Divine Chaos

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Now that Hayden and my breakup was official, people were constantly asking me questions I didn’t feel like answering. Especially Jesse. Luckily, Val stayed by my side to ward off any busy-bodies. Tuesday, when I saw Hayden at school, across the parking lot, I walked straight up to him and gave him the box.

He looked around inside of it first before grabbing it from my hands. “You don’t want any of this stuff?” he asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t need anything to remind me of the whole year I wasted with a dick like you.” I said, surprising myself.
He tried to defend himself, but I didn’t listen. I was through.

Oliver and Steve were almost completely moved in, and they were starting to spend the night, which was a little weird. Hayden and I hadn’t really spoken too much during the week but on Friday night, we both found ourselves alone, the house to ourselves. Our parents had gone out for date night.

I tried to see what everyone was doing tonight but all my friends seemed to have plans. Whitney was being dragged out of town for a family reunion. Lily and Jerrel were staying home studying for the ACT they had to take tomorrow morning. Val and Johnny went out with Jessica and Joseph on a double date to the movies. They were going to invite me but I told them that it was okay. The only thing worse than being the third wheel was being the fifth wheel. Dustin invited me to a party, but I knew he only invited me to be his designated driver, so I declined.

So I was in my room curled up with a good book for the night when all of a sudden, I was interrupted by Oliver’s stereo. He thought it would be a good idea, to turn his stereo all the way up on some metal band I had never heard of. The bass shook my walls. I tried to zone it out and go back to reading my book. I read the same page about three times before I got up and marched over to Oliver’s room.

His door was cracked so I just pushed it the rest of the way open and found him banging his head lightly and sitting on his bed. The music was even louder in here.
“Hey!” I shouted over the speakers. “Hey!” On about the third hey he finally looked up.
He raised his eyebrows up.
“Can you your stereo down?” he lifted his ear to me. I repeated it to him.
He shook his head and mouthed, “I can’t hear you.” The grin on his face told me otherwise.
I started to walk over to his stereo to turn it down myself, but he stood up fast, blocking my way. I rolled my eyes and left the room, starting to get seriously pissed.

When I got in my room I sat down before eyeing my own stereo, sitting on the shelf in the corner. Then I stood up, a determined look in my eyes, and headed over to my sound system, grabbing my CD case and going through them until I found the right one. I grabbed the silver CD and slipped it inside the CD player, then continued to press play.

My speakers boomed some Lil Wayne song. Rap wasn’t my favorite genre but it had a lot more base than the regular indie bands I usually listened to. It turned it up until it was slightly louder than Oliver’s. But when the next song played in Oliver’s radio, he turned it up the rest of the way. Then I turned my music up a little louder. And it went on like this until my volume was on full-blast. His was still louder than mine. I frowned and then turned it completely off.

“I give up!” I screamed loud enough so he could hear.
A few minutes later, his stereo died down and I heard his footsteps come across the hall. He peeked his head in and said, “I knew you would.”
“You know? That cocky attitude of yours is really getting on my nerves,” I said as he sat down on the end of my bed.

He ignored everything I said and just pulled out a box of cigarettes. He slipped one out and held it in his mouth between his lips. Then he put the box back in his back pocket.
“Eww! You can’t smoke in here!” I exclaimed.
He pulled the cigarette back out of his mouth and put it behind his ear. “Well, you wanna go for a ride?”
I thought about it for a second. I could stay here all night by myself and read like I had planned on doing. Or I could go out for a drive with him and not be alone.

I stood up, “Let’s go.”

Less than five minutes later we were loading into Oliver’s blue Prius, which when I first saw, made me laugh out loud in spite of myself.
“What?” he asked, getting in and starting the ignition.
I got in beside him and said, “Oh, nothing.”
“Seriously, tell me,” he said, looking at me intently.
“It’s just,” I paused trying to figure out how to word this. “You have a girly car.”
A look of disbelief washed over his face. “What? No I don’t!”
I just laughed at him, “You act like a girl too! Geez, stop being so dramatic.”
“You just said I have a girly car! That offends me,” he huffed. “Besides, what kind of car do you have?”
“A ’73 Corvette,” I pointed to the black car sitting across the street.
“Damn! That’s yours?” Oliver asked, rolling down his window to get a better look at it. “I saw it sitting there but I thought it was the neighbor’s.
“Nope, Leo is mine,” I said.

Oliver pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “You want one?” he asked, box still in hand.
I shook my head and made a face. I tried cigarettes when I was younger but I never really liked it and I didn’t have the money for them. Another reason I was turned off by smoking was because I dated this guy who chain smoked and every time I kissed him he tasted like a cigarette.
He shrugged and then we pulled out of the driveway. I clicked my seatbelt, noticing that Oliver didn’t bother with his. It was late and there weren’t too many cars on the road. Oliver sped up. We were almost going 60. It was a 45.

