Be a Man

The dinner at Red Lobster had been Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday passed as a blur. Now it was Thursday, and Hailey and I had just reached the school parking lot, talking and laughing like usual.

“So, I heard from Sara who was told by her boyfriend Josh…” Hailey began with a smirk, “That Austin asked you on a date no less than four times yesterday in Chemistry.”

I groaned, “Don’t remind me!”

Hailey laughed, then said, “Parking spot on my side right by the white truck,” and on that cue, I pulled my own red truck in the space. Then Hailey continued, “He seems like he really wants to go out with you.”

“Hails!” I whined playfully, turning the truck off as we unbuckled. “I seem to really hate him, you know.”

“Yeah, you seem to.” she teased.

I rolled my eyes and we got out. Our conversation turned more towards other cute and/or hot guys that currently attended Keaton High, and more into my comfort zone. Pretty much the only topic out of my comfort zone with Hailey is Austin Preston. Sure, he’s good looking enough - hell, he’s the best looking in the school, as I’d grudgingly agreed with Hailey and Sara Pence the previous year - but he was so damn cocky. He was an arrogant, flaunting prick. He tried to give me the newest laptop for Christmas months ago, and he’d spent over a thousand on it when he knew I’d never accept anything from him. My three hundred dollar laptop worked just fine for all I used it for.

“Hey, Anna!”

Speak of the devil.

“Go away,” I greeted, using the same cheerful voice he had used.

“I can’t, I’ve got to go to school, too.” he said cheekily.

“Well, you can leave me alone while you’re at it,” I flashed a false grin at him. “By, say, sitting at least two desks away in every single class?”

“That’s no fun,” he dropped his arm around my shoulder. “You know you like it,” he added with a wink.

I elbowed him as hard as I could in the gut, and was rewarded with a pained, “Ooomph!”

I smirked, satisfied, and made my way through the school doors before he could stop me.

Hailey stifled a laugh and followed me as his football buddies came over to ‘comfort’ him with phrases like, “Tough luck, man,” and “Does that mean I get a shot?”

I would’ve very much liked to know which one asked for a shot so I could knee him in the groin, but I refrained from asking and Hailey and I found our closest friends, which consisted of Sara, her boyfriend, Josh, and the extremely awesome to hang with Brandon, who was, unfortunately for me, gay. We all got along great, even before Josh joined the group, and even after. Brandon is even a close friend of Josh’s, which surprised us all at first, as Josh is one of the boys on the football team.

“Hey, girls,” Brandon greeted, and the first thing I asked was…

“Don’t tell me he’s already had sugar this morning?!”

They all laughed and I grinned slightly as Hailey and I pulled up chairs.

“Why the sour look, Anna?” Sara asked, leaning across the table. I just gave her the don’t you know already? look, and she laughed and this time asked, “Is it Austin again?”

“Who else?” I said, annoyed at the memory.

“Just go out with him already!” Brandon sighed, “He’s dreamy.”

I actually fell sideways off of my chair.

“Ow,” I managed.

“Geez, Babe, I’m used to girls falling for me, but not you.”

I groaned and got back to my feet, throwing another “Go away!” at him.

“Why should I?” he asked, spinning the nearest chair around and sitting on it backwards. “I like being close to you.”

“Does that line ever work?” I snapped, sweeping up my bag and saying a quick, “Later,” to my friends.

He stood up and followed with a, “I don’t know, you tell me!”

“Hell, no.” I scoffed, and I stalked away.

As much as I tried, I couldn’t get away from him at all. He always seemed to show up in my classes that were usually (thankfully) free of him on errands for his teachers. His persistence got annoying, because by lunch he’d asked me on a date six times. I really wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the day, but Hailey, Sara, and Josh were having a good laugh at my expense while Brandon kept advising me to just say yes. I retorted with a no.

And I was right in dreading the rest of the day, because before lunch he’d just gotten warmed up. By the time Hailey and I were climbing in my truck after school, with Brandon tagging along so we had to throw our bags in the backseat, I’d been annoyed out of my mind by fourteen requests that Austin and I go on a date. I’d told Hailey already, and Brandon had been there, so I was getting the ‘just say yes to him, he’s sexy!’ speech again, and I was returning the, ‘just say no to him repeatedly ‘cause he’s a total ass!’ speech.

“Guys, stop!” Hailey finally intervened, in a fit of giggles. “It’s starting to get annoying.”

“She just won’t see the light, Hails!” Brandon whined. “He’s a football star, he’s the son of a huge business owner, he is gorgeous! But she still says no!”

“Yes, I’ve gathered that,” Hailey said, calmly even though she was still laughing at us. “But it’s Anna’s decision, and even if all of us are on Austin’s side, it’s still Anna’s choice in the end.”

“Wait, you’re all on his side?!” I yelped as I clicked my seatbelt into the buckle.

“Yeah, I believe so,” Hailey said, finally composed. “But we know that if we told you that it wouldn’t change your mind anyway because you’ve never given into peer pressure.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Brandon agreed. “So, let’s go shopping!”

“We went on Monday,” I said, backing out.

“But you didn’t take me!” He retorted. “And I have an excellent fashion sense!”

“He’s got a point,” Hailey mused.

