I prop up on my elbows, “Damn, you caught me.”
He shakes his head at me, “I knew it. You did sign up for the Slave Auction. You did it just to sleep in a comfier bed.”
I shrug, “What can I say? I was tired of this stiff old mattress.”
He sits beside me, “Oh my God, I see what you mean. How can you sleep on this?” He stops and looks at me. “I almost forgot!” He pulls out his phone quickly, “What’s your dad’s name?”
“Um, Dan. Why?”
He puts a finger to my lips, silencing me and puts his phone to his ear.
There is a long pause before he speaks, “Hello, this is Dan Brown. I am the father of Jenna Brown and I am calling to say she will not be coming to school today.”
He pauses again and I try to control a giggle at his ‘dad voice’. His voice was already really low, so he being able to make it lower seemed impossible. Apparently it wasn’t.
“Yes, she has a cold. She should be back by tomorrow.”
Another pause.
“Yes, she can go to detention Monday as well to make up for missing today,” he smirks at me.
I roll my eyes.
“Alright, thank you,” he hangs up.
“Why do I have the feeling that you have done that many times before?” I ask, still holding back a giggle.
“Because I am an amazing actor.”
“Or liar.”
He mimics my position, propping up on his elbows, “I prefer the term actor.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I laugh.
It becomes quiet Hayden grabs my hand. I lay my head on his shoulder, where it fit perfectly in the crook of his neck.
“How come you never told me about your parents?” he asks quietly.
I sigh. I don’t know why I never told him. It never really came up, I guess. I probably should have mentioned it. At dinner the other night, I was kind of hurt when I realized we never talked about our lives much. I never even thought about telling him about them.
“There’s not much to tell,” I reply monotone. “They’re just never home anymore.”
“Don’t you get lonely?” he squeezes my palm.
“Linda, our maid, keeps me company; she’s like my second mom. And I have Jessica and Daisy. And now I have you.”
I see the side of his cheek curl up into a smile that soon fades away.
“I’m sorry you never get to see them. I mean it’s hard enough for me not to get to see my dad a lot, but at least I have my mom. It must suck that they are both gone.”
“What can you do?” I ask rhetorically, ready to change subjects.
“I can tell that you’re pretending like you don’t care, even though you do.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because I act the same way when people talk about mine; I just shrug it off. But in the back of my mind, it eats away at me. Like I’m too afraid to tell people that I miss my dad.”
I lie on my back and look up at him, his hand still clutching mine. “Do you miss your dad?”
“I do,” he smiles weakly. “I guess I’ve never really told anyone that before.”
I feel chills spread down my back. Hayden has just opened up to me, and I can tell that this was really personal to him. Forget about Zac- he can be happy with Emily for all I care. And forget about Luke and his secret girlfriend he denies having. They are my friends and I can be happy for them. Hayden is my boyfriend and that’s all I care about.
His large fingers entwine with mine again, “Where are your parents now?”
“I don’t know,” I answer.
“Do you ever call them to talk?”
“I used to. But I stopped because it was like I was talking to a dead line.”
“How often do they come home?”
“About a week every month.”
“Well, that’s good. You get them for a whole week.”
“Yeah, but nothing is different when they are
home because they still work constantly. It’s like they aren’t even home.”
“I’m sorry, Jenna,” Hayden looks at me with eyes that made me want to hug him.
I shrug.
“There you go, shrugging again.”
I laugh, “Sorry, force of habit.” I look over at the clock on the table by my bed. “I would be in English right now. Not understanding a single word the teacher says about a poem that the writer probably meant in a different, more straight forward way.”
He laughs, “Studying Shakespeare, huh?”
“Yes,” I yawn, “and it’s hard.”
“Are you tired?”
“A little.”
“It’s eight o’clock in the morning.”
“Exactly. It is way too early to be awake when one isn’t going to school.”
“Fine then,” Hayden laughs and gets off the bed. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
Before I even know what’s happening, Hayden picks me up off the bed and carries me bridal style.
“What are you doing?”
“Putting you to bed, baby.”
I laugh as he pulls back the covers and lays me down gently on my purple sheets. He pulls the comforter back over me and leans down close to my face.
“Goodnight, Jenna.”
“Good morning, Hayden.”
He laughs and gives me a long, passionate kiss on my lips. He pulls away and makes his way to the other side of the bed, getting in himself.
“Honestly though, how do you sleep on this thing?”
I laugh as he lies down uncomfortably. Tugging the belt loop on my pants, he pulls me towards his warmth. Within ten minutes, we drift off into sleep, mumbling to each other about how Edgar Allan Poe makes much more sense than Shakespeare.
Chapter 28: The Week is Up
I wake up slowly and look at the clock- 10:00 a.m. What a perfect time to wake up. I would be in second period right now, learning how to conjugate verbs in Spanish. I look over at Hayden sleeping beside me and giggle. Apparently, he decided to take his shirt off after I had fallen asleep. He is lying on his stomach, his face buried in one of my purple silk pillows. I rest my head on my pillow and listen to him breathe for a few minutes, hoping he would sense my stare and wake up. He doesn’t.