“Think you might wanna slow down?” I asked him, hoping we didn’t get pulled over.
“Think you might wanna relax?” he teased back, blowing smoke in my face.
I waved my hands around, getting the smoke out of my face
“Oh, don’t tell me?” Oliver said.
“What?” I asked, confused at what he was talking about.
“You’re not one of those goody-goody girls who are all saints and angels, are you?”
“No. I’m not a goody-goody I just don’t smoke.”
“Rigggghhhhht,” he replied.
“Whatever, I don’t have anything to prove to you,” I said, folding my arms. But for some reason, it did bother me. I was offended and I didn’t even know why.

I sat back in my chair, sighed, and rolled my eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he said shrugging.
“Well, where are we going?” I asked again.
“There you go asking all those questions. Just chill and enjoy the ride.”
I was going to say something smart to him when he turned up the radio full blast, interrupting me completely.

Oliver started screaming off-key a song I didn’t recognize.
“Can you turn it on something I know?” I asked him when the song was finally over.
“Well what do you know?” Oliver asked, flipping the radio stations.
“Not that song,” I stated.
“Oh my gosh!” Oliver said suddenly, jumping in his seat. “I haven’t heard this song in forever!”

I recognized it and started singing it. “She acts like summer and walks like rain. Reminds me that there's a time to change yeah.”
Oliver smiled at me and I grinned back at him. The next lyrics we sang together. “But tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded and that heaven is overrated?”

The rest of the song we sang together, laughing at how off both of us were. When the song ended, Oliver turned the volume down and looked at me. “I thought you liked rap.”
“Well,” I continued. “I like a lot of things.”
He gave me a weird look, but whatever he wanted to say he didn’t because we arrived to wherever he was taking us. He pulled over and parked at the side of the road. “C’mon!”

He hopped out with me following behind him and then he just started running. It took me second to figure I should probably run with him so I took off, trying to catch up with his long legs. Luckily, I wore my good shoes. We stopped running when we came to a tall fence.
There was a gate a few feet away and we walked over to it. Oliver tugged on it but it was locked. “What is this place?” I asked him as he began to climb the fence. I looked around to see if anyone could see us, but there was no one out here and it was too dark.
“City Park,” he responded simply. Now he was at the top and he jumped down swiftly landing on his feet at the other side. “You coming?”

I stared at him through the fence for a second and then looked around one last time before hiking my foot up and creating a foothold through the fence. At the top, I looked down at him, realizing how tall the fence really was. “Is now a good time to inform you that I’m scared of heights?”
He groaned, “C’mon woman! Look, just jump and I’ll catch you.”
“What? No! I’m not jumping!” I called down to him.
“Trust me! I’ll catch you I promise,” he stared up at me intently; his arms out and ready for me to fall into them.

Here goes nothing, I thought in my head before squeezing my eyes shut and flinging myself off the fence. The weight of my fall pushed him back a few steps and he caught me awkwardly. But at least he caught me.

Me face was close to his and his breath tickled my nose. “Thanks,” I whispered, still trying to catch my breath.
He stared at me for a second, his eyes boring into mine before he sat me down. He cleared his throat, “No problem.”

I smoothed my clothes out and we started walking down the trail. At first there were trees and then it opened up to little ponds and lakes. Every few feet there were gazebos and we stopped at one. Oliver pulled out his phone, after a few seconds he put it up to his ear.

“Hey, we’re here,” he said when someone answered.
I looked up at him, confused.
“Ok, see you in a bit,” he hung up.
I was still staring at him, “Who was that?” I asked.
“A buddy of mine,” Oliver replied. “You ready to go?”
“Go where?” I asked, looking around at our options.
He pointed at the trees. “Through the woods and over to the other side of the park. We’re going to meet a couple of my friends over there.”
“Okay,” I said getting up with them and heading to the edge of the trees. I wasn’t sure quite how I felt about this yet.

He pulled back a branch so I could get through and I felt him follow behind me. We used our phones as flashlights to light the way. I tripped and dropped mine, Oliver still a couple feet ahead of me. I scrambled around for it but couldn’t find it.
“Oliver! Come back!” I called out to him just as I saw the moon reflect off the screen of my phone.
I reached down for it. Oliver came up beside me and grabbed my hand. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, dusting my phone off and slipping it back in my pocket so I wouldn’t lose it. He didn’t let go of my hand, only gripped it tighter and said, “Let’s go, we’re almost there.”

We took off, him leading the way, our hands still intertwined. I knew it didn’t mean anything for either of us, but it felt good to have a hand in mine. We were pretty deep in the woods by this point and I heard voices come from the direction we were headed.

