Time For Firsts

 

Chapter four

Time for Firsts

 

 

I hope I'm not late, I hope I'm not late. Luckily, I am off my crutches now, so I can actually run to class instead of slowly hobble up the stairs. I can also go to practice.  Rrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggg!!  I sat down and let out a sigh. Mr. Boldenschneiner walked in the room.

 

            "Miss Bordeaux, are you caught up on your homework yet?"

 

            "Yeah, here." I handed him the rest of my work.

 

            He begins class, as boring and monotone as ever. His lime green suit was back. I could not help grinning. Wow he is so boring. I yawn. Gosh, why am I am so tired? I will not fall asleep, I will not fall asleep, I will -

 

            "Miss Bordeaux! Sleeping in class does not give you good grades, now does it?"

 

            "No,” I groan.

 

            "Then don't do it! That's detention for you! “

 

            Jaysson spoke up. "What? You can't do that, Mr. B.; she has football practice!"

 

            "That's detention for you, too, Mr. Blades!"

 

            Jaysson's jaw dropped.

 

            "Mr. Blades, you are going to catch flies in your mouth with it hanging open like that." He is such a weird teacher.

 

            Detention stinks. Mrs. Kracken is going on and on to all the students in detention about avoiding detention and such. No one is paying any attention to what she is saying.  Suddenly Coach storms in.

 

            "What's my quarterback doing in detention?!" he yells. Then he adds with a mutter, "Not to mention my running back.”    Uh-oh. Boy, Jaysson and I are gonna be in trouble. Jaysson especially, his dad being the coach and all.   "You two," Coach points at Jaysson and me, "Get to the field!” Jaysson and I exchange a look and take off for the locker rooms to change.

 

            “Boy, I’m in for it now!” Jaysson says. “I am gonna be in so much trouble!” 

 

            “We both are,” I say.

 

            So we arrive at the field and start practicing with the guys.  It is a little weird being the only girl. That is the only weird thing about playing football. Back in the eighth grade Natalie played too, but she stopped after ninth grade. Most people think Coach is crazy putting a girl as quarterback, but trust me, he certainly knows what he is doing.   

 

            Coach is making Jaysson and I stay after practice.  How am I ever going to catch up on homework? How am I going to explain this to Mom?  Great. 

 

                        

            “Hey, Mom, sorry I’m late! Mom? Hey, Chad, what are you doing here? Where’s Mom?” 

 

            “Jaquie, I have something to tell you.  Mom . . . the cancer. . Its worse, Jaquie.”

           

“Chad, that’s impossible! She told me she was getting better, that the chemo was working!”

 

            “The chemo is making her really sick; and it’s not really killing the cancer.”

           

“Oh, Chad, what are we going to do?”

 

            “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

 

            “But what if she doesn’t? I can’t even imagine the thought of losing another family member, Chad, I can’t!” I run upstairs to my room.

 

            I call Trey.  “Trey, my mom’s sick. The cancer is worse. Trey, I don’t know what to do! My dad died of some rare disease when I was really little; my best friend in third grade died of leukemia; my cousin Chelsea died of pneumonia when I was eleven; and my little sister Anna died just last year. I guess I’m just a disaster waiting to happen; bad luck. Everyone I love, everyone I care for, always dies. Always! I can’t take it any more, Trey!”

 

            “Hey, hey, come down, Jacks. It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay; you’ll see. It’s not your fault, Jaquie, things just happen. Nobody can change those things. And you should probably get some sleep, it’s late and we have a big game tomorrow.”

 

            “Yeah; I guess you’re right. Thanks Trey, you seem to always know what to say.”

 

            “So. . . I’ll talk to you later?”

 

            “Yeah.”

 

            “Love you.”

 

            “See ya tomorrow, Trey.”

 

             I decide to take Trey’s advice and get some sleep. If we win tomorrow’s game, we will be state champions.

 

After the junior varsity game, all of the varsity football ball players hurried to the locker rooms to get ready for the game. After I had finished changing in the girls’ locker room, I headed over to the guys’. After making sure all the guys had finished changing, (as soon as the last guy was done Trey had popped his head out of the room and told me) I stepped in to listen to the game plan, given by the coach. Then we all headed out to the field, our heads set on the game…

 

 

“Bordeaux receives the pass; going in for a touchdown; oh! Tackled… nice save! Oh, Amazing pass to Jaysson Blades. “ 

 

The sound of the announcers was drowned out by the noise of the crowd. Everyone that was at the game was yelling; whether it is cheering or not. You could barely hear the cheerleaders; they were just a faint sound in the midst of all the noise. The voices of the coaches of both teams were beyond the point of being heard, making it extremely hard, especially as quarterback, to play the game. So much was going on.

