“I kinda was. I couldn’t get myself out of bed.”
“Late night with Alex?” he laughed and I glared at him.
“I was hanging out with you yesterday, remember? I didn’t see Alex.”
“That’s right! You went out with Alex this weekend,” Mandy said, her attention immediately leaving the Skittles and focusing on me. “I want details.”
“Give it a rest, Mandy,” Laura cut in. “You need to get your own life and stop living vicariously through Riley.”
“Whatever, Laura,” Mandy snipped and then looked over to me again. “How’d it go?”
“Fine.”
“So, are you two like, a thing or something?” she asked excitedly.
“No. We’re just hanging out,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“You’re not gonna tell ‘em?” Jesse asked, looking over to me.
“Tell us what?” Holly asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“C’mon, Riley, don’t keep secrets from your friends,” Jesse teased and I knew he was just trying to get me to spill the beans.
“What secrets?” Mandy was leaning closer to me now and I knew she was about ready to jump out of her skin.
I continued to stare at Jesse, who was smiling back stupidly, and then I looked over to the girls.
“He asked me to homecoming.”
“Who? Jesse?” Mandy asked, looking between us.
“No!” I exclaimed.
“Don’t make it sound so terrible,” he laughed.
“It would be terrible,” I said, staring at him and then looking over to Mandy again. “Alex asked me.”
“Oh my gosh! Really?” she squealed, but I could tell by the look on Holly and Laura’s faces that they were not nearly as impressed as Mandy.
“We were hanging out at his place on Saturday night and he asked me.”
“Is his house as amazing on the inside as it looks on the outside?” Mandy asked.
“It was pretty nice.”
“When are you going to get your dress?” Mandy asked.
I couldn’t help but notice this was turning into a one-sided conversation between Mandy and me. The others were just watching and didn’t seem the least bit interested.
“I’m not sure. My mom said I’d probably need to go to Wichita to find any decent dresses though, so I’ll make a trip up there soon,” I said and then looked at Laura and Holly. “Are you guys going to the dance?”
They looked at each other and then shrugged before Holly answered.
“We were thinking about going as a group.”
“You should! We could all go together,” I said, hoping they would go. “We can go dress shopping together.”
“We’ll see,” Laura said, taking a bite of her salad.
“C’mon. You guys have to go,” I pleaded and then looked over at Jesse who seemed to be enjoying our conversation by the sly smile plastered on his face. “What about you and Brandon? Have you given it anymore thought?”
“I still don’t know,” he said, popping a chip in his mouth.
“Well, think about it. It would really suck if you guys didn’t come.”
“I think you’ll be fine. Your Casanova can keep you company,” Jesse said and I nudged him.
All this talk was making me wonder where Alex was. I hadn’t seen him all day. I looked over to his table, hoping he’d be there, but he wasn’t and disappointment settled in my stomach.
I finished my salad as I listened to Mandy ramble on and on about her weekend. When I was done, I got up and threw my empty plate and Coke can into the garbage. I was heading back to my table when I looked up and saw Alex walking towards me.
“Riley, hey.” Alex’s voice sounded as if he’d just got done running a mile.
“I’ve been looking for you. Where have you been?”
“I got held up in my chemistry class. My experiment kinda went haywire so I had to clean everything up.” He reached down and took my hand. “I looked for you this morning.”
“Yeah, I kinda slept in.”
“Busy day yesterday?” he said as we walked back towards the lunch tables.
“Nah, not really. Jesse and I were just working on a project for Constitution.”
“So, you spent the day with another man?” he laughed, but I saw his eyes drifting over towards our lunch table, where Jesse looked to be listening completely unenthusiastically as Mandy rambled.
“I didn’t know we were exclusive,” I said.
“Would you want to be?” he asked with a cocky grin.
“I don’t know. I’m keeping my options open. I’m not sure I’m a one man woman. I’m playing the field,” I said lightheartedly, trying to play it cool. “We’ll see how it goes.”
He laughed and looked over at me. “Well, let me know what you decide, but as I see it, your options aren’t going to get much better than this,” he said, pointing to himself.
“I’ll try to remember that.”
“You’d better, but right now I’ve gotta grab something to eat. Lunch is almost over.
He bought a slice of pizza and then we started back towards the tables.
Alex hesitated for a second and then looked at me. His eyebrow was raised like he had an idea.
“How ‘bout we eat with my friends today?”
“Your friends?” I asked hesitantly and my eyes immediately focused on the “it” table. The table I’d avoided since day one. The table where Adrienne sat.
“Yeah. Why not?”
“I don’t know,” I said nervously. I was happy, well as happy as I could be, in the little world I’d created here and I didn’t really want to extend it any further, especially if Adrienne was involved. As I had decided earlier, I wasn’t going to let her get to me, but I also wasn’t going to openly invite her insults by socializing with her.
“C’mon. They’ve been asking about you. You’ve gotta meet them eventually.”
“You can’t blame me for being nervous.”
“You mean Adrienne?” he asked, gesturing towards the table where she was flipping her hair.
“Well, yeah.”
