Resistance Is Useless

15.
Jack

I don’t think I had ever been more confused. Okay, maybe in like, high school math, but not this confused over a girl. Andy had obviously just lied to me, and I didn’t know why. Why wouldn’t she want to get breakfast with me? She’d gotten breakfast with tons of times before. This probably had something to do with her making out with me last night. No, it definitely had something to with our make out.
I sat in the front lounge, eating a banana with peanut butter, looking out the window of the bus. I couldn’t think about anything but Andy. The way she always ran her hand through her soft, red-brown hair. And her full, pink lips, and how she was so pretty and barely wore any sort of makeup. All of her weird little quirks, like how she touched her fingernails when she was nervous. And the way that she laughed whole-heartedly at even my worst jokes. In a twisted way, I even liked how she confused me. There had been so many girls in the past that had been too easy, that had just been all over me from day one. It was refreshing to see a beautiful girl so together, and self-reliant. And her making me feel sorta rejected just made me want to win her over that much more.
Think of the devil. My train of thought was interrupted by a smiling and laughing Andy walking onto the bus, followed by Alex. Andy’s glowing smile faded slightly when she made eye contact with me, but she quickly looked away, and continued her conversation with Alex.
“They were bouncing so much!” Andy laughed to Alex.
“I know! How could he even run?” Alex laughed in return.
“Okay, what the fuck are you guys talking about?” I asked, very confused.
“Let’s just say that some men really should wear bras while running,” Alex answered. I burst out laughing, and Alex joined in. Andy let out a laugh, but then quickly stopped, as if she had forgotten for a moment that she was supposed to be mad at me or something.
We all jumped slightly at the sudden loud, tinkling music emitting from Andy’s phone. She quickly pulled it out of her back pocket and looked to see who was calling her. Her face lit up as she slid her finger across the screen before lifting it to her face.
“Hey Grace!” she said excitedly into her phone, “Guys, I’m gonna be outside,” Andy quickly said to us before walking off of the bus.
“Did you talk to her?” I asked Alex as soon as Andy was out of earshot.
“Um…” Alex paused for a moment, thinking, “I tried, but she just said it was nothing. I think you should talk to her. Whatever’s up, uh, might be important. And what’s the worst that can happen?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I replied, slightly disappointed.
“Okay, so go talk to her!” Alex said, pushing me towards the door.
“What am I even supposed to say?”
“Just say whatever your thinking. As long as it’s the truth… and not creepy,”
“Alright. But if I get hurt, it is 100% your fault!” I warned, pointing a finger at Alex.
“Jack, she’s a girl, not a bear. Just. Talk. To. Her.”
“Okay, Mom,” I said sarcastically. Alex stuck up his middle fingers at me before turning to leave the room.
I took a deep breath and stepped off of the bus. I walked around the front of the bus, to where Andy had walked off to. I turned the corner and saw that she was still on the phone with her friend, standing with her back to me. I was about to get her attention when she said my name into the phone. I quickly walked back around the bus, not wanting to walk in on the middle of her talking about me. Things really didn’t need to be any more awkward between us. I was going to get back on the bus and watch some TV or hang out with the guys until she was done, but as I turned around the front of the bus, something stopped me.
“No, Grace. I haven’t fucked any of them yet,” she said sarcastically into the phone. “Well, I did make out with one, Jack, the one I was telling you about,” she continued, “But it was a total accident,” my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. I really didn’t need to hear any more of this, so I turned to take a step towards the door of the bus, but then Andy went on, “Well, it wasn’t an accident, I mean, I meant to kiss him, but I just shouldn’t have.” There was hope! She paused as her friend said something. “But that’s the thing! I don’t know if I have feelings for him. Plus, even if I did, and I’m not saying I do, I wouldn’t want to be with him so soon after breaking up with Dustin,” That explained a lot. “Oh, yeah,” she went on, “He was better than Dustin at least,” Better than Dustin at what? Kissing? Yesss! She listened to ‘Grace’ for a moment, and then sighed, “Yeah. You’re right. That’s what Alex—the singer—said too,” she paused, “ I’ve barely said anything to Jack all day. I’m kinda starting to miss him. We hang out ALL the time. He’s pretty much my best friend on tour,” I smiled to myself. It was nice to know that if she didn’t have feelings for me, she at least considered me her best friend (on tour). “Alright, well I’ll talk to you later. Love you! Bye, Grace,” she said before hanging up her phone. I heard her start walking towards me. ‘Oh shit!’ I thought. I wasn’t supposed to hear any of that. I quickly took a few large steps backwards, and then started walking forward, so it appeared as if I was just now walking towards her.
“Hey Jack,” she said, smiling at me.
“Hey! It looks like someone remembered how to talk,” I said with a smirk.
“Yeah,” she smiled and looked at her feet, slightly embarrassed, “I’m sorry about being weird this morning. I guess I was just kind of…” she paused, looking for the right word, “caught off guard,” she finished.
“Oh, right. It’s fine,” I said, realizing after a moment what she meant.
“So we’re cool?” she asked, extending her arms for a hug.
“ ‘Corse,” I said, wrapping my arms around her slender frame, holding her to me, her head barely reaching me chest. “You’re so short,” I laughed.
“Shut up, Jack” she said against my chest, “You’re ruining the moment.” She pulled away from me, put her hands of her hips, pursed her lips and said, “Boy! Didn’t your mama ever teach you to hug nobody?!” in a fake accent, wagging her finger at me as she spoke. We both burst into a fit of laughter.
“Geez, Andy. No need to get all ghetto on me,” I said jokingly.
“Come on,” she said with a grin, as she took my hand and lead me back onto the bus.
Alex and Rian were sitting in the front lounge when we walked in.
“So everybody’s friends again?” Alex asked.
“When did we stop?” Andy replied, looking at me, still holding onto my hand. I sighed, and smiled to myself. I wanted to kiss her so bad.