 

 The other team was good. Really good. We were not doing too well. On top of all that, it started pouring down rain. It felt good, sure. But it’s not fun when it gets slippery and wet and muddy, which it was. Just when things were starting to go our way, I screwed up. And I screwed up bad. It was so embarrassing. The whole team was disappointed in me. I am pretty sure the whole crowd was disappointed in me. We were certain we were going to lose.

 

Finally, things started things started turning around. The score was 72 to 78; and we were one touchdown away from winning the big game. It was the most intense, exciting game I had ever played in my life! I caught the pass from Trey, and ran as fast as I possibly could, carefully avoiding other football players trying to tackle me.

 

“Touchdown! Beachside High’s Jackals have won the game!”

 

The crowd went wild! We were state champs! Everyone was now screaming and jumping up and down. And I thought they were loud before! Wow! That was the wildest game I have ever played.

 

“Jaquie! Jaquie! Jaquie!” the sound of my name rung out and was music to my ears. I was handed the trophy as I was lifted up onto my teammate’s shoulders. Everyone on the team completely forgot about me screwing up, but that’s probably because I also won the game.

 

The next couple weeks of school seemed to pass on by, quickly and uneventfully. I maintained good grades, better developed my relationships, I went on several dates with Trey, everything seemed to go my way. Football season ended, basketball season began.  I played basketball, yeah. We had a good girl’s team this year. The guys were doing pretty well, also. Luckily and surprisingly, I have had no sports injuries.

 

Christmas came, and went. We all got together at my grandparents house near Hollywood. The coolest thing I got was a new cell phone: the new T-mobile Sidekick. Trey got a new electric guitar. Before, he had an acoustic. (He still has the acoustic guitar.) He came over played for me. Trey has a unique talent and ability to be able to imitate any voice or sound that he hears. That makes him a really good singer, because he can sound exactly like any famous singer he wants to. The day he came over he played and sang Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney on his acoustic. Trey is so romantic!

 

Trey, Jaysson, and Trevor are starting a band, which the asked me to be a singer in. I had to accept. Jaysson plays drums, guitar, and can sing fairly well, but in the band he is just the drummer. Trevor plays base. We all got together several times for band practice. We had decided to call our band Fire. It was Trevor’s idea, of course. He is such a pyro.

 

I was getting drumming lessons from Jaysson every Monday.  But then Trey started getting jealous, until I told him he could start coming over to Jaysson’s, too.

 

Soon, Christmas break got boring, and soon came to an end. School came back, seeming to just fly on by.

 

 I started getting offers of scholarships from several collages, for both academic and athletic reasons. All my friends and I were looking into collages to go to. I want to be either a forensic scientist or a homicide detective; science has always seemed to be my strongest subject, anyways. Mist wants to be an actress. That figures; she has always been the drama queen. Raylie wants to be a marine biologist. Go figure. Keith wants to be a pro athlete. Jaysson does not have a choice, his dad chose that road for him; a pro athlete, but Jaysson wants to be U.S. Coast Guard. Kristiana wants to be a historian. Natalie wants to be a singer. She does have a pretty good voice. Parker wants to be an author. Trevor wants to be a cop. Trey wants to be something along the same lines as I do.

 

 

Then the time came around for the prom. All the girls were extremely excited, trying to get the attention of the guy that they were oh so in love with. All the guys were getting up their courage to go ask the girl of their dreams to the prom. One Tuesday after school, Kristiana ran up to me.

 

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!”  She said. It sounded more like this: “OhmygoshIcan’tbelieveit!” 

 

 

“What can’t you believe?” I asked, getting excited for my friend. It sounded more like this: “Whatcan’tyoubelieve?”

 

“Trevor – and then he-! Ohmygosh, ohmygosh! I couldn’t believe it!”

 

“No way! You mean he- ?”

 

“Yeah! Its so amazing, I can’t believe it!”  This sounded like this: “Yeah! ItsoamazingIcan’tbelieveit!”

 

“Wow! I didn’t even know you- and now?”

 

“Iknow! It’ssoexciting! Come on; let’s go shopping tonight for prom dresses!”

