Spinning at the Seams

I groaned as my alarm clock went off, it was Saturday the day of the dance, and the newspaper meeting. Our Homecoming issue was one of our biggest issues, so it was a known fact that this meeting was going to take longer then normal. I gathered my stuff and headed toward the shower. As I prepared to turn on the water, I was startled by a knock on the door. No one got up this early on a Saturday except me, and sometimes Marc, but based on how last night’s game went I’d thought he would be out for a while.

I listened as the person knocked again, and called my name from the other side. “Toni, can I come in, I really need to talk to you.” It was Di, odd for her to be up, she was well known for sleeping to noon on Saturdays. I opened the door, and Di came in, sliding her back against the wall, she took a deep breath as I started the shower. I was still very confused, but I was also really tired, so conscious thoughts were not possible at the moment.

“So do you remember that conversation we started last Saturday before mom came in?” She sounded hesitant, which started to wake up my foggy brain.

“Yes, why?” I waited for her to continue, she would have to fill in the details before I could give her any advice.

“Well the advice is really for a friend of mine” That was odd, when she asked for advice she always came right out with it, and always admitted that the advice was for her. So why was she suddenly claiming it was for a friend?

“If you need advice for you just tell me, using the whole friend thing just makes this really confusing.” I hated trying to say friend when I wanted to say you, it was annoying, and the early hour would make this even harder.
“Because, it really isn’t for me, it really is for a friend.” She sounded sincere, so I decided to let her continue. I began to massage the shampoo into my hair as I waited for her to continue.

“Well see my friend, she’s pregnant-“ I stopped her there, my sister was thirteen, that meant her friends were thirteen maybe fourteen, no way one of them was pregnant.

“DIANA PANDORA ROMANIT, I SWEAR IF YOU’RE PREGNANT-“ She cut me off with an exasperated sigh, and I looked out of the shower curtain at her.

“I’m not pregnant, I said this was for a friend!” She looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Your friends are all thirteen and I’ve met them all, so which friend of yours don’t I know?” She looked lost for a moment, but it was so fast I wondered if I’d seen it at all.

“She’s sixteen, and we met in that poetry class that mom signed us up for the one at the park district?” She looked at me for confirmation, and I just nodded my head, causing her to continue. “Well we hit it off, and she moved to Cal-Chicago last year, and we’ve continued talking by IM. She recently found out she’s pregnant, and she doesn’t know who the father is.” I raised an eyebrow, that was interesting, who was my sister friends with?

“So now she’s stuck. The guy she’s 99% sure is the father, is a jerk, and she only slept with him to make the other guy jealous. But the other guy she wants to be the Dad, because he’s nice and would help take care of the child. Unfortunately, she’s broken up with the guy who would make a great father, and she doesn’t know what to do.”

I sighed, this was such de ja vu, what is with everyone getting pregnant and needing my advice? Is that Sex Ed talk in health class listened to by no one but me or something? “Well, my advice, no matter how great the guy who isn’t the father might be, it’s not his responsibility. The jerk is the one with the responsibility. If the jerk won’t take the responsibility, then there’s nothing she can do. Well she could pursue legal options but that would take a while. However, if the great guy is willing to go back with her and help her, then wonderful, but he shouldn’t be forced to because he thinks its his child.” I watched her nod at this before sticking my head back under the water. I heard the door close, and I let my thoughts wander. I was surprised at what they kept coming back to. All I could see was Adam’s beautiful blue eyes, and his amused face. I shook my head trying to clear the images, no I can’t fall for him, I can’t. But that didn’t stop his face from appearing every time I closed my eyes. This was going to be a very interesting weekend.

When I arrived at the journalism office, almost everyone was already there. I logged in and checked my email. A new one from Mel was there, telling me that she had updated her blog. I clicked and began to read her new entry.

Hey people of White town and beyond!

It’s your favorite band geek Mel here. Now I know that the band performance from last night has been on everyone’s minds (at least according to my inbox and phone), so I thought I’d let you know what happened, as seen from a band kid’s prospective. For you unfortunate souls who didn’t see the performance, I’ve posted a video of it on the site; just go to the link at the bottom of the page. I would suggest you watch then read.

