Our Rebel Love Song

My alarm clock went off. I tossed and turned and covered my head with my pillow, but it just seemed to get louder and louder. So I finally rolled out of bed and faced my alarm clock. I wanted to throw the damn thing out the window, watch it get run over by a truck, and then watch it sink to the bottom of a lake so that I could crawl back into my bed and sleep forever. I ended up just slamming my fist on the stupid thing, though.

I walked into my bathroom and then turned on the light. I saw myself in the mirror and jumped back. I looked terrifying. My hair was all over the place and my makeup was smudged all over my face. My eyes were also bloodshot and had bags under them from last night.

Ashley had called me and we spent hours talking on the phone about everything. I told him about Dylan and my parents and he was so proud of me. I was glad that I made Ash happy. That’s all I want to do for him. Make him happy.

Best part, hands down, was when I told him I loved him and he told me that he loved me back. It makes me heart melt just thinking about it. Not to mention that I squealed like a giddy school girl about it after we hung up.

I didn’t have enough time to take a shower this morning. So I just washed my face and put on some new clothes. I was so tired that I almost forgot to brush my hair. How God awful would that have been? So that meant that I didn’t even have enough time to straighten my hair, either. I quickly brushed my hair, put some eyeliner on, and got my backpack. I rushed out of my house and sprinted down the sidewalk to school. I was totally running late, but then I stopped. I just stopped right in my place.. Why am I rushing to get to school? No one important is there! So why be late when I can just skip first class?

I took out my cell phone and called Dylan. I wanted to hang out with Ashley but it was obvious that he wasn’t the type of kid would just skip class on a random day, but I knew that Dylan would.

“Hello? Where are you, Andy?” Dylan asked.

“Hey. I’m somewhere around halfway to school. Where are you?” I asked.

“Almost at school. Should I wait for you here?”

“No! Come and skip with me!” I heard him sigh.

“Skip again?”

“Just first class because I won’t be able to make it to school in time.” There was silence.

“Okay.” he spoke, clearly annoyed by the tone of his voice. “I’ll be waiting here for you.” I smiled.

“Okay. I’ll see you there, bye.” I said happily. I hung up and walked to Dylan. Something about that call struck me as suspicious. Since when was he upset to miss school?

We sat next to each other behind the school. I took out a cigarette and lit it.

“You’re not supposed to smoke on school grounds, Andy.” he informed me as I took a drag.

“What can I say? I’m a rebel.” we both laughed.

“I guess so. So why do you look so tired?” he asked me as he leaned on the wall.

“I was up all night talking to Ash.”

“Oh, really?” I nodded.

“And the best part was that he told me that he loved me! It was great! I think I’m in love with him, Dylan.” he laughed.

“Whoa, Andy! Isn’t that overreacting or something? I mean saying that you’re in love with him is a strong thing to say.” I nodded.

“I know it is, Dylan. And I’m sure that I’m in love with Ashley Purdy!” He sighed.

“Wow, man. That’s....That’s-you must really love him if you’re saying that. Do you really love him?” I nodded again.

“I just feel really good around him, you know? He just makes me feel better about myself. I really like be around him.”

“As much as you like being around me?” he asked after a few seconds. I was kind of shocked. Why would he ask something like that?

“Are you.....jealous?” I asked.

“No!” he yelled. “Why would I be jealous about that? I’m not the one in love with you so why would I care? I was just wondering!” he yelled at my face.

“God! It was just a question, Dylan.”

“So was my question but you never answered that!” he angrily told me. I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t know anymore. Why were you upset when I told you that I wanted to skip class?” I leaned back on the wall. He shrugged.

“No reason.” he told me. Was he thinking that that would convince me?
“Seriously.” I threw the cigarette butt in front of me.

“Well....I don’t want to tell you.” he crossed his arms.

“Why? Are you mad at me?” he nodded.

“It’s only obvious. You have a hard time between choosing between your best friend of ten years or a boy that you’ve fallen in love with that could just leave you any day. And you didn’t tell me that you even liked boys until a few days ago because you couldn’t even trust your best friend. So why should I trust you with who I like?” I rolled my eyes again.

“I’m sorry, okay? I just didn’t know how anyone would react. You never know. Why? Do you like a teacher?” I nudged him. He frowned and scooted away from me.

“Ew no! All of our teachers are, like, eighty!”

“So just tell me!” I demanded.

“Okay. Okay.” He gave in. “There’s this girl in my first class and she sits a few seats away from me. She’s really nice and cool, but she would never notice me.”

“Well who is it?”

“It’s Lynne Jacobs.” he said quietly.

“Oooooooooh!” I nudged him again. “She sure is nice. And pretty. I don’t think you’re her type but I think that you should take a chance on her.” He stood up.

“I don’t know, Andy. Like I said. She doesn’t notice me and she probably thinks I’m a freak.”
“Dylan! She’s nice to everyone. Even the people who don’t deserve her. You deserve a girl like her and she deserves a nice guy like you.” he smiled.

“Do you really think so?” he hopefully asked. I nodded.

“Never say never!”

“Thanks buddy.” I got up and he patted my back. “We should get to class. The bell’s gonna ring soon.