Always and Forever

“Brendon I’m sorry, come on Bren, just hear me out.” I hissed one history lesson while we were working on our projects. Brendon and I hadn’t spoken for four days. “Brendon speak to me...NOW!” I said trying a new, demanding tone in my voice that made Brendon laugh. I guess I’m not very good at being ‘demanding.’

“Brendon! Please just say...something!”'

Brendon glanced up at the clock; it was thirty minutes into the lesson. He packed up his books (as he usually did) and stood up to leave.

As he got up he gave me a cold glare before finally speaking to me “Meet me at 21 Hindel Avenue at eight thirty tonight.”

***

I sat at lunch in silence, thinking. I was curious, I wanted to go. I wanted to see him. But what was at 21 Hindel Avenue? Although I told myself that I didn’t believe all of the rumours I was still anxious about going. What if he was going to do something horrible, what if what everyone said is true?

“Holly? Wake up dipshit!” I jumped in my seat looking up to see the group all staring at me, annoyed looks on their faces.

“Huh?” I blinked a few times, jumping back into the world.

“Aaron wants to go for a walk with you” Jessica said nodding her head encouraging me to go.

We walked around the school in an awkward silence, Aaron to busy staring down my top instead of talking.

“You’re really really hot y’know like I mean really sexy, sexy, you chicks like that better than hot don’t you?”

Huh?

“Urrh...okay, I guess.” I replied. Sexy was a compliment wasn’t it? A degrading one but still, a compliment all the same. And a compliment is better than no compliment wasn’t it? I was trying hard to convince myself that.

“So, do ya wanna go out, there’s a senior’s party tonight?”

I tried not to laugh but there was no way in hell that I was going to go out with him. Hell, I’d go out with Brendon before I’d go out with him but with the way I felt about Brendon I would go out with him before I go out with a lot of people. Though maybe not Brad Pitt, or George Clooney...mmm Oceans Eleven.

“Ummm, sorry Aaron but I’m grounded” I lied. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. After the twin’s party I was grounded. Turns out that a five year olds party isn’t quite the ‘groups’ scene. They turned up an hour late, stayed for ten minutes smoking and bitching before stealing some of the alcohol and leaving. Yeah, that didn’t go down too well with my parents so now, I’m grounded.

My mom was the only parent who actually enforced this ‘grounding’. My dad never bothered with discipline he just wanted to see his kids happy, and if that meant defying what my mom said then so be it.

“Are you serious?” he said, an astonished look on his face.

“Umm, yeah.” I didn’t want to tell him sorry because I didn’t want to. Secretly I was thanking my mom for giving me an excuse to say no.

Once I got back to our table I was badgered with questions upon questions before being ridiculed for not going out with him. Sometimes I wondered whether all friends were like this.

Upon arriving home I realised that I had another dilemma, how to meet up with Brendon tonight. Not only was I grounded but leaving home alone late at night was also strictly out of the question. I tried the sweet option hoping that after I made dinner and cleaned the house for mom she would un-ground me, but she just thought I was doing it to help her. While we were having dinner I simply came out and asked my parents to let me go out and of course, their answer was no.

So now, I was left in my room, Google maps up in a browser on my laptop, searching for the directions to the address Brendon gave me. It was about a fifteen minute drive from my house but my parents would hear my drive away leaving me with only one option, to walk.

I soon realised that I had left getting ready slightly late. After straightening, curling then having to redo my hair, makeup and outfit three times over I was finally ready to go. I opted out of wearing heals just before I left, considering I’d have to walk to Brendon’s and I’d have to manage to leave the house without making a sound wearing heals would not be a smart option.

I left the house through the back door. I climbed over the back fence and fell in a heap on the footpath of the main road, immediately regretting my choice of jeans which were way too low to be climbing fences in.

I looked down at the directions I had messily scribbled on a piece of loose leaf paper. Biting my lip and looking around the deserted streets of a foreign city I was not only scared about seeing Brendon, I was also scared of making it to his address alive.

Using the dim street lights as a lamp I began to make my way down the main road stopping occasionally to read the street signs before walking again.

After half an hour I was still wondering down the same street looking for Charlton Avenue. I was not only lost but I was also late to meeting Brendon. I stood in the middle of the road looking in every direction, I was distressed, disorientated and it seemed only fitting that it started to rain.