best day ever.

chapter six

"So, James is driving us." I said as I walked through my front door, James behind me.
"You know I can drive." Cath said, an annoyed look on her face.
"Well then it's your day off." I smiled, even though I knew she was mad.
I never thought if Cath approved of James. I knew she wouldn't now though, obviously. She had approved of Will, the complete opposite of James.
Sure, she has always been my best friend. But did that really mean she should have a say in what I do? Besides, it was not like James and I were romantically involved, and even if we were, she was completely wrong last time, giving her no right.
"Whatever, I'm doing your makeup now." Her voice was low.
Cath dragged me to her house, claiming that I don't have any good makeup in mine.
"What the fuck are you doing Eliana?" She whispered in my ear as we walked down the sidewalk.
"What?" I asked, surprised. Cath had barely used harsh words like that, mostly only when she got hurt or something.
She was gripping onto my arm, so close, the feeling of suffocation tickling inside of me, even though we were outside. James was watching, I knew he was. He was sitting in his car, and his eyes were burning through us.
I wanted to shove her away, but I didn't. There was no reason for her to whisper or be so close, we were alone.
"Come on. James Reed?"
Suddenly I felt anger boiling inside me. "What about him?" I asked, trying not to cause anything.
"How can you like him?"
"What? I don't like him. I just met him, and I just broke up with Will." I said.
"But that's the thing, you didn't. Running away from him doesn't declare anything."
"Well, fine. I'll call him." I said annoyed, angry.
"You don't have to right now, I just meant-"
"No. I'm calling him."
We were in front of Cath's house now, but I wasn't going to go inside until I got this over with.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, then scrolled anxiously through my contacts. I was clicking away at Will's name when I felt déjà vu pluck through me. Last year Cath had made me call him, to tell him I liked him. Now, I was telling him we were over.
Even though he had done something horrible to me, I still felt the pain naw at me as I heard him say my name. "Eliana?"
I tried not to choke on my words as I spoke. "Will." I said. "I, uh, need to-"
"It's really you," He said. "Listen, before you say anything, just hear this."
I didn't speak, feeling the anticipation course through my veins. "I didn't know what I was doing, I was drunk. I came to your house looking for you, and she was on the couch, watching tv. God, I couldn't help it, she looked exactly like you, hair tied back and makeupless. She didn't tell me if it was you or not, she didn't tell me anything."
I began to feel sick as he spoke, not sure if I could take much more.
"She had that bra on, Eliana, and I swore she was you." He paused, cutting off, giving myself a moment to think. But then again all I heard was his voice again, filling my ears, thick and sore. His voice was shaking. "I'm sorry. I, I don't want to break up. I'm so, so sorry, babe." I knew that if we were in person, he would try to be closer to me, to put his hand against my cheek. But I would slap him away, and so I did the same thing with my words.
I wanted to scream and shout again, but the words were the only thing that would come out of my mouth. They surged out of me, angry and strong. They weren't shaky or quiet, and I was thankful for my sudden rush of anger and confidence. "No, that is not how it works, Will. This is what you get when you make mistakes, stupid mistakes. I don't care how much she looked like me. I don't care how sorry you are. I don't care. I am done, so done. We're done." I felt hot tears slide down my face but I wasn't sad. I was relieved, actually. The words felt right coming out of my mouth, and maybe I was being harsh, but he deserved it.
"What?"
"We-are-done. D-O-N-E. Through, over. I'm breaking up with you." I had never been so mean before, not out loud like that. I couldn't help myself, my emotions were taking over my words, and I knew my face was becoming slightly red.
"But," He started. "I," I could tell he was surprised too. "Okay."
And he hung up. I was thankful, though, that it was over. And even though a lift of weight released from my shoulders, I still felt a little sorrow.
I stormed past Cath and walked to her front door, waiting for her to unlock it. I turned once to look at James, who's eyebrow was creased. He was looking through his windshield, his face almost hidden by the glare of the late winter sun.
...
"Are you okay?" Cath asked as I stood in front of her. She was sitting on her bed, watching as I paced around her room.
"I'm fine, perfect really. Just do my makeup."
Cath didn't push it, luckily. I sat in front of her and she pulled out too much makeup.
"Cath, something more subtle." I said.
I didn't need a lot of makeup right now, didn't want any.
"Yeah, yeah."
A little while later, I am turned in front of her mirror. There I sat, staring at my features. My eyes held only thick black wings and plenty coats of mascara. She had contoured my face perfectly and gave me a light blush to my cheeks. My lips were a deep wine color, and they reminded me of a vampire.
I smiled at her. "How are you so damn good?"
She smiled back, and then did my hair. Ten minutes or so later, there are two Dutch braids running along either side of my head, and I absolutely loved them.
She then did her makeup too, wearing neutral eye shadows and thinner eye liner, with a nude pink lipstick. She tied her her up into a pony tail and we both looked stunning.
For some reason, the first thing that popped up into my brain was what James would think when he saw me.
We walked back outside, with an hour to kill before we leave. James was still sitting in his car, surprisingly. This time his window was open and a trail of smoke led out of it.
