The Last Girl

by Riley Shasteen

I follow him down the stairs and he stops in front of the door. “Everything will be okay, Jenna. I know it sucks now but soon enough, you will realize that what I told you is true. You deserve someone better.”

  I smile, “Thanks, Luke. For everything.” I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. “What are you doing tomorrow?” I ask, pulling away.

  “Going to school,” he responds as he opens the door.

  “I meant after school smarty.”

  “Uh, why?”

  “So we can hangout. Or maybe you can help me study Biology or something.”

  “I can’t.”

  I feel my heart skip a beat, “Why?”

  “Because,” he pauses. “Because I have to do something.”

  “Do what?” I know I am prying but he is being vague and it is bugging me.

  “I have to, uh, go see someone.”

  I don’t mean to say it but it just sort of shoots out of me. “You’re going to go see your secret girlfriend?”

  He looks at me weirdly, “My what?”

  I mentally kick myself, “Never mind.”

  “You think I have a secret girlfriend?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Why?”

  I shrug, “When we went to McDonald’s that one night with Lance and Jessica, Jessica and I overheard you and Lance talking about you going to see someone and it just kind of sounded like you were talking about a girl.”

  And then, Luke does something I don’t expect him to do. He starts to laugh.

  I just look at him, “Why are you laughing?”

  It takes him a few seconds to catch his breath before he walks out the door. “Come on,” he says, expecting me to follow.

  “Why?”

  “I have to show you something. And, you’ve been crying all day over a guy you only dated for less than 2 weeks- it’s getting a little ridiculous. I was nice at first, but now it’s time to get over it.”

  I nod slowly, “I guess I get too attached to people… Plus, he was really hot.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Come on.”

  I follow him out the door.

  Chapter 32: Visiting

  “Can you please tell me where we are going?”

  “Patience is a virtue, Jenna,” Luke says in a monotone voice for the hundredth time.

  “If you say that one more time, Luke, I swear I’m going to kick you.”

  “Peacefulness is a virtue as well, you know,” he smirks.

  “I swear, sometimes, Luke…” My voice trails off as we pull into a big, empty parking lot in front of a large grey square building.

  “Why are we at an old folk’s home?” I ask, suddenly completely bewildered as Luke pulls into a parking spot.

  “You ask too many questions,” he smirks again and turns off the engine.

  I remain seated in the car, staring at the dull building, until Luke opens my door.

  “You coming?”

  “Not until you tell me why we are here.”

  “Come on, don’t act five years old. You’re about to find out,” he reaches over and clicks the red button, unbuckling the black seat belt around my waist.

  “I’m not decent enough to go out in public right now.”

  Luke looks at me strangely.

  “I’m not wearing any makeup,” I explain. “I’ve been in bed crying all day and I’m still in the same clothes I slept in.”

  “You look fine,” Luke sighs as he leans against the door.

  “Says the guy who told me I looked like shit a few hours ago.”

  “Jenna, we are about to walk into a place with billions of old people. I doubt anyone will care what you look like. No is not an answer anymore.” Next thing I know, Luke has me hanging over one of his shoulders. I hear him slam the car door behind me.

  “Hey, let me down!”

  “Never.”

  The walk from his car to the entrance of the home is a bumpy one. With every step he takes, his shoulder presses deeper and deeper into my stomach. It is around seven o’clock but it looks like nine. The autumn weather is very bipolar. Right now it is chilly and the leaves on the nearly bare trees in the surrounding lot are rustling loudly. The wind bites at my face, making my cheeks numb. Finally, I feel a blast of cool air as two sliding glass doors open and Luke sets me back on the ground. I look around at the white room. In the back corner there is a desk with a lady in a pink uniform and beside her are two big doors leading to a long hallway. It smells exactly how you think an old folk’s home would smell; like old people. Old people and old perfume and medicine and floor cleaner and whatever they served for dinner all mixed into one smell. Luke makes his way up to the lady behind the counter and signs his name on a piece of paper attached to a brown clipboard. I stand behind him, reading over his shoulder as he signs “Luke Parker + 1 to see James Parker.”

