Confessions

Chapter Twenty-One

     "Oh my god! How did it happen?" Cayla exclaimed as she saw me for the first time since I had broken my nose. I proceeded to tell her the story of me bloodying Jackson's shoes.
     "How did you even get to the hospital?"
     "I- um- well, you see... Henry sorta happened to be there at the time. So he- er- drove me..." She didn't seem the least bit jealous or mad. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding. Relief washed over my expression.
     "Awe... He's so sweet. I got myself a good guy, huh Sar?"
     "Yeah..." I nodded "Great guy..."
     "Hey, do want to go grab something to eat and hang out for a bit...?" Cayla asked, "like old times." She added.
    "Uh, yeah but... You don't have an adult to drive with you and the bus doesn't come around here again 'till three."

"Yeah... That's a problem..." I could see the excitement in her expression that she was trying desperately to cover up. "Oh! I have a solution!" After digging through her handbag for a second, Cayla swiped out a card and dangled it in mid-air.
     "You got your License!" I screamed, "Oh my god!" A wide grin covered over half of Cayla's face.
     "Yep!" She replied. "And Kimmy lent me her car!" 
     Cayla and I strolled into the parking lot of Fremos, the fast food restaurant where all the teens hung out. We had just parked the Cadillac when Cayla noticed a couple guys checking us out. We ignored them, but had just stepped out of the car when one of the guys came strutting over.
     "Cayla Phermon, captain of the volley ball team if I remember correctly?" They boy smirked, eyes mostly focused a little lower than Cayla's face.
     "Daniel Talin, second captain of the football team and jackass of our school. That is, if I remember correctly?" Cayla smirked back before adding, "Oh, did I forget to mention the part about you being a player and all." She walked on past him and I followed when Daniels hand swung back and smacked Cayla's butt. In a second she had spun around, snatched his hand, and twisted it in a very wrong direction. He smirked to cover up the grimace.
      "Touch me one more time I'll shove this hand up your ass. Are we clear?" She dropped him and we continued on inside.
      Once at the counter I ordered our usual.
     "We'll take two banana cream milkshakes and a large fry" Okay, maybe our usual is a bit unusual, but we've ordered the same thing sunce we were kids and why change now...?
     "That'll be $5.60" the freckled boy behind the counter said. I took out my wallet and was handing him the money when Cayla interrupted.
     "No, I'll get it." She insisted he take her own money rather than mine.
     "Cayla, you payed last time."
     "Well, if you insist..."  She chuckled as I handed the boy my money. We got our food and took a seat at our regular booth.
     "Hey honey! Why don't you come sit over here?" We turned around to reveal Daniel sitting at a booth opposite ours.
     Cayla's response was to throw a plastic fork at him and exclaim, "Hey Honey! Why don't you shove this up your-" only to be interrupted by the manager as she came out of the back room and told everyone to watch their language.
      "So..." I muttered
      "So what?" Cayla asked, taking a drink of her milkshake.
     "Nothing..." I didn't know what to say, why couldn't we just talk like we usually do?
     "Have you been talking to Joe recently?" Cayla brought up out of the blue.
     "Can we uh, not talk about that..."
     "Why not? Is something wrong?"
     "No, we just... Haven't been talking in a while, and... It's kinda weird talking about him when... I- I'm not even sure if we're together or not... You know?" I lied.
      "Really!" Cayla laughed mid-French fri. "He took you to the senior dance and kissed you. He fucking kissed you Sarah!"
     "Well, I more kissed him but... Anyways..." Crap, this topic was not coming to a close. "Do- Do you really think it's a thing? Do you think that he thinks it's a thing?"
     "Totally! How about a date next Friday? You and Joe, me and Henry."
     "Oh no, not another double date!" I accidentally stated.
     "Oh I see.."
     "See what?" I questioned, afraid I had offended her.
     "That you would rather be alone... With Joe." She said with a bat of her eyelashes. Oh God help me...
     "Yes! I mean... Yeah, that's exactly it..."
     "Then ask him out!"
     "What! No, I can't ask him out."
     "Why not? I asked Henry."
     "Yeah, but... Your you, and I'm... Me."
     "What's the difference."
     "Between you and me?" I wondered aloud, thinking of a million things at once.
     "Between me asking someone out and you asking someone out." Cayla stated.
     "Okay... Nothing really," Except that Cayla is confident and gorgeous whilst I'm, well, me... "Okay, there's a difference between asking Henry out, and asking Joe. May I remind you the most popular guy in our school."
     "May I remind you the guy that's had a crush on you since the 8th grade."
     "What?" No... I was dating Henry in the 8th grade, we broke up the summer after 9th... Joe had a crush on me while I was dating his brother...
     "Oh... I- I wasn't supposed to say that..." Cayla mumbled. "So... Did you, um, hear about that arrest the other night?" She asked, changing the subject.
     "No..." I answered, still a little in shock.
     "So it was this group of guys just out of high school, they were caught in the alley on Windel street. They had some sort of drug and claimed it was just tobacco... Well, when the..." Cayla proceeded to tell the whole story and we ended up in one of our old, non awkward conversations.

     "Want a drink?" Joe asked. We were in the lobby of the typical place for a teen date, the movie theater.
     "I'll have a Pepsi..." I answered. We got our things and proceeded to our movie. I managed to focus on the screen, distracting me from my nerves.
     We filed out of the theater at the end. The ride home wasn't nearly as awkward as the one on our first date to the movies. When the car strolled up in front of my house, we both got out and headed for my front porch.
     "Well, bye..." Joe said as he turned to leave.
     "Wait!" He turned back surprised. "I- uh- need to talk to you about something.
     "Yeah?" He said as he stepped back onto my porch. We were face to face, and his gaze was locked with mine.
     "You had a crush on me when I was dating your brother." I meant it a question, but it came our more a statement.
     "You have a crush on my brother while I'm dating you." And with that he turned and left.