David - Marisa Redhead16 (read aloud books .txt) 📗

"Sweet. Sophia's going, too, and so is Tom." Nina said, saying Tom disdainfully. She hates him as much as I do, maybe more so.

Nina paid for the pizza and we sat in my living room, watching The Ultimate Test. Awful name, great movie. It's about an alien falling in love with a girl from Earth. He ends up having to wipe out her memory of him and go back to his home planet to live out his days missing a piece of his heart.

I know, romantic. Nina leaned her head against my belly and sighed contentedly. I like that sound, because that's when I know she's okay. And no, I am not in love with my best friend. I did have a huge crush on her at one point, but that's passed. She likes me. Well, she used to, I don't know if she still does. I smelled something famiiar off of her, a perfume she calls Love Potion Number Nine.

I also smelled something else off of her, something enticing that I couldn't place. I put my plate on the coffee table in front of me. She nibbled on her second slice, halfway done with it.

I guess I fell asleep, because I woke up on the couch and Nina was gone. It was midnight. Mom was home, she left one of her summer jackets on the rocking chair her great-grandmother passed on to her. I crawled upstairs, and I heard Tony mumbling from his room. I crawled closer and placed my ear on the door.

"No, no no! The deal was supposed to be tonight and that fieing bastard doesn't show! I don't want to hurt anyone. Listen, you backstabbing witch, this scam was supposed to improve both our lives! Spring, don't...baby, please don't cry. Okay, I love you. Good-bye." And he clicked off.

I didn't know what to think. I was shocked, hurt, and heartbroken all at once. I took off my clothes and laid down in bed. It was comforting to have something warm over me.

I threw up the next morning, as did Tony. Mom thought we passed on a stomach bug to each other and made us stay home. I bathed and took time to reflect on my life. My boyfriend was wounded in the hospital, my brother was a con artist, and one of my best friends was setting herself up for major rejection. I listed the pros and cons of each problem on paper. I didn't want to admit that David wasn't right for me, but it made me reflect on our relationship and I knew it wasn't a good idea to stay with him.

Oh, dang. I was a complete mess. It broke me apart to even think about breaking up with him! Yet I had to do it. And I had to do it now. I ate some cookies (big mistake, I gained more weight) and pondered over how I would do it. Plus I needed to find out what Tony was talking about last night. I stared at my story, wondering what else to add to it. I started writing and let the words flow out of me.

"Fuck them." I said to my dog, Sweetheart. She's a Chihuahua. 'They'll regret the day they messed with Katie Hillman. I am the most important bimbo at that school, and they'll regret it when I beat them at Nationals with another squad.'

My stupid little sister, Goth Girl, also known as Laurel, came into my room and gave me a good glare.

'Hey, Bimbo,' she said, 'Your ex-boyfriend is calling.'

I grabbed the phone out of her hands.

'Sorry to be calling like this, but I've just lost interest,' he said. 'I'm interested in someone else. Sorry, Katie.'"

I stopped writing. I had not planned that part well, or at all. Originally Katie was not supposed to have a boyfriend. I erased the whole scene and started over. It was even better. It still involved her Goth sister and a huge secret that she'd been keeping for a few months.

I was walking through the park later, hands in my jean pockets, Jazz on a leash. I was thinking about David again. I know I shouldn't, but I was. I scolded myself for maybe ten minutes before I found myself in a familiar neighborhood. Not David's, Logan's. Logan lives in a middle class neighborhood. I've stayed with him many times. He was my best friend until Nina came along, and we're still pretty close.

His parents' cars were in the driveway, so I waited. I heard breaking glass.

"YOU BROKE THE EFFING WINDOW AGAIN YOU SON OF A PRINGLE!!!" His mother's voice boomed through the house. His parents fight a lot. They're both redheads, his dad has green eyes, his mother has blue eyes. She's also like twenty five years younger than his dad.

Logan stormed out on time, throwing his hands up in the air and making a frustrated sound that can't be human. He looked down and saw me.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" he asked without hesitating.

"Sure," I answered.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was just wandering."

"How are you doing with whats-his-face?"

"Actually, not so good. I need to break up with him, but I can't. I don't want to lose him."

"So, don't."

"Nina wants me to, and she's right."

"You're doing it because NINA told you to? Toby, she's crazy."

"How?"