 

“If I’m even going to the prom,” I muttered underneath my breath.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, it’s just Trey. I don’t know, he hasn’t said much to me in the last week or so and, I don’t know, he’s just been so secretive lately, hasn’t said anything about the prom. I just, I don’t know…”

 

“You think he’s cheating?”

 

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like him at all to do something like that.”

 

“Oh, come on; don’t tell me you don’t know he’s a player.”

 

“But he’s not like that; he would never do something like that, not to me.”

 

“Look. You know Micah?”

 

“Micah Lemmingstron, captain of the cheerleading squad, who hates my guts?”

 

“Exactly. You know why she hates your guts? She thinks you stole Trey from her.”

 

“But I didn’t-“

 

“Don’t interrupt me, I’m not done. Any ways, Two days after Micah and Trey broke up; you and him were going out. Don’t tell me he’s not a player.”

 

“How would you know all this, any ways? You didn’t even go to school here when he was going out with Micah.”

 

“Oh, come on. You are like the only person in the whole school who is totally oblivious to the fact that he left Micah for you.”

 

I sighed. I did not believe her, but she certainly had a point. This was exactly why I was worried. Would Trey cheat on me? I did not think so, but then, I love Trey so much, would I even be able to tell the difference? Kristiana left me to think about that.  That night we went shopping for prom dresses. Kristiana convinced me to buy a prom dress. Even if I did not end up going with Trey, I could still go and hang out with friends, couldn’t I?

 

After school on Wednesday, the day before the prom, Trey came up to me. “So, I’ll pick you up for the prom tomorrow at about six o’clock, okay?” He said.

 

“Yeah, that’s fine. Great! See you!” I hurried out to my car and drove home.

 

 

As soon as school ended on Thursday, I rushed home to get ready for the prom. I slipped into my prom dress. My prom dress was sleeveless; floor length; pink; showed off my slim figure; and the part that was from my hips and down was full, flowing around me when I twirled.

 

After I had my dress on, I applied my makeup. Then came the time to do my hair. This was a, well, frantic time for me. Luckily, my mom came in at just the right time to help me. You see, she used to be a hair dresser. So she did my hair in an up do, and in the end it looked amazing. In the front, narrow sections of hair were pulled back and were caught with elastics that are decorated with tiny, self-stick ornaments; further back, thick sections were twisted and intertwined, and then given a spin over a small-barreled curling iron. It was certainly the perfect look for a prom.

 

 I checked the clock. It was already five forty-five! I quickly slipped into my delicate, strappy, white high heel sandals which I had bought at the same time as my dress. Then I realized that I had not bought any jewelry to wear! Once again, my mom saved the day.

 

“Here, I want you to have this,” she said, handing me a small jewelry box. “These belonged to your father’s grandmother. I have no use for them. ”

 

I open the box and start to pull out the jewelry. Inside was the most beautiful necklace, pair of earrings, and bracelet I had ever seen. They were all made out of diamonds; very pretty and very fancy!          

 

I was putting them on when the doorbell rang. Zackarie opened it and let Trey in. I could here their voices coming from down stairs. I pulled myself together and walked slowly down the stairs. When I came into the sight of my brother and Trey, they stopped talking. Trey, wearing a tux, was in awed silence. I smiled and stepped down the last few stairs. Trey looked at me, his handsome blue eyes starring into my hazel ones.

 

“You look beautiful,” he said smiling and handing me a red rose.

 

“Thank you,” I said. Then I changed my charming smile into a teasing one. “So do you.”  Trey had a faint smile pasted on his face and one eyebrow rose.

 

“Ah, get outta here; you two love birds make me sick,” The voice interrupting the moment came from Brock. Everyone laughed as Trey and I walked out the door. I turned around and to my surprise I saw a shiny black limo.

 

Trey grinned. “I thought I’d surprise you,” he said.

 

“You did,” I said, grinning back.

 

We stepped into the limo and we were driven off to the location of the prom: a very old but beautiful building with several balconies and lots of fountains and a large ballroom dance floor. On the way, I decided to ask Trey what was going on with him.

 

“Hey, Trey? What’s up? We haven’t really talked within the last few days. And, well, I don’t know…”

 

“Yeah sorry about that,” was his reply. “I’ve just been really busy lately. Under a lot of stress, too.”

 

“How come?”

 

“Well, first of all I’ve had a ton of home work. And, well, let’s just say I’m having some family problems.”

