Kireme No Nai

Leo

Her face was almost glowing under the black lights as we stepped into the house. The silver pearls in her ears reflected the sunset, and it made me look like a garbage can next to her. Thirty minutes my ass, I thought. She was probably getting ready for hours. The smell of intoxicated teens and deodorant floated through the house as we got further towards the clump of dancing people. She wouldn't talk over the sound of the bass from the music, pulled right from an iTunes 'popular summer' songs playlist.
                              "Ey Parker," I said, walking up to my friend group. He slapped my hand and grinned.
          "What's up my man?"
          Out of the corner of my eye, Kami was standing behind me waiting for something to do. By the expression on her face, I could tell parties weren't her thing.
          "Nothing much, haven't done anything productive all day," I admitted. By productive I mean get out of bed and accomplish something. But instead, I had my cat run downstairs and grab me coffee. That's all I trained her to do.
          "Bro, Cameron's been looking for you this whole time. Aren't you just going to break up with her?"
          "I really want to, trust me, but it's harder than it looks."
          Really, it is a lot harder. I remember having to break up with my first girlfriend when I was ten years old and I passed a note to her saying I wanted to break up. She showed it to all of her friends and they threw rocks at me during recess. And then another time, it was Cameron's best friend Jasmine that I had to break up with, and she cheated on me with Mark Richards. Fuck Mark, I remember thinking. Jasmine was hot. But then, when I had planned a whole speech just to go break her heart, she was making out with Mark behind the school. It was pretty easy then. But Cameron? Just me talking to another girl puts her on edge. Her eyes get wider and she starts to bite her bottom lip, staining her teeth a blush pink from all the lipstick she wears. Hence why I try to avoid locking lips with her.
          "You're just shy," Parker teased. It's not my fault I have anxiety, I thought.
          "If I was shy I'd still be with Ashely O'Malley," I said to him. "It's just hard to hurt people's feelings like that."
          Luke laughed. "It's hard to... ah ha... oh my..." he was wheezing. "We became friends when you knocked over my sandcastle with your hockey stick and called me a pussy."
          I grinned as the memory filled my head, and Kami looked skeptic of the story. "Those were the good old days."
          Meg's glasses lightly reflected the badly set up lighting, and flickered in my eyes when she adjusted them. "The good old days like when we had a science project together and you ate all my food and left?"
          "That's funny because I've never seen him eat," Kami said under her breath, a death stare inching from the corner of her eye, as she looked down at her shoes.

          Inching over to the table of alcohol, Parker pulled me aside from the group and leaned down towards my ear. "Dude those shorts she's wearing are so hot," he giggled.
          "Cool, man," I took a red plastic cup and scanned my options on the table.
          "Oh come on," he sighed. "You're no fun when it comes to girls. His big hand reached and grabbed a bottle of vodka, the side of his mouth inching into a grin. "Maybe when you get drunk enough..." he hinted.
          He shook the bottle in front of my face as I slowly pushed it away. "Look Parker, Kami's not into you, okay?"
          The light in his eyes dimmed and his thin lips fell to a frown. "How would you know?"
          "We talk a lot," I admitted, setting the cup down on the table.
          "Yeah because you're attractive," he scoffed, pouring Smirnoff into his cup. "Anyway she probably wouldn't go for someone like me. I bet she's like, a lesbian or something."
          I could tell he was discouraged because he was starting to sputter excuses. "You can't just guess that from someone."
          He poured some in my glass while avoiding eye contact. "It's no big deal, cause like, I have my options anyway."
          I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Parker from what I know, she's not interested because she doesn't know you that well." He looked up and his expression softened. "So maybe, if you actually had a conversation with her...." I suggested harshly.
          He grinned to the side and put his hand on my shoulder. "Thanks bro."
          I brushed it off. "No problem...."
          He sighed and flipped his hair. "Anyway, shit is getting lit out back, dude." He started to walk into the blur of people and out into the cool air.