Beware of Bad Boy

by Brookshire, April

  Her boyfriend was no different than the rest. He stared at her as if entranced and seemed to only take his eyes away from her to look at his food. Once though, he caught my eyes and gave me a dirty look. Oh, so it was like that? Josh, in his Abercrombie shirt, perhaps didn’t like that his girlfriend had a stepbrother living in the room next door. Tough shit.

  Actually quite a few guys stared at her like Josh did. Gianna’s behavior puzzled me, however. She mostly sat there picking at her food and looking up every once in a while to answer a question. Now that I thought about it, I was doing the same thing as these dumbasses, staring. Fuck that! I was going to stop examining Gianna and start planning when I’d be getting Hannah in my backseat.

  After lunch, I had one other class with Gianna. Did the girl ever smile? When the last class of the day was out, I met Gianna at her Jeep and she drove me home in silence before going back to the school for cheerleading practice. After she took off, I hopped into my car and drove down to Denver to visit friends and hopefully find some fun.

  GIANNA

  With the first week of school almost over, I was dying for Saturday to come. It was the same this year at school as every other year. People still wanted to be my friend no matter how unfriendly I was. I quit pretending years ago it was my personality that drew them. It wasn’t all that flattering to be liked for the way you looked. Even when I tried to discourage them they seemed to take it in stride. I think they figured a girl with my looks was supposed to be stuck up and bitchy, so I was merely acting the part.

  Sometimes I looked at some of the other girls at school and wondered what it would be like to be average-looking. Have friends at school that liked you for who you were, not what you looked like. A normal school life appealed to me. The only people I knew who liked me for who I was were what I liked to call my weekend friends. I escaped Broomfield, my mom, school and even Josh every Saturday and tasted freedom.

  Did Josh like me for myself? Sometimes I wondered with him. He started saying he loved me early on in our relationship, but maybe it was the way I looked that he loved so much. Did I love him back? I wasn’t sure. If it was love, wasn’t I supposed to get butterflies in my stomach when I saw him? Maybe I should break up with him, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Dating him kept most of the other guys away, which I liked. Lately, I’d even begun telling him how frustrated I felt about life at school. He seemed to understand.

  Today was Friday and I had to cheer tonight at the first football game of the season. Josh was starting quarterback this year and he wanted me to go to a party afterwards with him. We’d been going out for a while and he’d been pressuring me lately to finally have sex with him. I knew I definitely didn’t want that. Still waiting for those butterflies. If he tried pressuring me too much, I’d have no choice but to break up with him.

  Right now I was doing the usual lunchtime routine. Sitting with the popular crowd, picking at my food and wishing I were anywhere but here. At the other end of the table was Caleb surrounded by a bunch of girls and a few guys he seemed to have made friends with. At least it was a little quieter now at my end of the table.

  Hannah was sitting next to him as she’d been all week. God, she was such a two-faced bitch. She always acted like we were best friends but, I swear, sometimes the looks she gave me were a mixture of envious and hateful. She didn’t hide it as well as she thought. She was under the impression she was Caleb’s girlfriend. Didn’t she realize that to a guy like Caleb she was just the flavor of the week? I’d heard him on the phone last night flirting with some girl named Monica. It was disgusting listening to him purr on the phone to some stupid girl. Once it started sounding like they were about to have phone sex, I turned on my TV full blast.

  CALEB

  All high school parties were the same, chicks and dicks getting drunk and hooking up. The girls thinking screwing the boys would get them love and the boys thinking of how much they’d just love to screw the girls. I was gentlemanly enough to steer clear of the innocent looking ones, the ones whose tears and drama weren’t worth it.

  “Caleb, you’re not even paying attention to me!” Jesus fucking Christ, this chick was annoying. Whether I hooked up with her tonight or not, it was time to give her the boot.

  I spotted Gianna across the room dancing with some random guy to a popular ragga song. I was shocked to see the girl could actually look happy. And damn could she dance sexy. I was getting turned on just watching her.

  Before the song finished, I saw Josh walk over to the guy and push him to the ground. Gianna yelled over the music, “What the hell?” at Josh and stormed off. Josh followed at her heels, looking not the least sorry. I felt sort of pissed myself, but because Josh ruined her moment of happiness. Not that I was jealous of the guy, of course. The girl was the most bitchy, unhappy person I knew. Tonight was the first time I’d seen a genuine smile on her face. Not that I cared about her happiness. We didn’t even like each other.

  “Caleb, I asked you a question and I want an answer!” Hannah whined.

  “What was the question?” I asked, turning my head back towards her. She was pretty, not like Gianna, but doable. It was just her personality which was hard to take.

  “Are you going to ask me to be your girlfriend or not?” she impatiently demanded to know. It appeared I’d be giving her the boot before getting laid. When you heard the G-word, it was time to get the fuck out of dodge.

  Two hours later and bored outta my mind, I was leaning against the side of my dad’s house smoking a joint when a lifted truck pulled up a couple houses down. I couldn’t really see through the windows too clearly, but all of a sudden I heard a feminine voice yell, “Get the fuck off me, Josh! I said no!”

