Lima Loser - Part Two.

The Glee meeting had ended shortly after. I gave Blaze a kiss before leaving the room to grab my books and go home. I walked down the hallway to my locker, and when I realized that there was barely anyone in the hallway (besides Becky the cheerleader and Jacob the creepy internet blogger), I began to sing to myself. It was quiet, but if there was anyone paying any attention whatsoever to their surroundings (which most people didn’t…self-absorption was a problem at WMHS), they’d be able to hear me perfectly. I didn’t care, though. It was just Jacob and Becky.

Well, I was a little surprised (and embarrassed) when I shut my locker door and was face-to-face with Puck. I dropped my books out of shock, and all three of them fell to the floor with a thud. Oh my god, he did not just catch me singing to Cher. I could feel my cheeks burning and I honestly did not know how to explain myself.

“Cute song choice,” was all he said. He leaned down to pick up my books, and then handed them to me.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, quickly, as I looked down at my shoes. “What are you doing here?”

He chuckled. “Well, I do attend this school.”

“I know,” I rolled my eyes. “I mean, what are you doing at my locker?”

“Oh,” he said, and then shrugged. “I dunno. Just checkin’ to see if you had plans today.”

I hated to resist this guy, especially after what he’d just done in Glee club. He hadn’t even bothered to change, so he was still in his sexy costume, and he was kind of sweating from the amount of energy produced in the performance. But it wasn’t a gross kind of sweat. He was like, glistening. And I still managed to get a whiff of Axe body spray from him.

“Well, kinda,” I began. “I have to work on my song for Glee club.”

“Oh,” Puck looked a little disappointed. “That’s shitty. I was hoping we could hang out and-”

I cut him off. “Just because we’re friends now doesn’t mean we’re going to be hanging out all the time. Do you remember what I said when you took me into the woods?”

He put on a deep thinking face, and after about twenty seconds, shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t. I don’t even remember waking up this morning.”

“Well, I said that we have to take things slow. We can’t hang out as much as we used to. Being clung to each other like we used to be will just cause more problems,” I told him.

“Well, what’s the point of being friends?” he muttered.

“You’re not listening to me, Noah.” Wow. That was the first time I called him by his real name in ages. “Obviously we can still hang out. Just not every day.”

“Alright, fine,” he lowered his head, and then brought it back up with a cute smile. “How about tomorrow?”

I thought about what was on my schedule for the next day, and was both excited and disappointed when I didn’t come up with any. Of course I wanted to hang out with him. He was still the hottest guy in school, in my opinion, and he was still all over me. I liked the attention I was getting, especially from a guy like him. But if I hung out with him, it would only stir up more confusion with my feelings. Even I couldn’t deny that I wasn’t over him. At all.

“Ah, yeah,” I nodded slowly. “I think I’m free tomorrow.”

“Wanna hang out then?” Puck asked with a hopeful look on his face. I couldn’t say no.

“Alright, Puck. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I gave him a small wave and smile before turning around.

“Wait,” he called after me. I turned back around to face him, and gave him a “what?” look.

“Do you have a ride home?” He eyed the main entrance, where his truck was parked.

“Nope,” I shook my head. “My mom’s working, so I’m walking today.”

“All the way to your house?” His eyes widened.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “I need the exercise.”

“Nah,” he said, and then took his keys out of his pocket. I knew exactly what was coming. “Can I give you a ride home?”

“Do you think that’ll be a good idea?” I smirked. “I fell asleep on you the last time.”

“Good times,” he chuckled. “Yeah, come on.”

I wasn’t about to hesitate this offer, so I followed him out to his truck. We both climbed inside. He shoved the key into the ignition and the truck started. I had to admit, it felt great to be in his truck again. It was like a comfort zone.

Once we were on the road, it got more awkward. There was almost no conversation, and I spent the beginning of the ride staring out the window.

“So, what song are you and Blaze doing?” Puck asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” I grinned. “No spoilers.”

