Chapter 2, Part 2 - Asia

Asia has had more boyfriends in six years than some girls ever will, and she's set her eye on someone new...but this guy is different.

           I was loving school. It was a drag to wake up early again, after a summer of sleeping in until one in the afternoon, but I was having a blast in the first phase of graduation. My course load couldn’t have been easier. I had English, Economics, Web Page Design, and Study Hall. Not that Economics was easy, but Maggie was there with me and she wouldn’t let me fail. (She told me that herself when I said the class sounded hard, but I didn’t think she would anyway. She’s a good kid.) And in English, I was getting to know that Andrew guy pretty well. He was really smart, almost as smart as Dawn. Just by being there, he kept me from falling asleep in class.

            The first week was almost over when Andrew and I started talking online. I was wondering if he was going to initiate friendship outside of the class. Normally I’d do it myself, but that had backfired pretty bad last year with Tyler and I’d been a little hesitant since then.

            It was Thursday afternoon and Andrew said he’d try to get online before he had to leave for band practice, so I sped out of school after the last bell. Dawn had to go to piano lessons and couldn’t take me home, leaving me to bum a ride off of Madison. Madison lived in the same neighborhood as me, but it was a pretty big area and we lived at opposite ends. Luckily she was also giving rides to Felicia and Kevin, who lived further out then me, which made me feel better. I practically bolted out of her car when she pulled up outside my house, but I yelled “thank you” over my shoulder because it wouldn’t be polite if I didn’t. I was already in the back door as she peeled out of the cul-de-sac I lived on.

            It took me two seconds to get up to my room, which is impressive because usually I have a home-from-school ritual. On any normal day, I would saunter into the kitchen, grab something to eat, and turn on the TV. I get home just in time to watch General Hospital, so I usually put in an hour there. After that, I wander around the house, hitting every room on the first floor and then moving to the second, just because I’m bored but Dawn thinks it’s because I’m lonely and am actually searching for someone who isn’t there. I think it would be creepy if I did find someone there, because my parents work until late and Michele and Jake don’t live at home anymore, so I should be the only one in the house.

My favorite rooms to visit are the bedrooms, because they’re kind of like time capsules. Michele’s is especially clean. She hasn’t lived in it for about four years, ever since she got her nursing job, but it still looks like her room. The bed still has the lacey white canopy over it, the walls have the framed pictures that our grandmother sewed for her. Her closet doesn’t have much in it anymore, because either the clothes were given away or she passed them on to me (I didn’t take much because our styles are pretty different) but there are storage bins with her old schoolwork in them, and I like looking at those. Jake’s room is also like that, dark blue walls and comforter, pictures of old friends and girlfriends taped to the wall by his desk. He goes to school in Florida so he usually stays there year-round, but he comes back at holidays and so his room still gets lived in.

I don’t spend as much time searching my parents’ room; it’s kind of sacred, you know? It’s like the one space in the house that is just for them. Still, I can’t help but sneak in sometimes, just to smell their closet (old leather from my dad’s belts and shoes, which is usually what he smells like too) and to look at my mom’s jewelry drawer. She has the prettiest jewelry, all sparkly and kept carefully in the velvet boxes she got them in, but she hardly ever wears any. It’s too bad, because she’s so beautiful that she should be wearing jewelry all the time. Mom is Colombian, so she’s got this lightly tanned complexion and black curls, so pretty and striking, especially when she’s in her white hospital coat. I keep pictures of her on my wall near my bed, because when I don’t feel like getting out of it, looking at them makes me feel happier.

And then there’s my room, a jumble of the order that the rest of house commands and my own craziness. The bed covers are white like Michele’s, but the posts are covered in stickers. I love stickers, especially the puffy kinds, which feel soft and kind of like balloons. The walls are almost completely covered. They used to be white, but now they’re multi-colored from all the pictures and collages I’ve put up. I love making collages, cutting out pretty scenes or drawings from magazines. I have one made up of all the pictures that accompanied Dawn’s mom’s articles in the past year or so.

But skipping the ritual wasn’t the impressive part of that afternoon, it was just the fact that I got in the house and ran up the stairs so fast. I only run like that when I’m trying to stop the other team from scoring during soccer games, never in my own home. I nearly slipped and fell up the stairs because my flip-flops flew off at the bottom, but I caught myself and kept going. Down the hall, into my room, flying into the swivel chair in front of my computer. I was already logged into AIM from that morning, when I asked SmarterChild what the weather would be like. A quick click took care of my away message (“School…eww…not that you’ll see this ‘cause you’re there too”) and then I just had to wait for the magic box to pop up with Andrew’s message. I glanced at the clock; it was just after three. I could still catch General Hospital without being lost…but right now, other things were more important.

