Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

Bailey's POV

“Jade Elizabeth,” I threatened through clenched teeth. “Get out of the bathroom!” I started pounding on the door with my fists. Jade had been in the bathroom for over forty minutes just lollygagging around.

“I just got out of the shower, Bailey!” she sneered back.

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips, annoyed. “No you didn’t. I heard the water turn off and you step out thirty-five minutes ago!”

She didn’t respond, but I could just picture her smirking in to the mirror at herself.

“Why are you up anyways? It’s 9:00 on a Sunday morning.” Jade was never up before me, let alone showered before I was. Usually I always got up earlier than her, making it easy for me to get ready before she needed the bathroom.

“Because,” she retorted and I heard rummaging around through cupboards and I knew that was the only answer I would get.

I sighed, even more frustrated with her snotty remarks. “Can’t you just take your hair straighter and make-up in to your room? You have mirror in there. I want to take a shower!” I wiggled the door handle dramatically and loudly, trying to prove my point.

I heard more digging through things and adjustments and finally I saw the door handle jiggle as she unlocked the door. “I swear you are such a baby, Jazz.” She pinched my cheek and made baby noises to mock me and I swatted her hand away nastily.

“Shut up, queer.”

“Freak.”

I shoved her out of the doorway with my side and quick stepped in the bathroom and shut the door, locking it so Jade didn’t come barging in like she always did.

My shower was ended though when I heard a faint ding. I groaned inwardly, knowing Jade would be listening to her music too loud, or just be too lazy to get up and answer the ringing doorbell. Jumping out of the shower and throwing on baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt, I grabbed a towel and tousled it around in my hair, making sure the water droplets wouldn’t run down my neck.

The doorbell rang again and I hopped the stairs four at a time then ran to open the door. When I swung in open, I was taken off guard at who was standing there. “Hey Rian?”

“Hey,” he smiled back flashing his teeth at me. I didn’t mind him being here, but I had no idea why he came. “Is Jay here?” he asked.

Suddenly I noticed how rude I was being by blocking the door, looking like I was hostile and not wanting him to come in. I pushed the door all the way open and stepped aside so he could enter. “Yeah…she is…”

“I’m here for our chemistry project,” Rian clarified after seeing my face of confusion.

“Ohh, gotchya.” I blushed and ran the towel that was in my hands through my wet and stringy hair again. Rian nodded encouragingly and I yelled for Jade but she didn’t hear me so I nodded for him to follow me and we took the stairs up to her room. “I’m impressed; Jade starting her homework before 11:00 on Sunday night? Never happens,” I joked as we approached her door.

“I heard that,” a muffled voice came behind the closed door.

I rolled my eyes. “She’s such a lazy ass.” Rian gave me a surprised, but amused look before Jay pulled open her door. He wasn’t expecting me to be so blunt.

Jade poked her head out her door and smiled at Rian. “Bailey, don’t you have a book to burrow in or something?” she spat meanly to me as she pulled her science partner in her room.

“I’m surprised you even know what a book is,” I bit back. She scoffed and started to close her door but I stopped it with my hand. “What project do you have in chem? No one else has a project due.”

Rian spoke up before Jade could come back with a smart remark. “Something about figuring out how many moles of strawberries it would take to eat in a certain amounts of time and blah blah blah.”

“You didn’t finish that in class,” I said lamely.

“Shut up, Bailey,” Jade said tiredly. “Some of us aren’t perfect.”

“Whatever, I--”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go do something with your hair.” She started closing the door. “You look like a rat.” I stuck my tongue out at her before I sauntered back to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

==========

“So….” Kaylie dragged out, bored, as we lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

“So.”

“Let’s do something,” she whined.

“Like what?” Kaylie sat up and looked around my room. It was pretty empty since all my personal belongings were back in my old room; all I had at Clara’s was the necessities. She stood up and went to the window and looked out it. The sun was shining through a couple clouds and a few lone leaves were still falling off the trees before the winter snow came.

“Let’s go outside!” I hesitated, thinking it might be cold, but gave in, smiled and followed her down the stairs. “You know what sounds good?” she started as we walked down the stairs. “A slushy. Let’s get one!” I laughed and nodded. I had recently realized Kaylie always was hungry for only one particular food, meaning we had been making a lot of special stops for her to get her specific item.

I started to put on my Converse and Kaylie put on her slippers. “Shit,” she said as I hopped on one foot trying to slip on my shoe. “We don’t have a car so we have to walk and it’s cold.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Jade!” I yelled to the kitchen where she and Rian were “working” on their project. When I walked in though, Jade was doodling with the markers on their poster board and Rian sat with his feet propped up on a kitchen chair, texting. “Jay, the car company is supposed to call today.”

