The Boy Who Loved Me, page 1
The Boy Who Loved Me
By
Dusti Bowling
Copyright © 2013 by Dusti Bowling
www.dustibowling.com
These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Dusti Bowling.
Cover art by Zach Bowling
www.dustibowling.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 1
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I wanted to smash it. “What do you mean they’re not coming home until May?” I asked, my cheeks flushing bright red with anger. “They were supposed to be home two weeks ago already.”
“I guess something important came up. You know all the difficulties they’ve been having,” Beth said, folding a pair of my underwear and placing it neatly on an already towering pile of colorful undies.
“Of course,” I said and slammed my brush down on my vanity. “Something important always comes up.” Everything else but me, I should have added.
“Now don’t get all worked up,” Beth said, carrying the towering pile of underwear to my dresser and placing it neatly in a drawer.
“Whatever,” I said as I pulled my hair back in a ponytail. “Like I even care.” I picked up my lip gloss and applied it to my slightly twitching lips. “Let them stay in London forever.” I gave myself one last glance to make sure nothing was out of place, then turned and gave Beth a sly look. “School’s almost over, and now I’ll be able to have as many parties as I want.”
Beth shook a bra-clutched hand at me. “I don’t think so, Madison. You’re going to buckle down and finish school on high note with good grades.”
“I don’t think so, Beth,” I mimicked her, walking into my closet. I hadn’t gotten good grades my whole life. I snorted. Why start now? I simply wasn’t cut out for college. The fact that I hadn’t even applied to any schools didn’t help either.
Beth followed closely behind me carrying a pile of shirts. “Your parents would be really unhappy with me already if they found out about what you’ve been doing while they’ve been gone. You’re supposed to be preparing for your future.”
I laughed to myself about “preparing for my future” and snatched some yoga pants off a hanger, causing the hanger to fly off the rod and nearly hit Beth in the face. She dropped the pile of shirts while trying to shield herself from the hanger attack. Her perfectly coifed graying hair didn’t even budge.
“They’ve been gone for three months,” I snapped. “Three months! What do they think an eighteen-year-old is going to do with three months of time with no adult supervision? Prepare for her future? Really? They’re not stupid, Beth. They know what I do around here.” I glared at her. “And they don’t care, otherwise they would be here.”
“Of course they care,” Beth defended them. She was always defending them.
“Oh yeah? How often do they call to check up on me? No, they’re too busy opening their new restaurant.”
“You know how time-consuming it can be opening a new restaurant. They’ve run into all kinds of red tape over there.”
“They have six restaurants already. Why is this one so important?”
“It’s their first one overseas. Of course it’s going to be more difficult,” Beth said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged it off as I slipped on my yoga pants. “Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment right now?” I said, wishing she would just leave me alone.
Beth glanced at her watch. “Not for another hour.”
I walked out of the closet. “Well, I’m going to meet Dawn and Emily for yoga.”
“What about dinner tonight?” Beth asked, trailing behind me.
“I don’t know,” I said, picking up my purse. “I may just pick up a smoothie afterward or something.”
Beth looked disappointed. “I guess I’ll just microwave leftovers then.”
I gave her a sad look. “Poor Beth. I’ll put a grocery list together for you tonight.” I kissed her on the cheek and made my way down the stairs, giggling about Beth.; for being the woman who basically raised me, she sure was pretty helpless at times.
~ ~ ~
“Holy cow!” Dawn yelled in a sort of hushed whisper, contorting her head to look at me. She was on her feet and hands, and her face was bright red from all the blood in it. Her wavy light brown hair lay on the floor in a puddle. I probably shouldn’t have given her the exciting news while we were in downward dog. The combination of excitement and blood could have possibly given her an aneurism or something. Or maybe it would actually stimulate some brain cells. In Dawn’s case, that couldn’t hurt. “They’re not coming home until May?”
I shook my own blood-filled head. How long was Regina going to hold us in this position anyway? “Nope.” I did my best to act excited with her.
“Will they be home on time for prom and graduation?” Emily asked from my other side. A couple of nearby women gave us dirty looks. I couldn’t tell if it was anger that was making their faces red because everyone’s faces were all so blazing red.
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” But I would never speak to them again if they weren’t. Actually, I already wasn’t speaking to them, so I would have to figure out some other way to punish them for their neglect.