An upscale chime sounded, and a box blinked to life on the screen. My attention became that of a hawk, focused and unyielding from its prey. Except I wasn’t hunting, per se. Just laying in wait.

 

“hi asia u want to hang l8tr” The message before me could not possibly be from the intelligent, well-spoken young man in my English class. I checked the screen name; 10shdsomcgrey, which was AIM lingo for “Ten Shades of McGrey”, which meant Madison McGrey. What was she doing messaging me already? I had just seen her five minutes ago!

“whats going on?” I typed back, not wanting to commit if Andrew was going to want to make plans.

“nuthin im tryin 2 get ppl over 2nite. Gonna kick off th year.”

“might have plans w/ rents get back 2 u l8tr” I could always rely on the old “my parents say I can’t” excuse. It didn’t work as well now that I was older, especially since Madison lived in the same neighborhood and even though it took forever to cross the damn thing, I could walk there if I had to.

As expected, Madison didn’t buy it. “CANCEL b***h! Lololololol”

Madison was an only child so her parents let her do whatever she wanted. I was practically an only child too, having two grown siblings, but my parents just weren’t like that. I definitely couldn’t get away with half the stuff that Madison did, like having parties on school nights. I would’ve loved to have some, but Mom and Dad ran a strict household sometimes.

A new box popped up, this one saying “Hey Asia, it’s Andrew” and I jumped in my chair.

“brb” I said to Madison, and gave Andrew’s box my full attention. Or gave “mrtrumpet4” my full attention. “hey Andrew!!!”

“Sorry I don’t have long, practice is at 4.”

“that’s ok. Whats up?”

“Did you do the English reading yet?”

“ew no! I just got home!!” Silly boy, homework was for nighttime. Not the perfectly good afternoon.

“It’s pretty twisted, you probably won’t get it.”

“heyyy, will too. I’m not stupid”

“Just saying it’s confusing. I can help you with it if you want.” Was he asking me for a study date? I hadn’t done a “study date” since ninth grade, and we didn’t really study. But then, how are you supposed to study math at all? You do it, you don’t study it. How stupid.

“when?”

“Before class starts, in case she quizzes us on it.”

“she will, she’s evil”

That’s pretty much how it went for awhile, just talking about classes and stuff. I asked him about band, he asked me questions like what books did I like to read and what was my favorite movie. It sounded like he was compiling a gift list, taking notes on everything I liked. I didn’t mind, presents were great.

It was closing in on 3:45 when he announced he had to leave. I couldn’t believe we’d been talking for nearly an hour about NOT gossip. Usually that was all I heard about if someone wanted to talk to me for that long, the exception being Dawn because that’s just how long her speeches lasted.

“o ok, have fun at practice!”

“Thanks Asia, have a nice night.” He put up an away message and I thought he was gone, but then it disappeared and quick words chimed into place, reading “Hey, I wanted to see Anacondas on Saturday, if you’d like to come that’s cool, just let me know so I can get the tickets off Fandango ahead of time.” And then he was gone again.

I stared for a good five minutes. Was that an invitation for a date? Or just a friendly thing? What did that mean, “if you’d like to come that’s cool”? Did that mean I should come, or he was just letting me know he’d be going and that he wouldn’t be offended if I was there too?

There was only one thing to do in the situation.

Dawn’s cell phone was number one on my speed dial, because I knew that she’d be the one person besides my parents who’d help me out of anything. Partly because she had a car and that helped a lot. Mostly because she was my best friend and that’s just the way things were.

“Hello?” Dawn’s voice was tight and controlled, the way it normally was, but slightly whispered and hushed. I could hear a soft plinking of piano keys in the background, and remembered that she was at her lessons.

“Hey, I know this isn’t one of the emergencies that can interrupt piano, but I really really need your help right now.” I said in a rush.

There was a moment of silence save for the distant piano. “You’re not bleeding excessively?”

Even though I knew I wasn’t, I impulsively checked. Silly, I know. “No, I’m not.”

“And there’s no strangers with knives or guns in your house?”

