A Hint of Color (boyxboy)

Chapter 11

When Friday rolls around, Jake texts me.

Did you make up your mind yet?

I sigh to myself. He's so impatient.

No, I haven't.

Let me know soon (;

Like tonight?

Um, I didn't mean at my party. More like... Sunday? The house will be empty then...

I shove my phone in my pocket after that. He sends me these texts all the time but is still afraid to have me at his party? It pisses me off.

Jake is just as much of a spoiled brat as his sister is. He thinks he can have me whenever he wants.

Well, he can't. He'll have me when I feel like it.

If.

I can't even rant to Taylor because I've kept all of this from him. He thinks Jake has been leaving me alone.

At lunch, I'm still annoyed, but Jude is there after being out sick for a few days so that makes me smile a little.

"Hey, feeling better?" I ask. He nods in response.

"Good," says Evynne. "We missed you."

Jude smiles softly at her.

I listen to the girls and Taylor chat but zone out after a while. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket but I'm sure I know who's texting me, so I don't want to look.

When the bell rings, we stand up and Jude brings up the party that I've been trying to forget about.

"Are you going tonight?" he asks, sounding a bit timid.

"Yeah," says Taylor. "Aren't you?"

Jude shakes his head quickly.

"I thought Ross told you about it." Evynne frowns, looking at us in confusion.

Oh right, I never told them about the drama that's keeping me from joining them. I shrug casually. "I'm not going."

"What?" Taylor narrows his eyes. "Our entire grade will be there, you have to."

"Oh come on," complains Nadine. "It'll be fun. Are you afraid of Will being there? He's probably not gonna bother you."

"I'm not afraid of him!" I say, sounding more annoyed than I'd intended. Nadine gives me a weird look.

Taylor sighs. "What is it then?"

"Jude and I have plans already," I snap, before he can figure out that I'm avoiding Jake.

"Since when?" He looks at me suspiciously.

"Since a few days ago!"

"Why didn't you mention this?"

"It's none of your business!" I grab my tray and leave the table, heading towards the trash cans.

"Ross!" Taylor runs after me as I dump my trash out and head into the hallway.

"What?" I ask, frustrated.

He stands in front of me. "Did something happen? You were looking forward to tonight."

"Things change."

He narrows his eyes suspiciously.

I bite my lip, knowing he'll figure it out eventually. "Jake told me not to come."

"Jake did? I thought you guys weren't talking to each other," he says.

"We aren't," I lie. "He's just... you know... scared of me." I smirk.

Taylor frowns. "Well, that's stupid. It's just a party."

"You're still gonna go?"

"Just for Nadine and Evynne. Someone's gotta watch out for those party animals." He rolls his eyes, but he means it. Taylor is a good guy.

When we part ways, I feel uneasy. I hate lying to Taylor. It makes me feel like crap, but he doesn't always understand. He'd just lecture me if he knew what was really going on with me and Jake.

I don't want to see Jake today.

As the bell rings, I walk out of the school.

-----

To my disappointment, my mom is home when I open the door. I should've noticed her car in the driveway but I guess I'm distracted. Not only is she home, but her boyfriend is as well. They look up from the sofa in surprise, and then she stands quickly.

Her dark hair, usually neatly styled, is messy... like someone ran his fingers through it.

"What are you doing home?" she demands, smoothing her shirt.

"What does it matter?" I snap, not in the mood to deal with her today.

Her eyes widen and she marches towards me. "Don't use that tone with me, and you're not allowed to just ditch your classes whenever you feel like it! If you start failing-"

"I'm not failing... as if you even care," I mutter.

"Get back to school right now."

I ignore her and head upstairs, hearing her call after me. My heart is pounding as I toss my backpack onto my bed.

My mother barges into my room. "Why do you have to embarrass me like this?" she hisses, keeping her voice down.

"What, in front of your new boyfriend?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

"Yes, Ross! Stop being such a brat all the time. You ruin everything for me." In a minute, this will circle back to how I ruined her marriage with my father. I so don't want it to go there, but it always does.

I would've been more hurt by her words if she meant them, but she says this kind of thing all the time. She's insecure and needs someone to blame it on. Still, it makes me furious when she just storms in and yells at me.

I let her get it out, and when she finally leaves I hear the front door open and shut. I look out my window to see her and her boyfriend get into his car and go.

Clenching my fists, I dig my nails into my palms. She makes it impossible to calm down.

I did not need this on top of all the shit happening with Jake.

Going downstairs, I grab a beer from the fridge. She never notices since she only keeps these around for the boyfriends that come and go. She's a tequila person.

I drink until my heart stops racing and I curl up on the couch. I'll just chill here while all my friends go party.

I try not to think about Jake, but it's impossible. I drink another beer so I can try to numb the mixture of emotions, but somehow it just makes me feel worse.