“I said don’t worry about her. She’s really not as important as she thinks she is. And, to be honest, she’s not too bad once you get to know her.”
“I told you, I’m not worried about her. And just so you know, I don’t want to know her.”
“I know you don’t and that’s fine. But don’t stress. Now, let’s go.
I relented and followed as he started walking towards the table. We passed by my friends and I stared at them with wide eyes. Mandy’s face was priceless when she realized where I was headed. Her eyes were practically popping out of her head and her mouth was hanging to the floor. I shrugged my shoulders at them in a What the hell am I doing? kind of way and kept walking until we were standing just a few feet from Alex’s lunch table. His friends eyes all seemed to drift up to me and I felt ridiculous standing there looking down at them with what I was certain was a clownish grin on my face. Adrienne was sitting at the far end, but I could see her glare as clearly as if she were right in front of me. I ignored her and quickly looked around the table. I’d seen everyone who was sitting there and I’d obviously heard about them from Mandy, but it still didn’t prepare me for standing in front of them. Of course, they were all attractive, but it still surprised me there could actually be enough attractive people in this podunk town to actually create an “it” crowd. They looked at me strangely, but then I felt Alex’s hand on my back and I felt a little better.
“Hey, scoot over,” he said, nudging the shoulder of a dark-haired guy and then sat down. He patted the seat next to him and I sat down.
“So, you’re the chick from Boston?” the dark-haired boy asked and I couldn’t help but take notice of his arrogance.
“Yeah, I do have a name though,” I chided back.
“This is Riley,” Alex broke in. I looked around and smiled at them and then he went around and began introducing all of them.
“This is Kurt, Charlie, Lucas, and Brent, and you know the girls,” he said, motioning to Adrienne, Dana, and Kristen, who were pretending I wasn’t at the table, until suddenly Adrienne snapped her head in our direction.
“The loser table’s down there,” she snipped and pointed over to my friends. Kristen and Dana laughed and I was about to respond to her when I felt Alex grab my knee.
“Knock it off, Adrienne,” Alex said sternly.
“I was just trying to help her find her way. She looks a little lost up here.”
“I said stop,” he repeated.
“Yeah, lay off,” Charlie said to her. Adrienne just huffed and stood up. She gathered her things and walked away, quickly followed by her zombies.
I looked over and stared at Alex to show my distain for him having brought me up to this place, but he smiled at me and I couldn’t stay mad.
“So, you bringing Riley to Kurt’s on Friday?” Lucas asked, popping a Cheeto into this mouth.
“What’s going on at Kurt’s?”
“A party. My parents are going to be in Kansas City,” Kurt answered.
“Whaddya say?” Alex asked, looking over to me. If I was being honest I would’ve said hell no. I really didn’t want to hang out with Alex’s friends, but I couldn’t exactly tell Alex that so I lied.
“Sure,” I said, shrugging my shoulders like I didn’t care, when I actually did care. None of his friends, besides Adrienne and her crew of course, had really done anything to me, but I was still skeptical because if they associated with Adrienne, they must have some things in common with her.
I noticed Alex’s friends were starting to pack up their things and Alex was finishing the last of his pizza. I glanced at my watch and saw our lunch period was almost over and I needed to go to my locker before my next class.
“I’m gonna head off. I’ll see you in sixth period,” I said standing up.
“Okay. See ya in a bit.” He smiled at me and I felt that all too familiar fluttering in my stomach and I instantly forgot that I was annoyed with him about the party. What was with me? What was it about this guy that made me melt whenever he looked at me? I’d had boyfriends since I was fourteen. I’d even dated Broady Castins back home in Boston for nearly a year, but I swear he’d never made me feel the way Alex did. When I looked at him, nothing else seemed to matter. Not the fact that I was stuck in this hellhole town. Not the fact that Adrienne was determined to make my life miserable. Not even the fact that he was dragging me to a party with a bunch of people I didn’t know and most likely didn’t want to know. All that mattered was that he liked me.
Chapter Thirteen
“So, have you decided on a paint color yet?” Jesse asked me as we were walking together after last period. Alex had been called away half way through class and he hadn’t come back.
“I’ve been debating back and forth between a dusty purple, like my room back in Boston, or bright pink for a new beginning.”
“Wow, you’re taking it subtle then,” he laughed.
“Yeah, I’m kind of an understated person if you hadn’t caught on.” He just rolled his eyes at my sarcasm as we continued down the hall.
“Do you wanna go look at paint samples?” he asked.
“Right now?”
“Yeah. I don’t have anything going on after school.”
“Um…” I stammered before he cut in.
“Gotta check with the man?” he asked, stopping in his tracks and looking at me.
“No,” I said defensively.
“Then what do you say?”
“I say yeah, let’s go. I just gotta put my books away.”
“Alright. I’ll meet you by the trophy case in a few.”
Jesse and I parted ways and I walked to my locker. I put away my books and headed back towards the front of the school where I knew Jesse would be waiting. As I walked, I looked around for Alex. I hated to leave without saying goodbye, but I also didn’t want to hang around like a desperate loser in case he’d gone home or in case it didn’t matter to him if we said goodbye. I glanced around once more though as I passed the front office and when I didn’t see him, I continued to the trophy case where Jesse was already waiting.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, searching as discreetly as I could for Alex again, but obviously not discreetly enough.