  What?

  Luke turns around and gestures for me to follow him and we make our way through the white doors and down the long hallway. We make a right halfway down the hallway and begin to walk down another long hallway. After walking for a few more seconds, Luke stops and knocks on a white door labeled 9.

  After a few more seconds, a grouchy voice on the other side of the door calls, “Who is it?”

  “It’s me!” Luke talks loudly back.

  I hear some rustling. “Geoff?”

  The door opens and an old man with grey hair hunched over a cane appears. He looks disappointed as his eyes land on Luke. “Oh, it’s you.”

  Luke laughs, “Hello to you too, Grandpa.”

  The old man turns around and walks into his room. Luke follows and I follow as well.

  “Who’s this?” Luke’s grandpa asks. “One of your little groupies?”

  Luke looks puzzled, “No. This is my friend Jenna. She is not one of my groupies and I’ve never had a groupie before. I don’t understand where you got that from.”

  “What’s she doing here?” James Parker asks in his apparently usual grumpy tone. He plops down slowly on the edge of his bed and Luke sits in a chair near the window. I remain standing awkwardly near the door. The room is small and crowded with only three people in it. It smells like the rest of the building and is the same pale white color. There is a door near the entrance leading to the bathroom, a small hospital looking bed, a TV hanging on the wall, and a desk on the other side of the window to Luke.

  “She came to say ‘hi,’” Luke answers.

  James looks at me.

  “Hi,” I answer quickly, hoping it will take the attention off me.

  “She comes to visit me but your dirty, rotten, no-good father won’t?”

  Luke sighs, “He’s busy.”

  “Too busy to visit his own father. That’s just great-”

  “You told him never to speak to you again,” Luke interrupts. I stand still, wanting to be anywhere but here as Luke’s voice increases in volume. “Did you forget about that part, Grandpa? How you slammed the door in his face when he put you in here. Does that ring any bells?”

  “What kind of person puts his own father in a home?”

  “He did it for your own good! You needed help, Grandpa.”

  “All I did was have a beer a day-”

  “A beer a day?” Luke laughs. “You had six beers a day.”

  “Small difference.”

  Small difference? It’s a huge difference! Dad did it because he cares about you!” Luke stands up.

  “If he cares about me, how come you’re the only one who comes to visit?”

  “You told him you never wanted to see him again.”

  “I didn’t mean it,” James mumbles.

  “You have a phone; Call him.”

  The old man pauses to catch his breath. His breathing had become rapid in the last few minutes. “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  James looks up at Luke and I can see his already red eyes begin to water. “He won’t take my calls.” He looks about seventy years old, but the way he said that last sentence he could have pass
ed for an 8 year old; He sounded helpless and melancholy.

  “What makes you think that?” Luke asks concerned.

  “I know my son.”

  “Well, I know my dad.” Luke pauses before adding, “He asks about you a lot.”

  If James was a dog, I’m sure his ears would have perked up. “He does?”

  “Every time I come home from visiting you.”

  “What does he say?”

  “Just asks how you are doing and if you’re any better.”

  I see James slump down a little more. “Well, if he cares so much why doesn’t he call and ask me himself.”

  “Because he’s your son! You both have too much pride.” Luke sits down slowly beside his grandfather before continuing, “I know you’re afraid he won’t pick up, but you have to be the bigger person here. No more wasting time. All you have to do is click one button.” Luke pulls his phone out of his back pocket and unlocks it. After clicking the screen a few times, he holds the phone in front of James. “Just click his number and it will call him.”

  James looks at the phone and then slowly up at Luke. He opens his mouth as if to protest but stops himself. After what feels like an eternity of awkward silence and staring, James takes the phone from his grandson’s hand, clicks the screen, and holds it to his ear. Luke smiles and stands up slowly. He walks past me and opens the door and I instinctively follow. He closes the door behind me.

