Out of the Wreckage

Things in Small Doses.

I'll forgive and forget

Before I'm paralyzed.

Jordan was glad to be done with school for the year and quite proud that she had escalated from a lowly freshman to a sophomore.

In high school, sophomore year was such an awkward year. For some reason, it’s the class that all the other classes hate. Sophomores are loathe to call themselves under classmen, but the juniors and seniors won’t let them join the league of upper classmen, so the sophomores are forced into this weird limbo league of their own.

In college, no one really cared what year you were. Jordan was glad for that. Misha had been a junior when she met Jordan, so that meant she was now a senior. Aside from Rae, Misha was Jordan’s only friend.

“Hey, Rae – my friends are taking me to the Ravens game next weekend, and they said I could bring a friend with me…You wanna come?” Jordan asked, leaning back in her chair and looking over at Rae.

Rae was still hunched studiously over her desk, her massive pair of headphones completely covering her ears. Jordan sighed, but got to her feet and was about to tap Rae’s shoulder until she saw what Rae was doing – painting…with coffee.

Rae was painting someone drinking coffee using Jordan’s leftover coffee from this morning. Not only was the painting fabulous, but it also smelled fantastic. Satisfied with her work, Rae put down her brush and cracked her knuckles, leaning back to stretch. She was more than shocked by Jordan’s proximity.

Jordan laughed at Rae’s jitteriness, but patiently waited as Rae took her headphones off. “I’m sorry I wasn’t listening, Jordan…what do you need?”

“I was wondering if you’ve got plans this weekend. My friends invited me to the Ravens game, and…” Jordan trailed off at the sight of Rae’s obvious discomfort. “You’re not a football fan, are you?”

“I’m sorry,” Rae instantly apologized. “I just, I don’t do so great in crowds, and football crowds…” Rae shuddered. “Yeah, football isn’t really my thing, sorry.”

“I figured…I’ll just ask someone else.” Jordan returned to her desk and pulled her phone out of her purse, scrolling through her contacts until she landed on Misha.

“Well, hello, Jordan!” Misha greeted Jordan warmly. From the sounds coming from the other end, Jordan could safely assume that Misha was somewhere outside, as always. “What can I do for you?”

“You got any plans this weekend?”

“Nothing I couldn’t heartlessly abandon…why? What do you have in mind?”

“My friends are coming to town, and they invited me to the Ravens game this weekend. They said I could bring a friend. You wanna come with me?” Jordan asked, childishly crossing the fingers of her free hand.

“The Ravens game this weekend? Count me in! I love football!”

Jordan let out a sigh of relief. “Great…they’re coming to pick us up at noon for lunch, and then we’re gonna tailgate in the parking lot until the game. Is that cool?”

“Yeah, that sounds great! And here I thought I was gonna have another boring weekend of homework!”

Jordan smiled endearingly. “You should always do your homework, Misha…” Jordan ended up talking to Misha for an hour on the phone, and they made plans to go to dinner together that night. “Oh, Rae – you wanna come to dinner with me and my friend?”

“You’re so social,” Rae muttered, watering down the coffee for a lighter shade of brown. Jordan would have negated that statement – she wasn’t social, she just hung out with Misha a lot – but Rae continued to speak. “I’m not like that, Jordan… God, how do you go out every day? I go out one day and I have to stay in here and recharge for a week…”

Jordan tried not to laugh. “So, that’s a no to dinner, then?”

“I have leftovers in the fridge,” Rae said evasively, focusing on painting again.

Jordan nodded, knowing to drop the matter now. If there was one thing Rae valued, it was her privacy. Rae wasn’t antisocial, she was introverted…to the extreme. But she was also extremely talented, so Jordan didn’t push things. After all, madness and brilliance do often coincide…

The day of the game, Misha just came to Jordan’s dorm and they chilled out in the lobby for half an hour or so before the boys came to pick her up. Jordan knew how sensitive Rae was to company, so she figured the lobby would be a better place for them to gather.

Misha stood back a bit awkwardly while Jordan hugged everyone hello, even Zack, although the hug she gave him was a bit short lived in comparison to all the others. “Alright…guys, this is my friend, Misha Vavrik.”

“Nice to meet you all,” said Misha with a polite smile. “Are you guys…sorry, you just look so familiar…”

Jack positively beamed, which made Jordan roll her eyes. “You might know us because we’re in a band,” Jack said as nonchalantly as he could, and Jordan wanted to punch him for it.

Misha bit her lip in thought. “Uh…All Time Low, right?” Alex nodded proudly. “Yeah, my little brother’s, like, obsessed with you guys,” Misha laughed as the six of them walked out of the lobby.

They made small talk on the way to the car, and on the way to lunch. Misha got on pretty well with the boys, much to Jordan’s simultaneous delight and dismay. Jordan was delighted that her friends were getting along, to be sure, but Jordan was dismayed…for no reason that was immediately apparent to her. She was just irritated whenever she didn’t have Misha’s attention.

“Oh my fuck, Jordan, she’s hot!” Jack hissed when Misha left the table to go to the bathroom. “She’s funny, she’s sweet, she’s brilliant, she’s athletic, and she’s hot! Like, how the hell did that happen, usually you only get one!”

“I fucking know that, Jack,” Jordan laughed humorlessly. “And she’s kind of off limits, too. She’s got a boyfriend,” Jordan lied. It was on impulse. Jordan didn’t mean to say it like that, but she had no idea how else to shut her friends up about Misha. Jordan felt oddly protective of Misha, and she was tired of hearing them talk about Misha like she was a piece of meat.

“Figures,” Jack sighed loudly as the others chuckled. He narrowed his eyes at Jordan and was about to say something to her, but Misha returned at that opportune moment…

Jordan didn’t pay much attention to the actual football game. She was only interested in the halftime show and the reactions of the crowd. It was fun to watch the wave go around the football stadium. And Jordan was especially enjoying the looks on Misha’s face.

Jordan liked to see Misha happy.

♠ ♠ ♠

thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed it!
not too much homework; maybe i'll get in some more writing this weekend...
but please don't get your hopes up for nothing.
if you haven't figured things out by now, even just a little bit...
AHAHA YES I AM WRITING SOMEWHAT WELL
anyways, feedback would be lovely and greatly appreciated!
hope you're all enjoying your weekend.