Priceless

~~~

“I’m still so fucking hung-over,” whined Erin as she drove both of us to school that Friday morning. She had imbibed so many alcoholic drinks the previous night that Garrett had to drive us both back to their house and carry her up to her bed because she had fallen asleep in the car.

“Yeah, next time, think twice about drinking a lot on a school night,” I said as I shoved my phone into my pocket. “Good thing Garrett wasn’t drunk, or else I would have been the one carrying you up to your room. That could’ve woken everybody up, and we could’ve gotten busted.”

“But we didn’t, so all is well.” She beamed and wiggled her eyebrows as she made a left turn and started slowing down. I knew for a fact that this wasn’t the way to school. I wondered if she had just made a wrong turn, or did she actually want to go somewhere else.

“Erin, this isn’t the way to school,” I told her calmly, because if she was hung-over, she was pissy. And I tried to avoid her pissy personality as much as I could, because she could be violent at times.

“Will you chill the fuck out,” she snapped, giving me the death glare as she parked the car in front of Starbucks. “I just wanna get some coffee. Fuck you.”

I didn’t say anything anymore as we both unbuckled and then got out of the car. As I walked behind Erin, I was thinking what to get. I didn’t like hot coffee, so I would get frappe as usual, but I didn’t want to have my usual Java Chip Frappuccino. I should probably just get a Double Chocolate Cream Chip and a slice of Oreo Cheesecake. I could share the cake with Erin during the drive to school.

As we entered, I was greeted by two familiar faces I didn’t think I’d see so soon. It had only been a few hours, anyway, and I figured that since they were boys, they should have been asleep until noon, like John and the others.

Josh’s face lit up the moment he saw us. He had a Venti cup on his hand, but his companion, Stephen, was carrying nothing, and he had a neutral look on his face. I couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t give us a smile, but I pushed that onto the back of my head as I gave Josh a smile.

“Fate is leading you to me, Bailey,” he started, shaking his head and beaming. “And it would just keep leading you back to me unless you give me your phone number.”

I just laughed, fully aware that I didn’t have to take Josh’s words seriously. That was what I realized last night, and that was what everyone basically told me.

Josh now turned to Erin, and started laughing. “Ah, the face of Erin being hung-over!” he exclaimed and then tsk-tsked. “A cup of coffee always makes it better.”

“You bet it does,” Erin snarled, and then snatched the cup from Josh’s hand. I assumed Josh also knew how pissy Erin was at these times, so he said nothing as she sipped his drink. “It’s so good,” she murmured, taking sips in between words.

Josh laughed once more, “I’m sure it is.”

“Are you two going somewhere?” Erin asked curiously, now calming down, all thanks to Josh’s coffee. She continued sipping it like it was her own, and I knew I wouldn’t be getting my frappe anytime soon.

Erin and Josh continued talking as I stood there awkwardly, wondering whether to start a conversation with Stephen or not. I was feeling less welcome with him gazing the other way, like he was bored that Josh and Erin were talking there, and like I wasn’t them for him to start a casual conversation with. When he pulled out his phone, I finally realized that he didn’t want to talk, and that just made me feel like he really disliked me.

But I didn’t have much time to think of how I felt about that, because the moment I saw Serena Hastings and Lacey Henderson walk out of Starbucks, I panicked. I quickly edged away from them, pretending I didn’t know who Erin was talking to. I knew it was impolite and just plain stupid, but I had to do it. Serena and Lacey were two of the brattiest girls in school whose parents, unfortunately, were friends of mine. And they were pretty much out to get me, because they hated Erin’s guts and she was my best friend, and because they hated it too when sometimes, I would be seen on TV when there were interviews of my parents. They both wanted the attention I got, and really, they didn’t know how much willing I was to just shove it in their throats.

I was hoping they wouldn’t see me or talk to me so I desperately tried to avoid eye contact, but of course Serena just had to speak. “Oh, hi there, Bailey,” she said in her fake sweet voice, smiling tightly at me. “Where’s your friend?” she asked, but I didn’t have much time to answer, because Lacey had already nudged her and motioned to where Erin was. Serena’s gaze shifted to Erin and Josh, and I didn’t know if she saw Stephen, but seeing the two formers was enough for her to turn back to me venomously. “You know that she won’t do you any good. If you keep hanging out with her, you’re just gonna jeopardize your parents’ rep. Why are you so stupid about this, really?”

I was trying to calm down when she said that, knowing that everything I say could be used against me. This was one of the times I just wished I was as fearless as Erin, who could cuss out at someone and not be worried about being sent away somewhere far away by my dearest parents. But I was Bailey Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of two respected personalities, and I wasn’t allowed to drink, hang out with boys, cuss out, and generally be myself. So I took a deep breath and smiled at her.

“Erin is a great person, and if you can’t see that, I can’t force you to,” I said calmly. She just rolled her eyes at me.

“You think you’re so perfect, but you’re not,” she muttered bitterly. “You’re just overrated.” With that, she and Lacey walked away, and I hated the fact that I actually agreed with her last two statements. Yes, I wasn’t perfect, and yes, I was overrated, and the thing is, I couldn’t do anything about it. I just sighed when they were finally out of sight, and looked down on my feet, wondering what would have happened if I belonged to a different family, the kind of family that let their teenage daughters decide for themselves. I was so lost in that thought, picturing myself going to The Maine’s shows and other bands, going to the beach only with my friends, and the like, that I hadn’t noticed someone had been standing in front of me already, until he spoke.

“You walked away to pretend you didn’t know us, didn’t you?” he asked, his voice not judging or accusing, just asking. I was taken aback at first, surprised that he was now talking to me, considering the silent treatment he had given me last night after telling me his name and until a few moments ago. I looked up at him awkwardly.

“I had to,” I said in a low voice and didn’t explain further. I just bit my lip, hoping he wouldn’t ask anymore. I sincerely hoped John’s “parent issues” had already sufficed to the rest of their questions regarding my life.

He nodded once, but I didn’t know if he actually understood it or he just noticed that I didn’t want to talk about it so he didn’t push. “You’re a different person in the morning. You’re like Hannah Montana,” he commented with a smirk on his face. I couldn’t help but smile at his comment. Or maybe it was just his smirk that made me smile, or the fact that he was talking to me. “Just be tough,” he said and then patted my arm, and walked back to Josh.

I didn’t know what was it with him, but I knew there was something. And I’d be stating the obvious if I said that Stephen’s personality was drawing me in.