Norma Jean (6 page)

Yeah, keep telling yourself that honey.

I hear my mom come out of her room and wa
lk into the kitchen so I decide to go bug her. My favorite pastime. When you don’t have any friends it’s easy to be stuck to your awesome mothers butt. “Good morning.” I say to her when I get to the end of the hall.

Her brown hair is pulled up on top of her head in a very messy bun and there are bags under her eyes. I hate that she has to work graveyard but she refuses to go to days. The woman is stubborn. “Good afternoon, baby. Have a good day at school?”

I stop by the end of the couch and cross my feet. “Sure. I got Chance Duncan to wear one of his mom’s dresses, then he made out with me in the school parking lot. It was epic.”

Nothing fazes my mom. “That’s cool honey. Are y’all dating now?” she asks as she pours hot water into her mug for her tea. So English.

“I guess. He wants to take me out on Friday night. His mom is off, so I don’t have to watch Macy.” I flop down on the couch as she heads to her laptop on her computer desk.

“What are y’all going to be doing?” I hear her place the mug down and lift open the device. Her nails clink against the keys as she types in her password.

“Dinner. A movie. The same thing everyone my age does. Though I think we are going to be more of a show than the movie.” I place my hands over my stomach and interlock my fingers.

“Why is that?” she questions, while typing away at the keys. She might be addicted to Facebook but she is the master of multitasking. It’s the only reason she hasn’t had an intervention.

“Everyone stared at us all day long. I have never been more gawked at in my life. And I’m the girl who fell off the stage in the 2
nd
grade play.” I laugh out loud remembering that. We did some dumb musical our music teacher thought was cool. I can’t dance to save my life so of course I wasn’t watching what I was doing and fell right off the stage. I think I might still be living that one down till I die.

“Why would they gawk at you, baby?” like she doesn’t know. The woman is dumb sometimes.

“I don’t know. Because the preppy jock type made out with the gothic rocker chick freak in the parking lot.” I roll my eyes. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. This is common knowledge.

“Well everyone at your school are sheep. They were the same when I went there. I was the pretty preppy socialite cheerleader and your father was the grungy rocker stoner. We were a strange couple now that I think about it, but that was the 90s.” I can picture her shrugging her shoulders at tha
t. “The only thing that matters is if you like him. Which I know that you do. You’ve been crushing on that boy since you were in diapers. Not that I blame you, he’s pretty hot.”

“Mom! Gross.” I feel my face cringe up in disgust. Cougar. “Yeah I like him. He makes me crazy though.”

“How so?” she asks still typing away on her computer.

“He makes me want to put on a tight shirt, short skirt, and sexy heels. He makes me want to do my hair and makeup. He even makes me want to bat my eyelashes and give him a coy smile. It’s insane.” And he does. I sat there staring at my hair last night and ripped out my extensions. I’m becoming more normal the longer I spend time with him.

“Wow that is crazy.” I hear her rise from her seat and then her face appears above mine. “Honey, you don’t have to change who you are for a man. I sure as hell didn’t. I might be single but I’m not unhappy being someone I’m not.” She winks and sits back down.

“I don’t really know who I am anyway. I just…am.” I say softly. And it
’s true. I just exist. I don’t do anything. Literally. I pretty much sit at home, read, and go to school. And watch Macy on the weekends.

“You might not, but I do.” I sit up to look at her. She looks at the computer the whole time she tells me, “You’re the most independent person I know. You’ve hardly ever asked for my help with anything. You’ve always wanted to do everything on your own. You’re feisty. There may have been a time when you let people walk over you, but now you don’t take crap from anyone. I admire that from you. You’re so incredibly smart. I mean you have seen your grades. I’m not sure about your common sense sometimes, but that’s another matter. You’re bold. You don’t even think sometimes before you jump in head first. Sometimes it gets you in trouble, other times it works out for you. That also makes you brave. You were so scared when I first got you Rydstorm but instead of letting that overcome you, you stuck your hand in his cage and picked him up. Now you’re best friends. But you’re 17 years old. You’re not supposed to know who you are.” She turns to look at me then and winks.

That kind of speech brings you back down to earth. I don’t see any of that in me, but I hope I can be that person she sees.

“Thanks mom.”

*****

It’s like midnight when my phone starts ringing. This scares the shit out of me, so I jump up out of bed and answer it without seeing who it is.

“You were asleep?” comes Chances sexy voice over the line. I shiver and mental smack myself for that.

“Yeah.” I tell him while laying back down on my bed. “I wouldn’t have answered if I wasn’t. You scared the shit out of me. I thought something was wrong with my mom.”

He laughs and I let the sound wash over me. Even that damn laugh is sexy. “Sorry.”

Seeing this through is going to
be difficult since the guy barely speaks. “What do you want?”

“A kiss.” Then there is a knock on my front door. Really? Stalk much?

“You’re turning into a stalker Chance. I’m going to answer the door with a shotgun.” I warn even though I don’t own a gun.

“You don’t have a gun. You wouldn’t hurt a fly.” A smile tugs at my lips, but I refuse to let him win.

“How would you know that?” I ask getting out of bed and heading into my bathroom.

“I don’t think you would shoot anyone.” He knocks again, like maybe I didn’t hear him.

My hair is a mess and I have mascara smudged under my eyes. “Hold on.” I say into the phone and set it down on the counter. I quickly pull my hair back into a low ponytail and wipe the smears away. I look down at myself and cringe. I will have to change.

I run back into my bedroom and pull out a pair of plaid sleep pants and pull them on over my black boy shorts. I find my hoodie on the floor and throw it over my plain, thin as hell cotton tank top.

