Jenny

The weekend passed by in a blur. We lasted all of two hours at the grand party. We didn’t fade away into oblivion, or grow two heads in the process. We did, however, witness a frozen hell moment, when Draven pulled a personality switch-a-roo. Lo and I spent half the night analyzing it, and I spent the rest of the night dreaming about it.

No really!

Draven Lepage occupied my thoughts. I never thought those words would ever be spoken in the same sentence. 

I’m blaming my raging hormones. Obviously it was hormones. Under no circumstances should I ever let that guy in my thoughts. He didn’t belong there. It was a –NO DRAVEN ZONE. 

But, and that was a very large but. 

I felt that kiss all the way to my toes. And if we hadn’t been standing in someone’s backyard, I would’ve mauled him like a rabid beast. Seriously. That was a scary, scary thought. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t wrap my head around it. The thought of lusting after someone you despise was unsettling. It made me question myself.

He was an egotistical, bad-mouthed, no good jerk.

He was not someone I would ever, under any circumstances fall in love with.

Nope. I refused. 

When Lo went home on Sunday, I spent most of the day in bed binge watching Once Upon A Time, and trying to forget that the whole thing happened. It was no easy task.

It wasn’t until around lunchtime on Monday that my mind felt fully occupied with something other than him. It helped not seeing him all day, and I think I was finally coming to terms with the fact that I was just nuts. When my period showed up at lunch today, I knew that it was to blame for all my uncontrolled thoughts. It made me a lunatic. I could quite possibly rip someone’s head off and nurse them back to health all in a day’s work. Thanks, Aunt Flo.

“When are you leaving for Florida?” I asked Lo as we walked together down the hall. 

“Thursday.” 

“I wish I was going with you.” She was visiting her aunt and uncle, and attending a beach wedding for her cousin. The thought of being anywhere other than Borders sounded like a dream. Maybe I could sneak myself into her suitcase. It was worth a shot. 

“I wish you were too. Four days without you will totally suck. We have to Skype.”

“For sure.” I agreed. “Make sure you are on the beach when you do. I want to see it.” I’d never seen the beaches in Florida, not in person anyway. It made me super jealous that she was going without me. I tried really hard to talk Mom into letting me go, but she said no. Repeatedly. 

“We still have three more days before I leave. Let’s do something fun.”

“No parties.” That was my only stipulation. I’d had my feel of the party scene, and it wasn’t my cup of tea. I’d rather alphabetize boxes of cereal than go to another one.

“Agreed. We’ll think of something. Call me later.”

“Okay,” I told her. 

She weaved her way through the crowd toward the school parking lot, while I walked over to the picnic tables to wait for Draven. We had tutoring today, and he promised he wouldn’t be late. Though, I guess a promise from him wasn’t something I should take seriously. He seemed to lack follow through.

To my surprise, he was already there waiting on me. Guess he wasn’t lying when he promised me he’d be on time. It was kind of shocking, because I thought he was feeding me a line of crap at the party. Good to know that he was a man of his word.

“Hey you.” He spoke first as I approached the table. “You look surprised.”

“More like shocked. I didn’t think you’d keep your word.” I admitted. 

“So little faith.” He feigned hurt. 

Really? I rolled my eyes. He was full of crap.

“Let’s go.” I told him. 

He laughed like there was some inside joke I was missing. So, I turned and walked away. This was my time he was wasting. 

“Hold up,” he called after me, but I continued walking.

“Do you have your car?” I snapped.

“Yeah.” He came up next to my side, keeping stride with me. 

I glanced over at him. “Then I’ll see you at my house.” I didn’t wait for an answer. I just headed straight for my car. 

For a seventeen year old, my thread of patience was short. Maybe I was just used to doing things on my own time, when I wanted. Tutoring Draven was like work. 

On the few minute drive it took me to get home, I thought about asking him about what happened at the party. I figured it would be lingering over us like a rain cloud. You can’t experience that kid of jaw-dropping moment, and expect it all to go away quietly. We would have to talk about it sooner or later. I at least had to know why it happened. 

