The Last Girl

by Riley Shasteen

  I nod and an awkward silence follows. I look up at Luke sitting on my desk and take in his appearance again. I really have missed talking to him- and looking at him, for that matter. But, I can’t keep doing this. I’m dating Hayden. Why isn’t that enough? Why am I still fawning over his best friend?

  “What are you doing this weekend, Jenna?” Luke questions.

  “I don’t have anything planned, why?” I shrug.

  He smiles at me, “Want to hang out Saturday? Maybe watch a movie or play video games or something? And if we get bored, we can always kick ass at laser tag again.”

  I laugh, “Sounds like fun.”

  Just then, another surprise walks through the detention room door.

  “Hayden?” I ask.

  His eyes land on me and he smiles, “Hey, babe.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I didn’t want to be alone at lunch. Lance is with Kelsey, Nolan is with Daisy, Luke and Zac are here, and Jessica is at some club meeting.”

  “You won’t get in trouble for being here?” I wonder.

  “Yeah, I’m going to get in trouble for sneaking into detention. Mr. Wild, right here everyone,” Hayden says sarcastically, as he sits in the seat Zac was sitting in. “Unless, Luke is going to tell on me?”

  Luke laughs, “Don’t tempt me.”

  Hayden turns his attention back towards me, “You want to come over after school today?”

  I shake my head, “I can’t. Tuesdays are the days where I have a lot of homework.”

  “Aw, who cares about homework,” he wines. Getting out of his seat, he lands on his knees next to my desk and wraps his arms around my waist, bringing me closer to him. Even though he was on his knees and I was sitting in a tall desk, he was eye level with me. It was the perfect chance for him to give me puppy-dog eyes. “We can hang out at your place if you want.”

  “Hayden,” I laugh as I push him away a little bit, “I told you, I can’t.”

  “Please,” he begs. He leans in really closely so that his lips brush mine while he talks, “I missed you so much last night.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to miss me for a few more nights, babe.”

  He groans upset and slumps back into the chair beside me, “You’re no fun.”

  I laugh and my eyes finally tear away from him to look at Luke still sitting on my desk.

  “Excuse me, I think I have to go and vomit,” he mumbles jokingly and slides off my desk.

  “Are you sure you can’t hang out tonight?” Hayden asks me for the billionth time.

  “Hayden,” I groan.

  He smirks before kissing me softly, “Okay, fine. But that means you have to make it up to me this weekend.”

  “ How?”

  “I’ll think of something,” he whispers in my ear evilly before turning to walk down the hall.

  I giggle as I walk into class, but my teacher stops me at the door, making my smile disappear instantly.

  “Are you ready for your test today, Ms. Brown?” he asks.

  “Test?” I manage to squeak out.

  “You were absent yesterday, the day of the test, so that means you have to make it up today. Hope you’re ready.”

  Shit.

  How could I have forgotten that the test was yesterday? Oh, I am so screwed.

  “Could I possibly get one more day before I take it? I slept all day yesterday and didn’t get to study at all.”

  “But you studied all weekend, like you were supposed to, right?”

  “Right,” I lie through my teeth.

  I really am screwed.

  My teacher sets up a desk and chair outside his classroom and hands me a test, “Good luck.”

  I’ll need it.

  Chapter 30: The Last Straw

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She’s annoying and fake. That whole ‘I’m so much better than everyone’ thing? You could do so much better.”

  “She’s actually really cool. You’re jealousy just overlooks all the good things about her.”

  “I’m not jealous, Zac. Date the entire cheer squad, I honestly don’t care.”

  Date the entire cheer squad.

  And that’s exactly what he is doing.

  Thursday he didn’t even talk to the cheerleader he made out with the day before. Instead, he was seen walking down the hall with a cheerleader named Maddy, and then they ate lunch together in a private little corner of the cafeteria. He looked generally interested and wrapped up in what they were talking about that if you didn’t know any better, you would have thought they had been dating for years. But of course, they had only been “dating” for about three hours. And by dating, I mean they would make out in the hallway whenever possible. Then, when she slapped Zac across the face at the end of the day in front of everyone, something clicked in my head.

  I had a flashback of the conversation we had after detention Friday. The conversation where I actually told him to date the entire cheer squad. It seems like he took my advice to heart. Thursday and Friday, he broke two other cheer girls’ hearts. A girl named Nikki who stomped on his foot and a girl named Sara who kicked him in the shin. I actually enjoy watching all these girls inflict physical pain upon him. Until he stops being that immature and that big of a douche to all of those girls, I will continue to ignore him. I have Hayden to keep my mind off things anyway.

  The end-of-the-day bell rings Friday afternoon and I wait for Hayden at his parking spot.

  “Jenna,” I hear Luke’s deep voice call out, “hey.”

  “Hey, Lili.”

  He raises one eyebrow at me, “What?”

  “It just popped into my head,” I shrug. “Let’s just, uh, start that over,” I clear my throat, “Hey Luke.”

  He nods, “Much better. Don’t ever call me Lili again.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” I laugh. “So, what’s up?”

  “I was just heading home but I wanted to make sure we were still on for tomorrow, right?”