For those of you, who were there last night, let me tell you what really happened. See, the way we march is set in tempo, and that tempo is beat out by our wonderful snare drummer Jared. Now Jared, he marches to the beat of his own drums, combine that with his want to impress his girlfriend, and you’ve got one very confused marching band. We had no idea he planned to do that. What you non-bandies don’t know is that the school song is like the alphabet, we can do it in our sleep. At normal tempo that is. Now normal tempo is 4 beats, just imagine counting to four in your head and you’ve got the normal 4 beat. Now imagine counting to 8 in the same time it took you to count to four. Now you’ve got why we were so confused. We went from 4 to 8 with no warning, and had to not only play at that tempo but march in our patterns at that tempo. Slowing it down was even harder; imagine counting to 2 in the time it took to count to four. Now try going from that 8 count to that 2 count. Not easy huh? Well imagine trying to do that, play a musical instrument and march. NO FUN I TELL YOU! But we love Jared, so we forgive him! Well, that’s all I have for now, I’ll update after next show, or major band event!

Your bank geek extraordinaire,

Mels

I smiled as I finished her blog, and quickly left a comment about how great it was, and congratulating her on only managing to stumble, where the person next to her fell flat on their butt. I felt my heart rate quicken as Adam passed behind me on the way to his desk. Hunter raised an eyebrow next to me, but didn’t say anything. He only put his fingers in his ears, which made me confused until I heard a very hyper voice behind me.

“TONI! TONI! I’M SOOOOOO EXCITED TO GO TO THE DANCE! YOU’RE GOING RIGHT?! RIGHT?! DID I TELL YOU?! I HAD SOME COFFEE THIS MORNING! I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU GUYS WON’T LET ME HAVE CAFFEINE, I’M FINE! NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER! SO CAN WE GET STARBUCKS BEFORE WE GO GET OUR HAIR DONE?! AND CAN I RIDE WITH YOU THERE!? AND OO SHINY! THOSE EARRINGS ARE SO PRETTY! ARE YOU WEARING THEM TO THE DANCE!? DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER PAIR!? WHERE DID YOU GET THEM!? ARE YOU GOING TO DANCE WITH ADAM!? I THINK HE LIKES YOU! DO YOU THINK HE LIKES YOU!? BECAUSE I THINK HE LIKES YOU! OH, GUESS WHAT I WATCHED LAST NIGHT!? HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, I BROUGHT THE CD FOR THE CAR RIDE THERE! WE CAN SING ALONG WITH IT ON THE WAY! WON’T THAT BE GREAT!?” I blinked, she had said this all with one breath and didn’t even bother waiting for my answer and she bounced back to her seat, singing some High School Musical song as she went. Tristan, who had come up in the middle of this, and Hunter were both in full hysterics, Hunter’s face was beet red, and Tristan was wiping tears from his eyes.

“I feel so bad for you, not only do you have to ride with a caffeinated Molly, you have to listen to High School musical, We’re all in this together,” Tristan began before bursting out laughing again.

“Oh man, you have the worst luck! Not only did she just scream that Adam liked you, which you turned red at, but also she’s got a High School Musical CD. I’m so glad that I’m not going with you,” Hunter was laughing again, and I turned to look at Adam, he was looking at Molly mortified, and when he looked at me he quickly turned away.

“Oh you’re going with alright,” I said looking at Hunter and Tristan, both of whom looked confused. “I’m putting you on speed dial, if I have to endure this so do you. And I swear if you hang up,” I made a cutting motion across my throat and both boys started laughing again.

“Princess, if you manage to survive the car ride with Molly that is,” with that Tristan walked away. I turned to Hunter who was still laughing, as he typed away.

“I’ve decided my next article, the danger of High School Musical on America’s Youth.” I rolled my eyes.

“It’s only dangerous when Molly Welkins is allowed to watch it.” I muttered as I started my own article.

I was almost done with my article when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Adam’s face was suddenly hovering over my shoulder, reading my article. His brow scrunched in confusion.

“Why didn’t any of the players get interviewed?” he asked as he skimmed the article.

“Because I’ve interviewed them after the homecoming game for two years now, and all they do is blame someone other then themselves for the game being lost.” I felt Adam nod, but the frustration hadn’t left his face.

“Did you consider interviewing someone who was new to the team?” He looked at me pointedly, and I shook my head.

“It would be biased if I interviewed you. You’re editor, it would make it look like I was just trying to make the boss look good.” He didn’t move his head from the position it was watching me, a thoughtful look was on his face.

“You wouldn’t want to make your boss look good? I don’t think that’s the reason, I just think you didn’t want to talk to me for some reason.” He watched me carefully, I worked to keep a straight face, I knew any reaction I gave would show how much I maybe, okay definitely, liked him. He was about to say something else, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. His face left my shoulder, and I sighed a small breath of relief.

