Never Thought It Would Be You

“Hey, you ready to go?” I asked Matt.

“Yea, but first I need to see your bike.”

I laughed, “Fine, come one.” I said to him as I walked towards the bike I received from Steven for my 18th birthday before break. I startled my bike and started her up. When I she started to purr I looked over at Matt who looked shocked. I shrugged it off and pulled my hair into a low ponytail and put on my helmet.

“Are you coming or not?” I yelled towards Matt to pull him out of his thoughts. He nodded his head and got into his Mustang. It only took us 10 minutes till we bulled into the drive of my house. When we got inside I grabbed two bottles of Miller. I handed him one and he looked confused.

I opened my drink and took a sip when I asked, “If you don’t want it just put it back in the fridge.”

“No, it’s fine. But won’t you get in trouble?” he asked curiously.

“My mom isn’t home and she knows I drink. I only have one or two a week if we have any and that’s usually never. She doesn’t really care what I do. As long as I don’t get hurt, drink and drive, or have unprotected sex, she’s cool with it.”

“Okay, as long as I don’t get busted.”

“Why don’t you want to get busted?”

“First Impressions… yea they always end up bad for me.” he sighed.

“Matt, shut up. My mom will like you either way. As long as you don’t steal or do drugs.”

He laughed and nodded his head. We started to work on our project and about two hours later I got a phone call from Jason. I told him I couldn’t go because my mom said no and that I have a lot of homework to finish. He understood and we said our goodbyes and hung up. When Matt and I collected a lot of information on World War Two, we decided to order pizza and watch a movie. By the time the movie ended it was already 9:45 pm.

“Hey, Matt. It’s getting late. I think you should start heading home.”

“Yea, sure. Um, what are you doing tomorrow?” he asked.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to unpack some things to get settled in. Why?”

“Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come and watch the guys and me play. But since you’re busy…” he trailed off.

“Play? You guys play sports? I never would’ve imagined.”

“Not sports. Fuck that. We play instruments. Oh, and only Zacky plays sports. For an odd reason that boy loves baseball way too much.”

I laughed, “Okay then. What time?”

“After school at my place.”

“Well, tomorrow is your lucky day.” I smiled.

He laughed, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning then. I’ll drive you home after practice. Is that all right?”

“Yea, that’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow. Goodnight Joey.” he smiled and walked away.

“Goodnight Matt!” I yelled after him.

Today was an amazing day. Making new friends was hard but I’m glad with who I became friends with. Later in the night around 10:30 I took a shower and went to bed. I fell asleep quickly thinking about Matt. I can admit that I have feelings for him but I knew he wasn’t into me like that.

It was a bright and sunny day on the beach. I was laying in the sand tanning as a shadow swept over me. I opened my eyes to see a beautiful dimple smile that I grew to love. It was Matt. He stood over me as his body turned to a silhouette. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I could taste the salty ocean water coming off his lips. His lips were soft and the kiss was gentle with passion. All the sudden the kiss grew rough and Matt’s lips became different. I opened my eyes to see who I was kissing. It wasn’t Matt. It was my worst nightmare. Finally, he pulled away from the kiss and his green eyes were filled with lust and anger. I was lost in thought just staring at the Shaggy blonde haired man I once loved. I couldn’t find words to speak till he said, “I will find you Joey. Don’t try and run from me”

I woke up with a heavy pain in my chest. I felt like I was running for hours with out stopping. As I was catching my breath I looked at my clock as it read 6:05. I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to start my day. I brushed my teeth and then got dressed for school. I straightened my long blonde hair and made sure it had a few waves. Then, I applied my eyeliner and mascara. I checked myself in the mirror and decided I looked good. When I got out of the bathroom the clock read 6:45. I grabbed my bag and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I grabbed a Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart and pulled it out of it bag and heated it in the toaster. When I was finished eating there was a knock at the door and my mom answered.

“Joey! Why are there two boys outside asking for you?” My mom yelled from the door.

“Mom. It’s fine. They’re giving me a ride to school. We’re going to my friend’s house afterward. I’ll be back home in time for bed. Oh, and Jason’s my Bio teacher. I think you should give him a call. He’s wanted to talk to you.” I smiled. As I grabbed my bag and got to the door I saw Jimmy and Matt standing there waiting.

“Mom, this is Matt and this is Jimmy. I’ll be at Matt’s house after school. If you need anything just call.”

“Okay, have fun! Be safe!” she yelled out the door as we were leaving. The car ride to school was really quiet. When we pulled into the parking lot Jimmy got out and opened my door.

“Thank you but you really didn’t need to do that.” I giggled.

“Well, too bad. I’ll be doing it a lot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with confusion.

“We’ll be giving you a ride to school every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. No excuses. You have no other choice.” He smiled. I looked at him and shrugged it off. When we walked to the door I felt an arm wrap around my wait and was pulled into a hug.

“Holy Shit!” I screamed.

“Joey, calm down. It’s like you’ve never been hugged.” Jimmy laughed.

“Sorry, you kind of caught me by surprise.”

“It’s okay. Hey, wait, what’s your first class?” he asked.

“Math with Mrs. Briggs.”

“Uhg! We don’t have that class together. You do how ever have it with Brian. So, I wish you luck.”

I laughed, “Okay, I’ll be sure he knows when I make my entrance.”

