All the Missing Pieces (UNDER REVISION)

Five

          It's raining when my alarm goes off in the morning. My head feels groggy, like it's full of fog. When I look out my window I can hardly see the neighbor's house. I lie back down in bed for a second while I muster the strength to get up. "¡Peyton, mijo! ¡Despierta!" I hear my mom call from the kitchen, I groan and shout back "Coming!"

            I start the car while I wait for Casey to come outside. She's at that point in her life where she cares a lot about how she's dressed for school. I remember when people used to be like that. Eventually, we all see each other. Who cares if you're wearing makeup, if that means you can get an extra ten minutes of sleep?

            Casey complains about my music the whole way to her bus stop. "Peyton, abuelo has better music than you do!" I shrug. "It's not my fault no one has taste anymore."
"Even James complains about your music!" I feel my face heat up, "He does not!"
"He does too!" I sigh as we pull up to her stop. She opens the door and pulls her jacket over her head before grabbing her backpack out of the car. "Are you sure you don't want, like, an umbrella or something, Case?" I ask. She gets out of the car and pulls the hood of her "highly fashionable" navy blue raincoat over her head. "I'm good. I don't want to carry it around all day."
"I guess that's fair." She turns around and shouts "Adios, loser."
"Adios puta. Que tengas un día horrible."
"¡Vete a la mierda!"; It's a typical Latino exchange of goodbyes. She runs from the car to the bus and disappears into a crowd of laughing girls. Collective Soul comes on the radio, so as soon as I pull out I'm turning up the volume and tapping the beat on the steering wheel. Casey always makes me turn the volume down because "my music is super lame." I mean comparing it to abuelito's opera music? That's tough.

            I'm feeling rather conflicted at the moment, and the rain isn't helping. I read some study once that said rain should boost your mood because of the negative ionization of the water or something, but science is Emily's field and I'm calling it bullshit. On one hand, I guess I am happy because James is coming over today. It'll be nice to hang out with just him while Emily and Marina have their orch-dork girl party or whatever, but on the other hand, I will inevitably have to sit through James asking Emily to prom.

             The day goes on so slowly, I could have sworn it was moving backwards. Every class I find myself staring at the clock every ten seconds hoping another minute has passed by, and every time I'm terribly disappointed. When lunch finally rolls around, I preoccupy myself with my English paper, which is currently about two pages long. "Dude, how did you manage to type of two pages already? This paper isn't due for another week," Emily asks while lingering over my shoulder. "I have a journalism paper due at the end of the mont, so I just want to get it out of the way. Besides, we didn't do anything in physics."
"You didn't do anything, or you weren't paying attention?" She asks. "You know me so well." She tucks a strand of her curly brown hair behind an ear before sitting down next to me. Marina sits down across from me and pulls out a sandwich. "What's up, y'all?"
"Nothing much," Emily says, "I'm just eating my lunch while Peyton writes a paper that isn't due for another week."
"Oh, give me a break, Emily! You're hardly one to talk Miss 4.5 GPA."
"Aw, he's so cute," Marina coos. "Simply adorable," Emily says as she pats me on the back. Emily starts to organize a set of notes for Chemistry when Alina sits down, jumping frantically, "CHARLIE ASKED ME TO PROM GUYS!" she squeals and makes some frantic shimmying movement with her hands. "Good for you, Alina," I say, without looking up from the screen. "Thank you for your enthusiastic reply, Peyton."
"Sorry, I'm just tryna crank out this paper,"
"Isn't that the English paper that's not due for another week?"
"Stop attacking me!" Marina chuckles and Emily says, "Dude are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just stressed about this paper."
"We'll stop coming after you. English is your thing." Marina drops my sandwich on top of my laptop, "You should also probably eat sometime between now and the time you finish this paper."
"Yeah, I haven't eaten yet. That's probably smart." I say, the words going in one ear and out the other. She nods her head up and down. "By the way," Emily asks, "Has anyone seen James?"
"No clue," Marina says. I shrug with half the sandwich in my mouth. Emily fixes her glasses before shoving a handful of Goldfish into her mouth. My heart's racing as I stare at my laptop. "Peyton, I know you're stressed, but honestly you'll be fine. Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. It's just one of those days I guess." Oh yeah, Peyton, one of those days indeed. "I think it's the rain."
"Milli Vanilli is quaking right now," Marina says. "Who?"
"Come on, Peyton, you're the one who's supposed to get my music taste!" Marina says. I shake my head and take another bite of my sandwich. At least she doesn't hate my music. "Oh hey! There's James!" Alina says. She points past me at who, I'm assuming, is James, but I don't turn around. Suddenly, the only thing I feel like doing is throwing up, but for my laptop's sake, I'm doing my best to hold it in. Everyone else has turned towards James, though, so no one notices that I've lost all the color in my face. I turn around, and we immediately lock eyes. He looks more nervous than I've ever seen him. I give him a thumbs up, and he inhales. He's just standing there as other people turn to look. Most of them turn around again once they've processed what's happening, but a few underclassmen continue to stare. He breathes again and then walks towards Emily who, in absolute shock, has covered her mouth with her hand. "Emily," James says, holding the bouquet out, "Will you go to prom with me?" She jumps up and down, and her thick black curls jump with her in every direction. "Ahh! Yes yes, of course, I will!" She hugs James, as he puts an arm awkwardly to her back. She sits back down next to me, and James takes the seat across from her, smiling to himself. I steal one of Emily's goldfish and eat it because that's the most vengeful I can be towards two of my best friends. This is it, at least; the bandage is ripped off. "What's that smile for, silly?" Marina asks James, "I did it," he says, "I didn't think I could." My heart throbs when he says it, I feel the quiver to his voice in the very bottom of my chest. I want to kiss him, I think. Ugh. There's nothing left to do but get over it, I guess, though some part of me knows it's impossible. I put on a smile and pat him on the back. His shoulders are tense, but he seems content. I decide that no matter what happens, I'll just be happy for him. It's the best way to say "I love you," without actually saying it.

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TRANSLATIONS AND A/N

"Peyton, mijo, despierta." - "Hey kiddo, get up."

"Adios puta. Que tengas un día horrible." - "Bye, bitch. Have an awful day."

"¡Vete a la mierda!" - "Go to hell!"

Sorry about last Saturday guys! Enjoy the update! :) -Joey