  I realized it was Gianna and ran towards the truck. Opening the driver’s side, I pulled Josh out by the shirt and threw him to the ground. Before he could react, I kicked him in the stomach, glad I was wearing boots. I glanced up into the truck to see Gianna’s shocked and crying face. Turning my attention back to Josh, I continued to kick the crap out of him. I was a firm believer in the saying kick ‘em when they’re down. Who said you had to fight fair?

  I heard a car door slam and looked up to see Gianna running towards the house, opening the side fence to the backyard. Good to know she trusted I had this covered. Either that or she was embarrassed in her choice of douchebag boyfriends.

  “I hope you learned this lesson, because if you ever lay another hand on her without her permission, I’ll break your fuckin’ face,” I threatened Josh. His response was to groan pathetically.

  Taking Gianna’s route into the backyard, I could hear her crying and talking on the phone. I stopped just around the corner to eavesdrop. A person heard the best information that way.

  “I can’t take it anymore, Jared. I hate everything and everyone here. I’m so through with Josh and every guy like him. I would tell my mom I just want to go live with my dad in Houston, but I’d miss you guys too much.” A few seconds later she said, “No, Jared, I don’t need you to come kick his ass. My stepbrother already took care of it.” She laughed and there was silence. “Yeah, I don’t think he’ll try it again.” Another pause. “Yeah, tell Cece I’m sorry for getting her worried, I just needed to let off some steam. See you guys tomorrow. Love ya. Bye.”

  She sighed loudly as I walked around the corner. She jumped back before recognizing me. “Oh, I thought you were Josh.”

  “You shouldn’t have to worry about him anymore,” I told her, scanning her face for I didn’t know what.

  “I’m not so sure about that, but thank you anyways. I better go to bed. I have get up early tomorrow to go downtown,” she informed me and started to leave.

  “What for?” I asked her, not sure why I bothered.

  “Oh, um, I study ballet every Saturday morning at Ballet Denver downtown. My friend Cece also goes there. I usually spend the night at her house every Saturday, so you won’t see me again until Sunday.” I didn’t have anything to say to that, so she
continued, “Thanks again, Caleb.”

  Oddly, I liked hearing my name coming out of her mouth. Shaking off the feeling, I teased her, “Good night, sis,”

  Instead of getting mad like before, she laughed and walked into the house.

  I stood out there and finished my joint.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “In every man’s heart there is a secret nerve

  that answers to the vibrations of beauty.”

  -Christopher Morley

  CALEB

  “Caleb! Caleb! Come play with me!” Ugh! What time was it? The break of dawn? Why was this midget bugging me so early on a Saturday morning? I’d be having a talk with my little stepbrother about there being a time for play and a time for sleep.

  I lifted my head from the pillow and growled, “Go bug your sister, runt. It’s too early to open my eyes.”

  “I can’t ‘cause she already left. And it’s not early, it’s late. I already ate breakfast and lunch.” Chance took it upon himself to start dragging my blanket away.

  I lifted my head to see my alarm clock, it was past twelve. That wasn’t too early for a Saturday, so I decided to get up. I was supposed to hang out with my friend, Dante, today. He’d be pissed if I flaked out on him.

  Dante was like a brother to me. We’d been best friends since the third grade when we’d both liked the same girl and used to get into fights over her. It drove the teacher and our parents crazy. Halfway through the school year, the girl moved away and we called a truce. We’d been best friends ever since. I often ate at their house because, unlike my Italian mother who was supposed to like cooking, Dante’s mom was a genius in the kitchen.

  I took a shower, dressed in something I could also go out in tonight and went downstairs. Going into the kitchen first, I grabbed a Gatorade and one of Chance’s Lunchables from the fridge. My dad was on the couch watching ESPN. Julie was over by the shrine to Gianna, dusting the pictures and trophies, making them shine.

  Catching my dad’s attention, I told him, “Hey, dad, I’m driving down to Denver to hang out with Dante. I might be home tonight, or I might spend the night at mom’s.”

  “Oh, Dante, haven’t seen him in awhile. Tell him I said hello and remember it’s a fresh start, son,” my dad replied.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be a good little boy. Scout’s honor.” That was funny, since they kicked me out of the boy scouts. So not my fault. My parents were pissed, but more embarrassed than anything else.

  Speeding out of the neighborhood, I saw an old man throw me a mean look. There went the neighborhood with Caleb Morrison moving in. I put on The Strokes, tapping my wheel to the beat. Fifteen minutes later, I was out of suburbia and on I-25 heading south towards downtown. I had The White Stripes playing on my stereo now, and Jack White was singing about being friends.

  I could see the skyscrapers down in the valley from this part of the freeway. As always, I thought to myself, there’s my city. I couldn’t imagine having to live up north in the suburbs for the next two years of high school. But if I did, the moment I got my diploma I was moving back to the city.

  As the freeway started curving around Coors Field, I thought about last night. I’d really like to kick Josh’s ass all over again. I didn’t know what to make of Gianna anymore. The girl confused the shit out of me. She dressed all sporty-preppy, but listened to hip hop. She was a popular cheerleader, but seemed anti-social at school. She had a boyfriend, but didn’t really seem to want much to do with him. And who the hell was Jared? I hadn’t met any Jared at school. Why would she call him in a crisis? Whatever, the girl wasn’t my problem. Let her mama worry about her.

