Light Me On Fire

I sighed as I bent over and collected my hair in my hands. I grabbed the black hair tie off of my dresser and piled my hair on top of my head, letting it sit in a messy bun. I threw myself down on my bed and grabbed my cell phone. I had been going over what I would say to Elle for at least twenty minutes and I still hadn't come up with anything amazing or fresh to tell her. I pressed my lips together as my thumb pressed on Elle's name in my phone.

It took only two rings for her to pick up.

"Sophie!"

I closed my eyes as the fan above my bed graced me with cool air. "Hey, babe. How're ya?"

She sighed, "Not so good. John and I got into another argument this afternoon."

"I heard."

"You did?"

"Yeah. John sort of told me about an hour ago."

"Oh." She was silent for a moment. "What did he tell you?"

I laid my left hand on my stomach and drummed my fingers. "Just that you two were at the mall and some girls came over to talk to him. Um, and that you-"

"Oh, c'mon, Soph! Do you blame me for getting jealous? I mean, the girls weren't just trying to talk to him. They were literally feeling him up and he just stood there, smiling the whole time."

I rolled onto my right side and switched my phone to my left ear. "Ellie, babe, what do you expect him to do? Those are his fans. He can't be rude to them."

She groaned. "Well being nice and flirting are two completely different things."

"I agree. But let me ask you something."

"Okay?"

"Did John do anything else, besides return a smile to them?"

"No."

"Did he . . . oh, I don't know, flirtatiously touch any of them?"

"No."

"Did he say anything to them that would classify as flirting?"

"No."

"Okay then, Elle. What are you so worried about?"

She was silent.

"Elle?"

"Okay, okay, I get your point. I'll call him now."

"Glad you see it my way. I'll talk to you tomorrow then, love."

"Soph?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. You know, you're always there not only for me, but for John as well."

"Don't mention it. I'm just doing my friendly duty."

She laughed, "Okay, then. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"See ya." I hung up and threw my phone down on the comforter.

I was glad I didn't really have to say too much to Ellie, for her to come to her senses. I think in the back of her mind, she knows that John is a good hearted guy, which he is, and would never think about cheating on her. But just like any other teenage girl, she's unsure of herself. I grabbed my pillow and folded it in half, before stuffing it under my head. I closed my eyes and felt myself immediately drifting off to sleep.

___________________________________________________

Even though it was a Friday, I was surprisingly in a groggy mood. After I fell asleep last night, John had called me at one in the morning to thank me for settling his and Elle's problems. After we hung up, I couldn't fall back asleep. I tossed and turned all night and the heat was almost unbearable. By the time my alarm went off at five-thirty, my comforter and sheets were all the floor, as I had kicked each of them off at various times in the night.

I pulled into John's driveway and honked my horn. I was in no mood to actually get out of my car and go knock on his door, as I usually did every morning. A minute later, John came running to the passenger side of my car and threw his bag in the backseat before sitting down.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, immediately noticing my unhappy face.

"You."

"What did I do?"

"You called me at one in the morning, awaking me from my wonderful sleep."

He pouted, "You could've gone back to sleep."

"I tried! But I failed miserably!" I snapped.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window. "Well, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up, sit back and don't touch anything."

He smirked and glanced at me. "You mean, like this?" He pressed one of the buttons on the radio and changed the station.

"John," I warned.

"Or, like this?" He turned the dial on the AC.

I let out a heavy breath and tightened my grip on the steering wheel. I wouldn't actually hit him, but I'd give the back of his head a good whack if he kept this act up.

"Or, maybe this?" He reached over to my side and pressed the horn on the steering wheel.

The noise caused the person in the car in front of us to flick me off. I glared at John.

"You jackass!"

He smiled, "I've been called worse."

As we came to a red light, I slapped John in the back of his head with my right hand as hard as I could.

"Ow! Fuck, Sophie!" He reached his hand to his head and rubbed it. "That fucking hurt."

"Good. Cause you fucking deserved it!"

I switched the radio station back to it's original setting and we rode without speaking for a few minutes. As we pulled into the parking lot of the school, John said my name.

"What?"

He poked his bottom lip out and crossed his eyes, "Forgive me?"

I pressed my lips in a straight line, attempting to hold back my laugh. "No."

"Soph!" he whined.

"You're gunna have to do better than that."

I parked my car and yanked the keys out of the ignition, before stepping out onto the blacktop. John did the same and walked over to me.

"Fine." He reached his arms straight out and bent over. "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"

I couldn't help myself and I busted into a fit of hysterics. The things John did in public sometimes . . .

"Okay! Okay! I forgive you!"

He smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "That's what I'm talking about."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go find those losers we call our friends and get to class, before you get me another detention."

"How am I to blame for your detentions?"

I arched my brow, "Last time I checked, you were the one running nearly thirty minutes late and made me wait to take you to school. Three times, might I add."

"Fine, fine. You got me there. Let's go."

_______________________________________________________

School went by in it's usual blur and before I knew it, it was over. It was now seven-thirty and I was pacing Elle's bedroom, waiting for her to emerge from her closet.

"Come on, Ellie! It's not like you have anyone to impress!" I shouted and rolled my eyes.

"I do too!"

"And who would that be?"

"John!" She poked her head out and rolled her eyes. "Duh!"

"Yeah, 'cause he's really somebody to impress." I chuckled and took a seat on the edge of her bed.

I pulled on the ends of my my white shorts, hoping they would somehow magically grow longer. The only reason I was even wearing this outfit, was because Elle had bought it for me for my birthday. And when I told her I hadn't planned an outfit for tonight, she insisted on me wearing this. Finally, she came out from the closet and spun around on her heels.

"So, am I a ten, or what?"

I laughed. "You're a ten, babe."

She smiled and glanced at me. The ends of her lips turned down.

"What?" I asked. "Does something not look right?"

She shook her head. "No, you look perfect! I just envy those lovely curves of yours and those long, tanned legs! It's not fair!" She pouted.

I rolled my eyes and snatched my keys from her bed. "No, what's not fair is that you can wear heels and not tower over most guys."

"Oh, please, Soph. You're only 5'8."

I looked at her. "Do you know how tall I would be if I wore heels like those? I'd look like a freak!"

She laughed and waved her hands at me. "You're just talking nonsense now."

"Sure." I smiled as we got into my car.

The drive to Garrett's house only took about ten minutes. Elle had inserted an old Blink-182 album into my stereo and turned the volume up during the trip. She started dancing in her seat and I laughed, watching as other cars drove past us shaking their heads.

"Finally! That took forever!"

"Oh, please! It wasn't even ten minutes, Ellie!"

"Still! That's minutes I missed seeing John."

I rolled my eyes as we got out of the car. "Oh, Heaven forbid you miss seeing his skinny self for ten minutes."

She stuck her tongue out at me before running up the walkway and into the house. I followed after, taking in the smell of alcohol, cigarettes and sweat. The mix of all three was a familiar scent to my nose. I walked past a group of kids standing near the doorway and made my way into the living room, my eyes glancing everywhere to see if I could spot somebody.

Just as my eyes landed on Kennedy, I felt a pair of arms slip around my waist and a voice whisper in my ear.

"Guess who?"

My eyes went wide.