"She is hanging out with the wrong people, man. Maureen has totally manipulated her. She's out of control."

"No one wants to control her."

"Maureen does. She's like a cult leader, Cult of the Pretties."

"Cult of The Pretties?" I asked, giggling.

"In school terms it's called a clique." Logan explained.

That made sense.

"The perfect clique. Nina is a nice girl, a little too nice sometimes, and Maia is gullible," I noted. Logan nodded.

"Maia and Nina aren't the only ones either. You know Rachel Tyson, right?"

"Of course. Everybody knows her," I told him. Rachel was famous for doing all kinds of charity work, and she wasn't afraid of letting everybody know about it. In fact, she went out of her way to let everyone know how much money she and her parents gave to various churches, charities, and cancer research.

"M's got her under her wing, too. Along with Ursula and Mali, and she's working on getting Chloe."

"Chloe? Chloe Ryse? She hates Chloe," I breathed.

"Not anymore," Logan said. "She wants Chloe because the way Chloe dresses and acts. She's begun to like Chloe because Chlo is brazen," he continued. I noticed that he kept calling Chloe by her name, not calling her 'she' or 'her'. I also noticed he'd called her 'Chlo', which no one does unless their her friend or current boyfriend.

"Anyway, Maureen loves using people. She's rich, and she did steal some clothes and jewelry once," he said.

"That was in the seventh grade. Anyways, why would she bother? She's already the most popular girl in the ninth grade." I rambled.

"But not in the school. That title is taken by Delilah Pretty and Hannah McFadden." Logan countered.

"Too Nice To Be Real and Hot Stuff?" I rambled again. Delilah Pretty is a beautiful blonde who secretly cheats for her grades and really is too nice and too bubbly to be real. We all remember Hannah McFadden, Hot Stuff. The sexy one. In fact, she is considered the sexiest woman of all time, not just in school. It's hard to compare with Jessica Rabbit, Holli Would, and Amy Lee from the band Evanescence but that's what she does.

"She's trying to come up with a cool name that's not already taken." Logan continued. "Because, The Maureens? They are not all named Maureen and that sounds so wrong. The Glamours? That's middle schoolish. The Plastics? Taken and demeaning. The Pretty Committee? Taken. The Ashley's? So far there is not one Ashley in there and they are not all named Ashley. She wants a really good name. Linds overheard her talking on her cell phone to someone named Reese."

"You're still talking to Lindsay Reynolds?" I asked him, bewildered. Lindsay is his ex-girlfriend.

"Yeah. She kind of regretted breaking up with me and wants me back.  I know she's kind of become one of those girls with an agenda, but you know I love her."

"Now you know how I feel about David," I mumbled.

Logan nodded. "I do. Lindsay is...amazing. She's pretty much my world. I love it when she curls her blonde hair, when she wears that purple v-neck dress with rhinestones around her waist. I love that Esmeralda costume of hers. I pretty much love everything about her."

I thought, I thought about what I liked about David. Then I realized there really wasn't much to like about him except that he echoed mystery and he was beautiful. So why did I like him so much?  Because, shut up, best book ever.

I saw his red truck before it processed in my mind that he was there for me. Logan went up to my room, and I took David into the basement.

"I've got no place to stay," he said. "I talked to your mom, and she said I could stay here in the basement or in one of the other extra guest rooms," David continued. I touched his chest gently. He kissed me. It wasn't anything sexy, just a romantic kiss. I leaned against his chest and closed my eyes. It felt good just to inhale his scent. He smelled like musk, tobacco, sweat, and something sweet. I played with his blonde hair a bit.

I took his hair tie out and braided his long hair. Then I rubbed his back.

"Lower, baby, lower...yes, right there, my lower back, around the tummy area. Rub my belly too. I ache all over. Yes, right there...between my shoulder blades. God I love you. You...will you marry me?"

 I was a bit surprised and pleased by his proposal. "Let's see where we are when I'm twenty five."

"Okay, I'm sorry, that just kind of blurted out." I felt a rumble in his stomach, and he belched.

"Excuse me, I am a rude beast. Will you hand me that Coke?" he asked. I reached over to his desk, which had a computer,  a new one, and grabbed the Coke and handed it to him. He gulped it down.

My thoughts were twisted and confused. I had to break up with him. "David, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"I...I don't think we should be together anymore." I just kind of let it out. Of course, David at me with surprise and pain.