The Significance of Orange Juice

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The cold wind bit into my exposed arms and I couldn’t help but wish that Olivia had agreed to the jumper I’d wanted to wear. True, it was ratty and threadbare, and true, it really didn’t go with the look that Olivia had created for me, but at least I’d have been warm. Fashion was all very well and nice, but sometimes it just wasn’t worth it.

 I tugged on the hem of the little black dress that Olivia had picked out for me, hoping against hope that it might provide a little more protection from the wind. No such luck. I scowled down at my phone. Jay’s last text had said that he’d be here in five minutes to pick me up, so I’d headed out of the house to wait for him. That had been ten minutes ago, and my poor frozen self was going to have something to say about this when Jay finally arrived.

I rubbed my arms as I waited, trying to force some heat back into them. I checked my phone. I bounced up and down on the spot. I checked my phone. I shivered and paced up and down the street. I checked my phone. And that was about when I started planning out different ways to kill Jay. By the time his car pulled up alongside me, I was getting quite creative. Dismemberment may not be a lady like thing to think about, but it can be damn satisfying.

I had the car door open almost before Jay had stopped and I was safely strapped in seconds later. Jay raised his eyebrow as I leant across him and turned the heat up until warm air was being blasted into the car. “Cold?” he asked mildly as he moved away from the kerb.

I glowered back at him. “If you’d been here when you said you would be, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

“You could have waited inside, you know.” Jay remarked, just as blandly as he had before.

I grimaced at the worrying thought of a meeting between Jay and my parents. I’d rather take the cold. “Stupid dress.” I muttered. If I couldn’t pin the blame on Jay, then I’d at least vent some frustration at this useless piece of fabric.

Jay glanced across and ran an appraising eye over my outfit. I blushed under the force of his stare. His gaze burned. He met my eyes again, his lips curled up into his trademark crooked smile. “Personally, I like the dress. It’s got a lot going for it.”

I smacked Jay on the arm, my cheeks flaming. Jay laughed and reached across the car until his searching fingers found mine. “You are so cute, Izz.”

I ducked my head and swallowed nervously. My heart was pounding against my ribcage and suddenly everything seemed so much more. Brighter, more colourful, more vibrant. With just a few words, Jay could make me feel more alive than I had in eighteen years of life.

The conversation moved onto safer topics as Jay began to tell me about the party that we were going to. Apparently a friend of Alex and Jay’s was hosting a summer party (Summer? Don’t make me laugh) before everyone split up and went to university. Then something about a football team and then I really started to zone out.

I rested my head against the window as we sailed through the deserted streets. How did Jay do it? Why did he affect me so much? I stifled a sigh. Maybe I should ask Olivia at the party. I frowned slightly as a new thought materialised in my mind. It would be the first time that I’d seen Olivia and Alex together since the day in the park when Doris had had her accident. For all I knew, it might be the first time that they’d met up since then.

Jay looked over at me in concern and I suddenly realised that I had been ignoring his conversation for several minutes, totally lost in my own little world. I shrugged myself out of my daze and smiled at Jay before reengaging with the world around me and asking Jay a question about the party we were headed to. If Alex and Olivia had an argument, well… that was a bridge we would cross when we got to it. For now, I was headed to a party with my boyfriend and my best friend and that was all I needed to know.