Accept Me or Except Me

I lied down next to Lee. I could smell his curly hair which smelled of coconut. I’ve never met a guy who’d put coconut stuff in his hair, but then again, I’d never met someone like Lee before. I sighed and let my head rest on the pillow before Lee rolled over to put his head on my chest. I loved times like these and I didn’t use to. I thought it was weird just being tangled together with someone but now it makes me feel silently content.

“So you really memorized the words of Laurence’s song just to sing it to me?” Lee’s head lifted up slightly so he was looking at me.

“Only four lines. I was going to learn more, but I can’t sing, so…”

I was interrupted with a peck on the lips. “It’s the thought that counts. Thank you.”

I jumped as something buzzed in my back pocket causing Lee to jerk into a different position. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. They had “you always do that!” in them.

I sighed and leaned back again when I’d found the source of the buzz: my cell. I put it to my ear after checking the screen – it was Laurence. I tapped the accept button.

“’Lo?” I greeted him.

“Ugh, I need to talk to you. Alone.”

“Why alone?” I sat up with question in my voice. Lee piped up when he heard, but he stayed next to me, his head hovering over my shoulder.

“Just because. Can you come? Please? Meet me at the park swings,” he said just before the line went dead.

“Who was that and why are you going alone?” Lee blurted before he could stop himself.

“It was no-one, don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” I said as I cupped his chin. I pecked his lips, got up and went to wear my jacket.

“If you’re trying to be patronizing, it’s not working,” Lee said, folding his arms. His lips were pressed together. Was he trying to go sassy on me?

“I was trying to be boyfriend material, if you wanted to know,” I chuckled when Lee looked taken aback.

“How did you change so suddenly?” he asked, serious all of a sudden.

“How’d ya mean?” I sighed. I wasn’t in the mood for this kind of talk.

“You know exactly what I mean. I’m not saying I don’t love the new you but do you ever stop to think about how it feels for me? You changed almost overnight and I don’t know, maybe I’m starting to feel uncomfortable now that I’ve realized how quick this has happened. One minute, you’re beating me up, the next, we’re suddenly making love at the lodge, then you get all freaked and then all of a sudden you’re a whole new person. Don’t you ever miss the person you’ve spent eighteen years of your life being?”

I furrowed my eyebrows together. Where did this come from? I sighed, thinking about how to answer.

“I don’t know. I honestly have no clue in hell as to why I’ve changed, but I’d put my bets on you. I don’t know how, but you’ve got this way of making people feel better. Not only making them feel better, but making them feel like they want to be better still. Only it’s worked major on me because I want to be good enough for you, Lee, so now I’m just taking life as it comes, ‘kay?”

It was his turn to sigh. “I guess…”

“Now, gotta dash, I need to be somewhere, I’ll be back by tonight. If I’m not, I’ll call you.”

“You go have fun being alone.”

“Very funny.”

* * *

The June air was warm in the evenings, so my jacket was unnecessary, but it was leather so it made me feel cool. All the cool kids wear leather. I stopped walking along the sidewalk when I was right next to the rusty iron gate that was painted black. A sign read “Treetop Trail”, which sounds like a way to lure Edward Cullen into some kind of trap. I think it’s meant to be romantic.

The door squeaked open and I proceeded with my walking, only now my sneakers made crunching noises on the fallen twigs and leaves when before they were silent. Despite the park’s name, there was no way to get to the top of the trees without climbing, but if you looked up, somehow the moon always seemed to be framed in a pretty frame of leaves. The park was pretty big and happened to be exactly halfway between where I lived and where the school was. Well, that’s not really fair. The park is an extremely long and thin park. It’s like if someone chopped off half of Central Park and dumped it in a big town in Ohio. It actually extended for the whole of the city, only there’s nothing much along the edges. Why I say it’s halfway between it is because “Treetop Trail” is here. The park is split into five, and Treetop Trail happens to be where the kids are. There are playgrounds for children that no parent would let their child near, since they’ve all been vandalized since teenagers kind of own Treetop Trail. We call it Teen Tavern. Because there are a few bars around here that hold a lot of under 18 events. Also alliterations are awesome.

After about five minutes of walking, I saw Laurence sitting sadly on a swing. I could still see Lee falling off my lap when I sat in that exact spot. I chuckled as I imagined his face in the sand. As I got closer, my footsteps attracted Laurence’s attention and he looked up at me and smiled weakly.

“What’s up?” I asked as I ducked under the bar that separated the playground from the rest of the park.

“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” he sighed.

I sat next to him on the twin swing and patted his shoulder while he continued looking at his hands, which were in his lap.

“What’s wrong? Why did you want me here?”

“Because Matt would make a fuss and frankly Lee would be too sensible.”

“Go on,” I prompted.

“My, uh, parents got into a fight back home. I have to leave.”