This Trust of Mine (15 page)

Stupid
fucking idea Madison,
stupid
idea.

Six weeks later

Kayla

The last
month and a half had basically flown right past me. We were only two weeks into
October and I was so ready for the four-day weekend break we had coming up from
school. Madison had taken our "just friends" thing to heart, making
zero attempt to touch, kiss or be near me after the night he was crying out by
the tree. Since that night, he had made it pretty clear that we needed to keep
it as platonic as possible, which was nearly killing me. But having Madison in
my life meant more to me than anything and I wasn't willing to throw all that
away, because I wanted more than he did, it seemed.

Something in
Madison had changed shortly after that night. We were closer than ever now, but
when we were together, it felt like he was a million miles away. I tried a few
times to bring it up, to ask why he was so closed off, but he always seemed to
play it off like it was no big deal. I had started making it a habit to go by
and see his grandmother as often as I could. Since the first time I had met
her, I had fallen in love with her. It also gave me a good excuse to see
Madison everyday, if I hadn't already.

The last
time I had gone over, I explained to Lydia what was going on with Madison, but
she had absolutely no insight into the situation. If anything, she almost made
it seem like it wasn't a big deal either. I was determined to find out why he
was so distant towards me, of all people. Our friendship had definitely taken a
turn for the better over the last week. He would drop me off at school and pick
me up every Wednesday, knowing it was my only day off of work, besides Sundays.
I looked forward to Wednesdays almost like I looked forward to Christmas. Not
that I didn't usually have butterflies before seeing him anyway, but on Wednesdays
I could barely get through classes because of my nerves.

I had just
come out of my only class without Joey in it, when I felt a hand on my lower
back.

"Hey,
Jo."

"How
did you know it was me?" He slipped his arm over my shoulders like he did
every time he walked me to our next class.

"Because
you're the only person who does that. You know one of these days people are
going to start getting the wrong impression of us."

"So,
what if they do?"

I stopped in
the middle of the hallway as soon as those words left his mouth. People
maneuvered their way around us as I stood staring up into Joey's eyes.
"Joey you know it's not like that between us, why would you even say
that?"

"Calm
down killer. I was just joking. Everyone knows we are just friends. Well,
everyone except Madison."

My heart skipped
a beat every time I heard his name and now was no exception. I nudged Joey in
the ribs and continued onto class with him. Over the last little while, Joey
and I had progressively spent more and more time together. Because Madison had
been to an extent, keeping his distance, I needed a friend to fill in the time
I wasn't spending with him.

Things had
gone really well with Cami and Glenn's parents, so she was here visiting every
chance she got. With the long weekend coming up, she was coming to stay with
me, thanks to Glenn. He was footing the bill for her to fly out here and we
were going to spend the last warm weekend we had, down at the hole and going to
the band's next show.

Glenn and
Madison had been busy gearing up and practicing for the big music festival next
month and this would be their big practice gig before that. I was so proud of
Madison. Even though he had decided to quit baseball, which I thought was a
huge mistake at first, I was slowly starting to realize that his true passion
was music. He was an entirely different person when he was on stage. He looked
at ease and carefree. He exuded confidence like no one I had ever witnessed
before. Given the fact that he was one of the hottest singers I had ever laid
eyes on, didn't hurt either. I had gone to every single practice they had and I
made sure to try to make it to every show they booked. Madison never said so,
but I knew he liked having me there.

Joey's voice
pulled me out of my revelry when he lowered his voice, so only I could hear him.
"Welcome to biology, Miss James."

"Ha ha
very funny. Sorry."

"No
worries. I love being totally ignored for five minutes by the most beautiful
girl on campus."

"Shut
up Jo, and go to your seat." I knew he meant nothing by his little
comments, but lately, I was starting to worry that he was beginning to get the
wrong idea.

The rest of
the day seemed to drag ass. I was itching to get out of school and hang out
with Madison. He had cancelled our little after school tradition last week,
saying somethin' about havin' to help out around the farm. Of course, I was
extremely bummed out, but he said he had something extra special for us to do
this week to make up for it.

Finally, the
last bell of the day rang and I rushed through the rows of desks to get out the
door before I got caught up in the mob of students. I had just made it out the
door, when I heard Joey shouting my name from behind me. I wanted to turn
around and talk to him, but I wanted to see Madison more, so I ended up
completely ignoring him.

I pushed
open the double doors with a hulk like force and went running down the sidewalk
looking for Madison's lifted black truck. My heart dropped as I noticed he
wasn't in his usual spot, waiting for me. I did a once over of the entire lot,
but came up empty. Where the hell was he? It wasn't like Madison to not call or
text, to let me know he wouldn't be showing up. I decided I would wait a little
while longer before texting him, hoping that maybe he was just running a little
late.

Just as I
checked the time on my phone for the fifteenth time, I heard Joey's boisterous
voice behind me. I quickly turned, hoping he hadn't seen me sitting all alone.
But, it was too late. I knew he could tell by the look on my face that Madison
was a no show.

"Were
is the knight in shining armor?"

I so wasn't
in the mood to deal with his shit, so I ignored him and started walking towards
the end of the lot.

"KJ,
wait up. I was just jokin'." I could hear his footsteps gaining on me as
the tears that were getting ready to betray me welled up behind my eyelids.

"I know
you were. It's okay, I'm just gonna call my granddad and have him come get
me."

"KJ,
slow down. I can give you a ride home, it's not a problem."

"It's
okay Jo, you have football practice."