“Tell me what you do when I see you in Bio. Better yet give me your best entrance and bedazzle me.”

“Bedazzle?”

“Yea, get use to it. It’s sticking with me. I’ll see you later.” he kissed my forehead and walked off. I was shocked when he did that. It was a gentle kiss but his lips reminded me of the ones in my nightmare. My thoughts were pulled away when I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped.

“Whoa, Joey! You okay? You seem a little jumpy today.” Matt worried.

“Yea, yeah. I’m fine. I just have something on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I’ll be fine. But thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll see you in art then. Okay?”

I nodded my head and we gave each other a hug. It was a very comforting hug, too. Then, we pulled away and walked the opposite directions. I stopped at my locker to get some of my stuff. When I shut it and turned around there was a girl I didn’t recognize, but looked familiar, stare at me with confusion.

“Can I help you?” I questioned. Her face grew into anger when she spat, “Yea, actually you can. You can help me by staying the fuck away from Matt and Jimmy.”

I laughed thinking she was joking but when I looked back at her, her face was dead serious. “I’m sorry. Who are you, their mother?”

Her face grew from anger to furious, I thought ‘if looks could kill I’d be dead’, then she snapped, “Bitch, you don’t know who you’re messing with! You obviously don’t know who I am! So, why don’t you just go get on a fucking plane and fly back to where you came from.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know I was held responsible to know to know every bitch’s name that stalks me at my locker.” I said calmly. I didn’t know there was a crowd around us till I heard them all yell, “Ohhh!”

“You’re going to wish you never stepped into my school. By the way, do Jimmy and Matt know you’re fucking Mr. Livingston?”

“Actually, yes they did talk to me about that. But, it’s not true. That would be against the law and also against family values.” I said calmly again.

“What do you mean by family values?” she said with a confused look.

“Oh, looks like you didn’t hear that one. But, yea he’s family. Actually, he’s my cousin. Now, what else would you like to throw at me?”

Before she said anything else she balled her hands into fists and threw it at me. It didn’t get close to my face when I caught her right wrists. Then, she threw her other hand and I caught that one to. Everyone around us was amazed at what I just did. Then, they were all chanting, “Fight!” I wasn’t a fighter though. I usually just tried to stop it which is why I was making sure this girl wouldn’t hit me. But instead of using her fists the bitch started kicking. It didn’t bother me because it didn’t hurt. I didn’t even throw anything at her. After about six kicks to the leg a teacher pulled her out of my grip to get her to stop kicking. We were both sent to the principles office. She was sent in immediately to have a discussion about her behavior and I was in the hallway waiting to get called in when Jason came around the corner. And let me add again, ‘If looks could kill.’

“What the hell happened, Joey? You just started yesterday and you’re already on Ms. Howard’s shit list!” He yelled.

“Jason, I’m fine I was already told I’m not getting a punishment. I didn’t do anything but egg her on.”

“What happened?” he asked more calm.

“The girl was behind me when I closed my locker. I asked if I could help her and she bitched at me telling me to stay away from Matt and Jimmy. And being my smart ass self I commented back. She told me that she was going to tell them that I was, and I quote ‘Fucking Mr. Livingston’…yea she brought you up. I find that part disgusting so I told her off again saying it’s against the law and against family values. She acted dumb and I had to explain to her that you’re my cousin, then I asked her what else she was going to throw at me and she decided her fists. I caught them both before they got to me and then she started kicking. It didn’t really bother me but I’m pretty sure I’ll be bruised by tomorrow.” I summed up everything that happened.

“Oh, wow! Wait, Matt and Jimmy? You don’t mean Sanders and Sullivan, do you?” he asked with concern.

“Yea, why?”

“I don’t think you should hang around with those boys. They’re trouble. I don’t want you-”

I cut Jason off by snapping, “Jason! You’re not my father! So, stop acting like one. Mom met them and she likes and approves of them. Yet you don’t even know anything about my life due to the fact we’ve never talked after you left! You weren’t there when I needed you the most! You just left! What happened to my cousin?! You can’t just leave and then expect me to let you come back into my life to protect me. It doesn’t work like that. I can take car of myself!” When I was done speaking there was pain and disappointment in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Joey. I’m so fucking sorry that I left you. I just couldn’t handle what was going on. I was a fucking wreak then. When you ended up in the hospital because of me, I couldn’t forgive myself. I was supposed to protect you and instead I ended up hurting you. You almost died, Joey. I couldn’t bear to see you like that.” he said softly as two tears rolled down his face.

“Jason, it’s okay. I’m fine now. That’ll never happen again You were my age when it happened. Look at me now. I’m sitting in from of you breathing and 100 percent healthy. But…” I paused and took a breath, “…You can’t protect me anymore. No one can. I can protect myself. I have ever since you left. I became a whole new me. Jason, just don’t leave me like that again. Okay?” I smiled and he smiled back and nodded.

We sat there talking for at least 10 more minutes till he went back to get ready for his next class (the class I was in). I was called in the office shortly afterward and gave them the same story I told Jason. They took my word over hers because of past experiences with her. They suspended her for 10 days and let me off with a warning. I made it to second period when the announcements were over. I didn’t talk to Jimmy the entire time because I didn’t know what to say to him. Well, not until Art. That’s when I’ll talk to him…and Matt.