Becoming bored, I start to rub patterns on his bare skin with my fingers. I trace the muscles on his back and wonder how much time he spends at the gym. Probably a lot, the proof was there. I draw a few stars, a house, and a heart and begin to get bored again. I guess I’m going to have to wake him up the harsh way.
I stop drawing the patterns and am about to shake him when a husky growl comes from his throat, “Who said you should stop?”
I laugh, “How long have you been awake?”
“Since you started staring at me five minutes ago, you creep.”
“Why did you pretend you were sleeping?”
“I was going to say something but then you started rubbing my back and I wasn’t going to stop you.”
I laugh, “Thanks.” I kick him lightly in the leg.
“Hey, now, violence is never the answer,” he says jokingly.
“Says the guy who punched Tom Stephens,” I lay my arm on his chest so I can look at him.
“Okay, violence is sometimes the answer, especially when it’s Tom Stephens. And you can’t blame me, I was drunk.”
“What a great excuse.”
His green eyes lock onto my hazel ones, “Are you still mad at me about that?”
“Not entirely. I’m madder about the punching thing.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I just didn’t like what he said to you.”
“Yeah, I know. But Zac had already taken care of him.”
“Yeah, but you’re my girlfriend,” he says, flipping us over so that I was on my back, “I wanted to stick up for you too.”
He presses his lips against mine and as usual my heart nearly beats out of my chest.
He pulls away, “Do you get nervous when I kiss you?”
�
��No,” I say confused. “Why?”
“Because I can feel your heart beating. Really fast.”
“Funny, I thought that was yours.”
“Did you?”
“No,” I say giving up, “because I knew it was mine.”
He laughs, “So I do make you nervous?”
“No-” he cuts me off mid-sentence with his lips. I thought he would pull away quickly and make another crack about my heart beat but he doesn’t. The kiss lasts much longer than I expected, getting more and more passionate and heated by the second. After a while, I feel his hands begin to travel to the bottom of my shirt and he begins to yank the material up.
I grab his wrist, “What are you doing?”
“Well,” he begins, “I thought since I’m shirtless, it’s only fair if we both are.”
“Nice try.”
“But, it’s our last day together.”
“That doesn’t mean I won’t see you ever again.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“And you are persistent,” I laugh.
I wake up the next morning in an empty bed. I turn off my alarm clock and plop back down onto the mattress. It felt weird to be alone for the first time in two weeks. Weird, but good at the same time. My phone vibrates and I look to see a message from Hayden:
Morning babe, I’ll pick you up at 7:20. It was weird sleeping alone last night
I smile to myself. He is the cutest thing ever.
I pull myself out of bed and get ready. I have a mission today:
1.) To talk to Luke a little bit
2.) To avoid Zac and Emily at all costs
They are both pretty impossible to do since I have detention at lunch today with Emily and Zac, and lunch would be the only time to talk to Luke.
Well, I’m going to fail at this mission.
I walk down the hall and find Jessica at her locker.
“Where’s your Siamese twin?” she asks.
“My Siamese twin?”
“Yeah, Hayden. It’s like you two are Siamese twins since you started dating. You’re always together.”
I laugh, “Well yesterday was the last day of the Slave Auction so I don’t have to stay at his house anymore.”
“And that’s why you were sick yesterday,” she uses her fingers as quotations on the word ‘sick.’
“Yup.”
“And he didn’t offer you a ride to school this morning? That’s rough.”
“No, he did. He drove me here.”
She rolls her eyes, “Why am I not surprised?”
I laugh, “I’ll find you someone, don’t worry.”
“Really? Who?”
“You don’t think Hayden as any hot friends?”
“We hang out with all of them, though. I want to meet someone new.”
“He has other friends.”
“Well, hurry up and get on it. I’m lonely now that you and Daisy have boyfri-” she cuts herself off as her eyes lock onto something behind me. “Did Emily have some plastic surgery done and join the cheer squad or is that not Emily?”
I turn around to see a dark-haired girl in a freshly washed cheerleading uniform making out with some guy pressed into the wall. But it wasn’t just some guy- it was Zac. And that girl was definitely not Emily.
“Wh-?”
“What happened to Emily?” Jessica cuts me off.
All I can do is stand there and stare. Which is probably what Zac was hoping for.
“Zac doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who would be into cheerleaders. He seems like he would like more punk girls like Emily,” Jessica says, unaware of my shocked state. “Weird. I wonder why the change of heart.”
Chapter 29: Detention: Day 2
I walk into the detention classroom and look at all my possible choices of seating arrangements. Unfortunately for me, there was only one seat open today; next to Zac. Why does this happen to me? My life is just ridiculous. I can’t catch a break.
I slowly make my way to the open chair and notice Emily sitting in the very back corner. She’s just glaring at Zac looking pretty pissed off. What the hell happened?
“No talking,” Ms. Right reminds us before locking us in.
