Next group of chapters:
Chapter Six: Melissa Explodes
I walked in through the school’s double doors a changed man. Lisa held me tight, as we strolled down the hall, heading for our lockers. Oddly, hers was next to mine. I was now the bigshot in school, the one all the boys envied, and the one all the girls desired. I strolled down to my Math class in a way that only cool kids could do. I walked into my class, with a grin on my face and a good feeling in my stomach. I sat in my spot, not a care in the world.
Soon, Social Studies came around, and I sat in my spot in between Lisa and Melissa. Tension rose between Lisa and Melissa, exchanging looks and hand gestures, where I wouldn’t have the guts to explain. After 30 minutes of this nonsense, I whispered out for both of them to hear, but under the volume of which Mr. Collen could hear,
“Stop it, both of you. This isn’t the second grade.” Lisa smirked and whispered to Melissa,
“Yeah, You should go back to the second grade, Mel. You are SO immature!” Melissa’s temper is very short-fused around Lisa, and made a public performance, screaming out for all to hear,
“Oh, just stop it, Lisa! You side by him like he’s gold! You know what you are, a slut, that’s what! A whore!” The other kids remarked at this sudden outburst, from,
“Wow, she’s crazy!” to
“Wow, that’s hot!” and in-between. Then Melissa stood up, walked over to Lisa’s desk, and flipped it right over, Lisa’s purse and binder with it. Lisa screamed like a crazed gorilla,
“AHHHHHHHH!” and stood up abruptly, and slapped Melissa right across the face. The loud smack echoed across the room, Melissa in tears. Melissa then reacted and countered that with a PUNCH! A punch! The fist slammed across the cheek of Lisa’s, and Lisa landed on the floor. Melissa jumped onto her and started punching her even more, reminiscent of Jahn Lee from Dead or Alive. Her fists turned into a blur, as fist after fist hit the soft flesh of Lisa’s face and stomach. Mr. Collen was busy calling security, and soon enough, Mr. Moan was outside the door with pepper spray, just in case. The group of security officials rushed into the room, separating the two girls. They got Melissa up-righted, and held her back. All she did was spit on Lisa, and then walked in the guards. Then, it was all over. Lisa was still on the floor, unmoving. No moan, no shriek, just the quiet that the students would not bother to fill. A security personnel came into the room, put his hand around Lisa’s arm to check a pulse. Then he put his ear across her chest.
“She’s unconscious, but she’s okay. I bet this was the first time she was ever punched.” I walked up to Lisa and held her hand up. Her pulse was beating softly, faintly. A sure sign of life.
Lisa was sent to the hospital with “Wounds and unconsciousness” on her medical sheet. Melissa was suspended from school for two weeks.
“I just can’t believe I’m going to miss the dance!” I scoffed at Melissa’s remark and said,
“I’m just happy you’re not expelled. Surely you would be sent to some kind of juvie center.”
“Well, fate is on my side.”
“You know, what does all about? That outburst was unnecessary.”
“I just hate that girl. She’s a total witch! Why even hang with her, Jer’?”
“It’s because, when I first met her, she seemed like the girl of my life.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, what?” Melissa started sniffing, showing signs that she was upset about something. She then burst into tears and ran into her house, slamming the door behind her.
Chapter Seven: An Afternoon With The Girl I Love
Halloween was nearing, a week off. Lisa, after being admitted out of the hospital, started planning a Halloween Party.
“You’re my guest of honor!” Lisa announced to me while eating lunch. I nearly gagged on the sandwich I was eating.
“What is that for?” Lisa kissed me on the cheek and said,
“My Halloween Party, silly!” She then stood up and threw away her lunch, then returning to the seat next to me. I looked at Lisa and asked,
“Hey, um, why did you do that to Melissa? She’s still my friend.”
“She is just annoying. You shouldn’t stick onto her like that. She’s your past life, your geeky life, and you need to pass that stage.”
“But she’s the one that helped me in those times in the first place!”
“Well, some things you just got to let go.”
“But, she was my first friend…” Lisa looked in my eyes and asked,
“I’ll give you a choice, that neanderthal of a girl or me, the love of your life.” I thought about that question for a while.
“Well?”
“I guess you. I mean, I sacrificed so much for you.”
“Hmm… Thought so.” The bell rang, as if on cue, and the scene ended with a bad feeling in my stomach.
