the melody of leaves brushing together filled me ears moments before i sat down on the log. "Hey Puppy."
"Oh—hey! you startled me Kari, i didn't realize anyone else was up."
"My bad, dude, i should have said somethin'.. so what exactly happened last night?"
"Well, you fell asleep, haha. but, yeah, we just ate stuff and...stuff. like, we tried to wake you up, but you were like dead!"
"oh.. wow i feel bad, like he did all this for me and then i fell asleep..." i pouted and started fiddling with a stick on the ground.
"don't worry about it shortstop, we just enjoy your company." he took out a couple of rods and passed me a sausage link and we started to roast. "at least you had fun while you were awake." he smiled.
"yeah, i can always count on you guys." i grinned. i watched the meat brown and took it off the fire.
"hey!" josh and jimmy ran up. "pass me a peen!" i laughed and blushed at thier vulgarity and passed them both a sausage each. "thanks, princess!"
"i am no princess.."
"pshhhyeah, you always say that shit." jimmy added. "you don't have to admit you feel like one, its alright!" he nudged me and smiled.
"yeah, princess, you're so modest!" josh tugged at my hair and i smacked him and laugh.
"i'm not a princess, i just have awesome friends."
"you sure do," doorstep squeezed between me and puppy. "and they all like dick!" we all laughed. he pulled out the skillet from the crate. "except me." he nodded as he dug through the cooler. "i like bacon." he winked and began his cooking.
"hey, hey, hey now, taking up the good log? who drove?!" josh and jimmy smiled guiltily and scooted over for him. "kari, you were knocked out."
"i know..why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"we tried, but you aparently sleep like a rock."
"Yeah," josh laughed "jimmy tried to make you piss yourself with that stupid water thing" they laughed under thier breath.
"aw, not cool Jimbo." i pouted my lip sarcastically.
"sorry, i just never done it before and wanted to know if it worked or not..."
"well did it? did i piss?"
"no...but Doorstep-"
"I DID NOT PISS MYSELF, JIMMY IS A LIAR." D had him in a half nelson with his mouth covered. "HE IS A GOD DAMN LIAR."
"sure dude, that's why you're chokin' him.'Cause you didn't piss yourself" i giggled at him and picked up another sausage to roast.
"i didn't piss my damn self!"
Jimmy squiggled free. "he's right, he didn't piss himself."
"see, i told you i-"
"he pissed all over Josh!"
"you motherfucker..." he looked over to the side in shame. the type of shame where you're embarrassed but still trying not to laugh.
---
not long after, they drove me home. i doubt my grandma noticed i hadn't come back, but at this time in the morning, she'd be awake. i crept as quietly as i could up the stairs and quietly closed the door. "myaw!" i looked next to the door and there was stain sitting inside of one of my shoes. "myaw!" she squealed and squiggled aorund and i picked her up and cuddled her. it doesn't seem like grandma was awake.
i poured a bowl of cereal and made myself some instand cappuccino. Leon always told me i was wierd because i don't eat my cereal with milk. i just don't like that stuff, it's like hot dogs; you like it until you find out where it comes from, except i never liked milk. it's mutated cow sweat. i won't drink mutated cow sweat unless you mix it with chocolate or strawberry, put it in my coffee, or blend it with fruit or shake it with icecream. cow sweat is not to be drank plain.
i got on the computer to check if there was a new episode of any of the shows i liked, posted online. i didn't have cable so i just looked on different web sites for shows. mainly Mtv and TeenNick. when i went to Leon's, she would always watch different TV shows and i took a liking to some of them, it turns out the network web sites actually post full episodes on the internet. so far there was nothing, so i just went to YouTube and looked for anime to watch. Leon said i was wierd for watching that too.
"Hello?" i answered my phone as it rang.
"Hey Kari! It's Meee!"
i held the phone farther away from my ear and sighed. "Yes, Leon, i can tell. Whats up?"
"oh, nothing.. just wondering, wanna hang out today? i'm bored and i have nothing to do."
"sure, what do you have in mind?"
"Hmm... wanna go to the mall? I heard they've got new stock delivered in 15 or more stores today!"
"sure, just give me a time and i'll be up there."
"Hmm.. lets meet up at 1 pm, sound good?"
"Yeah, that's fine with me."
