The Valdez Affair

11. Worthy Of A Punch

"It's been two days," Sebastian was saying. "Loosen up a little, Ri." His words were accompanied by a light punch on my arm.

"Don't call me that," I muttered. To my exasperation, that caused everyone at the table to burst out in laughter.

"Seriously, Ri." Jace piped in, earning a glare from me. "I thought you were more forgiving than that."

I gave him a look. "Never thought I'd hear you say that, Walters. Not after Middle School."

Jace rolled his eyes playfully. "But you were, like, twelve then. And if I had a chance to live through it again, I'd still do it."

"Even if she didn't talk to you for three whole weeks?" Adrian questioned, amused.

Jace nodded. "Yup. I mean, the girl got her first kiss. What more could she have asked for?"

I had the familiar urge to hit him. "It was with Devin Ackerman of all people. You didn't have to go through weeks of torture, sitting near him in class and do you know how awkward pre-teen boys are?"

"But you're friends with him now," Jace said, as if that made everything else okay.

"I think I scarred him for life though," I muttered, leading to another round of laughter. "Glad you guys find my misery hilarious," I added. Not that it made them even remotely apologetic. Then again, they were my friends. They may have laughed while recounting those events, but they were beyond supportive when those events had occurred. Even Jace, believe it or not.

I became friends with Devin only during Sophomore year, but the first time I'd met him was at a party I had attended when we were twelve. And Jace, out of the blue, had challenged me to kiss the unsuspecting boy. I probably did it out of pride, I couldn't remember for sure, but I knew for certain that kissing him was horrible.

Devin had pushed me away only a few seconds later, his hazel eyes wide, and every one at the party found out about it. Needless to say, even though I managed to not speak with Jace for three weeks after that, I still regret the incident.

Jace may have been annoying and rude and arrogant and everything else that made you want to strangle him sometimes, but he was surprisingly a great friend if he wanted to be. He also had a knack for using all his negative qualities for doing good. There had been numerous times when he'd helped me thwart away kids who laughed at me for being clumsy by being sharp or rude himself. Maybe that's what Hayley saw in him and, as she said, when they were together, he wasn't a changed person but somehow, his positive characteristics would stand out considerably.

Despite that, the two had, for some reason incomprehensible by me, agreed to keep their relationship private. Hayley was cautious about his reputation, obviously, and felt that if people knew about them, they glares and jealousy from other girls wouldn't stop, making her more insecure. While Jace insisted that she shouldn't let them affect her, he did feel that since they were both fairly new to the whole 'relationship' thing, which was officially ignited after their date on Friday, it would be better to take things slow. And that included keeping the news confidential.

I felt a poke on my arm. "It's over now," Hayley said. "Has anyone even stared at you today?"

"I saw two people," I said. "And just because I don't see them, doesn't mean they aren't doing it."

"So what?" Nicole said. "When did you start worrying about what people think of you?"

"I'm not worried about that," I replied, defensive. "But he should have been a better friend than that. Would any of you had brought it up or continued that argument if you were in his place?"