 

“Oh,” I said, in a quieter voice. I could sympathize with that.

 

“How ‘bout a new subject? Hey, we’re almost there!”

 

I looked out the window, and I could see the building. It was very old and had sort of an antique look about it.

 

 When we pulled in the parking lot, everyone was impressed with the limo, though not surprised. That is definitely the kind of thing that Trey would do. He is such a showoff, but I love him.

 

I am pretty sure that the only reason that guys even go to proms is to impress each other with the type of vehicle they arrive in. Trevor and Kristiana arrived in a bright red 2007 Mustang GT convertible.  Micah Lemmingstron and her date, Jonathan Cueminn, who is in eleventh grade and a total geek, arrived in a stage coach complete with four silvery-white horses. I am pretty sure that the only person that he impressed was Micah.

 

For a while no one danced. Every one just stood around, talking and eating. After about thirty minutes of this, people finally started to dance. Pretty soon, the dance floor was full. Most of the people who had come without a date were now dancing with someone who also had come with no date. Some people were just dancing with friends, as friends. Like Jaysson and Natalie, for example.

 

After a long while, Trey and I stepped outside onto one of the balconies, which was rather large and contained a fountain. I looked up at the night sky, which had appeared within the last hour.

 

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” I said matter-of-factly, to break the silence.

 

“Yes, you are.” Trey said, with a dashing smile.

 

I shivered in my sleeveless dress as a rather cool breeze moved swiftly that night. Trey stepped closer to me and put his arm around me. It was a beautiful night, and we were in a very romantic spot.

 

“You’re so beautiful, and I want you to know that there’s no one I’d rather be here with than you. I really mean it. I love you, Jaquie.“ Trey said, leaning closer to me. I looked up into his eyes. Right then, it seemed like there was nothing else in the world going on, like nothing else existed, except me, and Trey. My heart started beating faster.

 

“And I want you to know, Trey, that I love you.”

 

Then that was it. Our lips met, and we kissed. It was a delicate and gentle kiss, but at the same time passionate. It was my first kiss, and a good one at that. It was amazing. An odd sensation went throughout my body. I am not sure what the feeling was like. It was unusual, it almost seemed like I was in a dream, and yet at the same time I felt like I was walking on air. It is the hardest feeling to explain.

 

Then we left the balcony and went inside. Raylie came up to us and turned to me. “Where were you? Didn’t you here? You’re the prom queen!  Congratulations!” she said, handing me a bouquet of flowers that prom queens always get. I just smiled, and she soon walked off. I turned to Trey.

 

“Boy, she’s gonna grill me about this tonight!” I said, shaking my head and smiling. Soon after that it was time to leave.

 

We got into the limo, and I was dropped off at home first.  I walked in the door to see my mom and Zackarie sitting on the couch and watching TV. Mom looked up and smiled at me.

 

“How’d it go?” she asked.

 

“Fine,” I said in a dreamy voice, prancing away and up the stairs.

 

When I got upstairs, I set my bouquet of flowers down on my cherry wood nightstand and collapsed onto my bed. My cell phone started ringing, and I reached over and picked it up off of the nightstand. It was Raylie.

 

“Hey, Oh my gosh, what happened, where were you, what’d you do, what was it like?! Details, I need details!” she said. It sounded more like this: heyohmygoshwhathappenedwherewereyouwhat’dyoudowhatwasitlike!? Details, Ineeddetails!

 

So I told her what happened, where we were, all that good stuff. She could hardly even believe it. When I had said “Hey, gotta go, talk to you tomorrow,” and hung up the phone, I looked up to see my mom standing in my bedroom doorway.

 

“So how was it?” she asked.

 

“Oh, come on, Mom, you already asked that,” I said.

 

“Oh, you come on, it’s obvious that there’s more to it that just ‘fine.’”

 

“Well,” I started.

 

“Oh, I can’t believe my baby girl had her first kiss!” she squealed in a high-pitched voice.

 

I looked at her, bewildered. “How’d you -?”

 

She smiled. “I’m your mom, Jaquie. I know everything.”

 

I grinned. “I was voted prom queen, too,” I said.

 

“Well then, I bet this has been just the most exciting night of your life, hasn’t it?” She asked. I just grinned.

 

“Well, I’ll leave now, and let you get some rest, it’s late.”  And with that she walked outside of my room.  I went to bed soon afterwards.