“The boyfriend’s still MIA?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said quickly, bringing my eyes to meet his.
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Nothing’s official. Now c’mon, let’s go,” I said, tugging on his arm and leading him out into the crowded parking lot where everyone was rushing to their cars, anxious to get home.
“So, where’re we headed?” I asked him once we were standing beside my Jetta.
“Just follow me,” he told me and then he walked over to his old brown Jeep Wagoneer. It roared to life and sounded more like a tank as he pulled out in front of me.
Like everything else in the town, the paint store was spitting distance from anywhere. It was tucked between a flower shop and an appliance store on the main street of Carver that seemed like it was barely surviving. There was hardly anything left in the old brick storefronts. Across the street was a package store and a jewelry store was kitty-corner to that. There seemed to be some other stores down the road, but I couldn’t tell what they were. Other than that, there was nothing.
“It’s like a ghost town around here. Very Children of the Corn,” I laughed after I met him in front of the paint store.
“Here we go again. I get it. Carver sucks.” He sounded frustrated and I knew once again my anti-Carver sentiment was annoying him. “I don’t get you sometimes. You’re very vocal in your hatred for Carver, when as far as I can tell, most people here have been nothing but nice to you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “You’re absolutely right. I need to keep my mouth shut.” He looked over at me and when he smiled, I knew he’d forgiven me.
He opened the door and we walked inside the paint store. There was an old man in overalls and a cowboy hat chatting with the worker behind the counter. They both stopped talking when the door closed behind us.
“Afternoon,” the man behind the counter said to us in one of the stronger drawls I’d heard since arriving in Kansas.
“Hey,” Jesse said, nodding towards the men.
“Canna help y’all find somethin’?”
I felt myself smile as his words ran together so they slid out of his mouth in one easy motion.
“We’re just looking, thanks,” Jesse answered.
“Alright,” the man nodded. “Lemme know if ya’ll need anything.”
Jesse nodded back and I followed him over to the large display of paint samples. My eyes went directly to the pinks and purples and I started pulling out color strips.
“What do you think of this one?” I asked, holding up a fuscia swatch for him to look at.
“Hold on, let me put my sunglasses on.”
“Too much?”
“Yeah, too much,” he said, grabbing it from me and putting it back in the display.
“How ‘bout this one?” I asked, pointing to a soft pink.
“I thought we were painting your room, not a nursery, unless there’s something you’re not telling me,” he said, gesturing to my stomach.
“Oh my gosh, Jesse!” I said, punching him in the arm and he started laughing.
Then I looked down at the swatch and realized he was right. It was a great color for a four-year who still dreamed of growing up to be a princess, but not so great for a seventeen-year-old who’d unfortunately discovered princesses only existed in fairy tales and life in general pretty much sucked.
I put the sample back and kept browsing through the rainbow of colors, which were all starting to blur together so they looked like a crazy Andy Warhol painting.
“So are you leaning more towards the pink or the purple?” he asked as his finger ran down the samples.
It was quiet for a minute as we kept looking and then Jesse turned to me and held out a sample.
“I don’t think this is exactly what you had in mind, but how ‘bout this one?”
I looked down at the swatch and smiled. It was definitely not what I had been thinking of, but I liked it. It wasn’t really a color I had ever seen. It was the perfect mixture of blue and purple and it was called ultramarine, a name which seemed to fit because I immediately thought of an all-inclusive vacation to the Bahamas when I saw it.
“I like it,” I said, smiling up at him. “I’m surprised you chose it though. It seems a little bold for you.”
“I’m not as boring as you think.”
“It’s just a little bright,” I said and then raised my eyebrow to him. “You’re not going to end up as my gay best friend with amazing fashion sense are you?”
His eyes got huge and he stepped back and started laughing.
“You found me out,” he said, grabbing the sample back from me.
“Hey! I like it,” I said stealing the swatch back from him.
“You’ve decided then?”
“Yes, I’ve decided. I’m going to have an ultramarine room.”
Jesse reached over and took the sample back and headed up to the counter.
****
Jesse followed me back to my house, his rumbling Wagoneer pulling to a stop behind my Jetta, which was nearly stealth-like next to his tank. I grabbed the bag of paint supplies I’d purchased and walked up the steps to the front door. Jesse was right behind me and I could see his muscles flexing under the weight of the paint cans he was holding. I knew they weren’t easy to carry, even for someone as strong as Jesse, so I quickly held the screen door open for him and we walked inside. It was just past three o’clock, so I knew my grandma would be watching Days of Our Lives. Sure enough, she was settled into the old recliner with the volume on the TV a little louder than was necessary, for me anyway, but not my grandma, being nearly 70 and all.
“Hello, Riley,” she said, welcoming us with her usual warm smile. I noticed her hair was a little curlier than it had been this morning.
“Hi Grandma,” I said, leaning in and hugging her. “Your hair looks nice.” I patted it lightly and she smiled.
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