What It Takes

Peyton

“I honestly don’t know what we should do,” she said and I smiled at her. “I say we go.” Her eyes widened. She thought I was crazy. I stopped pacing and smiled cautiously. “I know it would be hard to start a new school and make new friends but think about it, we’ve had so much trouble here,” I said and she shrugged.

She got off the bed and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on her shoulder. “I’m worried,” she said, “And my parents don’t even care.” I shook my head and patted her back. “I’m pretty sure they care,” I said, not really sure whether or not they cared. She squeezed her arms around me tightly. “I don’t know if I can leave my friends,” she whispered.

I nuzzled into her neck. “You’ll have me,” I offered. She chuckled and pulled away from me, running her fingers lightly over my cheeks. I felt a small blush creep up my neck. “We’ll always have each other,” she whispered, smiling. I leaned down and kissed her softly.

She, however, wanted more than that. She kissed me back so passionately that I felt like the temperature in the room had increased by a hundred degrees. I pulled her towards me by her belt loops and let my fingers brush over the top of her jeans. I nibbled gently on her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, letting my tongue roam freely. I felt her fingers tangle themselves in my hair and I moaned quietly.

She tightened her grip around my neck and pulled me forward. She gently fell back on the bed, bringing me down with her. We pulled away and she smirked up at me, lust clouding over her eyes. She pressed soft kisses down my jaw line and all over my neck. My eyes fluttered shut and I moved my hand under her shirt and over her flat stomach. Her moans were soft and adorable but also strangely sexy, it was driving me crazy.

Her fingers danced along the hem of my shirt, pulling it up and over my head. Only fair she should show some skin too. I let my hands roam up and down the sides of her body as she leaned up to kiss me. Her bra was the next thing to go and I panicked for a split second. We had never gone this far before.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered, before kissing her again. She smiled up at me and placed her hands on the button of my jeans. “I want you Peyt,” she said softly, biting her lip. I felt my eyes widen. “Are you sure?” I whispered, kissing her cheek gently. She nodded, kissing me hard on the lips.

*

“Did we not buy soup?” I asked, looking through the empty bags. Madison put something in the pantry. “Yeah, I thought so,” she said, looking back at me. “Maybe the cans rolled out in the trunk,” I suggested slowly. We watched each other.

“Not it!” we yelled simultaneously, grinning. “Rock, paper, scissors?” she questioned and I nodded.

We shook our fists at each other and eased out a paper. “Fuck, why do I always pick rock?” she cursed and I chuckled. “I don’t know. Why do you?” She huffed and grabbed her coat off the counter before stamping outside. I rolled my eyes and stepped into the living room, picking up some of the trash that littered the floor from when our friends opened their gifts last night. The home phone rang, which was unusual, so I went to go answer it thinking it was an emergency.

“Hello?” I asked uncertainly, gripping the phone. “Is Mrs. Jordan there?” a deep, stocky voice asked. “May I ask whose calling?” I requested politely.

“This is Henry Berman. I’m Madison’s divorce attorney.”

The feeling that followed that was horrible and almost indescribable. It felt like my heart was an atomic bomb dropping towards my stomach and destroying the whole inside of my body. It was utterly heartbreaking.

“Divorce attorney?” I questioned, my mouth dry. “I’m assuming you’re Mr. Jordan.” I slammed the phone back into the holder and leaned against the counter, holding my head in my hands.

I couldn’t come to grips with this new crushing reality. I was too shocked to even cry. All I did was lean against the counter grasping my head in my hands, knotting my hair in my fingers, and breathing in rugged, short gasps. She hired a fucking divorce attorney. I didn’t even know what hit me. But whatever it was, it hit me real hard.

“Who was that on the phone?” I heard Madison ask. I didn’t raise my head. I heard what sounded like two soup cans being placed on the counter and her coat coming off. “Peyt?” she said uncertainly and I raised my head to look at her dully. I knew she could see me about to cry. “What’s the matter?” she asked, coming over and touching my arm. “Don’t touch me,” I snarled, pulling my arm away from her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, hurt in her eyes. I rolled my own and just stood there, glaring at her. “Who was on the phone?” she asked and I smirked. “Your divorce attorney Madison, that’s who.” She looked mortified, standing there frozen with her eyes as wide as dish plates. “You weren’t supposed to find out about him.”

