Chapter 7
Me: How was school?
Rocky: Boring without you.
One week. It’s been one week of me stuck in the hell hole I called my house, and one week away from my friends. I cringed hearing my mother hawk up a loogie in the room next door, wishing that I was just in the middle of a bad dream. Desperate to lose myself, I picked up the phone once more.
Me: Has anybody been bothering you?
Rocky: If you’re talking about Dwight, yes.
Okay, maybe that was a bad way of losing myself. My blood boiled as my fingers took on a mind of its own.
Me: Tell me exactly what he did and don’t lie.
A few seconds ticked by with no answer. “Come on, Rocky. Stop thinking of a lie.”
Finally, after a few minutes my phone buzzed, and to my disappointment it was definitely not the answer I wanted to see.
Rocky: He asked me to homecoming.
Me: Did you tell him you had a date already?
Rocky: You mean the date that ditched me?
I couldn’t tell if the pain in my stomach was caused by irritation, guilt, or the leftover pork chop I found in the back of the fridge that night. I stared at my screen, typing, retyping, and erasing over and over again. Racking my brain for a response that wouldn’t piss my best friend off, I was relieved to hear the PING of her response.
Rocky: I said no of course.
I let out a sigh of relief and deleted my string of gibberish. Deciding I didn’t want to talk about the meathead anymore, I abruptly changed the subject to happier thoughts.
Me: Seeing as we BOTH don’t have dates, you wanna continue our cheesy movie night tradition? I’ll supply the popcorn ;)
Damn, a winky face emoticon? What’s happening to you, Jesse? I frowned as I watched three dots bounce across my screen. She was definitely typing something and hesitating. Hmm…
Me: You have something against acid washed jeans and teased hair?
Rocky: Don’t be mad be at me.
Though my heart was pounding at this point, I decided to keep the mood light.
Me: Okay, I admit I hate acid washed jeans myself, but the hair is awesome.
Rocky: Jesse, I was still planning on going to the dance.
Feeling my heart threatening to escape my ribcage, I ground my teeth together. If she had said no to Dwight, maybe she had said yes to somebody else. At the risk of sounding like an overbearing boyfriend, I typed out the one question that I really didn’t want to know the answer to.
Me: Are you going alone?
Rocky: Nah, I was planning on tagging along with Steph.
I calmed down a bit, but still felt on edge.
Me: Surprised she went for that idea.
Rocky: I’ll be there for moral support.
Me: Moral support for what? Watching them make out in front of you?
Rocky: Haha. For your info it’s a girl thing. You wouldn’t understand.
Me: You’re right.
Rocky: Anyway, I have to go. Unlike some people, I have school tomorrow.
Me: Fine. Gnite.
Rocky: Nite
I tossed my phone aside and fell back onto my bed. Shutting my eyes tightly, I imagined a far different scenario where Rocky wouldn’t need to be the third wheel. I’d show up at her door, corsage in hand, ready to treat her like the princess that she was. Once we arrived at the dance I’d never let her go, relishing in the feeling of her soft skin under my hands.
Yeah, that would have been perfect. Too bad I was always far from perfect.
Chapter 8
I’m not a creeper, I promise. However, I admit that everything I did on homecoming night was nothing short of stalker.
First, there was the fact that I sat at the precise street corner, at the precise angle, and at the precise time Rocky was leaving for the dance. I really didn’t know why I did it, but chalked it up to being a masochist with an undying need to torture myself with something that I couldn’t have.
I remained hidden behind a bush, muttering curse words under my breath. “Dwight better not fucking show up if he knows what’s good for him.”
Okay, if I were being honest, maybe I was there to find out if Rocky had lied to me after all. Not that I could fault her; I mean, I had made my feelings about Dwight well known. Still, I couldn’t quiet down my incessant need to protect her from a condom-bearing, horny meathead.
To my relief, it wasn’t Dwight who rolled up to her driveway. I sighed with relief once I heard Steph’s annoying chatter echo through the street.
“Come on! We’re late!” she hissed. “I told you not to spend too long fixing your hair. Look at it! It looks exactly the same.”
Daniel’s shoulders slumped forward. “You know she’s gonna do nothing but cock block us, right? I was hoping we’d have some time together tonight.”
“Like you’d be getting some regardless,” Stephanie replied with a laugh.
I smirked, watching the two bicker as they knocked on the front door. If those two didn’t disturb the neighborhood, I didn’t know what would. I was about ready to plug my ears when suddenly all arguments ceased. In fact, all three of us immediately stilled.