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blondemoment22

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I pressed my forehead against the freezing cold door of my locker to wake myself up a bit. I couldn’t really remember what homework I had this weekend, so I just chucked everything in my bag. Subconsciously, my eyes rose to scan the horizon for Gavin. He must have left already. I was kind of peeved about that; I didn’t even get a goodbye? Dickwad.

            Kaelyn had cooled off since lunch and smiled widely at me. “Come on, we should get to Aspen’s early,” she said. I was glad to not have to take the bus anymore. Watching the freshmen and sophomores run toward the closing doors made me laugh. The bus was a pit of unwanted gossip and terrible body odor that I would never have to endure again if Kaelyn kept giving me rides.

            We inched slowly through the parking lot. I curled my knees up to my chin on the passenger seat and turned the radio up to the classic rock station. These dudes knew what life was really about; love making, tight pants, and big hair. You didn’t have to be good looking as long as you could woo the ladies with your smooth voice and catchy guitar licks.

            Scorpions’ “Still Loving You” came on and I moaned.

            Kaelyn made a face. “You like this?”

            “You don’t?” I accused.

            “No,” she said, insulted. “Listen to his voice, it’s all… nasally.” She and I were on opposite ends of the airwaves when it came to musical interest.

            “If we'd go again all the way from the start, I would try to change the things that killed our love,” I sang, head tilted back to the roof, eyes shut tight.

            “Oh my gosh, stop,” she begged.

            I kicked it up another decibel and kept going. “Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can't get through. Is there really no chance to start once again? I'm loving you…”

            She turned it off, leaving me wailing in silence. Someone rapped their knuckles on my window and I opened my eyes. Gavin gazed at me with his mouth open. I rolled the window down and smiled questioningly at him.

            “That just gave me a boner,” he said, smirking.

            “What are you doing here?” I asked. Kaelyn had assumed her position at ten and two on the wheel, staring down the car in front of us.

            He shrugged and propped his elbows on the inside of the window. “I dunno. I got bored sitting there.” He jabbed a thumb behind him to where his car was idling. “I saw you and I was like, what the fuck is she doing, so I came to check it out.” I nodded and he nodded back. He chuckled and added, “I was kinda making sure there was no one under your seat making your face do that.”

            “You’re sick, you know that?” I teased.

            He lifted his eyebrows, pulling his lower lip behind his front teeth. “Yeah, I do,” he replied.

            The car jerked forward a few feet, knocking his arms out. He swore and jumped back. I mouthed an apology and waved him off. Hoisting his jeans up, he weaved through the antsy traffic and slid into his black Corvette. Damn, he looked hot behind the wheel of that thing. That was the kind of observation I usually beat to the back of my mind, but it felt good finally having it smolder in the front.

            Kaelyn rolled the window up again. “Why are you dating him?” she demanded.

            The silence buzzed in my ears, or maybe that was my frustration at her interrupting my daydream. “Because I like him. I have for, like, two years,” I answered.

            She gave an eye roll and crossed her arms. “Okay, but don’t come crying to me…” she trailed off.

            I sat up suddenly. “What are you talking about?”

            The line of cars was moving steadily now, and she followed close behind. “Never mind.” She flicked on the radio to a mellow pop station. I let her fester in her negativity and bobbed my head to the silly beat of the song. We hadn’t had a girl night in who knows how long. It had been way too long since I’d wasted the night away with gossip and caramel popcorn.

            I hopped out of the car before Kaelyn had brought it to a complete stop in front of my house. No one had gotten home yet, and I let out a shriek of joy that I would be leaving in a couple minutes for something other than school, and skipped down the stairs to my bedroom. I rifled through my drawers and pulled out a pair of bright orange skinny jeans and a burgundy UMD hoodie my mom had given me when her pregnancy fat refused to get lost. Color coordination was never one of my talents. I tossed all that in my bag and gathered up various toiletries I didn’t want to borrow from Aspen in the morning.

            I scribbled a quick note to my parents saying where I’d be just so they wouldn’t call and bother me all night. The slamming of the front door behind me sent my adrenaline pumping again. Ah, sweet freedom.

“PJ, I have to tell you something,” Aspen said between breaths as she set down her now empty can of strawberry soda. We’d just had a pop pong and she’d lost, as usual.

            “Yeah, what?” I asked. She and Liza glanced at each other, smiles spreading over their mouths.

            “You and Gavin!” Liza exclaimed.

            “It’s about time,” Aspen said. She grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in her mouth and then continued talking. “You guys were like always all over each other; I don’t know why you complained so much.”

            I started to argue, but realized that it didn’t have a point; she was right.

            “She likes to complain,” Kaelyn said.

            “Shut up, I do not,” I laughed.

            Liza had gotten up and was digging through the kitchen. She groaned dramatically. “Aspen, don’t you have anything with more caffeine?”

            “Nope! And don’t look for any medicine, all we have is cough syrup,” she answered. She squealed suddenly, “It’s back on!” Ashton Kutcher came on the screen and ranted about the next prank he was going to pull. If Aspen were to ever meet him in person, she’d be the one to get hauled away by security for trying to rip his clothes off. I watched in awe as she stared unblinkingly at him.

            “Was it really that obvious?” I asked. It was a moment before anyone responded.

            “Are you kidding me?” Liza finally said. “It was disgusting.”

            “Then why were you always trying to set me up with guys at parties?” I retorted.

            She sighed. “So you could see how much you wanted to be with Gavin instead!” Yeah, like I would have ever figured that out.