His arms
wrapped gently wrapped my waist pulling my back into his chest, and that's when
I lost it. All the emotions that I had been bottling up inside over the last
month and a half, came flooding out of me. I turned in his arms, burying my
face in his hardened chest. As I stood there crying all over Joey's shirt, he
started rubbing small circles across my back. Oddly enough, it made my tears
disappear.

"KJ,
I'm sorry he didn't show up again." I could feel his warm tantalizing
breath across my wet cheeks, as he whispered into my ear.

"I guess
I should just give up on thinking I mean as much to him as he means to me.
Obviously, he had other plans." I pushed myself off of Joey's chest and
wiped the tears from my eyes. "Just go to practice Joey, I'll be fine."

Joey stood
in front of me with his hands pushed into the front pockets of his jeans. He
looked as though he was thinking long and hard about somethin', but I didn't
want to pester him into telling me, like I had done so many times with Madison.

"Hey,
how about I blow off practice today and we go and do something fun. I've been
needing a bit of a break anyway."

I looked up
at Joey, shocked. He never missed a practice. In the couple months that I had
known him, not once had he even taken a sick day.

"Joey I
can't let you do that. You'll get in a shit load of trouble if you do."

"Don't
worry about it. My friend needs me more."

A small
smile began to form across my lips. I did need him, more than he knew. I needed
a good day with a good friend to help me forget and move on from one, Madison Raine.

"As
long as you're sure."

"I am,
now let's get outta here." Joey held out his hand for me to take it, and I
did, without a second thought.

Joey's
parents were now letting him drive their older Toyota Tundra, so I didn't need
to drive to school everyday. Joey walked me over to the passenger side and gave
me a boost up. As he closed the door, he gave me simple smile, making me smile
in return. This time it was a genuine smile that reached all the way to my
eyes. Joey was becoming the closest thing I had to a best friend out here,
besides Cami of course, but she was only available through phone and I needed
some actual face time with a friend lately.

We pulled up
to the coffee shop in town, about ten minutes later. He must've read my mind
because whenever I was upset or stressed, coffee and ice cream were my go to
things of comfort. He held the door open for me and I walked in, letting the
sweet aroma of freshly ground coffee beans, assault my every sense. I knew
exactly what today called for and I wasn't holding back. When I approached the
counter to order, the girl behind it couldn't stop staring in Joey's direction.
No girl ever could. He was a walking poster for sex. Every girl wanted him and
every guy wanted to be him.

"Excuse
me?"

She quickly
turned in my direction, knowing I had caught her staring. "Oh sorry, what
can I get for you?"

"A
vente, iced, caramel macchiato with extra whip cream and caramel."

"Will
that be it for you?" She was still gawking at Joey out of the corner of
her eye, so I decided to have a little fun with her.

"I'm
not sure, hold on. Joey, do you want anything?" Just as I knew he would,
he came running over to me faster than a dog to their owner.

"Yeah,
I would like an iced coffee with some cream and a dash of sugar." I
watched him wink at the girl behind the counter, and she practically fell over
where she stood.

"Coming
right up. That'll be $9.72."

I reached
into my book bag to pull out my portion of the tab, but Joey pushed it away and
handed the girl his Visa.

"This
ones on me."

"Thanks
Jo."

"Anytime,
Darlin'."

I watched
her face fall in disappointment, as Joey used the term of endearment that he
used on every other girl, but she didn't know that. I smiled at her and made my
way down to the other side of the counter to wait for my drink. Joey was right
behind me.

"She
wanted you, Joey Green."

"Don't
they all. Don't they all."

I nudged him
in the ribs and we both broke out in laughter. I was starting to feel a little
bit better about Madison standing me up, but part of me was still extremely
hurt and wondered what had come up, that was so important that he would forget
all about me. I checked my phone one last time, and then placed it back in my
book bag when it didn't say I had a missed call or text.

"Don't
worry about him. We are going to have a fabulous afternoon and by the time I
drop you off, you'll have forgotten all about him not showing up."

"Thanks
Joey." I whispered, as I pulled him into a hug.

After
getting our drinks, we made our way out onto the side patio of the coffee shop.
The weather was still warm enough to hang out outside during the day, and I
wasn't about to let it go to waste. I sat across from Joey, watching all the
people walking past. Eventually we started in on our game of "who is that
and what do they do". It was exactly what I needed to take my mind off of
Madison and today.

Madison

Fuck! Kayla
was goin' to be super fuckin' pissed off at me. I had already cancelled on her
the week before and now, well now she would have my balls. I was still at the
doctor's office with my grandfather and they had needed to do some extra tests,
so we were runnin' late. I had tried to call and text Kayla, but the nurse
practically yelled at me, sayin' that if I tried to use it again, she was going
to kick me out of the office.

So here I
sat, bouncing my legs about a million miles a minute, waiting for my
grandfather to be done. Shortly after the night I had my break down with Kayla,
my grandparents had filled me in on my grandfather's condition. He had stage
four, lung cancer and it was quickly spreading to other parts of his body. It
was too late to start any chemo, and the doctor said that any other type of
aggressive therapy would only make the last bit of time he had left, miserable.
No one wanted that, especially not my grandfather, so we just did weekly check
ups and blood work and prayed for more time, as every day passed.

Another long
twenty minutes later, my grandfather emerged from behind the door that led to
all the rooms. He was looking extremely fatigued and just, worn down. I ran
over to his side to help him walk. When we reached the elevator doors, my
grandfather turned to me with a look on his face that I had never seen before.
It was the look of pure, undeniable love for his grandson.