just a stupid high school dance.”
I had to hand it to Rocky. She had a way of manipulating us without making us feel manipulated. My mom could take a few lessons from her.
“You really think so? Do you think he’ll really go out with me?” Stephanie yanked at her long strands and shut her eyes. For a moment I felt a bit guilty. I always forgot that my ‘irritating’ friend had a soft spot—an insecurity.
Before Rocky could respond, I reached out and patted Stephanie’s shoulder. “Of course. Just as long as you have a vagina, a teenage boy will always jump at the chance.”
The look of doubt left Steph’s face and was replaced with annoyance. “Okay, but if this ends badly I’ll find you and murder you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Written elf porn. I got it.” I shrugged my shoulders but couldn’t help wondering if she really did have a boiling pot of water waiting for me.
Chapter 5
Rocky was right. Everything did work out. In the month that led up to homecoming, Stephanie and Daniel started dating and Rocky and I continued our afterschool art sessions. There was nothing I looked forward to more than sitting in that beat-up desk chair and allowing Rocky’s eyes to travel over me. That one moment a day trumped every shitty thing in my life. I could look past my mother’s insults, her lack of love, and reminders that I sucked as a person. I could ignore the fact that my dad hadn’t called or checked up on me in weeks. I could also ignore the fact that my self-imposed rule to “stay away” was an outright failure because hell, I deserved some semblance of happiness too, right? The intimacy of sitting in a dim, silent room pushed any reservations I had aside. Why couldn’t Rocky and I get together? Would we really be doomed if I decided to ask her out?
“Why’d you ask me to homecoming?” Rocky didn’t look up and kept her gaze locked onto her work.
I didn’t really mean to.
I blinked in surprise as if caught with my hand down in the cookie jar. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“Why’d you ask me out?” she repeated.
“Oh, that clarifies it.” I snickered.
“Jesse.”
How could I tell her that it was a misunderstanding, though one I was really thankful for?
“I…uh…”
“Jesse!” Mom screamed.
Oh thank God! For once in my life I was actually relieved to see my mother. The door burst open, revealing the fuming woman. Her chest rose and fell, and despite the anger flaring in her eyes she looked as if she were on the verge of tears. With trembling fingers, she held out the house phone toward me. “Your father wants to speak with you.”
I froze.
“Um, I think I should go.” Without waiting for a reply, Rocky practically sprinted out of my room. I couldn’t really blame her. Mom looked as if she was ready to throw objects.
Anxiety’s cold fingers wrapped themselves around my heart. A cool rush of icy fear ran up and down my veins. Mom stayed put, watching my every move, and I knew whatever Dad had to say must have been pretty important. Not to mention bad.
“Can I get some privacy?” I practically yelped out.
To my surprise—and utter relief—Mom retreated without another word, leaving me staring at the crusty old cordless phone in my hand. There were old pieces of food caked onto the receiver, and though that alone should have disgusted me, I suddenly felt numb. Hesitantly, I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Jesse.” I don’t know what I expected his voice to sound like. Maybe different? Older? The fact that it sounded exactly the same as my memories did more to jar me than anything.
“What do you want?” I asked bluntly.
“Son—”
“Please don’t call me that.”
There was a slight pause, followed by an uncomfortable cough. “Jesse, I…am getting remarried. I wanted you to hear it from me, and I also wanted to ask you to be my best man.”
I felt as if I was gutted, though I didn’t know why I reacted that way. I wasn’t stupid. I hadn’t held onto the fallacy that my parents would somehow get back together. I was all for believing the unbelievable, but that hope was just too much to even entertain. Still, hearing that your dad was starting a life away from you was nothing less than a blow to the ego and to the heart.
“Jesse?” This time his voice sounded hesitant, which definitely wasn’t a familiar sound to my ear.
“I…I have