Living on Perfectly Remembered Memories

Matt

I entered the house to see dad asleep in front of the TV. I dropped my book bag to the floor, shut the TV off, and shook him awake.

He snorted and groaned before opening his eyes. "Matthew, I'm trying to sleep here."

I cracked my neck. "I know and I'm sorry but I need your help!"

"On?"

"Getting dress clothes for my school dance."

It's funny how that one statement made him jump out of his seat and run to get his car keys. I counted to 30, seeing dad already at the door putting on his shoes. At times, I wonder if he's my father or my mother.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go get your clothes!" he scolded impatiently.

Then again, maybe it was a bad idea to ask him to help me out. Instead of making me try on the clothes to make sure they fit right, he grabbed the first shirt he saw and threw it at me. "Looks good? Okay let's go."

"Dad!" I whined. He turned back. "What if it doesn't fit?"

"God you're like your mom. Alright, go try it on then and we'll see."

Sadly, the shirt didn't fit. I had to go back and look about two more times until the right shirt fit me.

I noticed a lot of girls from school walking around with a bunch of bags. Geez, were they all dress shopping? It was ridiculous how much stuff they had to buy for one stupid school dance. Fran complained to me about it the other day. She said there was the dress, the right bra, shoes, hair accessories, earrings, necklaces, all that crap. Well damn. All I have are shoes and a shirt.

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!

"Hey you!" I pointed to a girl some running distance away from me. She turned around, clutching her binder to her chest. I ran right over to her, no distractions in between, trying to catch my breath.

"You go dance with me?" I gasped. Great, that's how I'll get a girl to say yes to me. The caveman approach was a definite way to get her to say yes.

She raised her eyebrow, telling me a firm no, and walked away.

I groaned, punching the locker my left hand was touching. I regretted punching the locker but damn it, I'm pissed! The semiformal is two weeks away and I don't have a date! How pathetic is that? Oh, and I'm a football player! Girls should be going up to me, left and right, begging me to go with them!

I circled the hallway five times before I realized the bell was going to ring soon. I walked to my locker, waiting for Fran to get out of US History. I lied and told Mr. G I needed to go the nurse. Instead of being at the nurse, I walked around the school for 40 minutes.

She walked up to me, a tired smile on her face. "Where did you go?"

"At the nurse."

"O-okay."

We walked in complete silence on the way home. This is really weird. Usually, we never shut up. Is something wrong? I was going to ask before I noticed we were right in front of her house.

She was playing with a loose thread on her hoodie. What the hell? Franchesa nervous? That's never happened before. Not in front of me. I touched her shoulder; she looked up at me. "Do you wanna go to semiformal together?"

That familiar smirk showed up. Finally. "Why? No date?"

Here we go. "No. I'd rather go with my best friend. Any guys ask you?"

My hold on her shoulder slipped away as she went down to sit on the front steps. I followed her actions, sitting right next to her.

"Quite a few Matty. I said no though. It's awkward cause I know they'll want a kiss out of me or something."

"So we're going as b.f.f.s!"

She rolled her eyes before giving me a yes. I grinned, grabbing my book bag. I slung my arm around her shoulders, prepared to give her an end of the day kiss on the cheek.

I felt something warm on my cheek for a split second and then felt something cold on my cheek. It took a while for me to figure out that she kissed my cheek.

"I'm supposed to kiss your cheek good bye. It's not the other way around," I whined.

She kissed my cheek, but this time licked it as well. "But being unpredictable is fun!" she hollered before running into the house.

I walked across the street, getting into the house. She caught me off guard. I hate being surprised like that, especially from my best friend. That was a total mind fuck. When did she ever give me any type of affectionate contact besides a hug?