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“I know.” I said finally looking him in the
eye. “I thought you rented,” my voice said dryly, I cleared my
throat “…an apartment?” He let the corner of his mouth flash a
glimmer of felicity, and then it was gone. He turned around and
left. I hadn’t planned on saying anything but my mouth has a mind
of its own obviously.

Nic suggested I break
up with Cale immediately. No duh, I thought. When I looked up
Cale was in the doorway peering at me and nodded his head
toward the hallway. “Maybe he'll do it for me.” I said to Nic as I
slid off my bar stool. 

He was leaning up against
the wall sliding his hand through his hair, I thought I would feel
frightened around him, and although I was very nervous I wasn't
scared. If he was going to hurt me he would have done it by now.
His shirt had two buttons opened, it looked good on him. Of course,
the first thing I asked him “Where did you get the
scratch?” pointing to the open part of his shirt and pulling it
sideways a bit.

He knocked my hand aside and
said ”Who knows, I was skiing.” He said a little
defensively, but then softened his tone right away
“Sorry I didn't call, not much time for phone calls,
besides it’s not your thing right? I'll call you tonight maybe
we'll catch a movie”. He kissed me on the cheek and left
and I let him. I watched him walk away
and I didn't say a word to him, like 'Right skiing, I saw
you this weekend, or don't bother calling, I’m busy or even
'Hey, I don't want to date any more I'm breaking up with you.'
All good choices but not a one of them passed my lips. I hate good
after thoughts.

I went back to my desk and
put my head down. Nic asked me “Did you break up with
him?”

“No” I said grumbling into
my sleeve. Nic and I started an accelerated chat about Cale, and
she offered to let Cale down gently for me and we talked about how
and when I would do it. We went over my past dating history with
Cale. And the real reasons I am calling it off were: What is he up
to? How and why did I fall asleep on that one date? Why did I have
marks on my arm after? Why don't I remember anything from that
date? And why was he at that house sick when he was supposed to be
off skiing?

When I got home from school I found a note
from my mom. “Cale said sorry but he can't go out tonight he had to
go out of town last minute. He'll see you in a couple of days.”

Thank goodness! I went and fell face forward
on my bed and didn't wake ‘til morning.

That Monday at school I
couldn’t wait to see him, I couldn’t wait to catch a glimpse of his
smile and see if he still looked as good to me today as he had
before, I was focusing all my positive energy on
Jett. I didn't know how to find him during the day or
how I would see him, but I was going to
try. We just started our second quarter of school and
Nic and I stayed in Art Class but this time it was
called Design. Cale had moved on which was nice so I didn't
have to see him in any of my classes.

This morning we both talked
about Cale and Jett in the lowest of whispers. I not only
wanted to catch a glimpse of Jett, but I was supposed to break up
with Cale today. Even so, I kept daydreaming about Jett all day but
never did find him, I was disappointed.

Nic and I got to
wrestling practice and did our normal routine.
We cleaned
the mats,
put everything away and sat up against
the wall as we usually did. All the usual wrestlers started coming
out of the locker room and were warming up when Storm came over and
chatted with us.

“Storm, how come you didn’t
tell me you had two other brothers just as good looking as you?” I
said playfully. He looked at us with his gorgeous green eyes and
said “I was hoping to keep you two for myself.”

“Good answer.”
I replied in a higher octave.

“How nice of you to say,”
Nic agreed.

“Which one of you likes
who?” Storm replied nonchalantly. He looked at me and asked “You
like Jett? Of course you do, everyone likes Jett.”
Storm snarked.

I was quick to answer “I
don’t like either of them I was just making an observation. Don’t
get in a huff.”

“Besides” Nic chimed in “You're dating Shelby, you
shouldn't care.” And on that note he stood up out of his squat
laughing to himself and walked away.

“Why in creation is that so
funny, I'm good girlfriend material.” I said while making an iffy
face at Nic, holding my hand out, tilting it side to
side.