All at once, everyone gets up to talk to their friends. Everyone except Emily, Zac, and I. I really, really don’t want to talk to him, but my curiosity wins out.
“What did you do?” I ask.
He gives me an amused look, “What do you mean?”
“Well, by the way Emily is glaring holes into the back of your head; I’m guessing you did something to hurt her.”
I see his eyes flicker to the back of the room and Emily quickly looks away. “I just told her it wasn’t going to work out.”
“Mmhhhmm,” I start, “was that before or after you made out with that cheerleader?”
He smirks, “Before.”
I shake my head, “You’re unbelievable.”
“Jealous again? Jenna, I don’t know if I should be flattered or creeped out.”
“Why do you always assume that I’m jealous?”
“Why do you always make it so obvious?”
“I’m not jealous! I have a boyfriend,” I say angrily.
“But then you notice when I make out with a cheerleader.”
“The whole school noticed, especially since you were supposedly dating someone else. Why didn’t it work out between you and Emily? Get bored already?”
“No,” he says. “I know how much you hated her so I thought I would make you happy.”
“How sweet of you,” I say sarcastically.
“Thanks, I’ve been told that I am pretty sweet,” he smirks.
“How did you meet her anyway?”
“Who?”
“The girl whose face you were sucking this morning!”
He smirks, “Oh, her.”
I roll my eyes, “Obviously.”
“Well I was watching cheerleading practice the other day and one thing lead to another…”
I roll my eyes again, “Good luck with that Zac.”
“Thanks,” he says leaning back in his seat. “But I don’t think it’s going to last very long.”
I am about to ask him what he means, when the class room door opens.
“What is this?” Luke asks as the door closes behind him. “Don’t you all know the rules? No talking!”
Everyone stops dead and looks quietly at him. Then, all at once, just like when Ms. Right left a few minutes ago, everyone breaks out into intense laughter. Luke’s strict face cracks and he throws his head back to laugh with everyone else.
His eyes land on me, “Jenna! There’s the little rebel.”
I laugh, “What are you doing here?”
He makes his way over and sits down on my desk, “I’m Ms. Right’s Student Aide. Sometimes she asks me to supervise detention.”
“And I take it you’re not very strict?”
“Oh no I am. If you say one word I will yell harshly and tell Ms. Right.”
I look at him quietly and listen as every person in the room talks and laughs in their own conversations. The irony of his statement sinks in, “Right.”
“So you ditched with Hayden yesterday?” he asks.
I can’t help but think of how good he looks in his grey shirt with long dark blue sleeves. His hair actually is growing back out nicely. All I can do is nod at his question.
“What did you guys end up doing?”
“Yeah, did you ‘do the nasty?’” Zac chimes in from where he had been sitting quietly.
Luke and I both look at him oddly.
“No…” I start, “We just hung out at my house; baked a cake, watched some movies.”
“There you go Zac,” Luke says, “They didn’t ‘do the nasty.’ You happy?”
Zac glares at Luke and slumps back into his chair.
I can’t help but smirk, “So did I miss anything interesting yesterday.”
“Actually,” Luke looks at Zac. “Yeah.”
“Shut up
, Luke.”
Luke’s eyebrows rise, “Oh, seems he’s sensitive about it.”
“What happened?” I ask leaning forward.
“Zac and Emily were talk-”
“Luke, stop!” Zac yells standing up.
“Dude, calm down it’s not that big of a deal,” Luke assures.
Zac rolls his eyes and moves away, towards the back of the classroom and joins a group of ‘detention regulars.’
“Okay, he’s gone, what happened?” I ask again.
Luke smiles, “Emily and him were talking before school started and then all of a sudden she just started yelling and said ‘What do you mean?’ And then she smacked him. Like super hard. Like his face was red all day.”
“Did Zac tell you what happened?”
“We asked but all he said was the obvious; they broke up. Next thing we know, he was making out with that cheerleader today. Zac always said he hated cheerleaders.”
“Really? And you have no idea what’s going on with him?”
“He won’t tell us anything,” Luke shrugs.
A memory stirs in my mind. Something about cheerleaders and Zac. But I can’t remember. What is Zac doing anyway? Clearly he is trying to make me jealous. But why use that cheerleader? He should have just stayed with Emily and that would have worked too. Well, whatever. I am not going to let Zac know it bugs me. No matter how much it does.
“So what have you been up to lately, Luke?”
He shrugs, “Same old, same old.”
“Well, that’s boring.”
“It is,” he laughs. “My life is just so boring ever since you left my house.”
“That I believe,” I nod. “I just make life interesting for everyone.”
“It’s true. What do I do now? I come home from school, do homework, watch TV, and fall asleep. That’s all I do anymore.”
“Which is exactly what you when I was there,” I giggle.
“Yeah, but at least you were there to make it more fun,” he smiles and I feel my insides warm. “So what’s it like being back home after two weeks.”
“It’s nice,” I respond. “I hadn’t even realized how much I missed my bed.”
“I bet, after two weeks.”
The Last Girl Page 17