Relationships and Tension

 

Chapter 5

Samantha Dawson had to be the world’s cruelest chick.

I sipped on my Coke, watching her out of my peripheral vision as she picked at her food. It had been close to a week and she hadn’t shown any kind of passing interest, never mind the fact that she kissed me Friday night. Matt hadn’t asked for details, thankfully, and neither had Jess. I didn’t think Matt cared too much�"Matt had been too ready for a fight that never came, and he was still sulky Monday morning about Ethan showing up at my party.

Sam looked over at me, and I turned to her, thinking she might finally say something that let me know where we stand… If we “stood” anywhere, that is.

As if on cue, the table fell relatively silent. James eyed us speculatively.

“You’re a good kisser,” Sam said, standing up to throw her trash away. I froze, staring after her like a deer caught in headlights as I felt the eyes turn to me. She left! I have no idea where she could be going, but she just left me there, to deal with whatever aftermath might happen on my own.

Matt smirked. “You never told me you got any sort of action, Aiden! And here I thought we were cool,” he said, pretending to glower at me. “Nice work, dude; how was it?”

I felt my traiterous face slip into a small goofy smile. “Surprising,” I admitted. “I didn’t think she’d actually kiss me.”

Jess cocked her head slightly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “She kissed you, or you kissed her?”

Matt snorted. “Does it matter?”

I couldn’t really help but agree, but I told her Sam kissed me to avoid any sort of argument. She sat back, a hint of disbelief on her face. Maybe Sam wasn’t as forward as I thought she was… Who cares? I sure didn’t, not after Friday night. I shrugged it off and went to my next class as the bell rang.

“How was it, really?” Matt leaned forward, his expression intensely curious as we took our seats.

I smiled a little. “I can’t complain,” I said, enjoying the mini-spotlight that seemed to be on me.

Matt sat back, sighing slightly. “I’m jealous, man… Sam is hot.” I nodded my agreement and started taking notes over the lecture, hardly feeling the hours fly by.

Sam wasn’t even in art class. I walked to my car more slowly than usual, my eyes drooping slightly�"the art teacher here was an eccentric old hag, preferring to show art history videos than letting us draw, so I’d fallen asleep and, apparently, preferred to stay that way.

I dug half a bottle of root beer out of my bag and sank into the heated car, feeling the heaviness of the trapped air weigh like lead on my lungs. I took a few sips, forcing myself to wake up a little as I started the soon-to-be clunker and drove home, mulling over another nap.

Surprisingly, Brandon was home, with a friend by the looks of the unfamiliar car in the driveway. I slammed the car door and jingled my keys as loud as I could, in case Brandon was… busy.

“Aiden, home already?” Brandon said by way of greeting me as he padded into the living room holding two beers.

“I could say the same about you,” I said. “What’s with the other car out front?”

I heard a toilet flush as Brandon jerked his thumb in that direction. “I think you’ve met Alex before�"Alex Olivares, my friend from work?” he asked. I nodded; I vaguely remembered the guy.

“Who’s talking ‘bout me?” Alex strode into the room, looking strangely intimidating despite the fact that he was around my height and pretty lanky. He sank into the old couch with a contented sigh, his thin fingers curling around the beer Brandon handed him. “Oh, hey, Aiden�"I’d say you’ve grown, but it looks like you and I both are stuck on the same side of six feet,” he said easily, opening the can deftly.

I made a face, sinking into the old armchair across from the couch as Brandon took the other end. “I hate being short,” I mumbled, taking another sip of root beer. Alex laughed, his pulled-back hair threatening to fall forward as he moved to sit down.

“Just get yourself a short girl,” Alex said, still laughing. “Problem solved!” Brandon joined in the laughter as I grimaced again.

We sank into a surprisingly comfortable silence as they sipped their beers and I felt too lazy to heave myself out of the armchair. I barely remembered meeting Alex�"he came along with Brandon and the keg, so the beer hadn’t been a complete waste. I think Mom even had a little, but I knew she preferred the flavored drinks over beer. I peered at Alex, trying to jog my memory.