“Hey chief, I needed your input for the final layout,” Madison said, she wasn’t looking at me, but rather Adam and me, trying to read something I couldn’t quite determine. He nodded and took the paper she was holding from her hands, reading over it briefly. I turned back to my computer, and I saw an IM pop up on my screen.

Fine4Me- whats going on? Madison just suddenly got up from her computer, and nearly ran over to where you were.

Not2sure- I’m not sure, He was saying that I was avoiding talking to him after the game, and wanted to know why

Fine4Me- you were avoiding him after, or at least you seemed like it, you got in that car of yours very fast

Not2Sure- I was trying to avoid the traffic jam that often occurs after the game

Fine4Me- ok you keep telling urself that, but I think theres a different reason

Not2Sure- why don’t u ride with me to get our hair done, we can discuss it on the way

Fine4Me- ok, I’ll meet you at ur car

I grinned, if she was going to give me a hard time, she was going to endure thirty minutes of a caffeinated Molly and High School Musical sing-along too. I turned, pretending to ask Hunter something, and noticed that Adam and Madison had left, I tried not to be hurt by this fact, I couldn’t like him, all boys did was leave and betray you. At least that was what I had come to believe. Hunter and Mallory told me constantly that this wasn’t true, but how could I believe them? Look what happened to my family, boy left, and family fell apart. I really couldn’t trust a guy to stay around, Marc barely did. I gulped, trying to keep the tears that always threatened to fall when I thought about this. I succeeded but just barely, Hunter was looking worried, and would have asked about it, but Mrs. Callows, dismissing us from the meeting, cut him off. I got up and left in a hurry. I told myself I needed to hurry to outrun Molly, but inside I knew I was running to avoid Hunter, and probably Adam’s questions.
Molly’s caffeine burst gave her tons of energy and she managed to beat me to the car. She was bouncing around it when I got there, the second I unlocked it she shot into the back like a bullet, and began fiddling with my CD player as I got in the front. I smiled as I saw Mallory’s face when she realized Molly was riding with us, I knew I was going to pay for it later, but the look on her face was worth whatever rant she had planned.

The next thirty minutes was full of Molly screaming High School Musical at the top of her lungs, and talking about her love of Troy Bolton. Mallory kept sending me death glares, and I had to fight to keep a straight face.

When we finally arrived at the mall, which seemed to take hours instead of minutes, Molly ran ahead of us, nearly taking out several shoppers on her way in. Mallory grabbed my arm, and yanked me to the side.

“Okay that was just plain cruel, for that I’m getting Starbucks,” I was about to protest, but realized I probably deserved it, and just shrugged.

“Fine, I’ll buy for you, now will you let go off my arm please? I kind of need it for when we get our nails done.” I tried to get away put she held on fast.

“No, you’re not getting away that easy. Now what’s the deal with you and Adam, do you like him?” the look she was giving me suggested I wasn’t getting away till I admitted either way.

“I don’t know, I really don’t. Part of me needs to hate him, because he’s a guy, and he seems to like me, and that doesn’t work for me. You know how hard it is for me to trust. The only reason I trust the guys I do know, is because I’ve known them forever. But I’ve only known Adam for a week, how do I know he won’t leave me, how do I know he won’ t hurt me. My life is hard enough, I don’t need some guy breaking my heart to add to my problematic life.” Mallory looked sadder and sadder as I said this.

“Toni, you never know if a guy will break your heart. Every girl has that problem okay, not just you. And I know it’s hard for you to trust, but some day you have to try. Dive in head first, and from what we’ve seen of Adam, I don’t think he intends to leave anytime soon. He really seems to care about you, which I think is what scares you the most. Just trust him, you have to trust someone eventually.” She pointed it out, the one thing I had known for a while, but had refused to admit. I had thought about it before, usually around the romantic holidays, but I couldn’t trust people not to leave me, I had made up a million excuses as to why I didn’t need a boyfriend. But recently, my life seemed to be under a microscope to me, and I didn’t like what I was seeing. I turned to Mallory and smiled.

“You’re right, I’ll give it a chance, I’m not making promises though. Now come on, I think the group is probably ready to strangle Molly by now.” Mallory nodded then let me go, walking quickly next to me. I didn’t know till later that while I did need to trust, I had decided to trust the wrong person, again.