  “I’m surprised that worked,” Luke smiles.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  “We visited my Grandpa.”

  “I got that part.”

  Luke smiles and then starts to explain, “My grandpa started to live with me and my family when Grandma passed away.” He pauses thinking about the memory and I want to comfort him but I am not sure how. He continues, “He quickly became an alcoholic and my dad realized that we couldn’t take care of him anymore, so we sent him here. The rest I think you figured out.”

  “What does this have to do with me? Why did you bring me here?”

  “This is what Lance and I were talking about that night at McDonald’s. My Grandfather is my secret girlfriend.”

  “Oh.”

  I’m a dumbass.

  “This is also why I got you to stay at other people’s houses on those certain days during the first week of the Slave Auction. So I could visit him.”

  “Luke, I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”

  “You’re not an idiot. I should have told you earlier. It’s just hard to talk about, I guess.”

  I am about to say something more when the door opens and James appears and hands Luke his phone back.

  “That was fast,” Luke comments. “How did it go?”

  James just nods. “Thank you, Luke. For making me do that. I needed that.”

  He smiles, “No problem, Gramps.”

  He wraps his arms around the grey haired man and he stiffs up. After a few moments, he returns the hug. “Thank you.”

  “Well,” Luke pulls away. “We should get going. I will see you soon.”

  “What are you two anyway? Are you guys dating?” James asks.

  “No,” Luke smiles and looks at me. “Not yet.”

  His grandfather raises his eyebrows, “Well, no more wasting time, Luke.”

  Luke laughs realizing he had used his own words against him, “Goodnight, Grandpa.”

  With that, the old man nods at Luke, then at me, and shuts his door.

  We pull up in front of my house and the clock in Luke’s car reads eight. It was a silent car ride back. There were just too many things going on in my head to be able to actually put them in words.

  “Here we are,” Luke says as he puts the car in park, unlocking the doors.

  I unbuckle and turn towards him, “Luke?”

  “Yes?” he asks, head facing me.

  “When your grandpa asked if we were dating. What did you mean?”

  Luke smirks for the thousandth time and my heart rate picks up 100%. “Patience is a virtue, Jenna.”

  “Are you trying to get me to kick you?”

  He laughs, “Let’s save that for another time.”

  “But what did you-”

  “Another time,” he interrupts. “Goodnight, Jenna.”

  Not really knowing what else to do, I get out of the car and shut the door behind me. He rolls down the window.

  “You better not cancel on me for Saturday.”

  “What’s Saturday?” I ask, shivering from the cold.

  “Laser tag,” he smiles again. “I’ve been waiting for this rematch for weeks.”

  “You’re just going to lose again.”

  “Hey, that was when we were on the same team. I won when we were against each other.”

  “Well, things are about to change.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he puts the car into reverse. “Now go to sleep, I bet being awake for more than two hours must have really worn you out.”

  I laugh, “Shut up.”

  “Goodnight, Jenna.”

  “Goodnight, Luke.”

  I watch in the cool night air as he reverses and drives through the darkness to his house one street down, still feeling warm from the words he told James earlier.

  “Not yet.”

  Chapter 33: Being Back

  I step out of the small Toyota in boot-cut jeans, a grey hoodie, and black sunglasses to cover my still puffy eyes.

  “Thanks, Linda, for the ride.”

  “No problem, honey,” my kind brunette housekeeper replies. “Have a nice day at school.”

  Yeah, fat chance.

  I slam the door behind me and hear the loud engine fade off as she drives up the hill. It feels weird to have Linda drive me to school after three weeks of being driven around by others. Until this morning, I had completely forgotten that Hayden wouldn’t be driving me to school as usual. I had to call Linda, which I felt bad for doing since I could tell I had woke her up even though she swears I didn’t, and ask her if she could drive me. Then I had remembered why Hayden wouldn’t be driving me as usual and cried the entire time I was getting ready- hence the grey hoodie and sunglasses. I made myself stop crying as soon as I stepped out of my house to get in the car because I didn’t want Linda to know something was wrong, and because I knew I would have to take these sunglasses off once I got to first period.

