The crazy thing we call love

Ike’s words kept me up most of the night. First off when had he started to change on me? I mean he looks completely different yet he still favors the old Ike. His body sure had changed from the last time I had seen him shirtless, which if I recall correctly it was last month. He hadn’t been that toned. He hadn’t been that tan. He hadn’t been that hot either. I sat up in my bed. Did I just say my best friend was hot? I shook my head. No I didn’t. I am just going to pretend I didn’t say that. I sighed. A lot had changed in the last three weeks. Like Travis’s attitude for instance. He was different towards me. Maybe he has a new girlfriend who hates you Izzy, I told myself. That would explain why he hasn’t been around. As a matter of fact it would explain a lot. I felt the tears start to form. I never thought we would separate over a girl. I mean we had been so close our entire lives yet now we were drifting apart. I guess I should have expected this. I mean he is getting older. I should have known he would leave me eventually. The tears spilled over. Like I said I should have known but it still hurt. I mean come on. I had been there through everything yet now he decides I’m not good enough to call back or be seen with. I could deal with this. I hoped so any way. Wait what about our families? I mean if Travis and I drifted apart, would it be awkward when he came over with Aunt Kat and Uncle Mike? Then my parents would know we weren’t friends any more. I sighed and turned towards my window. The light gray sky greeted me. I hoped it rained today so the weather would match my mood. It was the light in the sky that made me decide to check the clock. It blinked back at me. I groaned and pushed my warm comforter off of me. It was already six so I had to get up.
I was pretty sure school would drag on. I mean I had no real friends but Travis. I didn’t trust people too easily. I guess I inherited that trait from my Daddy. People were just lying backstabbers. The exact type of person I thought my best friend would never turn out to be. I was wrong. He is exactly like them. I just didn’t realize how much yet. I walked over to my closet and scanned through my clothes. I yawned and grabbed a simple pair of black apple bottom jeans and a black glittered apple bottom shirt to match. I smiled. I loved this outfit. I never quite understood why though. I walked into my adjoining bathroom. I pulled my hair up into a bun and started to lotion up my body. Lotion is a huge thing in my house. I just joined into the lotion cult we had going on. I laughed and finished lotioning my legs and pulled my jeans on. I lotioned the rest of my body then finished getting dressed and did my make up. I kept it simple with just mascara and eyeliner. I had inherited momma’s dark eyes so it was easy to play up to their tone with something simple like eyeliner. I was satisfied with my look so I exited the bathroom to finish the simple things left to do before I left for school. Unfortunately that didn’t take long at all so I had a few extra minutes to spare. I opened up my door and walked out with my book bag. Darron and Ant were sitting on opposite sides of the couch. I mentally chuckled. Those two would never get along. I went and hugged them both, well tried to hug them both. Ant refused to hug me. What a jerk. Darron as always my favorite of the two was sweet as pie and hugged me. I grinned and checked the clock again. I still had five minutes before I had to go. I rolled my eyes. Why don’t you move a little bit slower time? I growled and waked outside. That’s when I realized. I have to ride the bus since Travis no longer picked me up. I stomped my foot and screamed. Why me? I hated the bus. People picked on me when Travis wasn’t around. I heard the front door open and I tried to regain my composure as quickly as possible. I placed my fake smile on my face and turned to greet the person who exited the house. My Uncle Jokie stood leaned up against the side of the porch with a giant mug in his hand. I didn’t bother to ask what was in the cup, because of the look on his face. He had his eyebrow cocked up and his smirk was no where to be found on his usually happy face. Well at least when he was happy when he seen me. I was hoping it was because of the weather and not because he seen through my fake smile.
“What’s the matter princess?” I smiled as big as I could.
“Why would you think anything is wrong Uncle Jokie?” He rolled his eyes and gave me this look he had never gave me before.
“Well for one your eyes show something is wrong. Plus you’re standing outside and Travis isn’t here. So I know something is up. Just because it’s easy to fool your pops doesn’t mean you can fool your Uncle Jokie.” I nodded and the smile dropped. I looked up at him and he opened his arms and I ran into them. He softly stroked my hair.
“You can tell me on the way to school come on.” I nodded and followed him to his purple low rider. That made me smile. Uncle Jokie has had that car for as long as I can remember. Despite all the damage Uncle Nick did to it the low rider still looked better than ever. He turned around and stopped. I guess he was making sure I was still following him. I smiled, it was a small one but it still counted. He got in and I sprinted to catch up. I jumped in the car shortly after.
Now my Uncle Jokie can be a very scary man no joke but he rarely scared me. He was like butter in my hands. I evil laughed mentally. Maybe I could get out of the low rider without explaining a single thing. I grinned. I was just going to have to work my best Izzy charm. I was so convinced it would work. There was no way he could resist my little kid charm. I had the stallion confidence radiating off of me for once that is until he pulled out of the driveway. I swallowed hard and he gave me the intimidating stare again.
“So are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to force it out of you?” I gulped. I tried to keep it quiet but that didn’t happen. I know he heard it. I was screwed so I just gave up.