Regina finally brought us out of our position and onto the floor. “We are going to have so much fun!” Dawn squealed. “You should try to get more allowance out of them. You know—use the guilt against them.”
Dawn was never going to be a brilliant scientist. Actually, Dawn was never going to be someone who could do long division, but every now and then she had a fairly good idea. I nodded in approval. The allowance I got from my parents was already enough to pretty much do whatever I wanted, but more was always better.
We finished our last position and Regina dismissed us. On our way out, some woman probably in her thirties started berating us for talking during class. Emily and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Old people were so funny.
We fetched our things from the locker room and walked next door to the smoothie bar. We ordered smoothies and sat down at a table out on the patio. The weather was perfect—sunny with a nice cool breeze. “I’m so bored,” I finally said after sucking down about half of my coconut pineapple smoothie.
“Me too,” Emily said, putting her smoothie down. Her mouth and teeth were slightly green from her disgusting kale lemongrass abomination. I knew we were trying to be healthy, but taste would always matter to me. After all, both of my parents were chefs.
When I was really little, and they actually had a little more time to spend with me—like three hours a week instead of none—sometimes they would make me something new and fun and tasty to eat. I smiled at the memory of my dad showing me how to French a rack of lamb. I had nearly stabbed him with the knife. On accident, of course. I frowned; they had thought they could assuage their guilt by making me a treat once a week.
“What can we do to alleviate our boredom?” I asked, sighing and watching a couple walk by. They were holding hands, and I thought the girl was way too pretty to be with the geeky looking, short guy.
“Oh, I know!” Dawn blurted out. “We could rent one of those bikes with more than one seat. Then we can all ride together.”
Emily snorted. “I’d rather be seen wearing Wal Mart jeans than riding behind you on a bicycle, Dawn.”
Dawn frowned, obviously disappointed her fantastic idea had gotten shot down. “Bungee jumping?”
Emily and I looked at her in disbelief. “What?” she said. “There’s a place just a few miles from here. Sometimes I watch the people jump. I can just sit and watch them jump for hours. It looks like so much fun.”
Emily and I looked at each other. “Are you insane?” Emily asked.
I laughed. “Next idea, please,” I said, taking the last noisy swig of my smoothie. “I don’t participate in anything that might kill me.”
“Please,” Dawn said, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Like that could even happen. My cousin did it and survived just fine thank you very much.”
“How about a movie?” Emily said, pulling her dark hair up into bun.
“Meh,” I said. “I’m sick of going to movies.”
“I watched this super super old movie the other night,” Dawn said, then took a big sip of her strawberry smoothie. Emily and I both waited for her to continue her statement. I guess she was done.
“What, pray tell, was this super super old movie that you watched, and why did you feel the need to mention it?” Emily asked.
Dawn looked confused for a moment. Then lucidity filled her eyes and her brain seemed able to function again on its barely l
I waited for more. “That’s it?” I asked. “That sounds depressing.”
“Oh, I think they ended up in love or something at the end. It was so good.”
“You think they ended up in love at the end?” I said.
“Yeah, I think so,” Dawn said, a faraway look in her eyes.
“A minor plot point,” Emily said, and I giggled. I watched a group of boys walk by. One turned his head and smiled at me. I cringed and looked away.
“That’s it,” Emily said. “That’s what we should do.”
“What?” I asked. “Fall in love with a sort of ugly fat girl?” Dawn laughed, and a little smoothie burst out her nose. She reached over and grabbed a napkin to wipe off the disgusting smoothie drip.
“No,” Emily said, giving Dawn a disgusted look. “We should have a party like that—to see who can bring the worst date. You know how funny that would be?”
I shifted in my seat. “I don’t know,” I said.
Dawn squinted at me. “You’re not worried about Stephen are you? You guys aren’t even together anymore.”
“I know that,” I said quickly. Stephen had been my on-again, off-again boyfriend for the last two years. Basically, we were on when he wasn’t cheating on me and off when he was. “I don’t make decisions based on Stephen. I couldn’t care less about him.”
“Yeah right,” Emily mumbled.
“Just suck your kale down,” I said, glaring at her. “I don’t care about Stephen, and we are never getting back together, especially not after he got together with Valerie.”
Dawn made a sound of disgust. “Ewww. He should be quarantained after that.”