  I walk to my locker without really thinking about it, my mind on other things, and I instantly dread it. Jessica and Daisy are there waiting for me. I have to tell them what happened between me and Hayden. If I replay the memories in my head, I might start crying again. And everyone will know I’m the idiot for dating Hayden Sharpe while not expecting to get hurt.

  Because I am the idiot.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica asks instantly.

  “What makes you think something is wrong?” I ask, nervous that maybe our break up got out somehow.

  “Daisy is dressed better than you are today!”

  “Aw, thanks!” Daisy smiles.

  Jessica rolls her eyes. “What happened?”

  A sniffle escapes from me. “Hayden and I broke up.”

  Jessica and Daisy gasp simultaneously like I am in a bad sitcom or something equally ridiculous.

  “When?” Daisy asks.

  “Why?” This was from Jessica.

  I breathe in, preparing myself for the story. “We went to a party Saturday and I caught him grinding with Victoria.”

  “That douche bag!” Jessica exclaims angrily.

  I nod and continue, “Then I left the party and next thing I know he’s pounding on my door, completely drunk, and tries to get me to have sex with him.”

  “That major douche bag!” Daisy yells. I blink a few times to make the tears disappear. “How could he do that?” Daisy asks, quietly this time. A tear escapes my eyelid and slides from beneath my sunglasses. I quickly wipe it away and shrug.

  “The next morning I told him I just wanted to be friends.”

  “Screw being friends! N
ever talk to that asshole again!” Daisy’s voice is loud again.

  I make my voice quiet, hoping it will make hers do the same. “I don’t want to make any enemies. I don’t want to have to avoid him when I pass by him in the hall, you know?”

  “Bu-”

  “Whatever, it’s done. And he seemed pretty mad about it so I doubt the whole friend thing will happen anyway.”

  “Hey,” Nolan says happily as he walks up. I instantly stop talking about it and I try to urge the others with my eyes to do the same, forgetting that my eyes are being shaded by the glasses. Luckily, my friends drop the subject anyway. Nolan kisses Daisy gently on the cheek and I instantly become jealous; I see the same look on Jessica’s face as well. “What’s up with the shades, Jenna?”

  “Oh, my eyes have just been killing me lately- wind and pollen and stuff,” I reply, quickly making up a stupid reason.

  Nolan nods.

  Just then, two girls walk by, one of them accidently bumping into Jessica. She stops and turns to apologize, “Oh, my ba-” She pauses midsentence and looks Jessica up and down. She smirks. “Never mind.” The girl continues to walk away with her friend trailing close behind.

  I hear one mumble, “What a slut.”

  The four of us are silent and I take the time to look at Jessica’s outfit. Her hair is up in a neat ponytail, something I am unfortunately never able to accomplish. She’s wearing blue skinny jeans and a purple tank top with ruffles and a cheetah pattern; nothing that was unusual.

  Why would they call her a slut?

  Daisy is the first one to let curiosity get the better of her. “What the hell was that?”

  Jessica rolls her eyes as if to show she didn’t care, but it wasn’t very convincing. “Just bitches being bitches.”

  “Jessica, can you please tell us what is going on?” I ask impatiently.

  “Nothing is going on. Now can I enjoy my lunch in peace?” she asks angrily.

  “People having been calling you a slut and a whore all day, you can’t expect us to believe that nothing is going on,” Daisy says as her short legs try to keep up with our fast pace as we walk to our lunch table.

  Jessica stops walking and Daisy and I practically bump into her. “If you must know, everyone found out that I slept with Lance and so now of course everyone thinks I’m a slut.”