I'm Amazed That I Got This Far

"Kalen." John whined, as he looked at me. "I don't want to try that on."

"Please?" I smiled, as I held up the pink and blue plaid shirt. "I thought you liked plaid."

"I love plaid, don't get me wrong." He chuckled, as he took the shirt. "But this...is extremely feminine. Just hand me a fucking blue and purple argyle sweater; that's just as bad."

"It's not like you have to buy it." I sighed, as I took it back from him, and hung it back up. "Stop being such a douche."

"I'm not being a douche." He smiled, as he grabbed my hand. "I'm being very nice today. I tried on that stupidass green shirt that makes me look like a queer, baggy pants that were about three sizes too big, and shoes that made me look like I had clown feet. How much more would you like me to do for you?"

"I'm just so bored." I groaned. "You brought me here with nothing to do."

"We have a lot to do." He nodded, as he looked at a shirt.

"You have a lot to do. You're going on a man date." I stated.

"And you're hanging out with Britton. You can go on a...woman date." He shrugged.

"Right..." I said slowly. "We'll go on a woman date."

"So, now you have something to do, too." He said, leading me towards the door to exit the store. "So, don't complain, Missy."

I smiled and rolled my eyes, as we left the store. John and I started down the street and headed back towards the motel, so we could get ready to go hang out with Britton and Kennedy. It was a little strange that we just met them yesterday, and we're just randomly going out with them today. But that is how to you make friends, right?

"Hey, Johnnn!" I heard someone squeal.

I looked in front of me, to see the Vanessa girl from the other day, coming down the sidewalk. Her shirt and skirt were too tight for her own good, and the heels of her shoes were way too high. She had a coffee in her right hand, and a white and pink purse hanging on her left forearm. Her smile widened as she came over to me and John, and stopped in front of us, almost toppling over in her heels.

"Uhm...hi." John said slowly, as he looked at her. "Vinnie?"

"No!" Vanessa gasped, with a frown. "You already forgot my name?"

"Oh, shit." He said, as he narrowed his eyes, in thought. "Vicky?"

"Vanessa." I said flatly, as I looked over at him. "It's Vanessa."

"How'd you remember that?" Vanessa asked, with a small smile, as she looked at me.

"It's hard to forgot the name of a girl that has the tightest clothes on the block, sweetheart." I replied.

She laughed to herself and nodded, as if my comment didn't bother her, before she wrapped her arms around John's left arm. "You haven't come to see me or anything."

"I, uhm-I." John said, stumbling over his words and instantly becoming awkward.

"You don't like me?" She frowned as she squeezed his arm tighter.

"I like you." He nodded slowly, before laughing nervously. "I, uhm. What are you, uhm. Doing here?"

"Just walking around." She said, heaving a dramatic sigh.

I clenched my jaw and retrieved my hand from John's tight grasp, and folded my arms over my chest. John continued to just stand there, a slut wrapped around his arm and whining to him.

"I'm so bored." She said.

"I have. Uhm, I have plans." John said. "I need to get going."

"Do you want to go to a club tonight?" Vanessa asked, with a smile. "Lots of drinking!"

I rolled my eyes and went in between John and Vanessa, and got her off of him. "Get the fuck off of John. Leave him alone and go fuck some junkie. He's not 22 and he's not interested in HIV positive girls."

"Uhm, excuse you?" She said, instantly crossing her arms over her chest. "At least I have curves."

"I'd rather have a lack of curves than be tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease." I said, with a smile, before I turned away from her and John, and started down the street towards the motel.

"Kalen!" John called, after a few seconds, catching up with me.

I rolled my eyes and picked up my pace. I was not in the mood to talk or look at John. He stood there and let a girl climb all over him, while I was standing right there. Did he expect me to just smile and tell her to get off? Or did he expect me to do what I did, and then be slap happy when she walked away, and it was just me and him again?

Either way, he was wrong.

"Kay." John said, as he grabbed my hand.

I ripped my hand away from him. "Don't touch me."

"Kalen. What the hell?" He sighed. "Will you slow down? You're walking like 70 miles an hour."

"No." I said simply, as I rounded the corner.

John didn't say anything else to me, or try to grab my hand the rest of the way to the motel. Once we got to our room, I unlocked the door and went in, trying to close it behind me before John came in...which failed. John stopped the door and came in, before shutting it behind him. I walked over to my suitcase and pulled it off the chair. I tossed it on the bed that John and I slept in last night, and walked into the bathroom.

"Kalen, what are you doing?!" John exclaimed.

"I'm going home." I stated, as I grabbed my things from the vanity.

"What did I do?!" He asked, as he followed at my heels.

"You let her hang all over you!" I yelled.

"It's not like I liked it?!" He said, as he threw his arms up.

"It's not like you couldn't have told her to get off of you!"

"Kalen." He said, before sighing. "Would you just calm the fuck down?"

"No." I shrugged. "Especially not when you talk to me like that."

"Why are you leaving?" He asked.

