Don't Change For Anyone

“Tali. C’mon Tali, wake up! Taaaaaali! You slept through your alarm! Wakey wakey, Tali!” I felt a small pair of arms shake my body back and forth. I groaned and covered my face with my blankets; a lame attempt to block out my little brother’s voice. My plan did nothing at all. Luke’s little arms kept shaking me until I felt like I was going to throw up from motion sickness.

“Luke! Luke, I’m up! Stop shaking me!” Luke’s hands darted behind him and I threw my covers off, sitting up and looking at my brother. He opened his mouth, showing off his cavities.

“Hon, why’re you showing me those little nasties?” I ruffled his hair and stood up, towering over the 9 year old.

“’Cause I’m skipping school to get ‘em fixed! When you come home today, I’ll be cavity free!” Luke smiled and waited for my reaction. I laughed at him and pushed him out into the hallway.

“That’s wonderful, Lukey. But I have to get ready for school. How about you go get breakfast ready?” Luke jumped up and down and ran down the stairs, stumbling on the way down. I laughed and walked back into my room, closing the door. I walked into my closet and turned on the light, grabbing an off-white tank top, a black vest, and a pair of loose capris. I turned off the light and closed my closet door, changing into the outfit and a pair of kitten heels on my way into the bathroom connecting to my room. I put on some mascara ran a brush through my hair, combing it to the side and braiding it. When I was satisfied, I went downstairs and into the kitchen where the smell of bacon invaded my nostrils.

“More meat? Momma, we still have like, twelve pounds of turkey left from Thanksgiving!” I whined, taking a seat at the island next to Luke.

“Well, I’ve decided to give the rest of our food to the homeless this year. So hush up and eat your breakfast.” My mom set down a steaming plate of bacon and scrambled eggs along with a fork and a napkin. I dug in, eating my breakfast in less then 5 minutes.

“Damn, Tali! You ate that like a dinosaur!”

“Luke! Don’t say ‘damn’! It’s not a good word.” Luke looked up at my mom with his eyes widened and sparkling with his little boy charm.

“But mommy! Tali says it!” My mom turned her attention to me and leaned in, whispering in my ear.

“I told you, no cursing in front of your brother. He’s going to start copying you!”

I nodded and got up, walking back into my bathroom. I brushed my teeth and grabbed a fedora, putting it on and slipping on the shoes I brought out earlier.

“Bye mom! Bye Luke!” I waved at them and grabbed my bag and my keys, shutting the door behind me and walking down the driveway. I stood and admired my baby, an AC Shelby Cobra, and smiled. After getting inside, I started it up and peeled out of the driveway.

I sang along softly to the mix CD that was currently playing through the speakers. The song ended and Have You Ever Known by Amely came on. I perked up and started drumming my hands on the steering wheel. About halfway through the song, I pulled up at my best friend May’s house. I quickly took out the CD and turned on the radio, which was blasting something off the top forties list. Perfect.

May came strutting out of her house, her light blonde curls bouncing with every step she took. She took her sunglasses off of her head and slid them on the bridge of her nose while taking a seat in my car. She smiled over at me and took in what I was wearing, giving me nod.

“You look cute today, Tali. The hat’s a good touch.”

“Thanks. You look good yourself.” I backed out of her driveway and sped off to school.

“I can’t wait until my dad gives me my car back. I miss the feeling of being behind the wheel!”

“All you have to do is get a B in Chemistry, May. It should be easy.”

“Of course you say that. You actually passed. This is my second year in Chemistry, Tali!”

“I’ve told you at least a thousand times that I’d help you out! Come over tonight and I’ll tutor you.”

“Fine. Only ‘cause I miss my car.” May crossed her arms and looked out the window. Knowing her, she’ll be fake-mad until we get to school, then her mind will be somewhere else and she’ll forget she was ever fake-mad in the first place. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank God for her ADD.

_ _ _

Just as I said, she completely forgot by the time we pulled up to school. She literally jumped out of the car and waited for me way too impatiently. When I got out, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me inside the school. She got her books out of her locker in record time and dragged me to my locker. May impatiently tapped her foot while I put in my combination and opened the door, grabbing my books. I heard a squeal and next thing I know, May is running off towards her boyfriend. I closed my locker and walked over to where she and Kennedy were shoving their tongues in each other’s mouths and turned away. There were 4 guys standing as far away as I was, with the same look of disgust on their faces as me. I knew I had seen them around here, I just didn’t know who they were.

“May, can you stop sucking face with your boyfriend? It’s quite awkward and you two are the only ones having fun.” I tapped her head and they broke apart, Kennedy looking confused and May looking momentarily pissed.

“You’re such a cockblock, Tali. I don’t do that to you when you’re having fun.” Someone behind us choked out a cough and everyone looked over to the kid who choked. His hair was a mix of rust and brown and eyes – oh my god his eyes – were a gorgeous shade of blue. I really don’t know how I didn’t notice him earlier.

He finished his coughing fit and threw away the half empty drink. Everyone gave him a weird look and he smiled an awkward smile. “Sorry?”

“Anyways,” May looked at me then back at the guys. “This is Talia Baker. Tali, this is John O’Callaghan, Jared Monaco, Pat Kirch, and Garrett Nickelsen.” She pointed out every person when she said their names. I noticed the onewith the gorgeous eyes who choked was Garrett.

“Uh, May. You’ve been dating Kennedy for how long and now you’re introducing us all?” I gave her a weird look and she shrugged.

“Well, Kenny and I think that we should spend more time together, since we don’t really spend much time together. Since Erin and Gemma are being bitchy right now, I figured you’d hang out with all of us.”

