One of the Guys (28 page)

I saw Pike standing there, looking
through his wallet, his face grim.

I saw the cashier saying something,
and I pulled out an earbud to listen.

“
I’m sorry, but you need to get
moving. If you haven’t got the cash, you’ll need to put some things
back.”

The woman said, looking at Pike
like he was something she’d trodden in.

I couldn’t let that happen. Even
though he was Logan’s friend, Pike had never been nasty to
me.

“
Sorry, dude.” I said, walking up
to him. “I forgot to put back that fifty I borrowed.” I said,
handing the cashier the extra money.

The woman looked to me, her eyes
wide, then looked back to Pike.

“
No problem. I thought you put it
back, dude.” Pike answered, keeping the facade going.

“
My fault.” I said, laughing like I
was embarrassed for doing that to him.

The woman rang through the cash,
and Pike bagged his groceries, then she began to put mine
through.

Pike stayed to help with my bags,
and I felt really bad for him. I could see the look of shame in his
eyes as he glanced to me.

“
Thanks, Chase. You didn’t have to
do that.” Pike said, when we walked outside of the
store.

“
No problem.” I replied. “Is
everything ok?”

It wasn’t like Pike to be short of
cash. He’d always paid his fair share in the diner and the
movies.

“
Um…” He paused, rubbing the back
of his neck and looking around. “My Dad lost his job during the
summer. We’re kinda tight at the moment, until he gets a new job.
I’ve been looking for work until he does. My brother’s too young
though. Only twelve.”

“
What did your Dad do?” I
asked.

I knew his Dad was a skilled guy,
mostly electrics, but I didn’t know the extent of his
abilities.

“
He’s an electrician. He recently
worked on wiring the big new hotel up on seventh. He had a few
other contracts under his belt before the company
folded.”

I felt so bad for Pike. Jobs like
that paid well, especially commercial.

“
I’m sorry to hear that,
Pike.”

“
Thanks.” He said, kicking his toe
on the ground. “Um… you look good, Chase.”

“
Oh, thanks.” I said,
nervously.

“
Logan misses you.”

My stomach dropped hearing his name
mentioned. I stiffened and masked my anger. My expression was cold.
I knew because Pike looked surprised.

“
I’m sorry… it’s just.”

“
It’s ok.” I said, flatly. “Let’s
not talk about that. Do you need a ride?”

“
No, thanks. My car is right over
there.” He pointed to his red car.

“
Ok, well… See you in
school.”

“
Dad!” I called out after I’d
visited with Bren. She’d been tired after her day in the day
center, and I’d left her taking a nap.

“
Yeah, sweetheart, in here!” He
replied, from the living room.

I walked in, finding my Dad channel
surfing. He’d taken a few days off work, and he looked bored beyond
belief.

“
Dad, have you got any job
vacancies coming up at work?” I asked, glancing to the daytime talk
shows that graced the screen.

“
Looking for work?” He
laughed.

“
Not exactly.” I said, and he
turned his attention to me. “A guy I know, Pike, well… his Dad lost
his job over the summer.”

I told my Dad everything about what
happened in the store, and what Pike had told me. It was horrible.
His trying to get a job to support his family until his Dad could.
I doubted he’d told any of the guys either.

“
Actually,
honey, I think a
few
positions have come up. Do you have his
number?”

I did. I’d blocked all the guy’s
numbers, in case Logan had tried to call me through them. Handing
my Dad Pike’s number I kissed my Dad on the cheek and walked
out.

“
Put a sweater on!” My Dad yelled
after me, causing me to laugh. It was the first time ever that he’d
said that to me.

Going into my room, I changed into
my workout gear. Warming up and doing a few stretches, I put on the
music we’d finally chosen for the cheer.

Moving about to the dance moves, I
was nervous yet excited for the performance. I wasn’t looking
forward to wearing the skimpy outfit hanging up in my closet. No
matter what I was wearing lately
that
was something else
entirely.

“
Come in!” I called, hearing the
knock on my door.

“
Chase… God, you could’ve warned
me!” My Dad grimaced when he saw the position I was in.

I stood, my back arched down so my
head was by my ass. My chest was pressed against the wall, my heels
not far away. I was almost doubled over, backwards. My fingertips
playing with the backs of my ankles, I smiled. My Dad hated me
looking like a ‘pretzel’. Sure, he’d always come to watch me during
competition time, but he’d always said that my bones looked like
they were made of rubber.

Stepping away from the wall, and
lifting up, I playfully rolled my eyes at my Dad, then sat on my
bed.

“
I called Pike. He put me on to his
Dad.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah. I have him coming in to the
factory for an interview tomorrow. We need a good electrician and,
talking to him, it sounds as if he could be our guy.”

“
Thank, Dad. That’d be great if you
gave him a job.”

“
Don’t thank me yet, Chase. He may
be good, but he still needs to pass our efficiency tests and have
the most up-to-date certs.”

“
I understand. Thanks anyway; for
giving him a go, at least.”

My Dad kissed my head, and then
left my room. As soon as the door closed, I resumed my pretzel
positions, hoping that things went well.

Back in school the whispers and
looks hadn’t subsided yet, even after a couple of days, and I had a
headache. I was in a mood, as usual, and topped off with a
headache, I was
not
a happy girl.