Emily looked at me, and I bit back my smile. “You mean quarantined?”
“Whatever. He should just be considered untouchable,” Dawn said.
“You know she’d still take him back, though,” Emily said. “She would take him back even if he got together with Beth.”
“That’s sick, Emily,” I said. The thought was so gross… but also somewhat comical.
“That’s why she won’t have this party,” Emily continued. “She’s worried about what he would think if she were to date a total geek.”
“That is so not true,” I said. “Yes, I will have this party and I will bring the absolute worst date I can possibly find, and I even hope Stephen knows all about it and gets really jealous of me and my hot new boyfriend. But what I want to know is what will be my prize when I win?”
“Bungee jumping gift certificate,” Emily said, and we laughed. Dawn didn’t smile, though.
We sat for a moment, all of us thinking. “How much money do you guys have?” I finally asked.
“Spending money?” Dawn asked.
I rolled my eyes. “No, Dawn, how much money do you have in the stock market?”
She looked frazzled for a moment, like she didn’t realize she was supposed to have money in the stock market or something.
“Yes, of course, spending money,” I said.
“Four hundred dollars,” Emily said.
“I don’t know, like twelve hundred,” Dawn said.
Emily and I looked at her. “How did you manage to save twelve hundred dollars?” I asked.
Dawn shrugged. “My parents pay well when I babysit my little brothers. Really well.”
“Apparently,” I said. “Anyway, how about if we all put in three hundred dollars apiece, so poor Emily isn’t left destitute, and we buy something with the nine hundred and that will be the prize to whoever brings the worst date to the party.”
“What are we going to buy?” Emily asked.
“Oh, I know. How about that red Burberry we saw last week?” Dawn asked.
“Not enough money,” I said, and no way was I putting in for the other thousand it would take to get that purse. “How about that little blue clutch we were just looking at yesterday? It was on sale, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Dawn said. “I bet it’s gone now, though.”
I looked at Dawn. “Oh ye of little faith and brainpower, let’s just run over there and see.” I tossed my smoothie in the garbage. They did the same and we made our way to my Audi.
I put the top down and we made the short drive to the store. We walked in and the snooty sales girl greeted us coldly. I gave her a dirty look, walked to the tiny sale table, and picked up the blue clutch. The ridiculousness of something so small and meaningless being worth nine hundred dollars, on sale no less, briefly crossed my mind before I told the sales girl, “We want this one.”
Chapter 2
I sat in the back of Mr. Rodriguez’s language arts class, secretly texting Emily on the phone I wasn’t supposed to have in school. Mr. Rodriguez was talking about some character in The Great Gatsby, and I tried to listen as I texted in case he called on me as he had a tendency to do. Luckily, I had read the Cliff’s Notes and knew exactly who he was talking about.
“Yes, Daniel,” Mr. Rodriguez said. I looked up to see who Mr. Rodriguez had called on. It was Daniel Whatever-his-last-name-was. Didn’t know, didn’t care.
“Nick is the only genuine character in the entire book, with the exception of Gatsby. But we don’t really find out Gatsby’s worth until much later in the book,” Daniel said.
I yawned and went back to my texting. Emily was asking me if I had found someone yet. I looked back up at Daniel. He wasn’t bad looking. His style left a lot to be desired—white t-shirts pretty much every day and jeans. He always wore flip flops, too—not name brand either. Probably dollar store ones. He was, however, a total goody-two-shoes. He was always participating in classroom discussions, and I even heard him mention something about God once. Total cringe. He was probably a total church boy.
I smiled to myself. And what could be worse than bringing a holier-than-thou church boy to a party?
~ ~ ~
“I totally picked someone,” Dawn said as we sat down at our usual table in the cafeteria. “That purse is so mine.”
Emily opened her bag of homemade kale chips. “What’s with you and kale lately?” I asked.
“What? It’s super healthy.” She popped one in her mouth. “They’re really good.”
I shook my head and opened my thermos of soup—white bean and rosemary. Beth had been excited about that one last night. “So who is it?” I asked Dawn.
“No,” said Emily. “We can’t tell. It has to be a surprise at the party.”
“Fine,” I said, pouring my hot soup carefully into a bowl.
“What about you?” Emily asked. “Have you picked someone?”
