Why Don't You Love Me?

~Kassidy's Point of View~

"Now, remember, you guys have an Anatomy and Physiology test tomorrow," Ms. Garrison went on and on. She had been filling in for Mr. Dominelli the whole week. I don't see how we were supposed to be ready for the test tomorrow considering this woman had no idea what she was teaching. According to her, she didn't even make it two days in this class before getting switched to another. "So, off of that subject, how many of you are going shopping for you Halloween Costumes after school?"

Vienna, Pariss, and I were the first to have our hands raised.

"Why the hell would you go shopping this late for a Halloween Costume?" Elisa asked, making a face. "I mean, Halloween is pretty much two days away. Don't you think they are going to be out of costumes?"

Pariss quickly shook her head, smiling. "My mom runs the little shop downtown. They never run out of costumes because she makes them."

Elisa rolled her eyes, looking towards her other friends and began to whisper again, like they had done through out the entire class period.

I was relieved when the final bell rang. Today had been a long day. Everything was going by so slow, I was doing horrible in almost all of my classes. Trever had just been in a bad mood all day. I just wasn't getting a break. On top of all of that, I had cheerleading practice today. Something I didn't even want to be in, but was forced to do it. The coach hated me with a passion. I couldn't do a damn thing right in her eyes. Maybe she was just lesbian and she knew she couldn't have me. But whatever the reason, I didn't like it.

"What time is that stupid shit you do over with today?" Africa asked as she stepped out of the class across the hall from Mr. Dominelli's classroom. "I hope not to long because I don't have shit to do other than sit at starbucks until you get done. And you know what happens to me when I get to starbucks. I want everything, but I don't have the money to get shit."

She was right about that. It seemed like she never had any money to do anything, but it wasn't a problem. It didn't make her less of a friend to me. I didn't mind helping her out. It was all I could ever do was give out money. What the hell was I going to do with all of it?

I threw my bags in my car, then began gonig through my purse. I pulled out a twenty, then turned to Africa, smiling. "This should hold you off until I get done. I won't be too long. I don't even wanna go."

"Then why are you going?" Vienna asked, walking up with Sage and Angel. "Don't do something you don't wanna do to impress your grandparent's. It's not worth it in the long run."

"True, but going against them means they'll throw me outta the house and cut me off from any sort of money. I'm still seventeen, remember? I don't get my parent's check until August."

My parents died when I was about six. I still remember them, and they left a lot of money for Brandan, Spencer, and myself. Brandan didn't like our grandparents because they have their mind set on us being the best kids out there. They wanted us to be more than our parents ever were. Brandan made through school, barely, and got out, taking Spencer with him so our grandparents wouldn't send her away to some boarding school or just simply kill her for disobeying them.

Now it's like I didn't have a brother or sister. I never see either one of them other than seeing Spencer in a few classes and in the hallway. Brandan doesn't talk to me because he thinks I'm stuck up in more ways than one, which hurts my feelings. I miss him. I was really close to him, he had always been there for me when I needed him. You would think him and Spenc would be the closest, but they fight all the time. They don't get along because they act to much alike. They are both angry at the world and have really bad, smartass mouths.

"Well, we should get going," Angel said, hooking her arm in mine, then turned to Pariss and grabbed her hand. "We'll meet you guys downtown in a few."

I sighed, letting Angel pull me off towards the gym. All of the girls where so cheery, acting like this was their lives, like it was the only thing they lived for. Angel shoved a few people out of the way, making room for us to get to our locker.

"You don't have to be so rude, Sullivan." Couch Burke, aka our English teacher, snapped at Angel, grabbing her by her arm. "You are just like your brother. You don't give a shit about anything and you are two seconds away from being thrown off my team. Do I make myself clear, little girl?"

"Well," Angel pulled away a little, making a face before pinching her nose closed. "I would have probably paid a little more attention to what you were saying if your breath wouldn't have just kicked my ass." None of the girls other than Pariss and myself found Angel amusing. "But anyways, yeah, I guess you make yourself clear. But you know, I don't think it would hurt my feelings one bit if you threw me off the team. I have other things I could do with the time I've been putting into this, but it'd hurt the team considering my friends and I are the best you have, the best you'll ever have."

Knowing Angel was right, Couch Burke backed down, stomping off, mumbling under her breath.

Pariss and I jumped on Angel, hugging her. "Girl, I don't see how you get away with the things you say to that old bitch," Pariss said, quickly changing into her gym shorts and tank top.

"Yeah, I don't see how you get away with it either," I slipped out of my skirt, throwing on my old gym clothes. "If Pariss or myself had said something like that, she'd probably throw us off the team quick."