He psh’ed at me. “Well, I hate to break this to you, but it’s gonna be way tough to beat mine and Finn’s.”

“You think?” I chuckled. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem, honey. Plus, it’s not a contest, so nobody’s beating anybody.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll still win.”

“We’ll see, Puckerman,” I told him, confidently.

The ride was silent for a few moments, and then I saw Puck’s hand reach toward the radio. He cranked it up, and we both looked at each other as if to say “I love this song!” And then we both immediately began to sing along.

“All I can say is that my life is pretty plain.
I like watchin’ the puddles gather raaain.
All I can doo, is just pour some tea for two,
And speak my point of view.
But it’s not saane.
It’s not saa-aa-aaane.”

I turned up the volume some more, to the point where I was vibrating. I rolled down the window and sang my heart out as the wind blew through my hair. It may sound cheesy, but I felt more alive than ever.

“I just want some one to say to me, whoa oh, oh, oh!
‘I’ll always be there when you waa-aake.’
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry toda-ay.
So, stay with me and I’ll have it maade.”

“And I don’t understand why I sleep all day.
And I start to complain that there’s no ra-a-ain.
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake.
And it rips my life away, but it’s a great escaaape.
Escaa-ape…escaa-ape…esca-a-aape."

“All I can say is that my life is pretty plain.
Ya don’t like my point of view.
Ya think I’m insane.
It’s not saa-ane…it’s not sa-a-ane.”

I looked over at Puck, who was still singing and laughing. We sang the ending to each other, and I knew for a fact that we’d look like a couple to a random bystander.

“I just want some one to say to me, whoa oh, oh, oh!
‘I’ll always be there when you waa-aake.’
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry toda-ay.
So, stay with me and I’ll have it maade.
And I’ll have it made.
And I’ll have it made.”

Puck pulled up in my driveway as soon as the song ended. And no, my house wasn’t that far away from the school. I noticed that he just took a longer way to get there so that we could rock out together.

I looked over at him before getting out. “Well, that was fun.”

“Hell yeah,” he grinned.

I opened the door. “Well, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“I love youuuu.” What a suck-up.

“Okay, Puck. Seeya,” I laughed and shook my head as I hopped out of the truck. I shut the door and waved to him before going inside my house. I ran up the stairs with a smile still plastered on my face. Nothing can ruin my mood now, I told myself. I swung open my bedroom door, only to find Blaze standing in the middle of the room with his arms folded. And there goes my good mood.

--------------------------------------

“What are you doing here?” I tried not to sound too bummed. I slung my bookbag on the floor and sat on my bed, avoiding Blaze’s icy cold eyes.

“Well,” he began in a tone I didn’t like. “‘Mom night’ was cancelled, due to my mother getting called to work. I decided I’d come here to surprise you. Surprise!” He rolled his eyes.

“What’s your problem?” I asked. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No, you’re right,” Blaze shrugged. “It’s definitely not a big deal when I see my girlfriend getting out of her exes truck.”

“It’s not,” I told him. “You already know that we’re friends. He asked me if I wanted a ride home, and-”

“Oh, you just jumped at the chance, didn’t you?” He raised his voice.

“Your jealousy isn’t proving anything, Blaze. If you really trusted me, you would know that I’m not screwing around with him,” I tried to explain in a calm voice, but I was really starting to get pissed off.

“You weren’t going to tell me about this, were you?” Blaze scowled.

“About WHAT? Getting a ride home from a friend!?” I yelled. “No, Blaze, I wasn’t going to tell you about every little detail in my fucking day!”

“You know what?” He gave me a dirty look. “Forget it. Let’s just hurry up and practice so we can get our assignment done with.”

“The sooner, the better,” I muttered.

I lifted up the guitar Puck had given me (mostly to piss Blaze off) and sat on the bed. He sat next to me, and we began to practice our song. We went over it about six or seven times, and each time, I could feel the emotion getting weaker and weaker. I knew that Blaze was going to dump me real soon, and to be honest, I didn’t give a shit.