Blue

Chapter 10

April 1998

"Shawn, I can't go." I said softly to him as we walked down the hall. All week, we had been hanging out together, even outside of the skating rink, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me why.

"Sure you can," he smiled. "Candice told me I could bring a friend to her party if I want."

"I'm pretty sure she meant a guy friend. Trust me, she doesn't want me there."

He scoffed. "Please. Why wouldn't she want you there?"

I sighed. "We're not exactly friends."

"Come on, Candice is good people." He smiled again. "Just come with me, and you'll see for yourself."

We stopped walking when we got to his locker, and I turned to face him head on. "Why do you want me to go with you so bad?"

I genuinely wanted his answer to my question. Guys at my school only seemed to be attracted to me for one reason, and despite what had been said about me, I wasn't willing to share that part of me with anyone, not even him.

He shrugged. "Cuz, I mean...you're like the coolest girl I've met since I've been here. I don't know, I just feel like I can really be myself around you, and I don't have to worry about all that basic high school judgmental shit with you."

His answer surprised me. There was something about his eyes. They always seemed genuine, like he would never lie to me. It let me know that he didn't have any other intentions with me. He really just liked hanging out with me.

I didn't let him see how his statement got to me a little. Instead, I playfully groaned and rolled my eyes. "Fine. But I don't want to stay all night."

He smiled. "Deal."

He picked me up from my house at six o'clock, and my parents grilled him to make sure he would bring me home no later than ten, although I really didn't plan on staying even that long.

When we got there, already so many people from our school were there. Candice was skating around wearing a denim mini skirt and a pink tank top, and she had a tiara on her head. As soon as she saw us, she skated in over in our direction. Well, she really only wanted to greet Shawn. She carried on an entire conversation with him before she noticed that I was there as well.

"Oh, hey!" She fake smiled when she noticed me. "I didn't know you were coming."

I returned the fake smile. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks..."

"I invited her," Shawn spoke. "Is that cool?"

She glanced between the two of us, and then she finally smiled at Shawn. "Yeah, that's fine. Um...just get your skates and come on." She smiled stiffly at me again before skating away.

I turned back to Shawn once she was away. "Told you she wouldn't want me here."

He shook his head and laughed. "No, no, she does. She just wasn't expecting you."

I crossed my arms. "I think she likes you."

"What? No!" He frowned.

"Uh, yeah!" I reiterated. "She immediately started talking to you as soon as you walked in the door. She was probably waiting for you to show up."

He laughed lightly. "Nah, she's not my type."

I really didn't want to know what his type was, so I conveniently changed the subject. "Well, we should probably get our skates."

Just as I predicted, Candice spent as much time as she could cuddling up next to Shawn. A lot of the time, I was nearby as well, because he wanted to stick by me. He kept saying it was because he felt most comfortable around me, but I think he was just afraid of falling, and he thought I might catch him.