Davis
September 2014
Ropyr walked into Chalky's with her legs and chest on full display. The dress she wore left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Neve was behind that choice, I knew it. At school, Ropyr was a jeans and t-shirt girl. I swear she had every color of Converse. But when she came out with us on the weekends, little by little, she began revealing more skin.
Jeremy didn't say much about her outfit choices, but his facial expressions gave him away. I wasn't as shy. I let out a low whistle when she came inside with Neve. "Wonder what the rest of her body looks like," I said, watching Jeremy carefully. He quickly stood from the booth and asked her to leave with him. He might finally make a move tonight.
"You're drooling," Neve said, helping herself to my onion rings.
"How did you talk her into that dress?" I asked.
"The same way Jeremy's gonna talk her out of it. Pure charm and a sexy smile," she winked at me.
"Yeah, right," I had to laugh. "he wouldn't know what to do with a naked girl."
"She's a virgin, too, ya know?" She licked the dipping sauce from her finger. Why Dawson hadn't taken Neve to bed yet was beyond me. At least she fit in with us. Belle never had. "But I also picked out her bra and panties. A cute little white number." The image of Ropyr wearing only her underwear was making my jeans tight. I wasn't against ruining her date. "I told her that she needed to take you for a ride first. Told her that you could teach her some things then she could be with Jeremy."
That piqued my interest. "And what did Ropyr say to that?"
"She didn't outright say no, but she reminded me that you had a girlfriend," she reached over to Ty's plate and took a bite of his chili cheese fries. "How is Miranda anyway?" Ty made a noise like he choked on his burger, but he washed it down with his soda and started looking at his phone.
Right. Miranda. My girlfriend. She lived next door to me and hadn't responded to my texts in three days. "Busy tutoring," is what her mother told me when I stopped by yesterday. I didn't have a reason not to believe her. It was weird that she didn't reply before or after tutoring, but I knew asking any questions would lead to Miranda yelling at me about not trusting her.
"She's been tutoring a lot lately," I said with a shrug.
"Dawson could use a tutor. He has zero comprehension of Hamlet. I've offered to help, but we end up making out then he leaves for Belle."
"Jealous much?" Ty teased.
Dawson returned to the table then, sipping a beer. "Don't let her fool you. Making out with me gets her fired up for her own girlfriend."
Neve had a girlfriend? The girl sitting next to me in a pink crop top, denim skirt and heels, had a girlfriend?
"I like kissing boys, not hooking up with them," she said defensively, narrowing her eyes at Dawson.
"You had sex with me," Dawson said. He sat beside Ty and waved the waitress over so he could order his usual chili cheeseburger, extra jalapenos.
"And now I only sleep with girls," she stuck out her tongue at him.
That was enough new information for one evening. I finished what was left of my food and drove home. Miranda's bedroom light was on. I hadn't climbed through he window in almost a year. We used to be a fun couple. A normal teenage couple.
What the hell. I walked over and tapped on the glass. She had her back to me, sitting at her desk. She was wearing a yellow long sleeve shirt and pajama pants that had a sunflower pattern. When she saw me, she smiled. I hadn't seen her smile in weeks. Not at me anyway.
"Hey, boyfriend," she said when she raised the window. She stepped back to let me climb through.
"Boyfriend, huh? Does that mean you're my girlfriend again?"
She rolled her eyes, but continued smiling. "I was never not your girlfriend. I've just been busy. I'm tutoring seven people now. Five are seniors completely freaking out about graduation."
I didn't want to hear about all that. I didn't care if it was the truth or excuses. I just wanted to feel like a couple again. "I've missed you. I feel like I haven't seen you in months."
She came closer, wrapping her around me and placing her hands in my back pockets. "Want me to show you how much I've missed you?"
Her room was on the first floor because Miranda was afraid of heights. That meant we had more privacy. She was quiet, too, which bothered me but it meant her parents didn't know what we were doing to each other. We hadn't slept together since last March so I really didn't care if she was loud or enthusiastic this time. I was just happy to have her.
It was until much later, when she was curled against me, that I noticed the purple and yellow spots on her neck and shoulders. Some appeared fresh, probably caused by me tonight, but others were obviously old and in different stages of healing. Callan used to play rough and bite, but I couldn't convince myself that's what these were from.
I wanted to leave, to go sleep in my own bed, but I couldn't move without waking her. If she woke up, she would be irritated and I was already pissed off so we would end up fighting. I had no choice but to try sleeping there next to her.
Her phone began vibrating on her nightstand, jarring me awake. Miranda somehow slept through it. She wasn't right against me anymore meaning I could finally move. I shouldn't have done it, but I reached over and picked up her phone. She still used Callan's birthdate as her passcode. 050807.
There were three new texts from Dawson. That was weird. Those two had never been friends. He went out of his way to avoid her. He didn't even want to hang out if she was going to be around.
Dawson: I'm sorry.
Dawson: Will you please call me?
Dawson: Mira talk to me.
Mira? When did he start calling her Mira?
I couldn't handle this right now. I was imagining the worst possible scenario and needed to be as far away from the situation as possible. I moved off the bed and got dressed. She was still asleep. I watched her for a few seconds, wondering when she stopped loving me. How did I miss the signs?
I climbed out of the window and walked across the yard to my house. Seeing the grey 4 Runner stopped me in my tracks. My grandparents, my dad's parents, were in town.
My weekend just got a whole lot worse.