"'I want you here with me, Kalen.'." I mocked. "'I want to be with you. I like you. You need to come with me to Tempe.'."

"What is your problem?!" He said loudly.

"You letting her hang on you is the problem! If you're going to do that all the fucking time when a girl comes around, I'm not going to just tell her to get off!" I screamed, as I felt my eyes water.

"If I'm going to do what?!"

"Turn into a fucking statue and just let her whine to you and hang on you!" I replied. "I don't know about you, but I think that's sick, John."

"Don't leave." He said, as he shut my suitcase. "Kalen, come on."

"No." I said, as I slapped his hand away. "Leave me alone, John!"

"Stop yelling at me!" He exclaimed.

"You're yelling at me!" I said, letting out a small sob. "Just let me go!"

"How are you going to get home?!" He asked.

"I'll find someone." I said quietly, as I wiped my eyes, and zipped up my suitcase.

"Kalen, stop it." John demanded, as he grabbed my arm.

"Don't fucking touch me, John!" I cried, before yanking my suitcase off the bed, and going towards the door.

I swung it open and was about to step out, before John slammed the door shut.

"John, leave me alo-" I started, before he grabbed my face and crashed his lips onto mine.

I stood there for a few seconds, before I felt myself kissing John back. I let go of my suitcase, causing it to fall to the floor, and wrapped my arms around John's thin waist. We pulled away for a few seconds, before John pressed his lips to mine again.

"Don't go." He said, after we pulled away, his eyes still closed, and his forehead pressed against mine. "Kalen, you can't go. I care so much about you. Don't go, please."

"I'm sorry." I said, tears still streaming down my face, as he pressed my head to his chest.

"Don't be sorry." He said, as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I'm sorry. Next time a girl hangs on me, I'll knife her."

I let out a laugh and looked up at him, before shoving him away. "Shut up."

He laughed and pulled me back over to him, before kissing my forehead. "I will."

"You won't." I smiled.

"I will." He repeated, with a smile. "Stay?"

"You win this time." I mumbled, after a few seconds, as I picked up my suitcase.

"Good." He chuckled, as he took my suitcase from me and set it on the chair, before there was a knock on the door.

"That's Kennedy and Britton." I said, as I went over to the door and opened it, to see the couple standing there.

"Hi!" Britton said happily.

"Hey guys." I smiled.

"Hi." Kennedy waved. "Is John ready?"

"Yeah." I nodded, as I stepped out, with John behind me.

"What are you girls going to do?" John asked, as he slipped the motel key in his pocket.

"Just...do girl stuff?" Britton shrugged.

"For Britton that means slash tires, terrorize the people of Tempe, and light kids on fire." Kennedy sighed.

"Sorry you define fun as playing Monopoly with your fucking grandma." She stated, as she grabbed my arm. "We're taking your car, Kennedy."

"That is so not how I define fun." He scoffed, as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I think I'll regret going out with you." John joked, as he looked at Kennedy. "Especially if we're going to play Monopoly."

"That's only on Tuesdays." Kennedy joked back, as he tossed Britton his car keys. "Bye, girls."

"Bye." Britton said, as he pecked Kennedy's lips.

"Do you want the motel key in case you're back before us?" John asked, as he looked at me.

"No, it's fine." I shrugged. "I'll find something to do."

"Okay." He sighed, before kissing me. "Have fun."

"You guys, too." I smiled, as I went over to Britton's car, and got in.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked, as I looked at Britton. "Shopping?"

"TP Garrett's house." Britton replied casually.

"Who's Garrett?"

"Don't worry about the deets." She sighed, as she pulled out of the motel parking lot. "I loaded Kennedy's trunk with toilet paper, so we're TP-ing Garrett at, like, 12:30 in the afternoon, like normal people."

"Normal people." I said slowly, before smiling. "That sounds good."

"You look like you've been crying." She stated. "Were you?"

"Oh, uhm...John and I just had a small...fight?" I said, trying to think of the word to describe what John and I just went through. "I don't really know if it was a fight, but."

"Slamming you against the wall? Beating you with a bat? Ripping your hair out? I would consider that a fight." Britton shrugged.

"Because that's definitely what happened." I chuckled.

"Hey, just saying." She laughed. "You never know."

"So, where does this Garrett guy live?" I asked curiously. "And what if he sees us?"

"Like ten minutes away." She replied. "And who the fuck cares. It's not like he's going to pull a gun on us. He loves me, even after I, ya know, broke two of his windows when we played baseball, in his backyard."

"If you say so." I sighed.

About ten minutes later, Britton pulled up to the curb of a two-story, brick house. She turned off her car and popped the trunk, before both of us got out. We went around to the trunk of the car, and there were packs and packs of toilet paper stacked on top of each other. Britton opened one up, before handing me two rolls, and taking two for herself. We went up to the house and Britton tossed the roll into the tree.

"Get his car! He'll be so mad." Britton smiled, as she looked at me. "It's the yellow one."

"Okay." I chuckled, as I walked over to the yellow car, and started to cover it with toilet paper. "He left the window open."