I laughed bitterly. “Oh, wow, that’s beautiful. So you’re not only fake but you’re sneaky too. And you know how to tell a lie. Wow, I can’t even believe you.” She looked down at the floor before looking back at me. “I went to him a long time ago. Like, the week after we got married,” she protested and I rolled my eyes. “Like, I don’t care. You never called him and told him to shove it. And you never told me about it. So fuck off,” I said, and she huffed. “Look, don’t play all high and mighty with me. I hated you back then,” she said pointedly.

I didn’t say anything. “Besides, I don’t even want to divorce you now. Really, I don’t. That was a long time ago,” she pleaded. I felt no sympathy, only white hot fury. “I don’t know if I can stay married to someone as fake as you.” That hurt her, I could tell. “Whatever. Go cut yourself about it,” she mumbled.

I rolled my eyes. “Go fuck yourself you stupid bitch. I really want nothing to do with you. I’m calling my dad,” I said, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot, you’re five years old and you can’t do anything without your precious daddy,” she yelled.

“Like you could survive without your parents,” I retaliated and she crossed her arms. “At least I don’t have to call them about every little thing. At least I have a life outside of the shit they make me do,” she said heatedly. I shoved my middle finger in her face as I walked past her. I dialed my dad’s number and stood out in the hallway as it rang.

“Peyton, what is it?” I watched the dog walk by me. “Madison is divorcing me.” That’s when the salty, hot tears came.

*

“There’s a contract! It was iron-clad!” my dad yelled at this man. We were all piled into the small office. Me, Madison, my parents, and her parents all sat and stood around his desk. “Yes well, Madison came to me asking me to find a loop hole, which I found,” he said, shuffling some papers around on his desk.

“Please enlighten us sir,” my mother said, shifting uncomfortably. I glanced over at Madison who was looking out the window. It hurt to even see her. The man cleared his throat. “Well, it says here that if the marriage is not consummated-” “What is that?” my father demanded. Mr. Berman looked up over his glasses at my father. “The sexual relations that seal the marriage,” he said. “As I was saying, if the marriage is not consummated within a month then either party may declare divorce,” he said simply.

“Seeing as today is one month since the marriage, has it been consummated?” Mr. Berman asked. Madison’s parents looked nervous, my parents looked at me, and Madison looked horrified. If only we had waited one more day. But I wasn’t going to stay married to her, oh hell no.

“No, we haven’t done anything sexual,” I said quickly and my dad groaned. “Really Peyton? A month. You bagged Danielle after two days, not like it wasn’t awkward walking in but-” Madison made an odd sound. “You told me you were a virgin,” she said, glaring at me. I shrugged, “I lied.”

She laughed loudly as our parents and Mr. Berman watched. “Well I lied too asshole. I’m not a virgin either,” she said venomously. “Can I just divorce this bitch and get it over with?” I asked, pointing at her. “Please, I want to get rid of that as soon as possible.”

Her words stung, my heart stung. I felt my body going numb. “So you are getting a divorce then?” the man asked. We both nodded. “Well, I’ll draw up the papers and you can sign them when they’re done.”

We slowly filed out of the office and into the waiting room. Madi was crying into her mother’s shoulder as her father rubbed her back and tried consoling her. I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to cry until I got home. I wasn’t going to show her that I cared. That was how I planned it ideally.

However, the gravity of the situation seemed to hit me at that exact moment. I loved her, and now we were getting a divorce. I wanted to spend time with her and love her and hold her and kiss her and have many repeats of this morning and I couldn’t. So I did what any normal person would do. I cried. I sobbed like a little boy into my mother’s shoulder while she patted my back and told me everything would be okay. Except it wouldn’t be.

“I can only imagine where that loophole came from,” my father said loudly. Madison’s mother scoffed and glared at him. “I wanted her to have the choice,” she said and he rolled his eyes. “Then why even sign the papers anyway, hm? Explain that to me,” he pressed.

Madison and her parents were classy though and just left. When I saw her walk out the door, I cried even harder.