The truth was…. I was scared out of my mind.
Last night, nothing might have happened between Donna and James, but it was just easier for me to think something did. Besides, wasn’t it a matter of time before James realized who he was wasting his time with and left for someone better, like Donna?
Self esteem problems here (pointing at myself right now).
I.
Have.
Problems!
Anyways, moving past that, Jenna and I hung out at the park for another twenty minutes. She went home to rest, and on my way home, my phone vibrated, chiming with an incoming text.
It was Jenna.
Jenna: Oh Anna, it seems somebody was actually very busy last Sunday.
Annabelle: What are you talking about?
Jenna: I’m on Latisha’s Facebook. She put up pictures from last Sunday night, you know their little get together
I opened Latisha’s Facebook page on my phone. There was a picture of everyone enjoying that night, and in the background was Donna… sitting on James’ lap with his arms around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. She was slumped into him, and they were both smiling at the camera.
So this…. was how it really was.
Instead of hanging out with me last Sunday, he had Miss Queen ‘B’ sitting on his lap, taking pictures together. I inhaled a deep breath and looked away from the screen.
My phone vibrated in my hand, chiming with an incoming text.
Tiger: Why won’t you answer my calls?
Tiger: So now you aren’t going to answer my texts. Real nice. We need to talk.
Annabelle: What’s there to talk about? I know what you’ve been doing behind my back. It’s online.
Tiger: I haven’t done anything!
Annabelle: I’m not an idiot. I heard about last night, your little party with DONNA and her friends. There’s a picture of you with her sitting on your lap and your head on her shoulder.
Tiger: I don’t want her!
Annabelle: I don’t believe you…. just go be with her and leave me alone!
Tiger: Stop acting like this. Donna and her friends just showed up. They weren’t supposed to be there.
Anna: Just GO be with her. I’m not right for you. And whether you want to be with her or not, I don’t care anymore.
Tiger: You don’t care anymore…
Annabelle: Yeah, that’s right. I don’t care anymore. All you do is play with my feelings.
Tiger: You know what…I don’t need this too. You have no idea what kind of stress I’m under. I get enough shit at home and at practice, I don’t need it from anyone else. Forget this.
Annabelle: BYE
Fuming, I tucked my phone back into my pocket and headed down the sidewalk. My pocket vibrated again and I yanked the phone out, ready for round two only to be surprised when Dean’s name was on my screen instead.
Dean: Hi, what are you doing now?
Annabelle: I’m walking home, u playing baseball now?
Dean: Taking a break…. thinking about you.
Annabelle: Really?
Dean: Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about your cute face.
Annabelle: Thanks…..
Dean: Anna, you want to go out tonight?
Annabelle: Okay, where, what time?
Dean: I’ll pick you up at 6pm, is that good?
Annabelle: I’ll text my address.
Dean: Can’t wait.
Annabelle: Me too!
I had a date to get ready for!
I rushed home, ready with a story to help get me out of the house tonight, hopefully interrogation free.
The front door shut behind me. One shoe knocked off, the second slipping off just as Mom walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel. “How do you feel?”
I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I just needed to walk, the exercise really helped.”
“Really!” Mom squealed, like it’s the best news she’s ever heard. “I’m so happy. You see Anna, treat your body right and everything will be okay.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Anyways, can I go to Jenna’s house? She has all my homework and notes from today.” I explained.
Mom thought about it for a second before replying. “What about dinner?”
“I’ll eat at her house and I’ll make sure it’s within my calories.” I promised.
Mom thought about it again for a few seconds before replying. “Alright, but be home before ten, it’s a school night.”
“Yeah, for sure.” I responded excitedly and rushed up the stairs to my room, skipping steps along the way.
*~*~*
I weighed myself before leaving the house, and the scale blinked 161lbs….
The loss was evident in my waistline, but celebrating was the last thing I wanted to do. Most of my pants were barely fitting me anymore. I’d scoured my closet, settling on a pair of flared black jeans, and a dark purple tank top that hadn’t fit for the last two years, but somehow today after sliding it on, it did.
I waited on the curb a block away from my house. I gave Dean my address, sort of. A horn honked behind me, I turned and a black Honda drove to a stop in front of me. The driver’s window rolled down, revealing a smiling Dean. “Hey, cutie.”
“Hey, you.” I said back, a smile on my face as I rounded the car to the passenger side. Inside with my seatbelt on, I faced him. “Cool car.”
“Thanks, I saved up to buy it.” he informed happily. “You look really good.”
“Thanks,” I told him, eyeing his fitted blue shirt, showcasing his strong build. “You look good too.”
When I met his eyes again, they were serious.
I cleared my throat. “So, where are we going?”
He smiled. “Do you like frozen yogurt?”
I smiled and nodded.
Oh yeah, I knew I liked him for a reason!
*~*~*
Dean took us to a self-serve frozen yogurt shop in a plaza twenty minutes from my house. We joked about our selections. He picked a crazy combination of flavors that I thought was odd, but he laughed it off saying I didn’t know what I was missing and that there was no wrong choice when it came to mingling frozen yogurt.
Then he did something really nice after our bowls were weighed.
He paid for mine.
“Thanks.” I said as he took the receipt from the cashier.
He turned back and smiled shyly. “No problem.”
We took our bowls to the top floor balcony and sat at a table next to the railing overlooking the parking lot. I took my first spoonful, relishing the atmosphere. A girl could get used to this.
“You’ve got really nice skin.” Dean said all of a sudden, taking the spoon from his mouth. I gave him a shy smile.