I shouldn't have been surprised, considering he was known as a bad boy, but I was. Sure, smoking seemed cool, I guess, but I always thought of it as a death wish, suicide. Most people die from those, and yet he still did it.
He held the cigarette between his fingers when I approached him, not worried a bit. He obviously didn't care what I thought of him.
For a second his eyes ran over me and then he looked straight ahead of him. What a reaction.
"Oh, we have almost an hour." I said as I poked my head near the window, the smell of cigarettes instantly filling my nostrils.
"Hop in." He replied as he got rid of his cigarette. The smell still lingered in the car, but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
I sat next to him in the passenger seat and Cath complained. "Where do I sit?"
He pulled down something in the middle of us, a seat. I scooted over and Cath took the seat I was previously in.
I felt James's presence close as he drove, tried not to stare at him. Cath was annoyed though, a pout clear on her face.
We drove down the roads, people and cars in motion passing by. I didn't know where we were going, we didn't need to leave for the concert just yet. When we stopped, we were in front of James's house.
Of course. He probably needed to get something.
"I'll be right back." He says as he exits the car, shutting the door behind him.
Cath stares blankly through the wind shield, not bothering to notice. She should have been happy for me, considering I was over Will so quickly. But no, she was completely annoyed by it, for a stupid reason.
"Why do you hate him so much?" I asked her quietly as I tried to get comfortable in the small seat.
"I don't hate him, I hate that you like him."
"What? I don't like him like that." I squeaked.
"Listen, you don't know why he is offering to do this. I think he wouldn't do this if there wasn't something in for him. He's bad, Eliana. I've never seen him so nice before until now." Cath said strongly. Why was she being so protective? "He wants something, and I think it's you."
"You think he likes me?" I asked, the thought fluttering in my brain.
"No, I think he wants you. And when he wants something, he gets it."
"You don't even know him." I muttered.
She scoffed. "And you do? You just met him. Besides, I know plenty."
I was about to speak before she continued. "I'm just trying to protect you and spare your feelings."
I rolled my eyes. I didn't care how much she thought she knew, I saw what I saw and I believed it.
I didn't want to continue the argument, so I stared outside until I saw James's front door open. He walked outside carrying loads of thick blankets while drinking a Gatorade again. I wondered why he had blankets. Sure, it was super cold out, but I wasn't quite sure.
When he walked up to the truck, he didn't go straight to his door, he went to the back. There, I watched as he laid down all the blankets. I slid into the driver seat then got of his car.
"That's a good idea." I said as I looked at the suddenly very comfortable looking spot. It wasn't neat, making it look even more plush and soft.
"I do it all the time." He said, as he jumped into the back. He sat down and crossed his legs in front of him, then patted the seat next to him.
I slowly approached the back, then awkwardly got in. It was warmer than I thought it would be, I thought as I scooted to sit next to him. Both of our backs were leaning against the back of the front of the truck.
He pulled out a cigarette again. "You mind?"
I knew he would smoke it, even if I said yes. But really, I didn't mind. I felt kind of bad for him at that moment, I wondered why he started it. He must have been desperate. Why would you do something so bad to yourself? "Not at all." I said as I stared blankly into the distance. At all the houses and the crooked road. At that one house that had Valentine's Day decorations and another that had a for sale sign. At the cars that lined the sidewalks and at the empty driveways, some held basketball nets.
I looked back at him when I heard the click of his lighter. The bright amber appeared, and then there was smoke. My nostrils tickled at the distinct and warm smell. The smoke filled the air around us for a moment, and then he was holding the cigarette between his lips. He pulled it out with his fingers and puffed out more smoke. I couldn't help myself from staring, I suddenly had become fascinated.
I never thought of myself as the type of girl to be attracted to boys like James. But he became hundreds of times more attractive as he smoked, and I was surprised I wasn't drooling.
He must have noticing my stares, because he smirked back at me. "You want some?" He asked and held it out for a moment. I gulped and shook my head.
I would definitely never smoke a cigarette. I don't have a death wish.
I glared back at the distance, refusing to look back at him. My eyes followed a girl walking down the side walk. She was a freshman maybe, slender and short. I couldn't carve out most of her features in the distance, just her dirty blonde hair and her bright red cheeks. She wore disheveled clothes, an oversized blue shirt tucked into too large yoga pants. Over the shirt was a varsity jacket, it was red and gold, our school colors. The jacket was obviously to big for her, it looked like the ones the boys wore that were on our football team. She had tan uggs on too, lucky her.
She kept on coming closer and closer until she was at James's house, and that's when she stopped. My eyes widened when her eyes shifted to James's car, and then at me. And then hers did too.
She had to have been his sister, she looked just like the little girl in the photos on his walls, except older and more mature. She had the same icy blue eyes as James, and the same pout. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks were a bright red. She looked very natural, no makeup and small freckles.
"Gina?" James asked. "Who's is that?"
She gulped and then took a deep breath, looking less nervous. "It's none of your business." She rolled her eyes and looked at me again before walking onto their lawn and to their front door.
I read the last name on the back of the jacket before cursing under my breath.
"What?" James asked.
"That jacket is Riley Bennett's." I whispered.
"Who's that?"
"He's a sophomore." I said, slightly louder. "Cath's little brother."