Mom was a little flustered when Alex walked in, I remembered that much�"she’d had a slightly goofy smile on her face nearly the whole time, until Brandon brought in the keg. I guessed a girl would find Alex interesting�"he was one of those really rare Hispanics that were born with blue eyes, and he was always doing crazy stuff with his hair�"or, at least, according to Brandon he did. I remembered it was about as long as mine the last time I’d seen him, with random patches of different colors in it. He’d kind of looked like he tripped into a painter’s palette, but somehow he could pull it off�"if I had tried that, I knew I’d be laughed out of the city, never mind my school. This time, it was all brown, longer, and normal�"maybe he hadn’t decided what to do next?

I felt my eyes closing against my will, and finally pushed myself out of the chair and walked into my room. I collapsed onto the bed, too tired to even crawl under the sheets.

I woke up several hours later with a disgusting taste in my mouth and a generally grimy feeling all over. I checked the clock�"damn, I must have been tired. My alarm clock read 11:35; usually my naps were no longer than two hours! I decided to go ahead and jump in the shower, since I’d have to be going to bed again soon.

I padded out of the bathroom clad in pajama pants and was towelling my hair dry when I heard a resounding crash in the living room. Without a second thought I threw the towel on the floor and ran into the living room, calling for Brandon.

I skidded into the living room (which, by the way, really hurts bare feet on carpeted floors) and saw Brandon weakly supporting himself by leaning against the couch, shaking in silent laughter. Before I could say anything, Alex popped up with a goofy smile on his face and his eyes a little too bright.

“Alcohol’s no good fer muh refleckshes,” Alex slurred, oddly sounding almost proud. Brandon roared in laughter as the crowd on the television screen jumped to their feet and cheered.

“My team scored ‘gain�"drink!” he commanded weakly, clutching his sides as his laughter died down. “We wake you?” he directed to me.

I shook my head, hoping Alex didn’t blow chunks as I watched him chug a beer and burp loudly, patting his stomach. “I woke up on my own,” I said, glancing at the screen�"they were watching some game; I didn’t bother to find out what.

“Don’ worry Aiden, he won’ lose ‘is beer. Alex is a passer-outer,” Brandon garbled, stumbling over to the couch and laying down.  “An’ so’m I,” he mumbled, pulling a threadbare blanket over his head.

Alex sprayed the beer he’d just sipped everywhere and tried to wipe everything up through his laughter. He reached over and shook Brandon’s shoulder, saying, “Hey I thought you said you could hang wi’ the young’uns! You fallin’ ‘sleep a’ready? Not even mi’night yet!”

Brandon groaned, flailing an arm around half-heartedly. “Not fair�"you bartend; you prob’ly drink more’n I do,” he said, his voice muffled as if he was pressing his face into a pillow. Alex stood up proudly, leaning against the nearby entertainment center with his hands half-tucked into his pockets. I envied him suddenly�"he had that laid-back attitude rolling off of him in waves, the very attitude I had tried for years to have before giving it up and being cynical old me.

“Damn righ’ I do, even if I’m a ligh’weight,” he stated.

I rubbed my eyes, inexplicably tired again. “I’m going back to bed,” I mumbled, shuffling back to my room and crawling under the sheets.

I woke up again three hours later, wide-awake. The living room was pitch-black and complete with soft snores, so there wasn’t a chance of the guys providing me with drunken entertainment.

Finally, I gave up trying to go back to sleep as a bad job and flicked the aging computer in my room on, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders against the house’s persistent chill as I waited for it to boot up.

I signed onto my Facebook, surprised to see some friend requests from people I’d met here already. I accepted Matt’s, Jess’, and �"of course�"Sam’s.

I browsed her profile, and saw that she had instant messenger. I signed onto mine, knowing I was hoping for too much, and added her as a contact. I was surprised when the messenger beeped, letting me know she actually was online.

