The Night You Took Away a Little More Than Just My Breath

"So, wait." Kennedy said as he sat in the passenger seat of my car. "She's moving in with her daughter by the end of the week?"

"Yes." I said as I pulled up to a red light.

"And you didn't know she had a daughter?" Garrett chimed in from the back.

"Nope!" I said. "I don't even know if she goes to our school or not."

"Well she probably doesn't if they live on the other side of town." Jared said. He was sitting in the back in between Pat and Garrett.

"Yeah, that's true." I said. "It's going to be so awkward though. I don't even know anything about her except she's our age and her name's Jamie."

"That's cute." Pat said. "Jamie..."

"Yeah." I said as the light turned green. "Casey and my dad are getting married too. By the end of this month or early April." I turned on my blinker and turned onto the street that led to our school.

"And they didn't tell you until last night?" Kennedy asked.

"Nope!" I said as I popped the P. The conversation died down a little as I pulled into the school parking lot. "Who's driving tomorrow?" I laughed as I parked the car.

"I guess I will." Garrett said as he got out of the car.

"Good." Jared said while getting out of the car and slapped him on the back. "I'm running low on gas money."

"Get a better job." Pat told him then turned to us. "Well I'll see you guys at lunch!" Pat said as he got out and walked off with his small dark blue binder.

"See ya Pat." I said as I shut my door behind me. "Everyone out?" I asked.

"Yep." Kennedy said as he slung his book bag over his shoulder. I locked my car and shoved my keys in my pocket.

"Well I'm off to go sit near Jordan in history." I rolled my eyes.

Kennedy laughed. "Have fun."

"Oh, I will." I said thinking about how awkward it's going to be.

We all walked off in our separate directions into various entrances to the school. I walked in the door closest to my locker and got my history binder. As I was closing my locker some familiar girl walked up to me. "Johno right?" She asked. She had light brown hair and looked like a Sophomore.

"Yeah." I smiled at her and held my heavy binder close to my side.

"Hi." She smiled back. "I was just wondering how much it is to get into the coconut club, y-you know, for your show?"

"Yeah, um. I think its five?" I raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe seven. Bring ten just in case." I laughed.

"Ha ha, thanks." She smiled. "See you there."

"I'll see you." I smirked at her and she turned to walk back to her friend.

I started walking down the hall past the blue lockers towards my history class. A few kids greeted me, asked me how my weekend was, etc. I could say I was well liked by mostly everyone, except half of the guys. Most of the girls swooned over me but I paid no attention to them. Once a guy from the football team told me I was crazy for not paying attention to them. "You gay or somethin' man?" He once asked as we sat on the outside bleachers in gym class.

"No." I laughed at him. "Why?"

"Well are you crazy, kid?" He said.

"No?" I questioned.

"All these hot chicks want a piece of you but you ignore all of them." He said. "All of them." He repeated.

"Well maybe I'm looking for the right person." I said.

"Wow, you really are a fag." He said as he scooted away from me a little.

"Well maybe girls would like you too if you weren't such an asshole." I shot back. He glared at me as I smiled back at him and got up to run around the track. People can be so ignorant.

I walked into my history class and sat two seats away from Jordan. She looked exhausted and she was rubbing her eyes. I glanced at her as I sat down and opened my book one last time to look over what was on the test.

A few minutes later the bell rang and people started to scramble around in the hallways. "Alright guys! Clear off your desks and get ready for your test!" My teacher raised her voice so everyone would quiet down.

"Awh, we have a test today?" Kids complained.

"Yes. Now clear off your desks and get out a pencil." She said. "A pencil." She repeated.

I pulled a pencil out of my pocket and sat it on my desk as she began to pass out the test. I saw Jordan looking at me from the corner of my eye but I kept looking down. I started to tap my pencil as I waited for my test. Jordan was handed her test and she looked down at it. I felt relieved to know that she wasn't staring at me anymore.

I was handed my test and and I was finished the thirty five questions in fifteen minutes. The test was so easy and I could tell Jordan was struggling. She should have studied with me instead of trying to get in my pants.

I put my head down and decided to sleep for the rest of class until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I jumped up and it was the guy that sat beside me. In his hand was a folded up piece of paper. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the light and took the paper from his hand.

I flipped the paper over and Jordan's name was signed on the back of it. I glanced over at her and she was staring at me. Just to get to her, I smiled and started to open the note with my eyes fixed on her and not the paper. With the paper half unfolded and my eyes still on her, I began to rip it in half. Not even reading a word she had written. I ripped it up a few more times and let the small pieces of ripped up paper fall onto my desk while I kept looking at her. "John." My teacher said. "Stop disturbing the class."

I didn't do anything but clear my throat and gather all the tiny pieces of ripped up paper to throw them away. The bell rang and I passed my test in. On the way out the door I threw the paper away. "John!" Jordan yelled from behind me. I kept walking down the hall but she soon caught up with me and pushed me up against the hard, cold, metal lockers.

"What?" I sighed.

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain!" She raised her voice.

"What's to explain?" I said. "I saw you making out with some guy at the mall while you were supposed to be busy."

"I know it hurts but-"

"It doesn't hurt." I cut her off. "I could have cared less about you before it even happened. The night before I was thinking of ways to break up with you."

She stood there in front of me speechless for a moment. People kept pushing past her but she still stood in front of me. Stuck in this awkward moment I tried to think of things to say. A question the had been bothering me all night finally popped in my head. "Why did you stay with me if you were just cheating on me the whole time?"

"I wasn't cheating on you the whole time." She said. "If you would have read that damn note you would have known. That was the first time I hung out with that guy. He just suddenly kissed me and I lied to you because I was just so caught up in the moment." She was lying. I could see it in her eyes. She just wanted me back.

"Then why'd you scream sorry?" I asked and she only shrugged. "Oh, well yeah. I know what you're trying to do, take me back. But it's not going to work. I'm over you and we're broken up. For good." I said.

Seconds later, I left her alone to stand there and let all it sink in. She didn't say another word to me.

- - - -

"Can I have some soup, please?" I asked the little old lunch lady. She nodded and poured me a cup of soup.

"Want some crackers too, honey?" She asked me.

"Yes, please." I smiled at her. She handed me my cup of soup and a few little packs of crackers and I walked down the line. I picked up a bottle of water and paid, then headed to my table where all the guys sat. "So I talked to Jordan today." I told them as I sat my soup down on the table.

Food fell out of Kennedy's mouth like it always does and his eyes widened. "What'd you say?" He wiped his mouth. "To her, I mean. What'd you say to her?"

"Well first of all, she gave me a note in first period. But I didn't read it, I ripped it up to piss her off just for fun." I laughed. "Then she caught up with me after and pushed me up against the lockers."

I continued to tell them everything that happened and exactly what we both said. Pat just laughed and I had to fill the other guys in with more information about us, like how I didn't like her before. I finished my chicken noodle soup and crackers and got out my unfinished math homework. "Hey Garrett, how was that math test you took today?" I asked him since I had to take the same one next period.

"Horrible." He said. "I have the test, he graded it for me and put all the correct answers. You wanna look at it?" He asked me.

"Yeah, let me see it." I said. Garrett handed me his test with red ink written all over it. "Dude, you got a D and you're good at math!"

"I know!" He exclaimed as he took a bite of his chicken sandwich. I began memorizing all of the answers instead of doing my homework. Math was my worst subject.

"So, when are they moving in?" Kennedy asked.

"Thursday, at the latest my dad said." I said. "I'm so anxious to meet my soon to be step-sister."

"Oh, me too." Kennedy winked.