by M.L. Wiekel
"Put me down." I sternly suggested to Tony, who seemed to have read behind my empty threats and just smiles. No surprise there. Instead he hands me a red cup filled with some pink liquid.
At least it's not O'doul's
Tony finally swings me up in the air and gently places me on the top of the pool table located in the center of the room, like if I was some kind of precious crystal that could break at the hardest surface. He ran a hand over his dark auburn hair exposing his rusted coppery eyes, coated with a bit of shimmery gloss. Probably from all the pink drinks he's been drinking, I noted to myself.
He grabs my hand and places it over his chest, just as Morgan had done before him. I tried pulling it away, but he was too strong. I furrow my brows, willing him to let go with my James Bond- looks could kill- angry stare. Nothing.
A minute passes and no Morgan to save the day, but a whole lot of Tony emerges.
“Nicole, Baby. Have I ever told you....hiccup...how extremely gorgeous you look to night." He slurred.
"Shit, Tony, are you drunk?"
"Depends. Are you the kind of girl who would take advantage of drunk guys, like date rape him while he's past-out." He smiles. I realized that he might be buzzed but he sure as hell wasn't drunk.
"Nope, I'm more of a...steals your wallet, puts your hand inside a bowl of warm water and takes pictures of you slumped over the toilet bowl or flat on your ass-kind a girl."
"Damn, I thought the whole drunk bit would work. I'm running out of momentum here. You should really stop playing so damn hard to get, baby"
"Oh, Tony. It’s never gonna happen."
"Never?"
"Nope."
"Ever?"
"Sorry. Now, have you seen Mandy around?" I asked.
I knew that the mere mention of Mandy's name, was enough to sober Tony up. He's always had the hot’s for Mandy, ever since she broke his nose freshman year. How do I know this? Let just say, he knows a lot about her, way more than I do, and they hardly ever hangout. Ah-stocker-chew (that’s a was a sneeze by-the-way)
"Not since she smacked me on the balls for saying hello earlier. That girl has serious issues" He sourly answered.
"Wait! She's here already?" I edged myself off the pool table, read to jump off when Tony puts his enormous hands on my knees, pinning me in place.
"Seriously" he said. His face blank, but in a way serious, sort of. "When are you ditching Morgan and taking a ride on this carnival ride?"
"Sorry Tony. Morgan's my merry-go-round and I'm never jumping off."
He grabs his chest, and falls to his knees. “Baby, you’re killing me. Can't you see I’m so much better than a boring pony ride that circles around with mirrors and flowers and all the cute shit? I’m like the thunderbolt of eternal pleasure, if you know what I mean?"
“Hmm… let me get this right. Your basically a fast thrill ride that only last for about a minute?” I chuckled. And he falls further down until his back was pressed on to the floor.
"You just killed me babe, you bloody cold hearted killer." He coughs out a painful breath and closes his eyes, with a smile spreads across his face. Just then, Mandy my best friend walks into the room, holding up red cup of her own. She looks at me and then down at Tony. She rolls her eyes and kicks him in the pit of his stomach.
Tony cradles his abs like a new born baby, and cringes in pain.
“Is this guy bothering you?” Mandy stifles a laugh.
"Nope. He's dead. I killed him."
"Murderer!" Tony blurts out between breaths.
"Are you sure he's dead? I mean I could kick him again? Maybe somewhere a little lower... just to make sure, you know-Double tap."
I stood up, ignoring Tony’s pleas for help and wrap my arms around Mandy.
“Thank God you’re here.” I smiled looking down at Tony, who was now struggling to get up. “God. I was this close to getting on Tony's thunderbolt ride of endless pleasure.”
“Eternal-Eternal Pleasure" he corrects me, now standing tall, with his chest bulging forward. He brushes his hair back and takes one look at Mandy, then bursts out of the room as if he just discovered the effects chocolate laxatives had on his stomach.
“So, where’s Morgan.” Mandy asked.