I knew I had math class with Logan
today, and chem class. I’d seen him try to be in the same places as
me, but with the girls… I always knew where he was.

“
Chase, Logan’s waiting by the
doors in the cafeteria.” Sian had said. So I had Sian grab my lunch
and met the girls outside.

As Sian and I had become friends,
she knew about Logan. Well, she kinda guessed when his name was
mentioned and I scowled.

Only Poppy knew the extent of my
feelings, scratch that, my
old
feelings, but Sian knew what had happened in the
party. Even
she
thought it was bad.

“
Chase, Logan’s heading towards
your homeroom. I heard him tell Lex he was going to see you before
your next class.” Poppy said, calling me on my phone as I was in
there. I’d then taken a different route to class, making sure that
when Logan got there, I was gone.

The girls were doing whatever they
could to keep him away from me.

At home, I could avoid him. School
was another matter. There were only so many places I could go to
avoid seeing him. Also, seeing
her
.

The fucking smug look as she blew
him a kiss as she left his house. Swishing her hips as she walked
down the path. Pleased with herself for getting what she’d
wanted.

I clenched my fists and ground my
teeth.

I wasn’t going to let my emotions
get the better of me. I wasn’t. I tensed myself until the tears
were fought back.

I couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t
let the thoughts of them together get to me. It was none of my
business; we were never together.

“
Fuck!” I whisper shouted as I made
my way to math. I knew Logan would be there and, thankfully, I was
feeling angry enough to completely dismiss his presence in the
room. I put in my earbuds, and continued on my way.

*****

Logan

I watched as Chase walked in
through the door, looking like a vision.

I’d tried to find ways of catching
up to her, to talk to her, but no matter where I went she never
appeared. I was losing my mind.

Chase didn’t make eye contact as
she sat in her seat. Luckily, she hadn’t tried to switch. That was
something, right? She didn’t mind sitting next to me.

Then, I realized why. The rest of
the seats were already taken, and she couldn’t have switched. Well
it was in my favor, so I wasn’t complaining.

“
Chase.” I whispered. “I need to
talk to you.”

I don’t think she heard me though.
She was listening to her music again. I could hear the faint chords
of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ playing.

Mr. Garrett walked in, and I had to
sit back in my seat.

Chase removed her earbuds and put
her phone away; not even glancing at me.

“
Ok, class. I have an equation for
you.” He said, as he was writing on the board. “I want to test you
on your current math skills. Junior finals don’t mean anything to
me. I want to know exactly what you need to pass this
class.”

The rest of the class groaned.
Chase didn’t react. Instead, she looked out of the
window.

“
Now. Let’s solve this…
Chase.”

Mr. Garrett called her
name.

Shit. She’d been caught not paying
attention. I had butterflies in my stomach, wondering what he had
in store for her.

Chase turned her attention to the
teacher.

“
How
about
you
solve this? I’m guessing you’d have no trouble seeing as how
whatever’s outside the window is more important.”

“
Five.” Chase said without
hesitation.

“
Sorry?” Mr. Garrett
said.

“
Five. The answer is five.” Chase
repeated.

“
Wrong.” Mr Garrett snorted, a
satisfied look on his face.

“
No,
you’re
wrong.” Chase said, not looking away.

“
Oh, you’re certain?” He asked,
Chase nodded her head. “Care to show us why?”

Mr Garrett watched, as did the rest
of the class, as Chase rose from her seat and headed to the front.
She held her hand out for the board pen.

“
Ok.” She said. “Let’s see…” She
began to write along the equation, showing the solutions along the
way.

I watched in awe at her amazing
math skills. Chase moved around the board like a natural. Just like
she had when she’d helped me. I felt a lump in my throat
remembering all of those times when we’d been together. I’d longed
to touch her and, just to get near, I’d moved closer to her.
Feeling the warmth of her next to me.

“
See? Five.” She
said. “If you had put
these
numbers the other way round…” She said, circling
two numbers on the board. “Then,
your
answer would’ve been
right.”

Chase handed the teacher the board
pen; his face frozen in shock.

The rest of the class was quiet,
not knowing what was going to happen.

“
Um… thank you, Chase. I didn’t
realize I’d copied those numbers the wrong way round.” He
said.

No apology, just a thank you for
pointing out his mistake.

“
You’re welcome.” She said, with a
smile. It didn’t touch her eyes. Not like the smiles she had given
me. Smiles that were full, eyes bright, and sparkling. Full of
happiness.

I missed her so much.

Mr. Garrett handed us our test
papers, and we got to work.

Chase left the classroom before I
could even get halfway out. This time, she was met by Sian and
Gretchen. This was seriously messed up. The two of them hated each
other, now suddenly they’re close friends?

Wait… What if Sian made a move on
Chase? Knowing what I did, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it
sooner.

No… Chase wasn’t gay. I would’ve
known. Plus, Sian looked pretty much into the girl she was sucking
face with.

I was surprised even further when
Sian, and Gretchen, linked arms with Chase.

With my heart tearing apart more
than it already was, I turned away and headed to lunch.

“
Who died?” Lex asked when I sat
down. “Oh.” He said when I just looked at him. I didn’t understand
how he would think I would be over Chase. It wasn’t something I
could turn off, for fuck’s sake. It would make things so much
easier if I could. I wouldn’t be feeling so devastated at losing
the only thing that mattered to me in the whole world.