“Why not,” I relented with a grin.

Sometimes I liked shopping with Brandon more than even shopping with Hailey…but shopping with both of them was a riot. Especially the one time that an old lady walked by just as Brandon kind of squeaked, “Man, he’s so sexy!” The look the little old lady gave him was to die for. Seriously.

I got home, yawning, two hours later, to a note on the fridge that read, ‘Honey, your father and I went to a dinner with Emily and John. We’ll see you later! Love, Mom.’ So, being the brilliant and resourceful genius of the kitchen that I was, I got a pan, put some water in it, and fixed myself a package of chicken flavored Ramen. Hey, I never said I was a brilliant cook! Wait, I did. I take it back, then.

With another yawn, I headed upstairs to shower, and once done with that, I returned to the den and turned on the TV. I flipped through half the channels and groaned when I realized that there was nothing I really even remotely liked on. So I got back out of the recliner I’d sat in, and found Push, and flopped on the couch to watch it. Halfway through, I heard Mom and Dad walk back in, but I paid little attention and munched on my freshly popped popcorn. Only when Mom called, “What are you watching?” from the kitchen did I reply, “Push!” and then fell silent again.

And the next thing I remember is being woken up and Mom telling me, “Go get ready for school. You need to leave in thirty minutes if you’re picking up Hailey again.”

“Of course I’m picking her up!” I said, rubbing my eyes and sitting up on the couch. “I always do.”

“Just checking, now go get ready!” Mom repeated, so I woke the rest of the way up and trudged up to my room. I decided upon my new skirt and a lime green v-neck shirt, and once changed I went to brush my teeth and hair. Looking into my bathroom mirror was when I noticed the note in the top corner.

‘Honey, if you should ever consider dating Austin, your father and I approve. I’ve noticed that he seems to have taken a liking to you. Have a great day at school!’

I ripped the sticky-note off of the mirror, grabbed my bag on the way back through my bedroom, and once I got in front of Mom in the kitchen, lost my normal composure around her and asked, bluntly, “What the hell is this?”

“Don’t use that tone - or that language! - with me, young lady.” Mom said darkly, but glanced at the note. “And it’s just what it looks like. It’s our approval.”

“Austin Preston is the most disgusting cockroach in this entire hemisphere, and the entire world, and not anytime soon, if ever, will I consider dating the likes of him,” I replied in the same dark tone she had used with me. “He’s the most big-headed prick in the entire school, and he likes throwing his money around for no reason. I hate him.”

On that note, I strode straight out of the kitchen, grabbed my keys on the way out, and left.

When Hailey asked what was wrong, I told her I didn’t want to talk about it right now, and that I might tell her later, and that if I saw Austin I was going to be extremely mad. I kept my eyes on the road and there was an awkward silence, and the air was only permeated by the aura of frustration and anger that was rolling off of my skin. I could tell Hailey was uncomfortable, but I was fuming and I didn’t want to try to comfort her because it would only make things worse. I was silent the whole ride, and Hailey followed my example.

I was relieved that I did not run into Austin at the doors today, but my frustration was so clear upon my face that no one, even Hailey, would have been able to see it. And that’s how it remained for a good hour or a little more, and then it took all I had to ignore Austin like I did every day. It was harder than usual though, due to Mom’s assumption that I might ever like him, and he was more persistent than he was yesterday, which struck me as desperate.

When he asked me out - the seventeenth time today - right after school, I kind of got angry.

“If you’re so desperate for a girl to go out with you,” I hissed, “ask one of those cheerleaders who spend an hour or two getting ready for school, or one of those girls that cakes on makeup so thick that you can’t even see the color of the skin on her face, or someone else, because I’m sick and tired of you asking me!”

And that shut him up enough for me to get away and get in my truck, and Hailey did the same hastily after seeing how aggravated I was, and once more the usually calm atmosphere was wrecked by my feelings of hostility and anger. It was uncomfortable for me to see how uncomfortable I was making Hailey feel, but at the moment I couldn’t reign in my anger towards Austin, and my anger at my mother was coming back.

“Sorry,” I managed when I stopped at her house, “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“It’s okay,” she gave me a small smile. “I’ll be waiting to hear it, then.”

“See ya,” I said softly.

“Yeah,” was her reply, and Hailey shut the passenger door and went up the sidewalk to her house.

And that was when it hit me - when it really hit me - Mom was going to be just as furious at me as I was at her. Just because of my reaction to the note. I knew the moment they came home from dinner at the Preston’s house that first night, that she would harbor secret hopes that Austin and I would date and get married, and what mother wouldn’t want her daughter to be well off, even in the early stages of married life? But that didn’t give her the right to assume anything about me and the guys I liked. And knowing the way Austin is, wouldn’t it only make sense that he just wanted to get me to fall for him and say yes, so he could just let me down?

I didn’t have much more time for thinking as I turned onto my street. I slowed down as much as I dared to postpone Mom’s lecture, or possibly a shouting match between she and I. With every inch, the dread in my chest grew and grew, and when I pulled into my driveway it peaked. Finally, with a groan, I turned the key off, pulled it out, grabbed my bag, unbuckled, and opened the door. I took a deep breath to steady myself, and I was off towards my front door.