Zugzwang

Chapter 26

        The kiss didn’t last very long. But, all I wanted was more. I knew I couldn’t have him. He’d be gone in less than a year. I’m sadly sure of it.

        A sigh escaped my lips and I plopped myself down on the couch. I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. There was a banging coming from upstairs but I ignored it. Chris must’ve been doing something weird. Probably just being himself.

        “Are you okay?” A voice made me jump out of my skin. I looked up to see Gabriel.

        “Yeah, fine.” I quickly spoke and closed my eyes again. If he was going to act like nothing happened, I wasn’t going to talk to him.

        “Are you sure?” He moved his way over to the front side of the couch.

        I opened my eyes once more and sat up. “Yes, Gabriel, I’m okay.” I stood up from the couch and walked away.

        I made my merry way upstairs to my room. Before I shut the door, I could hear a sigh come from downstairs, but I ignored it.         In the room I was sleeping in, in Chris’ house, I sat on the bed and laid there in silence. Well, with the sound of whatever Chris was doing.

        Whatever noise Chris was making was obnoxious. It sounded like he was doing jumping jacks on his floor. Instead of dealing with it, I got up from my bed and walked a door over to Chris’ room. I knocked on his door lightly.

        After no answer and the noise continuing, I knocked again and again. When he finally opened his door, I could see the sweat stream down his face onto his white soaked muscle shirt. A sudden wave of stench slapped me in the face.

        “Dude, what are you doing in there?” I covered my mouth with my shirt, trying to mask the smell. The smell of sweat made me throw up sometimes.

        Chris was out of breath but still managed to get words out of his mouth. “It doesn’t…matter.” He bent over and put his hands on his knees. I didn’t care what he was doing as long as he didn’t do it again.

        “Do you want water?”I suspended my hand over his bare shoulder. He nodded and I left for the kitchen as quickly as I could.

        The kitchen smelt like roses compared to the upstairs hallway. I got out two large water bottles from the fridge and slowly walked back to Chris who was now sitting on his bed.

        I handed him the water and scratched the back of my head awkwardly. Now what? Should I leave or…?

        “Well…I think I’m going to go.” I pointed behind me at the door.

        Chris shook his head while downing the first bottle of water. When he finished it he said, “Stay. I miss you.”

        I felt my cheeks blush so I looked down in hopes he wouldn’t notice. “You miss me?” I spoke shyly.

        “Well, yeah. Baby girl, I love being with you.”

        “Don’t be such a romantic, Chris.” I stepped closer to him.

        Just then, Chris’ phone buzzed. We both looked at his phone. He picked it up and looked at it. “It’s Noelle. She told me to tell you to ‘get your tush outside.’” He paused for a moment and looked up at me. “I guess I won’t be spending time with you.”

        He looked disappointed but Noelle wouldn’t go through the trouble of texting someone else just to get to me. She’d normally just call me or something.

        I patted Chris’ sweaty shoulder and tried to indiscreetly rub the sweat onto his bed. “To put this bluntly, you’re gross.” I smiled wide. “But, we can chill afterwards.”

        I hopped off his bed and grabbed simple things; phone, money, ect. Then, I put on my shoes and ran outside. I could hear Gabriel yell from inside but I was already in Noelle’s car. “Drive.” I demanded.

        Noelle followed my command and drove off. From the rear view mirror, I could see Gabriel’s figure in front of the door. “Who’s that?” Noelle questioned.

        “No one important.” I smiled although saying it kind of hurt.

        “Well, we have a lot of stuff to talk about.”

        “Are you kidding me?” I yelled and rolled my eyes.

        Noelle adjusted herself on her bed and put her hand on my knee. “I’d rather you find out than not know.”

        “They can’t just talk shi-“ I began before being interrupted.

        “Hello, ladies! Would girls like something to drink?” Noelle’s mom popped her head through the door.

        “Iced tea is fine, mama.” I smiled and dug my nails into my hand. I came over Noelle’s house enough times that her family was my family and vice versa.

        “Okay, Anna. Same for you, Noelle?” She asked. Noelle nodded and we waited for her mom to leave.

        “So what you’re saying is, is that they’re talking about me always being with Chris and not spending time with you guys and that automatically means he’s pregnant with my kid?” I kept digging my nails into my hand in anger.

        “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t even find out from them. I found out from some nobody girl that’s in our class. Maybe we could show them you’re not pregnant?” She smirked.

        I shook my head. “No. If they want to ruin me, I’ll ruin them.” I smirked evilly. Of course, I didn’t have a plan. But, I would think of one.

        Noelle’s face lit up and she spoke energetically, “Perfect! I’ve always wanted to partake in something like this!” The excitement on her face was the same as an 8 year old getting candy before dinner.

        “What should we do?” I asked. Both of us thought for a moment. Noelle’s mom came in quickly, gave us our drinks, then left.

        “Ooh! I have an idea!” Noelle shouted.

        I cocked an eyebrow. How did she think of something so fast? “What is it?”

        “Well, as far as I know, only Jordan and Amanda are spreading rumors so we can start with them. We can go to a bonfire at the beach and tell people Jordan got it in the butt and Amanda’s a lezbo.” The smile across Noelle’s face made me smile also.

        “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, babe.” I chuckled.

        Noelle raised a finger in the air. “True! But, Amanda’s dad is a homophobe and if he found out, he’d kill her.”

        “This is why I love you, Noelle.”

        We high fived and sent out mass group chats about a bonfire at the beach next Saturday. Excitement overwhelmed me, causing a squeak to run out of my mouth. Noelle shared my same excitement. If someone wanted to mess with me, I was going to mess with them even worse.

        We turned our phones off and watched Hellraiser. When the movie was over, we turned our phones back on to see who replied to the group chats. A ton of people replied and only a few weren’t able to go.

        This was going to be the start of something great.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! I'm really piled up with studying for my finals and don't have much time to write.