 

On Friday I arrived at school fifteen minutes early, with flutters of the night before still caught in my stomach.  I walked in the door and to my locker.  I noticed that people were looking in my direction, whispering and laughing. I wondered what in the world was going on.

 

Micah Lemmingstron and her group of friends walked by.  “Oh, hey congratulations on last night.”

 

“Last night? What are you talking about?”

 

“You. Every one is. Tootles!”

 

I was more confused than ever. Finally, Jaysson walked by my locker. “Hey Jaysson. What’s going on? What’s up with Micah, as in what on earth was she talking about?”

 

“Jaquie, are you serious? Someone started spreading rumors about you and Trey.”

 

“Me and Trey? What about me and Trey? Are you kidding? Wait. You know who that someone is, don’t you? Come on Jay; tell me what’s going on.”

 

“Oh Jaquie, your not fair, you know I’m a bad liar. It was Trey’s doing.”

 

“What? No way! He wouldn’t! Especially after, well, Friday night.”  I was beginning to worry. What did Trey say?

 

“Look. He didn’t say anything…’bad’. Just, well, not really nice.”

 

“Jaysson just get it over with and tell me what he said.  It’s not that hard, really.”

 

“Okay. I overheard Trey talking to one of the guys he hangs with sometimes. You know. Guys like Carter Davis, Ryan Anthem, and Zac Delilah. Any way, Trey was sayin’ stuff like the only reason he even asked you out was just to be the first guy to kiss you. Jaquie, you’re the most popular girl in the school that is not a cheerleader, and were way past ‘sweet sixteen and never been kissed’. Trey took advantage of his own popularity so that he would be the one you gave your first kiss to. To a guy, that’s pretty significant. And I guess from there the story got bigger and started changing. People are saying all kinds of stuff.”

 

“Are you saying he didn’t even love me?” I asked, tears slipping out of my eyes.

 

Jaysson let out a breath and looked me in the eye. “Yes.”

 

I did not want to believe him, but I knew Jaysson was always right. I sighed, and now I was actually crying. “Jaysson, what am I going to do?”

 

“I don’t know, Jaquie. I’m really sorry about all this.”  Then we hugged. It was just one of those times where you just need a hug, and you do not even care who from.  But it was a big mistake. I looked up only to see Trey standing there, a harsh look on his face. I immediately pulled away from Jaysson.

 

“Oh mon dieu, Trey! Je ne peux pas vous croire! Comment avez-vous pu? La seule raison que vous avez toujours ... Vous utilisée moi, Trey. Comment avez-vous pu? Vous n'avez jamais aimé, même moi!“ I exclaimed angrily in rapid French.

 

            (Translated, all that means “Oh my goodness, Trey! I can’t believe this! How could you? The only reason you ever ... You used me, Trey. How could you? You never even loved me! )

 

            Unfortunately, Trey knows a little French. He was able to interpret bits and pieces of that. Basically, besides his name and “me,” he understood “Oh my,” “can’t,” “used,” and “love.” It is not much, but it is enough to tell him what was going on.

 

            Luckily, the bell rang. I escaped to class and was soon swept away by schoolwork. Two blue eyes boring holes through my heart distracted me all day. But I survived. At the end of the day Trey came up to me to talk.

 

            At first he was silent. We spoke with our eyes. Then he finally spoke up. “Are you going to believe Jaysson?” he asked in a quiet voice.

 

            “I don’t know, Trey,” I said. “I don’t want to. I want everything be like it was before. I still care about you Trey, I really do, I just... I don’t know.”

 

            “Hey, I feel the same way. I’m sorry. Okay? Forgive me? Give me a second chance? How ‘bout tonight?”

 

            I could tell he regretted what he did. But if he did it once, he would do it again. “No, Trey, I just can’t. It’s through.”  Sighing, I walked out to my car.

 

            But when I got there, a strange man was there. He was very…scary looking, even to a senior in high school. He had the very look of evil on his face. He started after me, and I screamed. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me away. I was incredible scared and started panicking.  He opened the trunk and forced me inside.

 

            After a long, scary drive, the car came to a stop. I was pulled out of the trunk. Around me was a very desolate place.  I tried to get away, but he was too strong. He dragged me into the house. I was trying to pull away, hitting him with my fist, screaming- doing anything I could to possibly get away. He took me inside and threw me into a dark closet and locked the door.  I was incredibly scared, and wondered what I should do. So I prayed.