  When I pulled in front of Dante’s house, he was sitting out front on the porch steps. He saw me, opened the screen door and yelled, “Mom, Caleb’s here! I’m taking off!”

  Climbing into my car Dante asked, “What’s up? Aw, man, turn this shit off.” The “shit” he was referring to was The Pixies. Definitely not shit. He hooked up his music and put on Drake. Dante didn’t like any of the music he liked to call “white boy music.” He knew I liked all music as long as it was good, so I wouldn’t mind anything he put on.

  Answering his question, I said, “I don’t know what’s up. I don’t live down here anymore, remember? So, what do you have in mind for today?”

  “You remember those chicks we met playing basketball at the park on Monday? We could call them up and see if they want to hang out tonight.”

  “Sounds good. There was this chick at my new school I was planning to hook up with, but she was so clingy I had to ditch her ass last night.”

  “Cool, I’ll call them and see what’s up.” Dante pulled out his cell and whined, “Damn, I just got a text from my cuz. Forgot I promised him I’d come check out his crew tonight.”

  “Taye? That’s okay, we can just take the girls with us.”

  *****

  We had to park a few blocks away from the club and walk. We’d picked up Nina and Skylar, the girls we’d met on Monday, at Nina’s house and I was pumped to be out in the city on a Saturday night. These ladies were hot and I could tell they’d got all done up for us. The effort was much appreciated. It seemed as though we’d already paired off. Dante was walking up ahead with Nina while I walked with my arm around Skylar. The skirt Skylar wore was so short her ass was almost hanging out and I looked forward to pulling it up later tonight and sinking in.

  Finally we reached the club where Dante’s cousin was performing with his crew tonight. I hadn’t seen his cousin, Taye, for months, but he was pretty cool so I didn’t mind coming along. Besides, he’d been bragging the last couple times I’d seen him about how awesome his crew had become. I was curious to find out if he’d been telling the truth.

  We got our drink and dance on with the girls. Thankfully, they both had fake IDs, otherwise their asses would’ve been waiting in the car. After being there for an hour, the lights turned off and spotlights came on in the far corner of the club where there was a raised area of the floor. The crowd cheered and turned their attention that way, expecting to be entertained. Standing under the spotlights was a group of about eight people dressed in gray hoodies. With the hoods up, they also wore black basketball pants and white sneakers. Their heads were down as the music started. A remix of “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force filled the club at almost deafening levels. Three of them lifted their heads and started breaking. I had to admit it was pretty tight and I recognized Taye as one of the breakers. A Hispanic guy began popping while Taye played off his moves with ones of his own.

  After a few minutes, the music changed to Aaliyah’s “Try Again” and the six guys ripped off their hoodies while two girls ripped off both their hoodies and basketball pants. The guys were now wearing their basketball pants and white tank tops. The guys split up in groups of three and each group surrounded one of the girls. Each of the girls wore pink tank tops with skintight black shorts, a definite improvement.

  The guys took turns popping and breaking around the girls, pretending they were competing for the girls’ attention. Before one could finish dancing, another one was pushing him out of the way and standing in front of the girl he was trying to get the attention of. While all this is going on, the girls would rotate between standing there with one hand on their hip while ignoring the guys and popping back at the guy in front of them at the moment. A couple times, the girls would push a guy away then continue dancing. The guy who got pushed away from her would fall back into a dance move.

  I found this performance fascinating. Definitely the best I’d ever seen. The reason it interested me was easy, because one of those girls up there was my new stepsister.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better

  to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

  -Marilyn Monroe

  CALEB

  What in the hell? I probably looked like a fool, standing at the back of the club with my mouth hanging open. Dan
te nudged me and my head swung his way. He gave me a what-the-fuck look. I shook my head at him, not wanting to shout an explanation over the music.

  Gianna and her crew finished their performance, the DJ flowed into a new track and the crowd transitioned into dancing again. Other places I’d been to hired dancing or singing acts to mix up the club experience. It livened up the crowd when a surprise performance occurred since they always seemed spontaneous. It barely registered with me when Skylar and Nina took off to use the bathroom. I couldn’t see Gianna anymore and was scanning the crowd when Dante yelled over the music, “Hey, man, I’m gonna go talk to Taye!”

  “I’ll come with you!” I yelled back, figuring Gianna would be nearby.

  We worked our way through the masses and found Taye chatting up a petite brunette. When Dante was done greeting his cousin, I pounced on questioning him. “Hey, Taye, who’s the hot blonde in your crew?”

  His expression filled with disapproval. “Don’t even think about it, Caleb. I know you, man. We don’t put up with anyone fucking around with Gigi or Cece.” Huh, Cece must be the Hispanic chick that danced with them.

  “Gigi?” Now this would be good. “It’s not like that, Taye. It’s just I’m pretty sure I know her. Where’d she go?”

  Taye gave me a skeptical look and pointed over to the dance floor where Gianna was dancing with one of the Hispanic guys from the crew. “She’s over there with Jared.”