“Hey, Jer’, want to go shopping for clothes with me?”
“Nah, I hate putting on new clothes.”
“No, it’s for me, silly.” I fumbled through my pockets, finding my cellphone. I dialed in my house number, and waited for someone to pick it up.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three rings.
Four rings.
I pressed the END button on the phone and looked at Lisa.
“My folks ain’t picking up the phone. I think I should go home.”
“No, don’t worry, we’ll be back quick in a jiffy.” Lisa grabbed my hand, dragged me over to the curb, and hailed a taxi.
“So, where are we going?” Lisa dragged me inside the mall, and said,
“Everywhere!” She dragged me everywhere, the first stop, a store called Judy’s Skirts And Stuff. She picked some clothes, some skirts, some shirts, and dragged me to the dressing rooms. She made me sit in a white chair, which, was unfortunately, was very uncomfortable and smelled of sour milk and melted cheese. She jumped out of the dressing room in jeans, jean jacket, and a black shirt underneath saying “Born 2B Wild”. She asked me if it was good, and I said,
“Yeah, I guess its okay.” Lisa smiled and said,
“Yeah. Its sucks. C’mon, just say it, it sucks.”
“No, no, it doesn’t suck, its just, I don’t know, plain?” Lisa smiled yet again and said,
“Yeah! We need something with a little more pizzazz! I know. I get some more clothes, and you just sit your cute little tushie on that chair!”
“Cute tushie?”
“Yeah! Its so cute!” She found some more clothes and hopped back into the dressing room. We spent two hours finding clothes, where shortly thereafter, she payed for her clothes, then she dragged me out.
“So, where did you get that large sum of money from.” Lisa took out her purse, opened it, and showed me hundreds of dollars stuffed inside that.
“My father’s the one who owns the Hershey Company. We moved here so we can be closer to the headquarters. Kinda makes you wonder why we were never here in the first place, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Hey, I’m hungry, let’s get a snack.” She trotted off in her new high-heels, and I went of after her. She led me to an exquisite restaurant, called, The Cheesecake Factory.
“Hey, I’ve heard of this place, I saw it TV. The have really expensive dinner and really good food. I heard their cheesecakes are to die for.” Lisa smiled, and motioned me to enter the restaurant. I went in, her after.
Chapter Eight: “Sitting Here With You”
The waiter, dressed in a tux, sporting a grey mustache and wrinkles, walked up to Lisa and I, we were just sitting on chairs, waiting to be called.
“Ah, Madam Lisa, and you’re boyfriend, no?” The maitre d’ peered into my eyes.
“Ah, yes, Jeeves, this is my boyfriend, Jerry Dean.”
“Ah, Mister Dean! Step inside, and I will give you the special booth.”
We stood up and followed the waitress. The old man was unusually fast, and I half-jogged half-walked to keep up with him. He then led us to a table in the back, where many rich and fancy people were casually eating their food. Thankfully, Lisa bought me garb that matched up to what they were wearing. Take that, you rich people! Another waiter, this time, a more younger man, maybe in the early 20’s. On his dress shirt, a name tag was pinned on, covered with designs of cheesecakes and flowers. Matt, in black letters, was printed on. Lisa looked at Matt, and even without looking at the tag, asked,
“Hey, Matt? Can we see the menus. Jeeves didn’t leave some for us.”
“Yeah, sure, Lis’.” Matt placed two menus on the table. I leaned towards Lisa and asked,
“Okay, two questions. How did you know about Jeeves, and who is Matt?
“One, Jeeves is my father’s friend. Two, Matt is my older brother.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, because this restaurant uses Hershey’s in its cheesecakes, and Jeeves has always worked here, and Matt is just trying to save up money. So, what you want?” I peered at the menu. Everything was fancy, and expensive.
“Lisa, how can you afford twenty dollar chicken?”
“Hey, my dad is in charge of Hershey, hello?” Satisfied, I called Matt over, and said to him,
“I’ll have the roast steak, medium rare, but drizzle it with some barbeque sauce, and some Caesar salad for the side. I’ll also have some water, please. Oh, and for desert, I’ll have the Hershey’s Kisses Cheesecake, but add some extra chocolate pieces.” Lisa smiled at my order.
“Okay, I’ll have some sliced roasted chicken, well-cooked, and add some garlic on top of that, a Philly Sub Sandwich, hold the onions, and some of that Cheesecake that Jerry here was talking about.”