“Somewhere, we actually just got here, like ten minutes ago, so he’s probably out looking for Jason and his friends, you know, bros before hoes and all.” We laugh.
"So did you hear, about Tiffany and that college guy she cheated on Jason with? Well they broke up last week?" Mandy squealed.
"Doesn't surprise me"
"Rumor has it - and by rumors, you know I mean -me hiding in the girl’s restroom smoking a cig, right? - Anyways. She told her now ex-boyfriend that she was dating a football player from our school. I wonder who's she's digging her claws into now. I mean the only descent looking ones in the team are Morgan, Tony, Jason, and Eric." She noted. But something told me she meant to say something else.
Chapter Four
Time seemed to just slip away after that. We talked about all the weird stuff that happened throughout the year, the weird rumors about what happens in the woods, how Mrs. Pierce seemed to be getting younger, and how we suspect it was due to Mr. Hogs, our English teacher. We made plans to talk every day and to meet up as much as we could during the summer.
Three months away from Crescent View Academy wasn’t like other schools, where everyone lived in the same vicinity as everyone else. Nope. Student attending Crescent View belonged to all parts of the world, so summer vacations for us meant going back to whatever state or country our parents lived in at the time. As for me, my dad lives about twenty miles away from the school in Perchance, Washington. And Mandy's mom lives in the center of Paris, France. Which is far better than Perchance.
Waking up to the Eiffel Tower, could it get any better than that? Mandy doesn’t think so, she refuses to see the tower and to learn French. She said, she wouldn’t learn Spanish, just because she went to a Mexican restaurant and she won’t learn French because she vacations there three months out of the year.
I hated that we weren't going to see each other, almost as much as I hated not being able to see Morgan. I missed her already, even though she standing right in front of me. As far as I was concern, there was no best friend that matched her in anyway at least not in Crescent View or the world. She's funny, smart and always has something to say-negative or not.
I mention how adorably cute she looks in her black circle skirt and pink glittery top, and she rolls her eyes and said "Bite me, Carrot top."
Sometimes I wonder if Mandy knew how beautiful she really was. She has short pixie blond hair, silvery gray eyes, and sun kissed tan, she reminds me of TinkerBell, except with an endless array of cuss words and uses her middle finger as a wand to ward off evil. I'm always tempted to walk behind her, sprinkling gold glitter around her while chanting “All you need is faith and trust and a little bit of pixie dust!”
We were so oblivious to everyone else in the room that we didn’t notice when Lily, one of Tiffany’s entourage aka evil twin, had walk into the room. It isn’t till she started clears her throat of a massive hair ball- or hair of balls -(she isn't called Lily knee pads, for nothing), that we noticed her standing in front of us, arms fold and snarl on her beach burnt face.
We roll ours eyes at her in unison and mimicked her stance.
“Lily, it’s so not nice to seeing you again” Mandy said, and Lily pretended to be oblivious of the fact that we really didn’t want here near us.
“Hi Mandy.” She said grinning. She turns to me and a much darker smile creeps up the edge of her hot pink lipstick, like the fog in scary movies, except this was so much more eerie. “And Nicole" she hisses my name, rolling out the -cole- soud as if it were bile pouring out of her lips. "I’m surprise you’re even here. Well, with the whole...you and Morgan breaking up, I thought you’d be back at the dorms, wondering where you went wrong. God you’re so pathetic, I actually feel sorry for you.”
“Actually, Morgan and I are still together.” I hissed. “So you can tell Tiffany to stop sniffing around for scraps.”
"Still together. Really." she mocked.
"Just suck it, Lily. Seriously, get laid. Better yet, get a life. And preferably one that doesn't mimic Tiffany's right down to the fake beauty mark on your face."
"Fake. Doesn't your hair come from a bottle?"
"All natural. My drapes do match the carpet. Can you say the same thing about yourself?" I asked in the most nonchalant way possible.
Lily stood there steaming. I was afraid her extensions where going to fall off.
I felt proud of myself for a split second. And then reality hit me.
