Let's go to the mall and have some fun.”

  Raven turned on a megawatt smile and reached for Sage’s hand. He snatched that away from her, too, and jammed it in his pocket.

  “Yeah, right. Going anywhere with you is not my idea of fun,” Sage said.

  Raven’s nostrils flared just enough to be noticeable. Her chest rose and fell a tiny bit faster than it had seconds before.

  “Look, you’re the one who got all bummed and crashed the party last night, so unless you want me to confirm to the whole school what a punk you are, you’d better get your ass moving,” Raven huffed.

  Sage hopped off the wall. He got right up in her grill and focused on her with dark, menacing eyes.

  “Listen, don’t threaten me. Okay? I said I would pay for your shirt, but I don’t owe you anything else. And I don’t give a shit what you tell people about me.”

  Raven’s eyes popped open wide. She backed up a few inches, licked her lips, and relaxed her posture.

  “Okay. Calm down. I’m just saying you were being a dick last night, and you know it’s true. So here’s your chance to make it up to me. You being such a stand up guy and all.”

  Sage took a long look at her. She came across as softer than before; even a little vulnerable beneath all those hard edges. Kind of like Serenity, he thought. Always quick to strike to keep from being struck. He almost felt sorry for her, but he was careful not to reflect that in his eyes.

  “Alright. Enough. Let
's go,” he said.

  Raven gestured for him to lead the way. He hesitated for a beat too long, so she yanked on his arm and hauled him to the parking lot.

  Raven barreled through the doors at the mall like she was bursting through the Pearly Gates to heaven, while Sage inched along easily a foot behind her.