“Hey, Lis’, are you sure you want to order all this? This alone is at least eighty-dollars.” Lisa pointed to her purse.
“I’m rich, remember? You just wasted it all trying to invest in a new company.” Matt nodded, and walked away. I was curious on what Lisa had said to his brother.
“So, what kind of company did he invest in?”
“He wanted to start a company of where cocoa beans was grown in greenhouses. The whole thing snafued, and father refused to give anymore money to Matt. He wasted 1.5 million dollars alone on the trees!”
“Heh.” I chuckled at the little story. Soon, the food came, with the food stacked high, and the prices even higher. My food was presented to me, and Lisa’s was presented too. They then gave us our utensils, and we began eating. Lisa started off with her chicken, and knifed a piece off. She put it into her mouth with grace and fashion, then said to me,
“You have just gotta try some of this chicken.!”
“Well, why not feed it to me?”
“C’mon, you’re not a three year old!”
“Well, then I’ll cry in my sleep, thinking about the date gone wrong.”
“Oh, so this is a date?”
“Well, it is kind of like one.”
“Well, then maybe I will give some to you.”
She put a piece of it on her fork and lifted it towards me, then I did the same with my steak.
The food was all finally done. I held my hand over my stomach, and felt my belt straining. Lisa said to me,
“So, how is it?”
“Surreal.”
“What is?”
“This. This whole date, this whole boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. It felt like yesterday that when you called me a dork.”
“Well, I guess people change…”
“It’s just that, sitting here with you, its like a dream. Pinch me, I want to know that this is real. I’ve never been happier in my whole life. I feel like the king of the world, a new man.”
“Oh, believe me, it’ll be better soon.”
“Oh, how’s that?”
“You’ll see soon enough. For now, lets go home.”
With that, we put down our payment, twenty percent tip, of course, and left the restaurant.
Chapter Nine: Party Ever After
Lisa smiled at me. Funny. An axe was through her head, and dried blood spew down her face, and she was just wearing normal clothing, other then at the axe.
“Am I late for the Halloween Party?” Lisa smiled at me.
“No, not really.” She invited me in, and I looked around. Keith Reynolds was in a badly made mummy costume, made out of toilet paper.
“It has two uses,” says Keith, when I walked passed him. “It is a costume, and we can TP the neighbors soon after!” Ricky McLord wore a mad scientist costume, with the name tag, “Hello, my name is Dr. Frankenstein”. And Leonard Richie was, as his last name, a big-time millionaire with stuffed pockets.
“They’re just rubber chickens.” he told me. I looked around, Melissa was absent. I turned to Lisa.
“Lisa, where’s Melissa?”
“Uh, who?”
“You know, brunette, brown eyes, liked blue, my best friend?”
“Oh, her… I didn’t think she wanted to come. I didn’t bother sending an invite.”
“Look, I got to look for her. She is my best friend, after all.” I sped out of the house, quick as a flash. I was Dracula, so my cape flew back behind me. I sped down Hawthorne Street and took the left to Bluff Point Lane. Lisa’s house is at 3000. 3000 Bluff Point Lane. The lights were out. There were no cars on the driveway. It was eerily silent. A group of delinquent pre-teens walked towards the house, paper towels in hand. I shook my pointer finger at them.
“I got this house,” I lied. “Find some other house to TP.” The kids walked away with a arrangement of comments, from “Oh, man!” to “This sucks.”. I looked around the house, making sure that there isn’t any clue that Melissa is there, maybe watching TV in the center of the house, already sleeping, or silently crying. Nope. Nothing. I walked back to Lisa’s house. The chorus of “Ghetto Superstar” was clearly heard by the time I reached Hawthorne Lane. The party was still on, whether I was there or not. The door was still ajar. I opened the door.
I let you go,
Let you go like a thousand balloons,
Without even thinking!
The song echoed throughout the neighborhood. I was sitting on the steps of Lisa’s porch. I just didn’t want to join the festivities. Lisa walked out of the house and sat next to me.
“Why not join the party?”
“I just don’t want to.”
“Well, the party just isn’t the same without you.” Soon after that, she laid down on my lap. I looked at the stars.
“Hmm…Party Ever After, eh?” Lisa looked up at me.
“Yup. Party ever after.”
Chapter Ten: New Year’s Tears
Mr. Collen was talking extra loud today.
