What It Takes

Peyton

This is really getting out of hand. I watched as Madison screamed at a woman who accidentally walked into her. I should speak up, but then she’d go off on me. Weighing the pros and cons wasn’t doing anything to help the situation, and I threw caution to the wind. I stepped forward and gently tugged her wrist.

“Maybe we shouldn’t yell,” I said loudly, clearing my throat. She whipped around and looked at her wrist in disgust. She ripped her arm from me. “Don’t touch me,” she spat and I flinched under her murderous glare. She stalked down the aisle, and I stood there, bewildered. I really screwed up. “I’m sorry,” I said to the woman and I went back for the half empty cart.

“Are you coming or not?” she asked, turning back to me. Her eyes rarely ever met mine. This time was no exception. She was seemingly staring at my chest, and I tried desperately to make eye contact. I nodded and pushed the cart forward quickly, trying to keep up with her. She sighed loudly and I ran a hand through my hair. She was putting me through hell this whole time out. I didn’t really mind though, at least she was speaking to me.

She stopped and was deeply concentrating on the peanut butter. I grabbed a jar and she stopped me, grabbing my hand. “Not that brand! I want the other kind,” she complained. I stared at her for a moment, her touch sending a thrill through me. I placed it back on the shelf, watching her brown eyes looking straight into mine. I grabbed the correct brand, the one she gestured to and dropped it into the cart. She rolled her pretty eyes.

“Not that one. The other one,” she whined, and I sighed starting to lose my patience. I picked it up and slammed it back on the shelf. “Why don’t you enlighten me on which brand you mean, considering there are about fifty here,” I said, impatiently. She was seriously getting on my nerves. Her lips perked at the edges and I could tell she wanted to get a rise out of me. “This one,” she said sweetly, picking up the jar I had originally gotten.

“Oh, I’m sorry baby,” I cooed, putting on a sympathetic smile. She frowned, distaste covering her face. She continued walking, ignoring my comment. I shouldn’t have done that. I will do whatever it takes to get her back, and I just pissed her off. I shook my head; great job idiot. She bitched and moaned about the cracker selection. I sighed, trying to tune her out.

Maybe if I put up with this, I’d be able to get some points with her. Even though I knew her for a while now, I never knew what she would do. It was one of the most appealing things about her. Suddenly she stopped speaking to me. I looked up at the abrupt change in atmosphere and saw her walking to a young woman. “Hi! You’re Mrs. Panzer, right? I just moved in next door,” she said and the woman immediately started talking animatedly to her.

It was one of those things that astounded me about her; just like how she’s very on the edge. We lived in the house for one night and she already recognized the neighbors. Despite the fact we were married only days ago, she had the vibrancy and resiliency to be social. I myself, was completely tired. My hair wasn’t straight, but very wavy and I hadn’t washed my face since the day. It was absolutely disgusting. I was repulsed by myself.

“Well, it was nice meeting you Mrs. Panzer,” she said, smiling up at the woman in front of her. “It was certainly a pleasure meeting you Madison. If you need anything, just come over,” Mrs. Panzer replied. She came back over to me and started looking down at the list. “That was amazing,” I said to her and she looked up at me, confused. “What was?” she asked, her tone puzzled.

“How you recognized that woman. How you were so nice and, I dunno, social,” I said, rubbing my neck awkwardly. “Oh,” she said, looking back down at the paper. “I never would’ve been able to do that,” I said, trying to push the good vibe. “That’s why I have a shit load of more friends than you do,” she said harshly and I sighed. Back to the old drawing boards.

We continued to the freezer section, pulling ice cream and frozen breakfasts from behind the chilled doors. The cart was filled with healthy and junk food, which slightly surprised me. The healthy part, that is. I checked the time on my cell phone. Dave was coming over, and I knew Madison wouldn’t be happy about it. Not happy at all. I sighed and followed her to the next register.

Despite the cold comment, she hadn’t done anything rude at all since I complimented her. This small realization would definitely work to my advantage. We wordlessly put the contents of the cart onto the conveyer belt. She paid when the kid rang it up. His name was Bryan and I was positive he went to our school. “Hey Madi. What’s up?” he said, chuckling. “Not much. I didn’t even notice you,” she answered, smiling lightly. She fooled him, but she couldn’t fool me. She was falling apart at the seams; she wanted desperately to get out of here. “Madison, the football game,” I hinted and she looked at me. She smiled at Bryan.

“Oh, wow. I forgot. You boys and sports,” she said lamely, but he bought it. “Yeah, I know. Guilty as charged. See you later Madi. Peyton,” he said, acknowledging my presence. I looked at him as if he were growing five heads out of his ass. He seemed to understand the look and turned to the next customer. I followed Madison out to the car and I loaded the bags into the trunk.

“Thanks for that,” she whispered as we sat in the car. “You’re welcome,” I said back, at a normal volume. She laughed what I liked to refer to as her ‘Little Bear’ laugh. “Why the Little Bear laugh?” I asked, turning to face her as she concentrated on the traffic. She blushed. “Don’t do that,” she accused. “Do what?” I countered.

“Try to bend me to your will,” she answered stubbornly, glancing over at me. It was my turn to laugh. “Bend you to my will?” I questioned, crossing my arms. “Yes!” she insisted, “See this, it should not be happening. You’re a disgusting prick and I should not be bickering with you.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s nice. I just thought that maybe since we were married we could be at least cordial,” I retaliated, trying to keep her talking. “Yeah, well that’s going to change,” she mumbled.