Nobody went up against Tiffany or her minions. She was your typical Ice queen, hidden behind a southern bell smile. Beautiful beyond belief, long locks of shimmer blond hair -that never go up against her. Seriously, I saw her playing volleyball once and her wavy Megon Fox hair never moved and inch. She has these wintery blue eyes that threatened gulf ball hail. And body to kill for, with the ruthless attitude that came along with it.
And, call me a freaked-out but I think she's psychotic. Aside from the fact that every time I walk past her, I feel like there's an abyss of darkness that sucks the light out of everything pure.
She goes after whomever she wanted and sadly enough she always succeeded. And now it was obvious she we were the target.
I swallowed back the lump that had been forming in the back of my throat, all me spunk began to drain.
“Lily, Darling, where have you been all my life.” Tony sashayed, crossing the room from the entrance door to stand in between Lily and me.
“Not now, Tony.” Lily scowled.
Tony, turns to me and with a grinning smug on his face and said. “Girls, have some self-respect. I know I’m the catch of the week, but don’t fight. There’s plenty of me to go around.’
I smile and he winks.
I drag Mandy towards the door, (by the way, not as easy as I thought). I wondered what Lily meant about Morgan and me. Probably just something stupid, or maybe it’s just a rumor, wasn’t the first time I had to deal with stuff like this. But something told me this rumor, was something Tiffany had started.
Brushing it off, took a quick glance behind me.
I noticed Lily, desperately trying to stick her hear out from underneath Tony’s. “Check inside the second bedroom upstairs...the one on the left. If you’re not broken up then..." And she pauses for that dramatic effect, "you sure as hell will be after what you find in there."
I heard Tony asking Lily what was going on in his mom’s bedroom but Mandy was out the door and I was trailing behind her.
Mandy went ahead of me and stops in front of the door, just as I felt my heart stop beating. She presses a tender cheek against the hallow sheet of compressed wood. Her eyes flare up with comprehension.
Somehow I managed to pull through the fear that pinned me in place and walked up next to her.
She places a hand on the doorknob.
She stares at me, her parted lips now fully opened, exposing to me the truth about what she heard behind that door. Now anger, sympathy, and fear dispensed around her. She nods once and I knew what she was asking.
I swallow hard, tempted to run away, to pretend none of this was real, that Mandy and me were still laughing it up downstairs.
Unable to stop myself, I nod back at her.
The door swings open. On top of a kingside bed was Morgan wearing nothing but the silky black sheets from the bed that matched the entire room and laid underneath him with a smug smile, and I noticed not a single fucken hair on her head was out of place.
****
Everything around me had turned into this thick suffocating fog of shapes, faces, and screeching voices. I didn’t know what I was doing, where I was going. Off in the distance I could hear a familiar voice calling out my name and it tore into my heart like cotton candy inside a blender.
Nothing seemed real, not the thick humid air that swirled around me, sticking on to my skin like a wet blanket on the first day of winter.
I felt my father’s hands trembling around me, pleading for me to tell him what was wrong.
That’s when I finally snapped out of the haze.
And I realized, I had walked over twenty miles and ended up into the comfort of my father’s arms.
****
Chapter Five
Today is going be good day. I thought to myself, climbing inside my dad's Rover. I sat inside, my cheeks laid softly against the window. I could feel the start of fall coating the glass, and I'm thinking things are getting better.
My dad puts a loving hand on my shoulder. I turn and stared into his emerald green eyes that mirrored mine right down to the gold sparks surrounding his pupil. He seems worried. All his bright, tender, and lively features are slightly dimmer than what they used to be. Guilt washes over me.
“I’ll be find dad. I promise.” I said fighting back the tears threatening to pour out. "I'm over it."
"Are you sure, classes don't start for another week."
"I know, but I'm a junior now, so I have to move all my stuff to the junior dorms before classes start. Not to mention, I have to figure out the fast route to get to get to my classes. I have Mr. Hogs for English two and he hates it when people are late. I'm talking about in front of the class scowling."