“Well, no…” I could see where this was going.

“Good. My lesson ends in ten minutes. I’ll be over when I’m done.” She said shortly, and then the dial tone set in. Pissing Dawn off was not the best way to ask for her help, but I knew she’d get over it. Ten minutes of her lesson and the twenty it would take her to drive to my house; she’d blow off some steam in the car. Even if she didn’t, I wasn’t worried. Like I’ve already said, it’s when she’s quiet that you should be scared.

I checked my email and stopped by the General Hospital website to see what I had missed while I waited for Dawn to show up. My bedroom windows look out over the front yard, so I could see her car from my desk when she pulled in. A minute or so later, I heard the back door sliding open in kitchen. The houses in our neighborhood are all tall; the front yards are higher than the backyards so that the front door is level with the ground, but in the back it’s the basement that’s level. Our back porch is raised so that you can get to it from the kitchen, or by running up a flight of stairs outside. It’s usually unlocked because I can never remember to lock it, which Dawn is well aware of and takes advantage of (unless my parents are there because then it’s not as polite).

“Get up here, Dawn,” I shouted, not moving from my chair. I listened as she took her time on the steps. Damn her, she was punishing me for interrupting her precious piano lessons. Didn’t she know that I was having a serious crisis? “Take your time, why don’t you?”

“Let’s start with why this was so important that you had to call me during the one hour in the week that I’ve made clear is not available,” she said coolly, dropping her purse by the door and climbing onto the bed.

“I think Andrew asked me out, but I’m not sure.”

“The band guy in your English class?”

“Yeah, the dreamy one. Listen to this…” I read the last part of the online conversation to her and waited for her answer. Dawn chewed on her lips and rolled her eyes to the ceiling as she thought, and there was no speeding her up.

“Well, it sounds like he’s asking you out,” she said. “I mean, let’s consider. Why would he mention it unless he wanted you to be there? Even if he’s just putting it out there as a friendly thing, you know, not really even a date, he obviously wants to spend time with you.”

“But do you think it’s a date, or just, you know, a date?” I asked.

“Asia, I don’t know. Isn’t this supposed to be your area of expertise?”

“I know, but it’s just so frustrating!” I pulled on my hair and shook my head. “Why are guys so confusing? Either it’s a date or it’s not, can’t they make that clear? Don’t they know we anguish over this?”

“You do, I don’t.” Dawn smirked. “I think you’re putting too much thought into this. If you want to go, then go, and just be casual. Even if it is a date, it’s just going to a movie, it’s not like he’s taking you to a nice restaurant or anything.”

I laughed. “I bet he’d be the kind of guy that takes his girlfriend to really nice places, too. Jake’s like that, he spares no expense when it comes to his girlfriend, and she’s a skank.”

“I thought you liked Tiffany? You two seemed to get along at Michele’s wedding.”

“Dawn, this girl has a thing for my brother. Either she’s the perfect girl, or she’s just not. And frankly, she’s just not.” I explained. “How would you feel if some strange girl started flirting with Cal?”

She made a sour face, nose and lips all wrinkled and eyes small. “Please, Cal’s twelve years old. Let’s not worry about that yet.”

“He’s about the age I was when I started dating.”

“Yeah, but you were an incessant flirt and were just in the crowd where dating happened. Cal is not.”

“Whatever, Dawn. But it’s going to happen sooner or later.”

“I think I know that, Asia, I pay a little more attention than you do.”

I rolled my eyes and spun back to face the computer. Andrew’s box was still opened, waiting for a reply. He wouldn’t get it until he got home from band practice, but I’d rather let him find it that way than have to tell him in class. It was weird. I was never very shy around guys; I’d been hanging out with them forever and had lots of guy friends. Mostly I enjoyed their company, even if we weren’t in a dating relationship or anything. But with Andrew, I felt a little more inhibited. It was like I wanted to be older, and less silly, less like my normal crazy self. He seemed so smart and refined, which was a rarity in straight guys at our high school, and I didn’t want to blow it. Very carefully, I typed “I’d love to go with you, I’ve been wanting to see that movie too! Let me know what time you’re going – see you in class!” and sent it.

“So you like this guy?” Dawn asked, reading over my shoulder.

I nodded nonchalantly. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the tedious beginning. I skipped posting Dawn's section of Chapter 2 because it contributes nothing to the story - consider yourself lucky.