  “Yup, laser tag, right?”

  “Yeah, either that or we could just stare at each other,” he suggests.

  “I prefer the laser tag.”

  “Yeah, me too. Staring at each other would get a little awkward after a while.”

  “Not to mention boring.”

  “Hey,” he puts his hand to his chest, “I might be the bored one. However, you would be staring at my face which, I assure you, could never get boring.”

  I laugh, “I feel sort of offended.”

  He laughs but then his face goes straight, “Good.”

  And for the next few seconds, Luke and I just stare at each other. Not like the awkward look at him then look away quickly kind of stare that you would do to your crush from far away, but the intense starring contest kind. After a few more seconds, Luke’s head drops and he begins to snore.

  “Hey!” I yell, smacking him on the arm.

  He just laughs.

  “Hey, guys,” Hayden says joining us. “I was walking over here and you guys were just creepily staring at each other.”

  Luke and I break out into a fit of laughter and Hayden mumbles an “I don’t even want to know.”

  “Well, I’m going to go home. Bye guys.”

  Luke begins to walk towards his car and Hayden unlocks his red one, which looks like a cherry in the sunlight.

  “By the way,” Hayden begins, turning on the engine, “I’m sleeping over tonight.”

  “What if I don’t want you to?”

  He shrugs, “Sucks for you then.”

  I laugh, “Well then I guess that’s settled.”

  My phone starts to vibrate in my Levi jeans and I pull it out quickly noticing the ringtone.

  “Hey mom.”

  “Did you take a Biology test this week?” she asks, her crystal clear voice whispers through the speaker on my phone. She must be at work.

  I roll my eyes, “Hello to you too.”

  “Jenna.”

  “Mom.”

&nbs
p; “Stop avoiding the question. Did you take a Biology test this week?”

  “Yes, I took one Wednesday, why?”

  “Did you study for it?”

  My heart rate begins to speed up, “Yeah…”

  “Then why do you fail it?”

  “I what?”

  “You got a 54%.”

  “How do you know?” I ask, confused out of my mind. I can feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

  “I saw you’re grade online today. You’re grade in the class is now down to a C.”

  “I’m sorry, mom, it was a really hard chapter.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” her voice becomes louder and I can hear an echo in the back. She moved into the bathroom now. “If you studied as much and as hard as you should have, then you should have gotten an A. Or at least a B. But dear God not almost half the questions wrong!”

  “I’m sorry-”

  “You’re father and I are very disappointed in you. When we come home, you’re phone will be taken away.”

  “Mom, that’s not fair!”

  “It is very fair.”

  “Mom, I will get my grade up, I promise.”

  “You’d better,” there are some voices in the background as she pauses. “I have to go right now but you, dad, and I need to have a conversation about this.”

  “Yes, mo-” I start, but she has already hung up. “Shit,” I mumble dropping my phone in my lap.

  “What happened?” Hayden asks concerned.

  “I failed my Biology test that I forgot to study for when we ditched class on Tuesday so now my parents are pissed at me.”

  “Shit,” Hayden speaks. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. They’re always mad at me for something. If this hadn’t happened they would be mad at me for something else.”

  “It was my fault, wasn’t it?”

  “It’s fine, let’s just go home. I’m tired.”

  “Jenna,” Hayden whispers in my ear.

  I wake to Hayden leaning over me, a sight I still wasn’t fully used to. Especially since he was shirtless and his abs are very distracting.

  “What, Hayden? It’s a Saturday morning and you are waking me up from my slumber because?”

  “Want to go to a party tonight?”

  “What kind?”

  “Like the last one we went to.”

  “You mean the one where you got super drunk and punched a guy in the face?”

  “Erm, yeah. That one,” he mumbles.

  “I’m good,” I respond quickly, rolling over in bed to face the wall.

  I see Hayden’s curls hanging off his head as he tilts his head upside-down in order for me to see him.

  “I promise nothing like that will happen tonight.”

  “I don’t know Hayden. Can’t we just hang out?”

  “Why won’t you go?” he whines.

  “Because I don’t want to see you get wasted again.”

  “I promise I won’t.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I say, turning around so Hayden doesn’t have to hang his head upside-down anymore. He flops back down on the bed. “I promised Luke I would go play laser tag with him today.”

  “You would rather go laser tagging with Luke instead of going to an awesome party with your amazing boyfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jenna, please. You can hang out with Luke tomorrow. Just cancel that and come with me tonight.”

  “For the last time Hayden: No.”

  “Imagine how much fun it will be! We can dance and talk to people. And be together.”

  “Why do you want to go so badly?” I ask.

  “Because I like going places. Especially places with a lot of people and my girlfriend.”

  I continue to stare at him.

  “Please,” he begs, giving me the puppy-dog look. His eyes become wide and the light hits his irises perfectly, making them glow like emeralds. He pushes out his bottom lip and I realize there is no way I can so no anymore.

  I roll my eyes, “Fine.”

  A huge grin appears on his face, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He cheers and kisses me on the cheek. He pulls out his phone from his back pocket and begins to text, probably telling someone that we are coming to the party tonight.