"And, you’ll probably need to find the safest way you can route to avoid running into Morgan."
"Ouch dad.”
“Too soon."
“Ya’think”
“I’ll kill that some-of-bitch if he hurts you again." My dad said and I believe him.
“Dad, I promise.” I smile weakly. "We're finish. There's no way I would ever talk to him again, and he won’t come near me as long as I’m with Mandy. Besides... He belongs to Tiffany now, and I think I'm okay with that. Seriously. I am."
I wondered whether I just told him that for his benefit or mine.
“I know, sweetie. But, seeing him again will hurt. Just remember a mistake like that can be forgiven, but never forgotten. And by now he's probably already realized just how big of a mistake he made. And he’s stupid if he doesn’t try to win you back… I know you two have been friends for a very long time before you two started dating and you might want to jump back into the friends wagon, but don’t. Trust me. It never works out."
"God. Dad. When did you turn into this lump of teenage wisdom?"
He looks at me innocently. "What? I've always been this way. I know how to keep it real."
"Dad. Please. Stop." I laugh for the first time in three months.
On the top of my list of things to do once I get back was to reconnect with Mandy, we’ve been friends for six years, and I knew things were going to be okay, Even though I haven’t spoken to here since that night. I know that’s not being a good friend but I’ve been wrapped up in self-pity and now was the times to get over it.
Of obvious reasons I had given my phone to my dad, and told him never to give it back unless he was sure I wasn’t going to call Morgan in the middle of the night just to hang up.
Putting on my most convincing face I turned to my dad who seemed to be reading something off the bulletin board next to the front gate of Crescent View Academy.
"Dad."
"Yes, sweetie."
"Can I have my iPhone back?"
He parks in front of the curved driveway on the loading and unloading section and just stares at me for what seemed to be forever. He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out my iPhone.
"I had a feeling you were going to ask for it." He said, handing me the purple case, and I noticed that he peeled off the sicker of Morgan and me. Thank God for the little t
hings. "I even charged it and don't worry, I didn't even take a peek. But if you want me to delete something's beforehand, all you have to do is ask."
"It's fine." I lean over to the driver’s seat and wrap my arms around him, never wanting to let go. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too..."
Never Ends
"You can do this, Nicole." I repeated to myself as I watched my dad's black Rover disappear around the narrow path surrounded by woods.
It hadn't been but three months since Tony's party.
I can still remember the look on Morgan's face, the desperation in his eyes when he saw me standing fifteen feet away from him. Every time I remember his face, I'm also hunted by the smug grin on Tiffany's lips…
I close my eyes and try desperately push that night out of my head. “Forget about then, Nicole.” I scowled myself.
God-d. I hate her. She puts the B in bitch and the S in slut and the E in evil.
I thought the wounds in my heart had begun to heal, but being here, at Crescent View Academy, where Morgan and I had spent most of our time as friends and later on as a couple, seemed to have scratched the surface of an open wound.
Brushing away the goose bumps that covered my arms like a pair of lacy gloves, I picked up my perky pink suitcase, decorated with sowed on patches of every heart, skull, or catch phrases I could find, and headed towards the junior dorm walkway. I knew I had to go clear out all my stuff from my old room, but I was too much of a scaredy-cat to do it. I knew pictures of Morgan and me, covered nearly every inch of the walls room.
Determined not to spend my week wallowing over the good times I had with Morgan. I decided to let it go for now.
I'll work up to it later. I thought to myself. Maybe the new occupant would do me a favor and tossed all my stuff out in the dumpster out back.
I walked up the stairs leading and stood in front of the arched entrance doors, pulled out a piece of paper with my assigned room number. I knew the room number beforehand, I had been looking at this piece of paper -off and on- during the summer. Somehow, my mind had this crazy idea that if I checked every so often it would magically change into something that didn't end with the number twelve.
A slight disappointed grin spread across my face. “Oh, great.” I uttered. "I guess I'm stuck with two-twelve."