That confused me. “What’re you going on about? We can’t change the whole married thing,” I said and she smiled. “Yeah, I know,” she said and I looked at her strangely. “Dave is coming over. Actually, he’s probably already here,” I said, glancing at the drive way. She pulled in behind his car. She popped the door open. “Good, then he can put the groceries away,” she said, getting out of the car. “And you can keep it away from me.”

Dave got out of his car as she walked by. “Bitch,” he greeted her. She glanced at him, as I got out of the car. “Cock sucking ass fuck,” she said, walking into the house. He came over to me as I stared after her, shaking my head slightly in disbelief. “Did she just call me a cock sucking ass fuck?” he asked and I nodded, tearing my eyes away from the door and to him. “Yeah, she did,” I said, walking around and pulling the trunk open. “She just got some points in my book then,” he said, grinning.

It didn’t take too long to unload the groceries and put the stuff in the proper cabinets. We leaned against the counter and stared at each other. “Bryan said something to me today,” I commented, moving a piece of hair out of my face. “Oh. That’s weird. Some girl spoke to me today at school,” he said back, pulling his body on the counter. “Why are people noticing us now?” he asked, sipping some juice. “Ugh, I don’t know. And I most certainly, don’t like it,” I answered, dropping onto a stool.

Being invisible was the greatest thing. You weren’t like the freaks and weirdo’s, who got picked on. You weren’t the most popular people either. You were in between and unnoticed. Passed by day after day without recognition. For some people, it was torture. For my friends and me, it was luxury. And now, that was all gone. We were placed in the spotlight. We are the only “emo’s” in the school and focus was switched to us. Except for that girl in my business math class, with the cool turquoise pants. It was like being the baby panda at the zoo. It was unbearable.

“How’s the wife?” he asked and I shrugged. “We communicated a lot today,” I said excitedly and his eyes grew wide. “It’s a sign of the apocalypse!” he shouted, jumping around the kitchen. I laughed as he walked into the refrigerator, colliding with the ground. There was a giggle behind me and I turned to see Madison standing there, trying to stifle her laughter. I sighed, seeing her pretty twinkling eyes. “Um, hey,” I said, unsure of why she was here.

As soon as her gaze was upon me, her face looked at me with something I could only say was hatred. But I knew she was hurt. She was like an open book in her eyes. She handed me my phone. “Your easy lay called,” she snarled and Dave was at her throat in a second. “Don’t call her that you stupid slut,” he shouted and she looked at him incredulously. “Mmhmm. Because I’m the pregnant one,” she spat at him. He couldn’t really say anything to that one. It was true.

“Well, can’t you just be nice?” he said softly and she was confused by his sudden step down from anger. “Why should I be nice? This one,” she pointed to me, “got her pregnant.” He smiled sarcastically. “Yeah, which is why you should hate him, not her,” he replied. “Way to help me out there man,” I said, rolling my eyes. Dave and Sara would never work out. Sara didn’t want him, and not to be conceited, it was me she wanted. Which is why the jealous bitch got me drunk. I couldn’t even use that excuse with Madison.

“You love her!” she sang and pulled Dave into the living room. I stared after them with a look of flat out disbelief. “Tell me everything,” she said, sitting on the couch next to him. Dave himself looked absolutely panicked. “Okay, Peyton and Chuck wouldn’t want to hear this. And the only girl that would is Sara. Speak,” she said confidently. He gave me an exasperated look. “Well, I’ve liked her as long as I can remember. I don’t really know. She’s always wanted Peyt,” he said with a pained expression.

She nodded knowingly and touched his knee. “Hmm, does she know that you like her?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. I moved into the living room and sat on the chair opposite the couch, watching silently. He shook his head. “No. At one point, I thought she did. Turns out she was preggo,” he said, laughing humorlessly. “Okay, okay. Typical situation,” she said, mostly to herself. Madison launched herself off the couch and started pacing. “We have to make you more noticeable,” she said softly.

“Haircut? No, it wouldn’t suit you. Less eye makeup? Uh-uh. You rock the eyeliner. And you’ve got the tight jeans and snug shirts. A challenge then! I’ll make a game plan and we can go over it tomorrow at lunch, if you want,” she said, twirling towards him with a spark of interest in her eyes. “Why are you helping me?” he asked. “Why wouldn’t I help you? Aren’t you like, my best friend in law or something?” she joked and he laughed. I laughed too and she turned to me. “Sara left a voicemail, Mr. Fertile Sperm,” she said venomously going to the kitchen. “Dave, do you want grilled cheese?” she asked sweetly. I rolled my eyes; a habit that was getting far too out of hand.

“Yeah, sure,” he answered. I scoffed and called my voicemail, entering my password and listening. “Hey Peyton. It’s Sara. I-uh just wanted to let you know that I got. Um, I got an abortion, so call me back if you want.” I stared in horror at the phone. How could she do that? I was in complete shock. “What happened?” Madison asked me, concern etched over her face. She stood in front of me with a spatula, shaking me slightly.
“Sara…Abortion,” I choked out and she dropped the spatula. “Are you sure?” she asked and she turned to Dave. “Oh my God,” she whispered, backing away from me slowly. It struck me as really amazing and completely astounding. Here it was; Madison hated Sara, but felt bad that she had to go through that, and she wanted to help Dave, my best friend. The tables are turning but I think she still hates me. She stared at me anxiously. “Why wouldn’t you go with her? Or talk her out of it, asshole?” she shot at me, grabbing my phone and finding Sara’s number.

Yes, she hates me.