Pride of the 90's

Chapter 17

It's been a month and a half since Brandon and I started dating. Since then, We've spent a lot of time together. We got back on track with this stupid project and got some work done. Haley actually got into working on it, too. Which was the biggest surprise, since she never does the work. She even finished her own paper before we did.

Why does that terrify me?

"Love. It's when, like, two peple really like each other to the point where it hurts, I guess? Like, not like 'I can't be with you because I feel my heart ready to explode and I might die of a heart attack or whatever' kinda hurt. Like, if they leave, it'll hurt a lot kinda hurt and then you get all sad and eat a tub of Ben and Jerry's, which probably doesn't exist, but really should and it should be called the breakup line. Anyway, you get all crazy and start cutting pictures of their faces out of other pictures and gluing it over other peoples faces so it looks like they're with you and you sneak into their house and start masturbating on their stuff to 'claim your territory' or whatever. Anyway, that's what love is."

Had I known this was going to be a presentation, I would have done the work for her.

Everyone went silent. Oh, my god, this is all my fault. I spent to much time with Brandon, thus creating a monster. But am I the monster or is she? Or is my love for Brandon the monster and that's why she wrote that? Oh, my god, I didn't break with Madison for a week so I could be with Brandon, which led her to wondering what Madison was doing and leading her this point.

I really hope she never decides to write children's books.

"Wow," Jones said in...fear? Astonishment? Admiration? "I mean...wow. That was...I'm gonna have nightmares for the rest of my life after hearing that. I mean...Danny."
"Yeah?" I said, my head on the table and hands firmly on the back of my head. If science has taught me anything, with enough force, you can break anything by slowly add enough pressure to crush anything.
"Did you let her write her own paper?" I nodded in response. "Okay. Okay, well, Haley, I will make you a deal: If you never, and I mean NEVER speak in my class again, I will pass you for the rest year. Okay?"
"Okay!" She said, presumably skipping to her seat. She had to have planned this.
"Okay..."

I picked my head up, my eyes readjusting from the nightmare I just-NOPE! It's real. It's totally real and I allowed it to happen.

"So what did you think?" She asked, almost proud of herself.
"You should have let me write it for you," I said, defeated.
"Right? I have no idea what I'm doing."

Brandon was barely paying attention. He started sitting with us after the first couple weeks, so now the table he used to be at is now covered in books and old papers. Nobody has come at Brandon in a while, either. He did, however, get people asking him about Mason. Some of the kids from our school were there that night at the mall and saw it all go down. Mason tried playing it off like he got into this huge fight, but not only did nobody believe him, mostly because even Tiny Tina could pick him up and hang him like a light, but none of his friends could get the story straight.

Eric told people his girlfriend did it after catching him with another girl, which nobody believed because of his weird obsession with Madison. Kevin told everyone it was a football accident which, again, nobody bought. Nobody could tell what Riley was saying, so that alibi was lost. Mason kept switching it up, so nobody had the full information. It stopped when Madison asked and I told her what happened, which she thought was pretty funny. So she did her usual and spread it around.

Since that night, the air at school felt different, too. They weren't as loud and started to blend in. I think everyone stopped being so afraid of them, too. I guess it only takes one person to tell a group of idiots that they're, well, idiots. Everyone just sort of forgot they were there. Maybe Brandon's punk attitude is starting to stick to me. I like it.