"okay!! See you there, Ka-Ka!" i got quickly annoyed as i hung up the phone. i have told her a million times that it sounds like she's calling me the word for "poop" but she doesn't care. ugh. it just became 10:34 in the morning, so i guess i should get ready now.
i fed Stain after a quick shower, then tried my best to dry off my hair and stuck on a beanie. i tossed my bike lock into my bag and set on my mp3 player to a good starting song then began my way off to the mall. today i was in a cKy mood. i decided that tonight i would have myself a Jackass marathon. after a two hour bike ride, i think i deserve it. "you made it!"
"haha, yeah, i'm here." i locked my bike to the stand and knelt down to tie my shoe.
"ugh, hurry up. see, this is why i wear slip-ons instead on sneaks!" i tried to look away, finished tying and walked in with her. "so many stores! where should we go first?!" she gasped as she looked around. "the remodelling they did really perked it up here!"
"Hey! Hey Kari!" i saw a figure waving in the distance.
i squinted and took out one of my earbuds.
"Who's that?" Leon asked me as we were walking.
"i'm honestly not sure.." we sort of kept on walking, but i kept looking back, still not sure who was calling my name. i was afraid it was going to be someone from school that didn't like me. one time we came to the mall and this happened, it turned out to be one of the guys that bullied me at school. i didn't tell anybody besides Leon, but i liked his sister. when i came up here, i was talking to her in the food court just as a friend and everything was fine. then out of no where i was getting screamed at being called names, and laughed at and it was so embarrassed.. they called me a dyke and said they knew i liked her, and she was disgusted with me. she wont talk to me to this very day. i don't know how they found out, i know Leon would never tell my secret like that...
"what do you think about this skirt?" i held up an almost knee-length black skirt, it had ruffles and patches of different patterns, i thought it looked really cool.
"well, it's definately your style." she smiled. "you should try it on! let's find your size." she started looking through the circular rack. "what are you, 3, 4...?"
"i'm a zero..."
"but you've got a big ass! how does that fit in a zero!?"
"the real question is: why were you looking at my ass?"
"i wasn't looking at it, you just can't miss it. now get in there!" she shoved me into the dressing room with a size zero skirt and i tried it on and looked in the mirror. i shyly opened the door, hoping that no one was gonna see me out there. "aww, see you look cute in a skirt."
"i do?" i twirled around a little. "it feels so wierd to wear one."
"yea, you look great! you've got nice legs, it's hard to tell when they're always covered up in those baggy pants and shorts. that's probably why you don't look as skinny as you really are."
"i never really thought about that.. i like the way i look though."
"i do too, i don't think the way you dress is bad at all or anything like that. i'm just saying, you're a cute girl Kari, you can pull off stuff like skirts and stuff!"
"i guess i've just been too scared to wear these kinds of things."
"Karina Araceli Rivera, afraid? the girl that jumped off of my roof into a pool, kills snakes in my garden and holds poisonous frogs in her bare hands? i call bullshit. if you can ride your bike with no hands then you can wear a skirt."
"but..."
"but what?"
"my...my undies.."
"wear your dance spanks under your skirt. no one will see your Happy Bunny underpants." she smiled.
we giggled at eachother and i blushed a little. i never thought i'd see myself buying a skirt. we walked up to the cash register and i bought the skirt. Leon bought a couple of things too, some earings and a necklace, both pink.
maybe i'll wear my new skirt to church tomorrow.
"Kari! Kari!" that same guy was waving at me again from afar.
"Jeez, who is that guy? this is the 3rd time he's called your name."
"i seriously don't know...it's buggin me out a little."
"well, wanna go over there?"
"uhh, not really. what if it's some creepy dude or someone who doesn't like me from school?"
"i don't think someone would be trying this hard to get your attention if they really didn't like you. and i want a smoothie. come on." she grabbed my wrist and tugged me down to the smoothie shop. i was already humiliated.
"Hey Kari! Hi...Kari's...dragger?"
"I'm Leon! Kari's official bestie." she smiled. "Who might you be?" i stood by quietly, still having my wrist held.
"I'm Mark, Kari's old gradeschool friend." he laughed and they exchanged smiles. i just looked away. "hey kari, its been years.. i recognized you super quickly, you still walk the way you did when we were little, still tiny and everything. i was sure it was you." i smiled and nodded awkwardly and started messing with my mp3 player. "how you been?"