Angel smiled, shaking her head. "You might be right about that, but she's my Aunt. All I would have to do is tell my mom she threw me off the team for something another girl did or something like that, my mom would get her fired, my grandma would kick her out of her house, and she'd be homeless. I have her wrapped around my finger as far as I'm concerned."

I laughed at my friend, walking over to the mirror. I quickly threw my curly hair up into a sloppy bun, tied a ribbon in my hair, making myself look cute, then walked out of the dressing room. Hell was about to begin.

***

The costume shop was nearly empty when we walked in. Empty of customers, that is. The whole store looked as if no one had ev er shopped there. The racks were filled with costumes, and the shelves had every mask you could possibly think of. Pariss' mom was good at what she did. She made all of these with her two hands. The shop sold more costumes, masks and Arts and Crafts stuff than any store in this town.

Africa, Vienna, and Sage met us there.

"Nice of you three to finally join us." Africa smiled, wrapping her arms around my waist to pull me in for a hug. We thought it was super funny how people actually believed we were lesbians. "How is my smexy bitch doing?"

I laughed, rolling my eyes, "Oh, I'm way better now I'm here with you, beautiful."

Vienna and Sage laughed, modeling their little costumes in the mirror. Sage was dressed in a little mental patient outfit minus the straight jacket. I'm sure if she actually got it, Jimmy would be some Mad Scientiest and she'd be his little pet. They were cute in a weird way. While she was all calm and did good in school, he was wild and barely made it out of school. Vienna was in a tiny prison outfit. I'm sure whoever her date was would be pleased when they saw her, but I'm not really sure if she was going to the party with anyone. She hadn't mentioned anything before.

"Oh, god," Pariss whispered from behind Africa and I. "Look at what the cat drug in, ladies. Little Miss Spencer Schieppati." I heard the girls whispering amongst themselves as I looked over at my sister as she went straight to the smallest costumes in the place. "She's probably here for the new guy that just started working here yesterday. I heard him name was Ektor or some bullshit like that."

"Hm, wonder what he looks like," Vienna smiled, biting her lip. "After all, I'm the only single one here other than Africa."

Africa snorted, rolling her eyes, "Don't remind me, Vee. I'm working on finding someone, but you know, no one really wants a girl like me. For fucks sake I play softball in a tutu. How weird is that?"

"Uh, very, sweetie," Angel said, patting Africa's back. "But that doesn't make us love you any less."

I smiled, picking up random costumes, checking them out. Vienna decided to stick with her prison outfit, Sage said she was going to wait to see what Jimmy was going to be, Angel was going as some metal chick because Brian wanted to go as Slash, and Pariss was letting Johnny surprise her with a costume.

"I hate to burst your bubble, guys, but I don't have any money to get an outfit. So, yeah, um, I probably won't be attending the party or whatever you guys are planning on doing Saturday night."

All of the girls look at her, making a face, then went back to doing whatever they were doing. I don't think it quite registered to them what she said. They were to busy on the phone with their boyfriends, trying to figure out what everyone was going as. I walked around, studying every costume, trying to figure out which one would look good on Africa. She wasn't going to just sit things out. She had to come. I wasn't going to be alone.

I picked up a short witch costume. It was definitely something Africa could pull off. The top was a corset and the bottom was a tutu. It was obviously perfect and I knew she was going to love it. She just had to, and if not, I was going to make her.

When I turned around to show her the costume, I noticed a rather large, muscular guy standing next to Africa. He was smiling, looking around, glancing at me whenever Africa pointed my way. Whatever they were talking about it had something to do with me and he was either laughing or smiling, It was pretty hard to tell from a distance.

"Uh, Af, I found you a costume," I held it out as I walked over. "I think it's cute. You'll look great in it if you ask me." Before she could protest, I shoved it at her, motioning for her to run off to the dressing room to try it on. I wasn't going to take no for an answer and she knew it.

"You must be KJ." The guy that had been standing next to Africa said, picking up my hand, brushing his lips over my knuckles. "I'm her brother. She says so many wonderful things about you. Like, you helped her get into softball. She couldn't be happier an..."

I held up my hand, an amused smile surely playing on my lips, "What might your name be, Africa's brother? And yeah, it's no problem. I love helping friends in need."

"I'm Matt. I graduated last year. You're a cheerleader, right? Schieppati's little sister?"

Smiling, I nodded a little, "Yeah, I'm Brandan's little sister. I haven't seen him in a forever, maybe a little over a year or so. And yeah, I'm cheerleader." Africa walked out of the dressing room, attempting to pull down the little skirt. I laughed a little, walking over, "You look amazin', babe. This is definitely what you are wearing Saturday."

