Because in that instant, that very second, which I can pinpoint with such clarity that it terrified me, I realized that I had fallen inlovewith Jase a long time before that. Whether you believe I fell fast and hard, or you think it was a slow build up over years,it doesn’t matter. All that mattered was that I did, and now he was kissing someone else. Someone else.
That year, I watched Jase kiss a lot of frogs too (his frogs were always dressed like skanks), and every time, I died a bit inside when he did. But, I could never get enough courage to tell him how much I hated it. The only good part was that he never kept a girl around for very long. His average “relationship” was about a week, and then he’d be sucking face with some other girl and pawing at her boobs over her shirt.
So our relationship/friendship was strained and hard that year. Jase found himself a job at a local gas station, pumping gas and helping fix cars in their back garage. Joey and I barely ever saw him. He rarely crawled into my tree house at night—only once in a while when the fights with his father got too out of control. And even though I would cringe, hearing his father yell and scream or worse, I cherished those nights when I’d hear the loud thump of his sneakers as he landed on the wooden floorboards of the tree house. He’d just saunter in like he belonged there, take his sleeping bag off the shelf, and lie down next to me, talking and laughing with me until the sun came up.
In the beginning of spring that year, I found a frog that I didn’t mind kissing too much. His name was Anthony Charles, andyes, Jase teased me mercilessly about me‘one day foolishly marrying him and becoming Mrs. Charlie Charles.’ Then, the teasing turned mean and hurtful. By Jase’s seventeenth birthday that May, everyone was invited to the weeds for a bonfire to celebrate. He invited everyone—everyone exceptme.
Joey told Anthony and me to come to the party anyway.
So that night, holding hands, Anthony and I pushed through the crowds of drunken teens, trying to find Joey, or Jase, to wish him a “Happy Birthday.”
“Hey, you made it,” Joey said, grabbing me from behind and pecking a kiss on my temple. Holding me at arm’s-length, he shook his head and eyed me from head to toe. “Damn. What the hell are you wearing?”
Anthony slid his hands around my waist and backed me up from Joey, “Pop your eyes back in your head, Graley. It’s just a pair of shorts and a tank top. And keep your hands off my girl,” Anthony joked.
But Joey kept his eyes on me, and his lips tightened into a straight, harsh line.
I was fully aware of how short my shorts were and how tight my shirt was. The thing was, I was dressed like every other girl at that party, and I was sick of being treated like Joey and Jase’s little sister. “Where’s Jase anyway? I haven’t seen him yet.”
Joey’s eyes got real busy looking at something on the ground, and his hand was rubbing the back of his neck. “He went off somewhere with Kylie Simpson. Don’t go looking for him, okay, Charlie? You won’t like what you see…and he’s definitely going to have something to say about your outfit.”
My stomach dropped and my mouth became so dry it hurt when I swallowed. “What the hell does that mean?”
Joey darted a quick glance at Anthony and shook his head. “Just leave him alone, Charlie, okay?”
My body went rigid. “To Hell with this crap!” I snapped and turned to leave, storming past the drunken idiots and the roaring bonfire, and headed straight for the weeds.
“No, Charlie. Don’t…” I heard Joey’s voice as he caught up to me and swung his arms around my waist, pulling me back. His face was in my hair, his breath fanning across my ear. “He’s really drunk, and he’s with another girl. He heard some stuff in the locker room today and flipped out. And, Charlie, I don’t want you to get hurt when you see him.”
I stopped fighting and turned to look up into his eyes, “What stuff? Why would I care if he’s with another girl, anyway?” I whispered.
His brows lifted, and his words drifted softly, in low whispers to my ear. “Because I know that you’re inlovewith him.”
I shoved his arms off me. “You’re wrong. And besides, I have a boyfriend. I don’t care what Jase does,” I hissed back. I kept stepping back until I was a good five feet away from him.
Anthony’s arms slid around my shoulders as soon as I backed away from Joey. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Perfect,” I lied.
“What the hell are they doing here?” Jase’s voice growled from behind us.
Snapping my head in his direction, I found Jase stumbling out of the tall weeds, holding hands with a giggling, dark-haired girl. His shirt was off and his pants were unbuttoned; seeing him like that made my heart ache in ways that I never felt before.
Hot tears blurred my vision as I watched the giggling girl wrap her arms around his waist. He lifted his hand and took a huge swig out of a half-empty bottle of what looked like whiskey.
I held my chin up to him. “I just came to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to my best friend,” I said.
Dropping his hands off the giggling girl, he swayed toward me and laughed in my face. “Really, Charlie? I just got me a nice little birthday blowjob from Kylie over here. You up for giving me a better one? You know, since I’ve heard you’re so freaking good at it,” he leveled a challenging stare on Anthony.
“You better keep your mouth shut, Delaney!” Anthony lunged at Jase before I could stop it, but even drunk, Jase side stepped out of the way and laughed louder.
“How good of a fuck is she, Anthony? Huh? You told all the guys in the locker room at the gym how hard she sucks you off and how wide she spreads her legs for you” Jase gritted, his eyes narrowing. “That would be a great birthday present for me. Tell me how greatfuckingCharlie really is!” he screamed at Anthony, but as he said those disgusting words, his cold, blue glare was on me.
I backed away from him on shaky legs as my blood raced through my veins, pulsating in humiliation and anger. Why would he say that?WHY would my BEST FRIEND SAY THAT? Why would he scream that in front of everyone?I didn’t even care what Anthony said about me to his friends. All I cared about was the crap that was falling from the lips of the boy Iloved.
As calmly as I possibly could, I walked right up to Jase, looked up through my teary eyes, and whispered for only him to hear. “I hate you, Jase Delaney.”
Turning around to lock eyes with Anthony, I asked, “Did you tell everybody that?”
