Stay With Me: (And Other Frivolous Demands I Have No Right to Make)

Just because you feel us, doesn’t mean we’re there.

-Josephine Collective, “We Are the Air”

“Oh…my…GOD!!” Sasha squealed helplessly on the phone later that night. I was on a three-way-call with her and Jericho, and we were discussing Friday’s party.

“Calm down Tar, you’re going to have a heart attack.” I giggled.

“Are you kidding me!? Kelsie…we just got invited to a SENIOR party! You know how many JUNIORS are going to be there…!?” Jericho asked excitedly. I shrugged.

“I don’t know…none?” I guessed.

“EHHH!! WRONG!!” They screamed simultaneously.

“There’ll be three,” Sasha replied mischievously. I laughed.

“So I’m guessing we’re going?” I teased.

“DUHH!!” They cried. I chuckled.

“But wait…what about the whole COUPLE part?” There was a pause.

“Oh yeah,” they both answered. Another pause.

“Well…I can go with Adam,” Jericho replied finally. I smirked.

“Is that your new boyfriend?” I asked slyly. Jericho giggled. She always did that when she was embarrassed.

“Maybe…” I could almost HEAR her smiling through the phone. I rolled my eyes lightheartedly.

“But what about me?” Sasha asked, almost dejectedly. I nodded.

“Or me,” I agreed bitterly.

“What are you talking about?” Sasha finally inquired. “You have Paul! I have no one.”

“Yeah, well, I technically DON’T have Paul. We haven’t even talked to each other in like two days.” I sighed and absentmindedly played with my fingers nervously.

“But he’s still your BOYFRIEND.” Jericho reminded me. “Just call him and ask him, I’m sure he’ll take you.”

I shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Though the ‘calling Paul’ thing wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I heard Sasha clear her throat.

“Umm excuse me, but what about SASHA!?” She hinted. Jericho and I laughed.

“Well let’s think,” Jericho started. “There are TONS of single guys. We just have to pick one.”

I nodded.

“But do we actually KNOW any of these ‘single guys’?” Sasha asked. There was a short pause.

“Kelsie does,” Jericho answered. I wrinkled my forehead.

“I do?” I asked.

“Yeah…I mean…how many guys in DeeSquared have girlfriends?”

A light bulb switched on in my head. I pictured the only few boys who were actually taken. This included Keith, Simon, and a young Superior named Todd. I smiled, knowing EXACLTY who’d I’d set Sasha up with.

“Don’t worry Sasha,” I smirked. “I know EXACTLY who’s going to take you.” Sasha gasped.

“Oh my God…really!? Who!?”

I shrugged as if I didn’t know.

“You’ll see…” I teased. Sasha gasped again.

“No Kelsie, TELL ME!” She cried. Jericho just laughed. I shook my head, a tiny giggle escaping me.

“Nope! I gotta go call him right now!” I replied and went to hang up the phone.

“KELSIE!” Sasha cried, though I could tell she was laughing. I giggled.

“BYE!” I shouted and hung up the phone. I smiled at it and then reopened it. I dialed a specific number that I knew by heart and waited for someone to pick up. But no one did. I looked over at clock. It was only 9:00. He better not be sleeping, I thought amusedly, but shrugged it off and hung up the phone. I’ll ask him tomorrow, I thought excitedly and made my way downstairs. I could hear my parents talking in the family room and I quietly dodged them and stood by the front door, hoping they wouldn’t see me. I wanted to avoid talking about my two consecutive detentions as long as possible. I gripped my cell phone, dreading to reopen it again.

“Just call him and ask him, I’m sure he’ll take you.” Jericho’s words rung in my head, though I tried to get them to stop as much as possible. It was a weird feeling. I both DREADED calling him, but at the same time I wanted to rip my cell phone so fast the top flew off. I mean, I still love Paul, but it was complicated. I took a deep breath and slowly reopened the phone. I was going to do it. I slowly dialed Paul’s number and waited on tense, nervous, shaking feet for him to pick up. It rang…and rang…and rang. I gulped, and I could feel a bead of sweat form in the center of my forehead. I tried to breathe out slowly, to calm myself down; but it wasn’t working. It was weird, I was actually SCARED to call my boyfriend!? Suddenly, I heard a clicking noise and a voice answered, but yet again, not one that I expected.