She smiled, “Oh I bet you are,” with a little
sarcasm.

I let out a long sigh
“I don't.... I haven't told Cale yet, he just got back from
his trip today and I didn't see him, for your
information.”

Nic gave me a look “I know -
- whatever…” she retorted and walked away.

I knew I had to break up
with Cale tomorrow; it was the right thing to do. Cale, Cale, Cale,
thinking about him and trying to break up with him was exhausting.
I'm sure he knows it’s over himself. I thought I should do it right
after Algebra, because that class was on the same floor as his
locker. Nic and I plotted, she offered her help.

To my surprise, when I
walked out of Art class Cale was waiting for me; we didn’t speak at
first. I started walking, he grabbed my hand which threw me off
guard. I told him I needed something from my locker so we passed my
history class, and kept walking.

“I need to talk to you about
something.” I started off a little shaky. He let go of my hand and
slid it up my back to my shoulder and said “Oh yeah,” in a low soft
voice. I was hoping I had the courage to continue as I choked back
the lump in my throat, looking at the floor for wisdom. But
standing right in front of my locker stood Jett and some of his
friends, my heart plummeted. I just stood there, rooted, looking at
Jett and his friends, Jett was leaning on my locker, I wasn't
moving or talking.

Cale broke the ice “Uh,
excuse us, we need to get in there.” I thought I heard a growl. I
looked around at Jett and his friends not sure who made the noise,
not sure if anyone else heard it besides me. They all moved. Cale
put his hand under my elbow I turned around so my back was to my
locker. Cale slid his hand to mine.

“Can we talk later?” He
asked. I cleared my throat and sent back a shaky “Uh, yeah” and
nodded. Thank goodness, because I couldn't get any other words to
escape from my lips. He leaned in and kissed me on the mouth,
pressed generously until our lips parted. I let my eyes fall
closed, it felt cold and manipulative and I felt watched. When we
were done I couldn’t look at Cale so I looked over and noticed Jett
was looking right at me, leaning against the wall opposite me with
one leg bent and his hands in his pockets. As I caught his gaze he
did a half nod of acknowledgment to me, and turned into the
classroom he was standing next to.

I finally got to my class
and sat down. My face was flushed, my hands were clammy and my
heart still rushing at a fast pace. I could hear it pitter-patter,
pitter-patter. I was a little too preoccupied to pay attention to
the lecture. I had to figure out when my next chance would be to
talk to Cale, because he now knew something was up, he kissed me,
what was that all about. Algebra, I remembered was on the same
floor as his locker. It’ll have to be after algebra…

I thought Storm wasn't
talking to me again, but he leaned over in his chair and whispered
“I thought you weren’t interested in Jett.”

“I’m not interested in him!
I’m trying to break up with Cale! What's it to you anyway?” I
stammered. I was trying to figure out how he might know I was
interested in Jett, interested is a strong word though, I was
definitely crushing on him. I only told Nic and I was sure she
wouldn't tell anyone else.

“Well, if you’re not
interested in him then I'll let him know.”

“Let him know? Why would you
need to let him know? Better yet, why don't you keep your nose in
your own business, if Jett has any questions for me you can send
him on over to me.” That shut him up. He seemed to swallow that
explanation hook, line and sinker. Although,
now
he wasn't speaking to me, I
could tell by the way he was sitting. I had one thought, Declan. I
had asked him about Jett and Declan was good for gossip that's for
sure.

After Algebra, I rounded the
corner to Cale's locker and there was Nic talking to
Cale. I stopped cold in my tracks, oh crap, was she breaking up
with him for me? I quickly turned around started walking back the
way I came, as fast as I could and 'BAM'. I walked right into Jett.
“Crap” I said quickly then stammered out a “Sorry.”