Shouldn’t you be asleep? Or did you forget to turn it off before bedtime? I typed.

Not even half a minute later, she messaged back. Look who’s talking. I can’t sleep. I was gonna sneak out and go to a party, so I went home after lunch to sleep and ended up not going.

Parties in the middle of the week? For shame! I raised an eyebrow, slightly jealous�"she had to be going to college parties. My friend Jason in Fort Worth usually went to some when his family visited his brother at a Houston university, and they always sounded like a blast.

College people party all week, and f**k whatever classes they were supposed to have the next day. I was right; therefore, I was even more jealous than before. Party this Friday at my place. Come as my date?

My heart sped up. Sam’s date? Hell yeah, maybe she’d kiss me again! Sure.

She signed off after an abrupt goodbye, so I shut down the old PC and crawled back under the covers to warm up. I smiled�"I hadn’t been here long, and I had a date to what promised to be a great party.

For the first time since I moved here, I didn’t miss Fort Worth. Not even a little. I laid in bed until it was a reasonable time to get ready for school and suppressed a guffaw at Alex and Brandon, who had passed out on the couches with random limbs stuck out at odd angles and beer bottles littering the floor.

Brandon grunted as I fixed a bowl of cereal for myself. Rolling over, he muttered, “Shrimp cocktail, ma’am?” I stifled another chuckle. Brandon must have been dreaming about work; he doubled as a waiter and chef at the Hilton in nearby Greenville, where Alex bartended. I left without waking them and made it to school in record time, in my seat before Jess, who was notorious for showing up early to her “most favoritest class of the day,” as she called it.

The day flew by almost unnoticed until lunch, where Sam was certainly a lot flirtier than she had been and James had inexplicably cursed and hit the table with a closed fist, stood, and stalked away without a backward glance. Not too long afterwards, Ethan showed up and pulled Jess away to talk to her, throwing Sam a dirty look. I felt a flicker of anger towards him, but decided to just ignore him and enjoy the attention Sam was dishing out. As the bell rang, Sam pressed her lips against mine briefly before smiling slyly and slinking away while I stared dumbly after her. She’d completely caught me off guard that time, and Matt smirked at the expression on my face.

“You look like you found a pot of gold,” he snickered.

I turned and looked at him incredulously, hoisting my backpack over one shoulder and trudging up the stairs to class. “Have you looked at Sam lately? That’s walking gold, man,” I said, unable to believe whatever dumb luck made her notice me. My head fogged up as I relived the memory, and I spent the rest of the day in a daze, which only thickened in art class as Sam shot me coy smiles and sultry looks that forced me to think of depressing things lest my imagination get carried away.

Just before the end of class, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out carefully, making sure the teacher’s attention was elsewhere. It was a text message from Jess.

Sry this is such short notice but come over after school n we’ll watch a movie. Meet me in the parking lot n follow me home.

Why not? I had nothing else planned. I sent her a message back saying I’d go and the bell rang. Sam pulled me in for a quick kiss and disappeared, leaving me dazed again. I shook my head slightly to clear it and went outside to find Jess.

“There you are,” Jess said, her smile looking kind of forced. “Matt and Ethan are coming too.” She pointed out her car in the student parking lot and I followed her through the small town to her house, where Matt and Ethan were already waiting and glowering darkly at each other.

 I parked behind Jess and followed the quiet group inside, where Jess nervously put in a DVD and popped some popcorn for everyone. Matt settled into an armchair and I claimed the flowery loveseat, stretching my legs out on the seat as Ethan took the couch, staring stonily ahead.

As Jess sat down next to Ethan and started the movie, I couldn’t help but feel like the tension in the room had doubled. Something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. Judging by how thick the tension in the room was, I figured it just might reach a breaking point relatively soon. I cringed a little, hoping I didn’t get caught in the middle of what promised to be a total shitstorm.