"i've been good.. how about you." i was still a bit wary, i'm trying to give him a second chance, but i can't help but hate him a little for how he treated me all of elementary school.
"i'm great! i just got this job here at Smoothie King. i love it!" he smiled. "i think i saw you guys at the movie theater the other day, my main man Eli was with ya'll."
"oh? then why didn't you come up then?" Leon inquired looking at him suspiciously.
"i had just gotten dumped only minutes before i saw you two walked in."
"that's tough, sorry hun." she frowned. "you seem like such a nice guy though."
"thanks, i think i am too, she said she thought i was cheating on her or something. turns out later that night, i saw her leaving with another guy. you wanna order something?"
"yeah, banana pineapple for me and strawberry coconut for Kay." he nodded and got the ingrediants out. "i wanna know the juicy details!"
"Leon... come on, dude just got dumped." i looked up at her.
she looked down. "i'm sorry.. that was kind of impulsive of me."
"hey it's all good, i don't mind telling you." he turned on the blender for one as he started cutting up some of the fruit for mine. "well, see i got an email from her saying that there was a new movie out, it was cool invite e-card thing she made all cute and fancy, so you know, i'm all excited about it. in the email it says don't reply just meet me there. so i go, and i'm there at the time she says, which is 2 o'clock. she gets there, and practically flips shit when she sees me." he put the pieces of coconut, banana and strawberry in the blender.
"wow, that's kind of wierd. she sent you the invite...what was she so surprised about?"
"honestly i was totally in the dark until i called her that night. she was super mad at me, like i didn't know what the hell i did. she breaks out every mistake i've never made from cheating on a test to finding money and keeping it for myself; which for the record, nobody claimed." he poured our smoothies into cups. "she started giving me statistics on how people who cheat in school are more likely to cheat on thier spouses and marriage. so i'm like 'spouses?' we've been dating for 3 months.. she makes up this story of how i'm cheating on her and says i'm being argumentative and stuff, she turns around, then looks back at me all worried and upset looking and breaks up with me on the spot. i'm just confused." he handed us the smoothies. "one second, i'm gonna clock out for break."
we took our smoothies and sat down at a table, he walks over with a lunch box and sits down across from me and leon at the booth. "so did she tell you what was going on?"
"reluctanty, but yes. so i called her that night, right? i promise to God i'm not one of those crazy dudes that calls thier girl 50 times or anything, but i called her 13 times before she picked up, i just really wanted to know what the hell was going on."
"what happened?!" asked Leon in awe.
"she said the email was meant for someone else. our email's both start with the letters 'un'' and she accidentally clicked mine. it was another guy. she was cheating on me. i couldn't believer it. she said she accidentally sent it to me and didn't know. but the other guy still came."
"she sounds cunning." i mumbled as i drank a big gulp, getting myself a brainfreeze.
"you ain't lyin'." he shook his head as he took a bite of his sandwhich.
"damn, how long were they seeing eachother?" Leon added in.
"a month, apparently. it's some college guy she met at a party or something in Cincinnati, according to her friend Ashley. apparently she blabbed to her all about it."
"Ashley Serandon!? She told me something similar about Kelsey Durbin."
"Yep, i was dating Kelsey Durbin..."
"You poor thing.. i wish we could have met sooner. everyone knows she plays guys like monopoly."
"we met at a festival, i didn't know her and i don't go to Ranceburg Local so i knew nothing about her. it's a shame, haha."
"aw, well cheer up bud! it's gonna be alright!"
"yeah, a girl like that isn't worth sweatin' over, dude. i never thought i'd say this to you but i feel bad for you, man."
"i never thought you would either. and i'm still sorry about... you know."
"we're cool." i smiled and held out my fist.
"cool." he bumped me and we all finished our food.
"hey!" Leon called to him. "send me an e-mail." she took out a pink sharpie and wrote her screen name on his forearm, walked away and waved.
he waved back. i looked back at him, and he was rolling his sleeve down, looking around, i giggle quietly. "what?" leon asked.
"Nothing." i laughed.
"and what is he saying sorry for? did you guys date or something."
"he bullied me all of gradeschool."
"wow, i would have never thought he'd be a bullying type." we laughed and walked out of the mall, then i rode my bike home.
No comments:
Post a Comment