“Hello?” A high-pitched female voice asked. My eyes bugged out. I knew EXACTLY who it was.

“Sarah!?” I asked disbelievingly. My stomach lurched forward and I swear a rock dropped down into it. There was a pause.

“Kelsie!?” She returned, with almost the same amount of shock in her voice. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t think of a single coherent thought. I kept gasping for air, and I seriously wished I was dead.

“I—ughh—umm—I…CLICK!” I dropped the phone on the ground and backed away from it slowly. What the hell just happened!? I thought nervously and gripped on to the door handle, trying to tether myself to reality. I had no idea what to think.

“Kelsie? What was that noise?” My father called in from the family room. I gulped and tried to get myself to move. I heard my father get up from the couch and walk towards me. I scrambled to pick up my phone and I ran into the kitchen. I leaned up against the wall, out of sight from where my father walked into the foyer. I swear I heard him shrug and he walked back. “Oh well…” was all I could hear him say. My cell phone gripped tightly in my right hand, I slipped down the wall, running my fingers painfully through my hair.

“She—I—oh…my…” I stuttered, and I could feel a tear form in my eye. Sarah had picked up his phone! She actually PICKED UP HIS PHONE…and TALKED TO ME! I choked on the tear, desperately trying to swallow it away. I couldn’t believe it was going to end like this. I sat there for a few minutes, crying silently, wishing I had never even called him; when suddenly I heard the front door open, and I peered out into the foyer. Jake walked in the front door, like he lived here or something. I wrinkled my forehead, though I didn’t really want to talk to him right now. The only thing I could think of doing at that moment was burying my face in my pillow and screaming hysterically. But I stood up anyway and dropped my phone on the table, next to Amanda’s flyer.

“Can I help you?” I asked stubbornly and folded my arms. Jake spun around, looking for the source of the voice, and finally his eyes fell on me, a few feet away. He shrugged.

“I was just dropping off Lexi’s car,” he answered nonchalantly, and handed me her car keys. I grabbed them from him and threw them down on the table. Jake looked me over strangely and then turned to leave.

“Ok whatever,” he sighed and opened the front door. With his back turned towards me I wiped away the remaining tear in my eye and spun back around to the table.

“Wait,” I said quietly and picked up Amanda’s flyer. Jake looked over at me. “Here…Amanda dropped this off earlier, I think you’re invited.” Though I knew she didn’t really want him there, Jake was popular, and no one else would go if he wasn’t there. Jake took it from me and looked it over. He sighed and slipped his free hand into his pocket.

“A couple’s party? Fantastic,” he groaned quietly, probably not realizing that I could hear him. I sighed.

“Tell me about it,” I said without realizing it either. Jake looked up at me and gave me a funny look. The events of the hallway flooded back to me, and I suddenly needed to be anywhere but here.

“What are you talking about? You have a boyfriend…and he’s actually in town.” Jake guilt-tripped me. I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.

“Sort of,” I mumbled bitterly. I was still in shock from the whole Sarah thing, and it was strange to me that I wasn’t currently bawling my eyes out. Jake wrinkled his forehead.

“Umm…okay?” He looked around awkwardly at the engulfing silence that suddenly surrounded us. I breathed out slowly, and prayed that Jake would suddenly just disappear from my foyer. But he didn’t. I shrugged my shoulders.

“So I guess we both won’t be going,” I was really disappointed too. I was finally realizing that Paul wouldn’t be taking me to the party. What was I going to tell Jericho and Sasha? I knew they wouldn’t go without me; but they seemed so excited! Uggh, I thought. Paul ruins everything. Jake looked back down at the flyer and then up at me. A half-smile, half-sympathetic look washed over his face.

“Not necessarily,” he answered. I looked up at him. Was he seriously still talking to me?

“And why’s that?” I asked, finally feeling the shock of Sarah picking up Paul’s phone melting away from me. Jake handed me back the flyer.

“Go with me.”