Finally we came out on the other side. I saw a silhouette of two guys and a girl. I looked over at Oliver, we looked at each other for a second and then released grip on each other’s hands. We neared the group, Oliver heading over and giving the guys a high five. I waved at the girl and she smiled sheepishly.
One of the guys had on a red hat turned backwards and was smoking a blunt. He took a puff of it and offered it to Oliver. “You know I don’t do that stuff anymore man.”
Good boy Oliver. Wait, anymore???

“Want a beer?” the girl asked, interrupting my inner thoughts and pointing over to the cooler on the ground a few feet away.
“Sure,” I headed that way and rummaged around for a Bud Light. I wouldn’t drink anything else. Oliver came up behind me and I handed him one too.

Oliver introduced me to everyone. “Guys, this is Jade. Jade this is Will and Derek. And I don’t believe I’ve met you yet,” he said to the girl.
“I’m Heather,” she said smiling.
“Yeah, my sister. So don’t try anything,” Will said hitting Oliver on the back of the head.

Derek started walking to this pavilion and the guys followed after him, leaving me and Heather in the back. We laughed at each other and started walking together. “Boys…” I said scoffing.
“Yeah, I know. They’re crazy,” she shook her head back and forth. I noticed how she looked at her feet when she walked, her wavy dark hair falling to the sides of her face. She had blue streaks throughout her hair and I could tell I was going to like her already.

Once we caught up with the guys Oliver and Will were sitting in the bleachers out in front of the stage and Derek was up on the stage attempting to sing opera. Then he started telling jokes. They were bad but we still laughed.

“What's a frog's favorite drink?” Derek paused for the punch line, “Croaka Cola.”
I stifled my giggle. Derek laughed at his own joke and went to the next one.
“What does a wicked chicken lay? Deviled eggs.” Derek laughed again. Oliver threw his empty beer can at him as he and Will called out a big, “BOOOOOOO! You suck!”
“I thought it was pretty funny,” I said. I looked over and Heather was nodding in agreement.

Will stood up and walked to the stage. “My turn.” Derek hopped off the stage. Will stood in the middle and looked out at us. “Give me a beat, Ollie.”
Oliver bursts out and starts beat-boxing. Derek started bopping to the beat and then he started dancing. Well, more like flailing his arms around and hip thrusting. He pop, lock, and dropped it. This went on for a while. Will hopped off the stage and began to give me a lap dance. I tried to push him away but I was too busy laughing.

He started fist pumping, making his way back up the stage. He faced away from us, shaking his butt for us and bending over. Then all of a sudden he dropped his pants. Oliver stopped beat-boxing and we all looked away laughing. Then we heard a voice and a light was shone on Will. He picked up his pants, looking at who it was. We couldn’t quit laughing the whole time, until we looked and saw a parks officer standing there in his hunter green uniform.

“Stop and put your hands up!” the officer called into his walkie-talkie for backup. I started to put my hands up, stomach knotting up.
Oliver grabbed my hand and for some reason I grabbed Heather’s. We ran fast, my feet tripping over themselves because I couldn’t keep up. “C’mon!” he yelled to us. We raced to the woods and I kept tripping over branches. I could hear the officer behind us, but his voice kept getting distant.
When we reached the fence, Oliver went first and then Heather and then me. I jumped down, Oliver half catching me. We ran to the car and piled inside.

“Oliver you idiot!” I yelled at him hitting him in the head.
“What? I saved our asses!” he yelled back. “You should be thanking me, not hitting me!”
“Thanks,” I said before hitting him in the head once again.
“Damn you woman,” he said. He got out a cigarette and searched around in his pockets. “Damn, I think I dropped my lighter. Shit.”

Heather cleared her throat from the back and her small hand reached in between us and handed him a hot pink lighter. “Keep it,” she said.
“Thanks,” he said lighting his cigarette. “You want a smoke?” he asked her.
“I got my own. But thanks,” she smiled at him.

The rest of the ride to Heather’s house consisted of them constantly flirting. I sighed when we finally got to her house. Oliver jumped out with her and led her up to the door. She wrote on his hand and he turned and headed back to the prius, a big smile on his face.

I felt a burning sensation somewhere near my chest. When he got back in the car I wanted to hit him again. He annoyed me so much. “Dude, she was awesome,” he stated.
“Yeah, practically amazing,” I said sarcastic. So much for me liking her…
“You don’t like her?” he asked, pulling out of her driveway and heading towards our house.
“She annoys me. You annoy me, so shut up.” I retorted.
He stared at me for a second. Then he started laughing hysterically. I thought something was wrong with him for a minute.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” I asked him.
“You,” he replied between laughs.
“Why? What did I do?” I asked, my voice raising pitches.
“You’re so jealous,” he accused.
“No I most certainly am not!”
“Yes you are. You didn’t start getting annoyed with her until she started talking to me,” he said, loving this.
“Whatever. I am NOT jealous.”
“Sure…” he said, holding in his laughs and smiling real big.

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. I don’t have anything to prove to him. I’m not jealous. Right?