“If I tell you, you have to swear not to tell any one. Not even daddy. This is just an Izzy and Uncle Jokie talk.” He rolled his eyes.
“You make it sound like I have ever told your pops anything we talked about.” I shrugged.
“Still you could this time and I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t.” He nodded.
“Spit it out kid.” I laughed but it was cut short when I realized I had to tell him what was happening.
I told Uncle Jokie everything minus saying Travis was hot of course. There’s only so much an uncle can handle. Especially when it comes to his favorite niece. Oops I hope Alea doesn’t find that out. He stayed completely silent until I finished. He pulled up into the school parking lot and just turned off the car. He looked at me.
“What do you think he meant by his favorite girl thing?” I shrugged and looked directly at him for the first time since we left the house.
“Honestly Uncle Jokie I have no idea. Do you know?” He shrugged.
“I have no clue but get out. You have to get to class.” I nodded and reached over and hugged him. He pulled me into him and held me there for a minute then practically pushed me out of the car. Uncle Jokie was a life saver. He had calmed me down enough for school. My hero as always had saved the day again.
I slowly walked into the school. The nauseous feeling hit me hard. I had to deal with all these stares and people with out Travis. I didn’t know if I wanted to cry or punch something. It looked like anger won this round. I was practically growling. I walked to my locker with more speed then before and collected my things quickly. I couldn’t let my attitude drop before I got to class. I slammed my locker shut and started my walk to class that is until he came into view. He was laughing and standing with a couple of guys I had never seen before. His Mohawk didn’t spike completely up like it usually does. Instead it had a slight lean to it. I felt my eyes water up. He had ditched me. It was official. I felt the tears start to fall silently. Maybe I should call Uncle Jokie to come pick me up. It was better than sitting here alone. I could go into home school and avoid Travis for the rest of my life. If I had to I’d go to my room every time he came over with the family. My chest started to ache with a pain I’ve never felt before. I got to class and sat down in the back of the room and in the seat closest to the window. I couldn’t stand being any where near people but I was in school so I had to settle for the next best thing. The teacher seemed to go on and on about something I wasn’t really paying attention about. My thoughts were still on Travis. I couldn’t believe he did that to me. I’m so hurt right now. A little light bulb appeared above my head. Not literally though that would be so damn cool. I just have to ignore him like he was ignoring me. I could do that. It wasn’t that hard right?

The rest of the class was spent planning ways to ignore Travis. I had convinced myself I could actually ignore my former best friend. I walked out of the class with confidence. He needed to know what it was like to feel like this. I smiled. It was evil but he deserved it. I started to walk to gym and he came into view again. All my confidence drained. He was with the same group of people and still hadn’t acknowledged me. So I did something brave for the first time without Travis to back me up. I strolled up to him and tapped his shoulder. He turned around smiling that is until he saw me. It quickly turned into a frown. All of his “new” friends stared at me. For once I didn’t care about the stares. I was on a mission and I wasn’t leaving without a reason. I cocked my eyebrow up, trying to imitate Uncle Jokie as best as possible. He swallowed hard and stared at me for a minute.
“Izzy what are you doing over here?” I rolled my eyes and pushed my lips out a bit like I had watched my mother do numerous times.
“Well actually I was trying to figure out why you ditched me.” I squealed on the inside. I had actually done it. Go me! He looked down at the ground and one of his buddies laughed and walked up closer.
“Wow shez a looker Ike. Who she be?” I rolled my eyes. The least he could do was pay attention in English class. Travis waved him off.
“She’s no body. Izzy you need to get to class.” I stepped back. I wasn’t expecting such a simple response to hurt so much. I stood there for a moment and his buddy walked back up and held out his hand with something in it. He smiled at me then looked me up and down.
“Wez havin a party tanite ya shuld show.” I took the card from him and smiled sweetly. Travis looked extremely pissed.
“Shes not going.” I roll my eyes and look dead at Travis.
“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do now? Remember I am nobody.” That was all I said as I walked away swaying my hips. I smiled. This was way too good. I hope he was hurting by what I said because what he said sure hurt me.
My next two classes went by quickly. I did my homework and paid attention just like I would have if Travis and I were still friends. But what he had said practically confirmed we were no longer friends. I couldn’t believe he ditched me like that but I had to deal. My worst fears were confirmed. The bell rang snapping me out of my trance. I stood up and shrugged. It was no big deal. My next class was… I stopped walking, lunch. Oh no what am I going to do? I have no where to sit now. I am not eating my lunch in the bathroom. I guess the only choice I have is to make more friends. I sighed. That was harder than it sounded. I went to my locker first. I told myself it was to drop off my books but I knew the real reason. I was trying to stall. As much as I wished it wouldn’t have, dropping off my books went too quickly. Soon I found myself standing in the huge doors of the cafeteria. The noise was practically deafening but I couldn’t turn back now. I slowly scanned the tables. To my left the tables seemed to be surrounded by the emo’s, Goths, punks, and skaters. To my right there was everything from preps to thugs. I sighed. Where do I start? I sighed and decided on the skater table. I walked slowly over there quickly scanning the people at the table. There were six people sitting at the table; five guys and one girl. The girl though I could see her stare from here. She looked mean. I swallowed hard and thought about turning back. I sighed again. I had to at least try right? I made it to the table and all of their eyes were on me. I stopped and the front of the table. I tried to talk but my voice wouldn’t work. The guy on my right smiled warmly. He was pretty cute too so that helped. He had shaggy black skater hair and I couldn’t see his eyes just yet. Though I did notice the ring on the right side of his lip. He had on a baggy ‘bullet for my valentine’ shirt and some baggy jeans. He stared at me for a minute then spoke.