He smiled at me and said “In
a hurry?” and everything stopped as we looked at each other. It
felt like an eternity, but undoubtedly was only a few seconds. I
was dazed by his gorgeous smile, dimples, not dots but that second
crease running along his smile line; perfectly straight teeth and
that twinkle in his eye. How embarrassing, my face flushed, I said
a quick “Yes, excuse me.”

I ran for the
stairs
and tripped going up them
, dropping all my books.
Someone helped me pick them up but I couldn't even look them in the
eye. I said a quick “thanks” and kept going. I was mortified – I
didn't break up with Cale, Nic did it (I think), I literally ran
into Jett and then I tripped going up the stairs. Who does that? I
hope Jett didn't see me in all my glory.

I got to the top of the
stairs. My shin was killing me and I gave it a little rub, I could
already feel the knot. I was almost running to Home Ec, Nic and I
had decided to take Home Ec right before lunch so we could eat all
the stuff we made. I got there and of course she wasn't. I sat down
and just started fidgeting and checking the door every few seconds.
I don’t remember confirming the need for her help to break up with
Cale for me, but why else would she be talking to him. Did I tell
her it was okay to help me? Did I tell her to break up for me? Oh
my gosh, I wonder if he's mad
because she did my dirty work
for me?
Calm down a little. If she did break up
with him for me, on the bright side, the task is done. I'm sure
it's done and because for some reason I know she did it. Now I just
have to worry about him being mad at me because I didn't do it
myself. Worst case scenario, if she didn't tell him, I can do it
right before lunch if I can find him.

She walked in the classroom
and stopped at the first table to chat. I quickly went over there
and gave her big eyes, nodding toward our seats trying to tell her
she has more important things to talk to me about. She smiled and I
walked back to our table and started pacing.

“So what were you talking to
Cale about?”

“He called me over and asked
me what was up with you so I told him you wanted to break up…. I
figured why lie.”

“That's what I like about
you, you're so direct. What else?” I was talking
quickly.

“He said he understood but
his jaw got tight and he seemed real tense. And then he told me to
tell you no hard feelings.”

“I find that hard to believe
for some reason. I tried breaking up with him this morning but we
ran into Jett at my locker and I froze.” So I told her the whole
sordid affair, even the part where
'I
ran
' into Jett after Algebra. She
started to laugh, so I pulled up my jeans and showed her the huge
mark on my shin; it was shiny and red in the middle and already
beginning to bruise. Plus, it broke open the first couple layers of
skin but wasn't bleeding. We both said “Ooooo,” at the sight of it.
Our Home Ec teacher, who was lecturing, came over took a look at my
leg because she heard us “ooooo” and kept talking, turned around,
got a bag, filled it with ice and handed it to me never stopping
her lecture. It did help.

Cale didn't show up for
school that Friday and he didn't call me either. I felt bad, maybe
I should have still talked to him myself. Nic said that doing it
over the phone was lame but I bet having your friend do it for you
was even worse. Now I wished I hadn't chickened out – or I wish
that Nic wasn't there after Algebra, maybe I would have still gone
up to him. In any case, it's done.

My parents dropped us off at
the football game, it was fun. No messages or any drama, just fun.
After, at the bonfire, Storm offered to give Nic and me a ride
home. All we had to do was wait for his brothers.

Kyle and Jett came out of
the locker room, hair wet and bags in hand. They didn't look too
happy when they saw us standing with Storm, and when he told them
we needed a ride home, they were definitely pissed off. Jett was
extra grouchy because he fumbled the ball once, plus they lost.
Yep, Jett's on the football team which I hadn't noticed before. He
still looked hot, bad mood or not. Storm, Nic and I sat in back and
we acted like the other two weren't even there, chatting about this
and that. I told Kyle he could turn around at the bottom of my
driveway. So he pulled all the way to the bottom. It was large
enough to park a few cars.

My parents and some friends
were on the porch having a few drinks. I got out and yelled “Hi
mom,” our porch was one story up; my mom replied back over the
railing "Tell those boys to get up here and eat this food so I
don't have to put it away."