I leave my phone in the bathroom and head to the front door. I look out the long rectangular window and see him wearing a small smile. My heart starts beating faster and I curse under my breath. Get yourself together Davis!

I slowly open the door and step
out on to the black iron steps Marley made my mom in shop class last year. “How did you know where I lived?”

I’m standing on the top step and he is three down but we are face to face. His eyes are doing that heated look he seems to get around me a lot. I thought I covered up pretty well, so I don’t know what the hell he could be turned on about.

“Macy wouldn’t sleep. Drove her around and saw your car. Thought I’d get a goodnight kiss.” Okay that was sweet. So I don’t think about it when I lean forward and brush my lips against his. His hands come up to cup my face and I open my lips for his tongue. I love the way he always wants entry into my mouth. I love how he kisses me like he might die if he didn’t.

Wait.

No, no I didn’t like, let alone love any of that.

Damn, I’m in serious trouble.

He breaks away from me all too soon and I blink open my eyes kind of in a daze. “That’s it?” I find myself asking before I could stop.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.” He steps down the stairs backward and gives me a small wave before walking towards his truck which is parked behind my car. He gets points for being a gentleman. Damn, he was supposed to be an asshole. Not this sweet guy who doesn’t try to take me to my room and ravish me. I’m starting to think the rumors are true. The rumors that say he is a virgin. Which I don’t know how any 18 year old male could be a virgin.

Though stranger things have happened.

I head back into my house in a fog. I take off the clothes that I put on, throwing them around my room and falling back on my bed. I lift up on my elbows and find Rydstorm watching me with his crazy red eyes. “What?”

Great now I’m talking to my snake. I have lost my mind, officially. I’m finding redeeming qualities in the boy who ruined my life. Which is scary as all get out because that means I could really fall for him. I don’t want that, I just want him to hurt. I have to remember that, always. Make him suffer like he made me suffer.

You’re the ugliest girl on the face of the planet.

Your pimples need their own zip code, they are so huge.

What are you looking at zitface? Want some of this? Too bad, I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole.

Here comes zitface. Look at all that pus leaking out of those things. She is so disgusting.

Don’t stand too close to her, you might catch that stuff!

Zitface you really need to clean your face. You’re so hideous. If you took care of that, then maybe you would have friends.

I’ll remember for the rest of my life, every single thing he said. I’ll remember that pain and the embarrassment. Mostly I’ll remember what it feels like to have revenge.

Chance

I pull up outside of Norma’s house for our date Friday night. I’m nervous as all get out. I have never taken a girl out that I really liked. And I mean really liked. Ever since we kissed I can’t get it out of my head. The feel of her under me, the taste of her lips, the sound of her moans. I really need to get a grip on myself.

Monday night I couldn’t get Macy to sleep so I loaded her up in my truck and drove her around for an hour until she fell asleep. I don’t know how I ended up right outside her house but when I saw the cobalt I pulled over. I could tell she was asleep since all the lights were off in the house. But I wanted that kiss. I wanted to see what she would look like just waking up.

I was happy to find out she was just as moody as any other time. Since summer is right around the corner I could tell the
pj pants and hoodie were thrown on. She looked cute and rumpled and it did strange things to my insides. I wanted to go in and do more, but I want her to actually feel something for me, other than lust, before I take it that far. If it takes me a hundred years to get there, then I will. She’s worth it.

Mom has this picture of Norma and Macy sitting on the refrigerator and the day she put it up there, I knew I had this thing for Norma. She looked so incredibly happy. That smile was killer and I wanted her looking at me like that. I guess that’s how I got here today.

I knock on the front door and step back. I hear her unlocking the door and opening it. I suck in a breath when she comes into view. I think I just died from pure lust.

I don’t know what she did with the Norma Jean I’m used to seeing but this one…wow. Her long black hair is styled in loose curls and hang around her face in a seductive way. Her makeup is subtle and not the usual. A light blush on her cheeks, pale lip gloss and smoky eyes. She has on a pretty violet blouse that makes her eyes even more eerie and beautiful. The little black skirt is a surprise as are the black heels. Suddenly I’m picturing her with nothing but those on…and sitting in my lap.

I clear my throat before speaking. “You look so beautiful Norma.” I want to say more, but I don’t know how. My feelings and my words don’t go together. Or I’m just an idiot and don’t know how to express how I feel.

Her cheeks get a little pinker and I hold in my smile. “Thanks.” She smiles a little as I reach my hand for hers. I lace my fingers in hers and she tenses a bit. I squeeze my palm around her hand making sure she won’t get away.

I open the passenger side door for her and pretend not to look at her ass as she gets in. Very nice. I shut the door and walk around to the drivers side and climb in. “So where are we going?”

“Anywhere you want.” I state as I start the truck and back out of her driveway.

I catch her face and the look is pure mischief. “Can we eat at Sonic?” she bites her lip, like I would say no. I gave her full rein.

I nod in answer and head into town. Duke is a small place, like only 1,000 people. And we all know each other. Sonic happens to be the place a lot of the kids in our school hang out on Friday nights. Mostly before one of Creed’s parties. Almost every space is filled up but one next to Creed’s mustang. Great.

I park it and shut off the engine when Norma says something. “There are a lot of people here.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and I feel jealous of her finger, since it got to touch that wonderful softness.

“Wanna leave?”
I question turning all the way toward her.

She swishes her lips around like she is thinking hard, but shakes her head no. I wouldn’t mind leaving, these people get on my nerves for the most part. I also give Creed one more minute before he is knocking on my window.

“Know what you want?” I ask turning back around to look at the menu. I always get a bacon cheeseburger, French fries, and a chocolate milkshake.