I waited for Draven to pull in the driveway before going inside. You could hear his old car coming down the road before you could even see it. The thing was so loud that the street over probably heard him. Something rattled as he pulled into the driveway stopping inches from my car, and it made a loud firecracker noise as he turned it off. It made me jump, and obviously pissed him off. He kicked the car door shut with full force and cursed it before walking my way. Kicking that piece of junk probably wasn’t the best idea. I was surprised parts of it didn’t fall off. 

“I hope you have insurance.” I joked. 

“Good one,” he smirked. 

“Wait. You don’t have car insurance?”

“I don’t even have a job. How the hell could I pay for car insurance? It’s not even my car.” 

“You stole it?” There was a shocking tone to my voice. 

“No, princess. I didn’t steal it. It’s my Dad’s.” He said as he tossed his bag over his shoulder. I noticed a huge hole in the bottom corner of his backpack. It was big enough to slide a coke bottle out of. I had to swallow back the pitiful taste that rose in my throat. “My Dad’s in jail, you know.”

“Yeah,” I replied in a whisper. I suddenly felt bad for him. It had to be hard growing up with a father like that. No wonder Draven acted like he did. He’d always had to take care of himself. 

He followed me up the steps of the porch and into the house. Dad said hi as we passed through the living room. He didn’t even look behind him, just stared at the television. There was some kind of sport show on, so he was glued. I said hi back, before walking into the kitchen. 

“Hey Mom,” I spoke as we stepped up next to the bar. 

She looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Hey you guys. I’m just working on supper.”

“We have to study,” I told her, which she knew. The kitchen counter and the table were covered with all sorts of things. 

“Can you study in the living room?” She asked as she opened the oven. Her long blonde braid hung over her shoulder as she leaned forward to adjust the pan inside. 

“Dad’s watching something on T.V. We’ll just go up to my room,” I told her. “Come on.”

“Supper will be ready around five thirty. You should stay for dinner Draven.” Mom suggested. “We will have plenty of food.”

Before I had time to interject, he agreed. It wasn’t, maybe some other time, or I have something else planned. He said yes quickly, which made Mom super excited. She was such a charitable women, and Draven was a big ol’ charity case.

“Let’s go.”

He followed me up the steps and to my bedroom. I left the door wide open, because I knew Dad would have a cow if he knew I had a guy in my room. Mom was much more lenient when it came to things like that, but Dad not so much. In his eyes I was still his little girl, and I planned on keeping it that way.

“So this is your room.” He walked around slow and steady, taking in every little detail. It sort of made me feel uncomfortable the way he was looking so closely. I wasn’t used to letting people inside me life, and my bedroom was a place that was far too intimate to start. 

My room wasn’t very big. I had a twin size bed against the far wall, a tall dresser with my T.V. sitting on top of it, and a bookcase filled from top to bottom with as many books as it could hold. There was barely anything on the walls other than my corkboard of pictures. Most of them were of Lo and me, and I had a few family photos. I also kept my academic team awards hanging there. Those were prize possessions to me, since they were what gained me a scholarship to NYU. My acceptance letter was framed on the top of my bookcase.

“We have a lot to cover. We should get started,” I urged.

“All work and no play. It looks like you already have a first class seat to college. You don’t even need to study.” He implied, grabbing one of my awards and studying it before putting it back.

“Maybe not,” I agreed. “But you do.”

He looked back over his shoulder and smiled. He knew I was right. 

I took a seat on the bed against the wall and opened my notebook. He climbed on the bed next to me, and I silently hoped that he wouldn’t put his filthy shoes on my bed.   

“Are we going to pretend that what happened at the party didn’t happen or were you planning on asking me about it?” There it was. That lingering cloud that I knew would be brought up sooner or later. 

My pen shook faster in my hand as I stared down at my lap. “Why’d you do it?” I asked still staring down. I couldn’t bring myself to look up at his face.