"Cover the inside!" She demanded, before letting out a laugh. "I love how stupid he is sometimes."

I smiled and rolled my eyes, before covering the interior of the car with toilet paper. Once my rolls was gone, I threw the empty tubes on the driver's seat, and went back to the car, to get more toilet paper. When pretty much the whole yard was covered, a window on the second story opened, and a kid poked his head out.

"Who's there?! I have a gun!" He shouted.

"A water gun does not count, Garrett." Britton smiled. "And neither does a nerf gun."

"What are you doing, Britton?!" He asked, as he looked down at me. "And that random girl?!"

"We're TP-ing your house. Get over it." She sighed.

"Is it supposed to rain tomorrow, because I'll kill you if all of this gets wet and it won't go away." He asked.

"Nope." She shrugged. "At least I don't think? I don't watch the fucking weather channel. I'll just go with no."

"Okay, then that's fine." The Garrett kid said, before shutting the window.

"Well, that was easy to get rid of him." Britton sighed. "I think our work here is done; now, let's hope for rain."

"Alright." I smiled, as the two of us started back to the car, and got in.

"So, what do you and John do?" She asked curiously. "I mean, you two don't go to school, you have no parents, no jobs."

"We walk around, sit in the motel room, check everything out." I shrugged.

"That sounds so fun." She sighed. "I wish I ran way, man! Well, if Kennedy went with me, which we all know he wouldn't do because he's a chicken."

"You love him, don't you?" I joked.

"Way too much." She laughed, as she sped down the street.

Once Britton and I got back to the motel, we continued to sit in Kennedy's car and talk, while we waited for John and Kennedy to get back. We got down the basics of each other, since asking creepy questions would be...well, creepy. We talked about the whole running away business, and about Britton, Kennedy, and all of her friends. After about an hour of us sitting in the car, John finally pulled into the spot next to us, and put his car in park.

"How long have you guys been here?" John asked, as him and Kennedy got out of the car.

"Like, an hour." I shrugged.

"I told you, you should've taken the key." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I smiled.

"We got to know each other!" Britton said. "It was fun."

"Good." Kennedy nodded.

"Now, when I want to get away from you for a few days, I just have to come find Kalen." She shrugged.

"Because we all know how annoying I get." He said sarcastically.

"Boo, you don't even know how annoying you get." She smirked, before hugging me. "Bye, Kalen!"

"Bye, Britton." I smiled, as I hugged her back.

"Now, kiss your boyfriend goodnight, and take me home. I still haven't done my homework." She demanded, as she looked at Kennedy.

Kennedy smiled and rolled his eyes, before waving. "Bye, John. Bye, Kalen."

"Bye." John and I waved.

"So, is Friday at 7:00 okay?" He asked.

"That's fine." John nodded. "I'll see you then."

"Okay, bye." Kennedy said, before him and Britton climbed into his car, and took off out of the parking lot, and down the street.

John unlocked the door of the motel, and we walked in, before he shut the door behind us. I plopped down on the old bed, and laid on my back, as I let out a sigh. John tossed the key on the small table and walked over to the other side of the bed, where he laid down next to me. He turned on his side and propped himself up with his elbow, before kissing my cheek.

"Did you have fun?" John asked, as he grabbed my hand.

"Yeah. She's really entertaining, to say the least." I smiled. "Did you?"

"Definitely. Kennedy's cool." He nodded. "He invited me to go out with him and his friends Friday night. I told him I would, unless you're going to be here by yourself, because I'm not leaving you here alone."

"No, you can go." I smiled. "Go make friends; you need some."

"Thanks." He chuckled.

"Welcome." I giggled. "I'll probably hang out with Britton."

"Good." He nodded, before smirking. "You need some friends, too."

"Indeed, I do." I sighed.

The two of us fell silent, and we just laid there for a few minutes. John rolled on his back and let out a sigh, before covering his hands with his face. He laid like that for a little bit, before propping himself back up on his elbow and looking at me. He stared at me for a few minutes, and I stared back, before smiling.

"Do you...want something?" I said slowly.

"Maybe." John said, with a smile. "I want to ask you something."

"Okay?" I said. "What is it?"

"I was wondering..." He trailed off, before stopping.

"You were wondering?" I chuckled.

"If..." He sighed. "I'm kind of nervous right now. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't." I said, with a slight laugh. "What are you even talking about?"

"Uhm, well...you know this whole liking business leads to...boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" He said, as he looked down at his hands. "Well, usually, anyway...unless it's like against their religion or something-"

"John. Just say it." I smiled. "Quit beating around the bush."

"Okay." He said, as he looked over at me. "Kalen, will you...be my girlfriend?"

"It's against my religion." I said, trying to look serious.

"That's bullshit." He smiled. "It isn't."

"Oh, it isn't?" I asked, as if I wasn't aware.

"No." He chuckled, as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "So, will you?"

"Yes." I said, with a small smile.

John grinned and wrapped his arm around me tightly. "Yay."