  “Hand me my phone, please,” I say and he grabs my phone off the table next to him, all without looking up from his screen.

  I call Luke and he picks up on the second ring.

  “Hey, Jen-Jen.”

  I groan which causes him to laugh, “What’s up?”

  “I’m really sorry but I have to cancel our plans for today. Is that okay?” I ask him.

  There is a little pause before he answers, “Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”

  “Are you free tomorrow to do it?”

  Another pause, “Uh, yeah, I think so.”

  “Okay, great! I will see you tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  “By the way,” I say quickly before he hangs up, “don’t ever call me Jen-Jen again.”

  He laughs, “Don’t tempt me.”

  The clock in Hayden’s car says 9:30 by the time we pull up in front of the house. To my surprise, it’s the same house we went to for the last party. And just like last time, I can hear the music from the car.

  “You promise you won’t drink?”

  He grabs my hand, “I promise.”

  “Good, because you’re my ride home.”

  I open the passenger door and step out in a pair of light blue skinny jeans, a white tank top, and black converse. I really didn’t feel like getting dressed up tonight. I look over at Hayden who is wearing a tight long sleeved black shirt that hugs his arms. I could see all the muscles on his arms bulge out from underneath the shirt as he reaches out his hand for me to grab. As usual, he looks amazing.

  “Will Victoria be here tonight?” I question him.

  “It’s likely.”

  “Great.”

  He stops walking and steps in front of me, “Jenna, I told you that you don’t have to worry about her and I meant it.”

  “I know, I know,” I sigh, “I just wish you had put on something less attractive; that way I wouldn’t have to worry about drunk girls throwing themselves at you all night.”

  He smirks at me, “I could say the same about you,” he says, stepping forward and brushing a piece of hair behind me ear. “You look hot in those jeans.”

  Minutes later, I was literally hot in these jeans. There were about twice as many people at this party than there were last week. All of the bodies in this confined space made the room really hot. I didn’t even want to think about how bad it must be on the dance floor.

  “Here you go. One soda as you asked,” Hayden says, handing me a can.

  “Thank you!” I yell to be heard over the music. I pop open the top and chug about three quarters of the Dr. Pepper.

  “You thirsty?” Hayden laughs.

  I nod, “It is really hot in here.”

  “Sorry, should I leave?” he smirks.

  “God,” I groan. “That was bad.”

  He laughs, “I thought it was pretty good.”

  “It would get warmer if you left, actually.”

  I feel his eyes lock onto mine, “Now, that one was bad.”

  “I thought it was pretty good.”

  He shakes his head, “It didn’t even make sense.”

  “Yes it did,” I laugh.

  “Barely,” he laughs. He pulls my drink from out of my hand and sets it on the counter. “Let’s go dance.”

  “But it’s going to be so hot,” I complain.

  “You can always take off your clothes if you want,” he says as he pulls me towards the music.

  I laugh, “I don’t think so.”

  “If you insist,” he smirks.

  It was like there was curtain of heat right against the doorway leading to the room left of the stairs.

  "Whew!" Hayden yelled. "I actually might have to take my shirt off," he winked. I c
ould already see a few curls sticking to his forehead. Yeah. It is that hot in here.

  The first thing I notice is that there isn’t really anybody “dancing.” Everybody is grinding. I guess that’s all people do now. Nobody really knows how to dance; they just know how to move their hips to the beat. I watched all the couples grind and make out simultaneously and I couldn’t help but think how gross it was as Hayden led me to the center of the dance floor. We had to push our way past several people who were too caught up in what they were doing to notice us. We get to the center and Hayden immediately grabs my hips, spinning me around and pulling me close to him so that I could feel his chest against my back. He began to sway to the music and I have no choice but to follow along. I have never really done this before; the whole grinding thing. I know enough about it by watching other people do it at school dances and stuff and it always just seemed so stupid to me. That, and that I never really had a partner to do it with. I guess everything I’ve done has really been a first with Hayden. My first time grinding, first real relationship, first party, first time ditching, first F on a test. Some of those firsts are pretty bad, though. Maybe this isn’t good; letting Hayden convince me to do all this. But he is the one who tried to stop me from ditching. And he didn’t know I had a Bio test to study for. So why am I blaming it all on him? That was all my fault.

  I feel Hayden’s hands move on my waist as I continue to grind my hips against his, becoming more comfortable with the movement. I wrap my arms around his neck behind me and pull him closer.

  “You’re good at this,” he says into my neck, sending tingles down my back.

  “Yeah, right,” I laugh.

  “I’m serious,” he says as his eyes lock onto my lips. “You’re so hot.”

  And then Hayden leans forward and next thing I know, we are making out while grinding. We are doing the exact same thing I was just calling other people gross for minutes earlier. It was a very hard thing to do, having to turn my neck in a strange way in order to meet his lips. After a minute of kissing, I finally thought “Screw this” and turned my body around so I could face him. I wrap my arms around his neck and I feel his hands on my back drop a little low, but honestly I don’t mind. After a while, I am so engulfed in heat, inside and out, that I have to push away from Hayden to catch my breath.