“Thank you?” I replied, unsure.
I should give him a compliment now, anything but ‘nice’ though. I was going to remind myself of that a million times if I had to. I couldn’t screw this up like last time at Peter’s party. I needed to call him something sexy and manly.
But I couldn’t call him a wild beast…. it was overboard.
“You’re cool.” I said slowly, as if I didn’t know if it made sense or not. I jerked slightly, feeling him caress my fingers.
“Sorry,” he choked, pulling his hand away.
“It’s okay.” I replied softly, slightly nervous. My heart was pounding at a mile a second.
James who?
“James!” An annoying, familiar voice screamed out, making me jump.
What!
I glanced over the railing and gasped quietly at a large black SUV parking. The windows were all the way down and the entire car was full of people. The car doors opened and its passengers spilled out, but most noticeably a certain auburn haired vixen, rolling her hips and poking her chest out as she stepped out of the passenger side seat.
“James!” Donna screamed again, chasing him around the SUV. James skidded to a halt and Donna tried to hit his shoulder but he ducked.
“You almost killed us!” she squealed, pouting her lips, putting her hands to her hips, and pumping her boobs out some more.
“Those guys go to your school right?” Dean asked out of nowhere. I faced him and nodded.
“Yeah.” I answered, not wanting to look back out to the parking lot.
“Loud aren’t they?” Dean joked, making a funny face that screamed ‘they’re annoying’.
“Yeah, they’re a loud bunch. You should see them before class starts in the mornings, they shout at the top of their lungs.” I explained, slumping into my seat and picking up my bowl.
Dean laughed. “They’re attention seekers.”
“You said it.” I mumbled, putting a spoonful of cherry cheesecake frozen yogurt in my mouth.
“What about him?” Dean asked, eying me seriously, all joking gone.
“Who?” I pretended like I didn’t know whom he was asking about, but I had a feeling it was James.
“The driver, what’s his name?” Dean asked. “I recognize him from Peter’s party.”
I reluctantly glanced back out to the parking lot and eyed the loud crowd painfully. Taking a nervous breath, I faced Dean again. “Why do you think I’d know his name?”
“Because I saw you talk to him after we slow danced.” Dean confessed, looking away for a few seconds.
“His name is James. We used to work together at the country club, Royal Heights.” I explained, nonchalantly.
Dean looked relieved all of a sudden. “So you guys just worked together?”
“Yeah, why? Did you think that there was something between us?” I asked, trying not to gulp.
Just act normal. Deny, deny, deny.
“Yeah, at the party, I saw him grab your arm for a second, but you pulled back.” Dean said, swirling his spoon inside his bowl.
“Yeah, he was just saying ‘hi’, but I think he was a little drunk.” I explained, fake laughing, trying to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.
It.
Was.
A.
Very.
Big.
Deal!
“I want frozen yogurt!” A girl’s voice pleaded loudly from downstairs. My heartbeat picked up in speed. They could not walk in here, not that I was ashamed of being with Dean, but I did not want a confrontation with James.
Things would get awkward, fast.
“Let’s get pizza first.” One of the boys said.
All of them agreed and my heart rate returned back to normal. But that meant I had a good ten minutes before they decided to come back to the frozen yogurt shop. The balcony was a great place to hang out and they’d probably come up here to enjoy their frozen yogurt.
“Dean, you want to get out of here?” I asked, praying he’d say yes.
“What? We’re not done.” he said, looking confused and eying our half eaten bowls.
“We can go to a park and eat there.” I suggested, hopeful he would agree. “Please.”
He smiled. “Alright, just because you said please.”
With our bowls in tow, we made our way out the store. Dean’s car was parked across from James’, and the pizza store was in direct line of sight. I ducked my head down.
“Is everything okay?” Dean asked, walking beside me.
“Yeah, my neck hurts a little.” I explained, stretching my neck out to prove it.
When we arrived at his car and stood in front of our respective doors, he smiled looking over the hood at me. “Maybe I can give it a massage?”
My face felt like a thermometer about to burst.
“Okay.” I answered quietly, shyly.
We stared at one another, transfixed. For a moment, I forgot that James and his friends were in the pizza shop. If he turned to check his car now, he’d probably see us. Dean broke the connection and got into the driver’s side.
Before getting in the car, I took a chance and glanced at the pizza shop. I jerked slightly in surprise, spotting someone leaning behind the window, glaring in my direction.
*~*~*
At a local park, we sat on a bench and finished our bowls in peaceful silence. Dean took our empty bowls and threw them in the trashcan. He sat right beside me again, this time putting his arm over my shoulder.
“Thanks for coming out with me.” he murmured loud enough for me to hear, and close enough that I could feel his breath on my face.
“You’re welcome.” I exhaled sharply, my heart racing from his touch.
“Anna?” Dean murmured, close to my ear.
“Yeah.” I gulped.
“You smell good,” he confessed.
I laughed. “Thank you?”
“No really, you smell like coconut and honey.” Dean blurted out nervously.
“I put some lotion on before coming out.” I informed him, grinning.
He was so cute.
“Dean?”
“Yeah.” he said breathily.
I faced him. “It’s getting dark.”
He blinked. “You want to go home?”
“I don’t know, what do you want to do?” I asked him, curling my hands into my sweater jacket. It held my phone, wallet and keys.
“We could go for a drive?” he suggested, smiling. “Actually there’s this thing at a baseball diamond near here. I told my buddies I wouldn’t be coming, but if you’re up for it, we could go and I can introduce you to some of my friends?”
I nodded happily. “Okay, let’s go.”