“Okay?” she said without looking up.

“Meaning, you might have to pick up the phone for once because I won’t be here.” She rolled her eyes as she continued to draw a boat sailing on across water. “They’ll be calling to tell us our car is fixed and ready to be picked up. So please listen for it.”

“Yep,” she answered distractedly. I questioned leaving, not sure if she even retained a word I said. I could almost see the sentences I had just spoken float out of her ear and in to the air.

“Let’s roll!” Kaylie said as she jumped out the door and down the porch. I zipped up my sweatshirt and followed right after.

“So are you still going out with Adam on Friday?” I asked as we walked down the sidewalk to the gas station, about two to three miles from our house.

She bit her lip and smiled. I took that as a yes.

“I think he’s going to ask me out,” she said excitedly. I widened my eyes and let her continue. “We’ve been texting a bunch over the last couple days. Who knows, maybe even before our little date on Friday, I’ll be his girlfriend.” I laughed at how casual she was being, when deep down she was bursting with excitement.

She continued to talk about Adam as we walked but stopped abruptly in the middle of one of her stories. “Who are you texting and why are you smiling?” she prodded jokingly.

I quick slid my phone shut before she could see. “No one.”

“Liar.” I felt her hand go for my back pocket.

“Kaylie, stop trying to feel me up,” I snickered and slapped her hand away. She gave up and I felt my phone vibrate again a moment later.

“Jeez Bailey, you’re smiling like a crazy woman.”

I blushed and Kaylie took the opportunity to look over my shoulder as my fingers punched the keys. Once she saw, she started singing. “Bailey and Zack sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes--”

“Shut up,” I laughed. “He only told me a funny story.”

“About love?”

“No,” I sneered. “About his mom.” Finally getting Kaylie to drop the subject, we chatted about school, gossip and gossip at school as we walked the journey to get Kaylie her slushy.

When we saw the gas station sign, our hope and pace picked up along with the wind and as we walked across the lot, a few stray leaves blew at our face. Once we reached the building and walked in, the air inside started to warm me up. I wasn’t sure why Kaylie wanted a slushy when it was so chilly out, but I tagged along anyways when she walked towards the back of the gas station to grab a cup.

“I don’t wanna go back out there,” I complained as Kaylie paid at the front counter. “The sun is gone and the wind is cold.”

“Well how do you expect us to get home?” Kaylie asked rhetorically, pushing the door open and letting the cool air hit our skin. I followed her out unwillingly and we started to back track across the lot for the long walk home back to Clara’s house.

“Kaylie! Bailey!” A voice yelled over the gas pumps that we passed. We looked around and our eyes spotted a boy standing by his car.

“Hey Zack,” Kaylie smiled after we ran over to where he was leaned up against his car.

“Hi Kaylie,” he greeted before turning in my direction and smiling warmly at me..

“What are you doing here?” I asked, still smiling back.

He looked to the nozzle that was sticking out the side of his car as if standing outside by the pumps wasn’t clear enough. “Um…getting gas?”

I blushed at the stupid question; I always asked useless questions around him. Luckily Kaylie was with me this time and spoke up quickly so it wouldn’t be awkward for me. “What a coincidence. You just happen to choose this Super America?” she interrogated him, moving her eyes between the two of us, thinking we planned the meeting. He held up his hands innocently and laughed shyly.

I rolled my eyes at Kaylie’s antics. “Lutherville isn’t that big, Kaylie.”

“Besides, I’m headed to Jack’s house. So it’s really not a coincidence; it’s on the way.”

Kaylie stared us down for a few more moments. “Fine. I’ll let you off the hook this time.” I looked up at Zack confused, not really sure what he did wrong, but he held the same look on his face as I did. “And since I’m letting you get away with it, you’re driving us home.”

Before Zack could even protest, Kaylie walked around the car and hopped in the passenger seat. I looked up at him again and laughed as he shrugged.

“Um, can we get a ride?” I asked sheepishly for me and Kaylie.

He chuckled and took the receipt from the machine, shoving it in his pocket. “I guess so!” He walked to the driver’s side and I got in the seat behind him.

“Nice car, Zack.” Kaylie looked around the Toyota Prius’s feminine interior.

“Shut up. It’s my mom’s.” I laughed from the back and he started up the car and started to pull out. “Where to, ladies?” he asked as we drove down the street.

“My house,” I piped up from the back. Zack looked back through the rear view mirror and winked at me in acknowledgment.

As he drove, Zack kept one eye on the road and the other he looked over at Kaylie. “Hey dude,” he warned. “If you spill that blue shit, you’re so dead.”