“Hey my names Matt. Who are you?” I smiled sweetly.
“I’m Izzy, well I know you guys probably think I’m weird but can I sit with you? I used to sit with my best friend but he ditched me for a new crowd.” The guy across from Matt smiled.
“Sure honey sit down.” I smiled a small smile.
“Thanks it means a lot.” The girl scoffed from the other end of the table. I looked over at her confused.
“Psh you guys don’t even know this bitch and you’re letting her sit with you?” Matt rolled his eyes.
“Look Stacy you don’t know her either. Why do you have to be such a bitch?” I looked back over and I saw her roll her deep green eyes.
“Matt you know you’re only letting her sit with you because you want to get laid.” I started to slowly back away from the table. Matt rolled his eyes then turned back to look at me. He brushed his hair out of his face with his hand. That’s when I saw his eyes. They were mesmerizing. A beautiful shade of green.
“Look Izzy don’t let Stacy’s bitchiness scare you. Deep down she’s a real pussy cat.” Stacy rolled her eyes again but didn’t say a word. “So go on and sit down. We don’t bite…on the first meeting.” He grinned. I smiled and sat on the other side of him. That’s when I got a good look at the rest of the table. Matt sat to my left. The guy across from Matt had a chestnut tone hair color. His eyes were bright blue. He seemed really quiet because he barely spoke the entire lunch hour. Matt smirked at me then winked. He stuck his finger in ketchup and flung it across the table at the guy across from him. Matt started to laugh when it landed right under his eye. He flicked it off his face and glared at Matt.
“That wasn’t cool Matthew.” Matt stopped laughing and glared.
“Actually I thought it was Kenneth.” So that was his name. But judging how he was acting he didn’t like to be called Kenneth. I shrugged. I turned my attention from them to the end of the table where Stacy was sitting. She was beautiful despite her attitude. Her long blonde hair looked like it had been airbrushed on the ends. The tips were red but underneath her hair was black. She had silver studs in her bottom lip and her green eyes were heavily outlined in eyeliner. She smirked when she seen me looking at her.
“So Izzy I think you said, who was your so called best friend?” I swallowed hard and looked down for a minute then looked back up at her.
“Travis Baker, I don’t know if you’ve ever met him or...” she interrupted me.
“You’re friends with him?” I looked down and shook my head.
“I was. He was my best friend for as long as I can remember.” She just nodded.
“I’m sorry for being such a bitch I’m just not used to another girl being around.” I looked at her confused for a moment.
“What about the guy’s girlfriends?” She started to shake with laughter. I didn’t see what was so funny but I didn’t say anything.
“None of these losers have girlfriends.” She gestured to all of the guys. That’s when I started to notice some of the other guy’s and I couldn’t refrain my jaw from dropping. The other three guys were defiantly gorgeous as well. Maybe I should explain. The guy across from me had bright blue and purple hair. It was styled the same way Matt’s was. He had a nose ring and his eyebrow pierced. He noticed I was staring and smiled and extended his hand.
“Name’s Sid, what’s yours?” I smiled and blushed.
“Its Izzy,” he nodded smiling a bit.
“Pretty name,” I smiled and the conversation seemed to end there. I turned my attention from him to the guy on Stacy’s left. He was cute but not my type I guess. His jet black hair had red tips and blonde underneath it. His hair was the same colors as Stacy’s yet it was switched up. He didn’t notice me staring for he was talking to her. He smirked at something she said and I started to stare more obviously. He had the middle of his lip pierced. I thought that was all until he stuck his tongue out at Stacy and flicked the ball against his teeth. Oh my god that was so hot. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts when a voice spoke up.
“If you stare any harder at poor Tommy he may melt.” I turned beet red I was sure of it. I put my head in my hands and tried to hide my embarrassment.
“Leave the girl alone maybe she has a thing for tongue rings too.” Stacy said and winked at me. I smiled then looked at the guy who had busted me out. He almost stole my breath. He smirked when he saw me looking. He had jet black hair that fell over his eyes just a bit. His eyes were deep green and a white and black dc’s hat was turned backwards on his head. I let my eyes cast downwards from his head to his lips. His eyes seemed to follow mine because when I made it to his lips he flicked out his tongue and he had his tongue pierced as well. I blushed and looked away quickly. Stacy interrupted my embarrassment thankfully.
“Hey Izzy I know you don’t know me but um you wanna hang out later?” I smiled and nodded. I had no idea how quickly this girl would become my new best friend.