“I, uh, guess so.” Right then, the bell for homeroom rang and I was being dragged away by my arm, courtesy of May. We took our seats in the middle of the room and she turned to me, a dreamy look on her face.

“Isn’t Kenny just… amazing? And cute, and smart and talented and-“ I tuned out her little love-rant and stared out the window behind her. My mind wandered from the unfinished Calculus homework in my bag, to my plans to tutor after school, to the random hook-up with Andrew Long last weekend, until my brain stopped on that Garrett kid and his weird stares. Why he was looking at me like he wanted an axe murderer to jump out from a locker and chop me to pieces was beyond me. I’ve only seen that kid a few times the past few years and we’ve never talked until then. Did he have a grudge against me? Did I break one of his friend’s hearts or something? Or maybe I gave him a bad grade in some class we had together where the teacher had us student grade reports. Whatever it was, it was bugging the crap out of me.

“Talia? Helloooooo, you in there?” May knocked on my head, which brought me back to reality. As usual, Mr. Homeroom-Teacher-Whose-Name-Escapes-Me was sitting behind his desk, reading and not caring what the rowdy teenagers in the room did for the next 15 minutes.

“Yeah, what?” I blinked at May, who stared at me with a confused expression on her face.

“I asked you what you were so deep in thought about, since you clearly weren’t listening to me talk about the love of my life.” Ha. Love of her life. Those words – particularly word – came so easy to her. She was head-over-heels for Kennedy and vice versa; anyone who was with them for five minutes could see that. I hated how she could say it so easily. I hated how it was so true when she said it as well. Those three words had never left my lips unless I was talking to my family. I had never truly love someone, and chances are I never would. I was so used to having everything served to me on a silver platter. Love was something you had to work for, and I had never been willing to work for it. There was absolutely no one in my life that was worth saying those three words to, and there never would be. It was simple; guys just thought of me as a quick fuck and until now, I was fine with that. Now, seeing May and Kennedy together, I felt empty.

“Oh, I was thinking about why that Garrett kid kept glaring at me like he wanted me to like, explode or something.” It was too hard to lie to May. She could always see through my lies.

“You sure he wasn’t staring at you? I mean, c’mon Tali, you’re gorgeous. When you walk through the halls, you turn heads. I’m pretty sure he’s just attracted to you.” I nodded and the bell rang, signaling first period. May and I got up from our seats and walked out of the class, our bags slapping against our legs as we walked.

“Come to Kenny’s band practice tonight with me. I’ll prove to you that he was staring and not glaring.”

“What about tutoring?”

“We can do that while they’re practicing or something. No big deal.” We stopped at the Chemistry lab door and May hugged me. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay Talia?” I nodded and she disappeared into the lab. I kept walking to my class, the directions imbedded into my brain. My mind was elsewhere when I walked up the stairs, which is probably why I didn’t notice the boy who was talking to someone behind him, walking down the stairs right in front of me. I collided into his back and we both went flying down the steps and landed at the bottom, both of our stuff ending up all around us with him lying on his back and my stomach across his. I groaned and sat up on my knees, one hand resting against my throbbing forehead and the other clutching my stomach. I looked over to see Garrett lying on the floor, his hands in the same positions as mine on his body. He sat up and glared at me, the nurse scrambling over to us and helping us on our feet. We picked up our stuff and shoved it in our bags, following the nurse to her office and sitting on the two plastic covered beds in the room. The nurse came back with two ice packs and two cups of Ginger Ale, handing us one of each. I downed the Ginger Ale and gently placed the ice pack on my still-throbbing forehead and looked over at Garrett who was lying down, ice pack sloppily placed on his head and the cup of Ginger Ale untouched on the table next to him. After the nurse walked into her private office, Garrett spoke up.

“Get your head out of the clouds and fucking pay attention to where you’re fucking walking, alright?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter?”

“I’m pretty sure you were the one walking the wrong way down the stairs, so it’s your fault! Don’t blame me ‘cause you’re grumpy.” I lied down and let go of the ice pack, balancing it on my head.

“Grumpy? You think I’m grumpy?”

“Yeah. You’re always glaring at me and I’ve done nothing to you! I didn’t even know you until this morning!”

“I don’t like you,” He growled. I stared at the ceiling, dumbfounded. He didn’t like me? I’ve never even talked to him before today! What’s this kid’s problem?

“You don’t like me? What the hell have I ever done to make you not like me?”

“Oh I’m sorry. You’re used to everyone bowing down to you and kissing your feet. I forgot, you’re the almighty Talia Baker!”

“That’s not a reason as to why you don’t like me.”

“I don’t like you because you get all this attention just because you’re easy. You’ll hook-up or sleep with anyone who wants you to, and you have no morals or self-respect for yourself. Frankly, it’s disgusting how you get everything you want without even working for it. All you are is a greedy, self-centered slut.”

I stared at the ceiling, mouth agape and eyes wide. No one has ever called me a greedy, self-centered slut before. No had even called me a slut before. I have raging teenage hormones and no one to help me calm them, so the lonely just come to me. That’s not slutty, right? That’s helping the unlucky bastards who can’t get a girlfriend.

“You don’t even know me,” I grumbled. “Don’t assume things.”

“I may not know you personally, but I know the things you’ve done. I’m not lonely, Talia. I have friends, some of which you’ve been slutty with. Everyone around this hellhole knows.”

The fact that the other kids around here knew about what I’ve done didn’t faze me. What did faze me was the fact that this… asshole called me a greedy, self-centered slut to my face, and he didn’t even know me. He pissed me off more then anyone had ever pissed me off before, and something in me wanted to prove him wrong.

I was going to prove to Garrett Nickelsen that I wasn’t a greedy, self-centered slut.