“Because of Tyler,” he answered. 

My head snapped in his direction. “Tyler. Tyler James?”

He groaned. “Yeah. He’s been giving me shit lately. He always has something smart to say, and he rubs his Daddy’s money in my face. It pisses me off.”

“But what does any of that have to do with me?” I wondered. “If you had a problem with Tyler, why wouldn’t you just kick his ass?” I mean I knew he could.

He chuckled, and his hearty laughter caused me to start laughing. “I want to. Don’t get me wrong. But I can’t get into any trouble right now. I’m not eighteen yet. If the police arrest me, then I’m on a one-way trip to a group home. I’m living by myself right now without any parents. Legally, I’m a ward of the state.”

My stomach dropped. How had I not realized that? He lives by himself? “Wait, how has the school not caught on to this.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I think they have. But they are hoping I’ll either graduate, or drop out. I gave them an old phone number to my Dad’s sister, and told them I was staying with her. But she hasn’t lived around here in years.”

“So you lied?”

“I had to.” He answered truthfully, as he rested his head against the wall and stretched out his legs. 

This was the most honest conversation I’d ever had with him, and probably the longest. He was forthcoming about everything, which surprised me because he didn’t owe me any kind of explanation about his past.

“I still don’t understand what happened at the party, and why I was involved,” I delved. It made no sense to me. 

At this point, I was downright facing him on the bed. I was so engrossed in what he had to say that I couldn’t look away. I was inches away from being all up in his business. 

He answered, “Tyler told me at school last week that he wanted you. He said he was going to have you, and I told him that he never would. You’re too good for him, you know. Then at the party, he was running his mouth again. He told me he always gets what he wants, and he was going to get you. It pissed him off when I told him you didn’t want him,” he grinned. “He’s always calling me trash, and finding ways to get under my skin. So I turned the tables. When I saw you walking our way, I figured for once I could show him that he can’t have everything. Despite what his Daddy tells him.”

I couldn’t believe it. All that sweet talk at the picnic table was just a ruse to get me to go out with him, or to bed with him. I was just some conquest for him to try and woo. “What a disgusting pig!”

“Who, me?” He questioned.

“No him. Ugh,” I groaned. “I can’t believe he thought he could just have me like I was some chocolaty piece of cake. He even talked to me at the party, and if Lo hadn’t interrupted us he would’ve asked me out. He was sugary sweet too. I probably would’ve said yes. Geez.”

“You would’ve said yes?” He asked, and I couldn’t tell whether he was shocked or disgusted.

“I don’t know for sure, but there was a chance I would’ve,” I hedged, squirming away from his gaze. 

“Why?” His face-hardened and his eyes searched my face for some unforeseen answer. 

I slouched under his glare. “I don’t know. He was nice to me, and… I don’t have to explain my reasoning to you. It’s not like I’m a prude you know.” My defenses came up. “Whoa. Wait a minute.” My words stretched out. “Lo told me this morning that it was going around school that Tyler’s truck tire got slit wide open. I’m guessing you know something about that.”

He smirked, with a cocky grin. “My lips are sealed.” His mouth tightened and his eyebrows rose, that sneaky little bastard. 

“So that whole kissing scene at the party was just to get a reaction out of Tyler?”

He shook his head yes. “And it worked like a charm.”

“Good,” I straightened up a little taller. 

“Yeah it was good,” he winked. 

“Stop it,” I told him. “I am human you know.” The fact that his touch caused a reaction out of me wasn’t my fault. So what. I’m allowed to feel something, even if it was only an urge. It meant nothing more, so sue me. 

“Oh I know you are.”

“It won’t happen again.”

He scoffed. “Damn right.” 

I looked for the hidden meaning behind his words, but I couldn’t find them. What was that supposed to mean? 

Damn right. 

Obviously, I was too good for him. We didn’t need some magic eight ball to tell us any different. I loathed him, so he needn’t worry about me having some emotional type reaction to his touch. I wouldn’t go there.

Not ever…