“Hope you have a Happy Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, Festivus, whatever you celebrate. You guys hav’ta be outta the building by 3:05. No ‘un gonna watch you after that. We teachers got lives too!” When the bell rang, Mr. Collen was the first one to step out of the room. We later saw him on the snowy grass outside, clearly had slipped on ice. The kids laughed, not just because of Mr. Collen, but because it was Winter Break. I took a deep breath, and took all the carbon dioxide out. A trail of white mist emitted from my mouth. I admired the shapes and warmth. The dorkiness was still in me. I just never let it out. Lisa went up to me, snuggled in a light blue jacket with those annoying, itchy, furry things on the hood and sleeve. I was just dressed in a common red coat. Lisa took a deep breath as well, and let it out. She smiled.
“So, you going to go to watch the fireworks at McGron Hill?”
“Sure. You betcha.”
McGron Hill. The highest hill in the county. The place where teens make out at night, mostly, but at New Year’s, the place where people watch the fireworks. We, of course, were doing the lather…
It was 11:59 PM. A minute until the new year. Everyone had pocket radios, to hear the countdown. Everyone was silent, waiting for the countdown. Lisa was next to me, my hand over her shoulder. Everyone couldn’t wait for the countdown. I listened to my surroundings. The night was quiet, but a lingering sound was heard. Almost whisper silent, but in this silence, it was pretty obvious. I looked around. Two teens hugging each other, middle aged couple looking at the sky, a family, a lone kid. I then saw at the person behind the tree. Behind it, even through the tree and dark, was easily recognizable as Melissa. She was sobbing gently, as I could tell.
The radio blurted out, “And ladies and gentlemen, and Jacob. (Laughs coming through the radio) Its almost time for 2007! Get ready for the countdown!” All of the people held hands, and screamed out loud.
“TEN!”
“NINE!”
“EIGHT”
“SEVEN!”
“SIX”
“FIVE”
“FOUR”
“THREE”
“TWO!”
“ONE!”
Melissa left the crowd at one.
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” The New Year’s song was playing on the radio, and people were celebrating. The fireworks erupted. Blue, green, red, white, and a whole other multitude of colors were lighting up in the sky. Circles, squares, cubes, the banging ones, the loud ones, the missile ones, the rocket ones, all flew into the air. Explosions sounds flew all throughout the silence that was on eleven seconds before. Lisa held her hands on her ears and laughed. I laughed too. We both laughed. The end of the year ended with Lisa and I ending in a big kiss.
Chapter Eleven: “Do you remember you past self?”
Lisa and I bid farewell. I headed to my house, and was startled to find Melissa on my porch. She motioned me to sit down. I sat down next to her. Her face was still wet with fresh tears. She looked at me. Her face glittered in the moonlight.
“Hi, Melissa”
“Hey, you.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“You. Okay. Look. Remember our conversation we had earlier. I had regretted what I said as soon as I said it. But, it was too late. I stormed into my house because I was embarrassed, and angry at myself. I shouldn’t be like that.”
I tried to interrupt, but she continued.
“I had went into my room and threw myself into my bed. I was just thinking. I decided that I should tell you this. I love you. I couldn’t say this before, because I was too scared. Then, Lisa had you. I tried talking you out of it, but it didn’t work. I didn’t want myself to be alone and sad for the rest of my life. I needed you. I wanted you happy. But, when I saw you with Lisa, you looked happy. You…were…happy.”
New tears ran down her face.
“I decided that I didn’t need you anymore. You didn’t need me. I decided that I couldn’t interfere with your life anymore, so I separated me from you. It had worked, until this evening. I saw you with Lisa, both looking at each other, the love was strong. I felt it. I wanted to be alone, but I couldn’t stop staring. I left at that moment. It was so hard to keep myself away from you. The sense and easiness of when I first planned this out was absent went I saw you. I couldn’t stand it. But, maybe there was a way. Maybe you do love me back. I just need to ask you one question.
“Do…you…love me?”
In her eyes, the words Please love me was easily seen. I saw the tears on her chin. It hanged there.
“I…can’t…I love…Lisa.”
Her eyes were now something else entirely. It now said Oh, how could I be so stupid!. New tears, now in a steady stream, ran down her face. She was heartbroken. She ran off immediately. She was sobbing to herself. I tried stopping her, but she muttered,
“Its only best.”
I was then standing there, just with my own thoughts.
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