She looked at Matt as if he were going to protest. Surprisingly, he did what a older brother would never do. He nodded in approval and actually commented on the damn thing.

Africa made a face, "I am so not wearing this. My fuckin' ass is falling out of it."

"Darlin', that's what makes it so cute." I laughed, putting my hand on her shoulder before walking in a circle around her, checking the outfit out. "I think it's quite cute. Hell, I'd wear it, but I would never be able to pull it off."

She snorted, stomping off to change back into her regular clothes.

I walked up to the counter, pulling out my credit card. Matt was following me, talking about Africa and how it was so wonderful that I was helping her out. The whispering coming from the far side of the counter made me look up. Spencer, my twin, and I'm guess who was the new guy were talking. I couldn't say they didn't look like a cute couple. I'd have been lying if I did.

"Baby," I jumped, looking over my shoulder. Trever was standing there with one of his friends. "I didn't know you were going to be here today. Why didn't you tell me? We could have came together and picked out matching costumes. All of that cute stuff I know you like." He looked up at Matt before I could respond. "And you are?"

"Uh, Matt."

Trever nodded a bit, smiling. "Right. And you are standing so close to Kassidy for...?"

"We are waiting on Africa to get done changing so KJ can buy her costume. Is that a problem?"

Trever shook his head, walking off. For some reason, he didn't agree with my decision to help my friends out. He wanted me to keep my money to myself, but of course, if I was to spend it on him, he'd be perfectly fine.

"Kassi," I turned around. Spencer was standing next to me, smiling a little bit. "I uh, just wanted to see how you were doing? It's been a while since we've spoken or hung out with each other. Things going okay in school, at your house, at school? Fill me in."

I turned my head to the side, then looked away, "I guess everything is fine. I'm engaged to Trev, school is going okay, and I try to stay away from the house as much as I can."

"Ah, well, that sounds pretty good." She smiled, grabbing the new guys hand. "So, you're engaged? That's a big move. You ready for that kind of commitment."

"To be honest, I'm not r..."

"KJ, look at this fuckin' costume!" Trever asked, running up behind me, shoving Matt out of the way. "This would look so fuckin' hot on you, babe."

He held up a very small Angel costume, grinning.

"That's really cute, sweetie, but I don't think I'll be about to pull that off. Do you not see how wide my hips are? I'll look incrediably fat in it."

"No you won't," Matt spoke up.

I smiled a little, looking down. Of course, Trever talked me into buying it since I was buying Africa a costume. "Alrighty, are we going to dinner or what?" I asked, hooking my arm in Africa's.

Matt said he had something else to do, Spencer took Vienna and Sage with her, Trever invited his friends, Africa backed out. No one wanted to go, but Angel and Pariss didn't leave me alone no matter how much they wanted to go spend the night with their boyfriends. Trev was not happy.

I could already tell tonight was going to be hell.

***

"So, you date my sister?" I asked the guy sitting next to me. I think he has addressed himself as Alex. "I mean, I don't really have anything to do with her, but I'm still curious."

He smiled, "I understand, KJ. And yes, we've been dating for almost five months. I used to live here and I was close to your sister. When I moved back, she was the only person I had stayed in contact with so, I called her and we just kinda hooked up from there."

"Well, that's cute. So, you don't know anyone else here?"

"Other than Travis, nope."

"Travis? I'm not even sure if I know him." I looked around, sipping on my soda. "Is he here?"

"Well, of course. Him and Trever are like, best friends other than that other guy he hangs out with." He pointed at a guy across the table. He was adorable in a way, and he had a very cute smile. "That is Travis."

I wonder why I have never met him before.

"So, how many of you guys saw that fuckin' wanna be loser in the costume shop earlier?" Trever said very loud. It got everyone's attention, but none of us were quite sure what he was talking about. He was a little drunk. "Damn, you guys don't know who the fuck I'm talking about?" He laughed when we all shook our heads. "KJ, what was his name? You were talking to him for a while. It's that bitch's brother."

"Matt...?"

"Yes! That's him. Who saw him?" Pariss and Angel looked at each other, then turnred to glare at Trev. Travis and Alex didn't look amused. I'm not even sure what my face expression looked like, but I'm sure I didn't look to happy. "God, I can't fuckin' stand that faggot. I think I saw him at a party giving some guy a blow job. I swear, it was him. And now, my girl is friends with him." He clapped his hands in that smart ass way, looking at me. "Good job, K."

I made a face, moving my napkin out of my lap. "Please, excuse me. I need to go to the restroom."