Still Into You

I remember the day I first met the love of my life. Back then I didn’t think of it that way. But really, who ever does? I met him my freshman year in high school. He was a sophomore and was practically famous before he even hit the outside world. The only word I could use to describe James Sullivan was weird. I mean, what would you call the guy who ran around the school getting into as much trouble as he could in an orange kimono and a giant, blonde poof of hair?

Anyways, back to me actually meeting him. I was a poor victim at the time. I was sitting with some of my friends in the courtyard of school during fifth period. I remembered that there was a school pep rally for the football team. My friends and I didn’t really care for sports so we decided to be the ‘cool’ ones to just skip out on it. So we’re just sitting and chatting, laughing occasionally about who knows what, and all of a sudden there was shouting.

Well, being a pep rally, we ignored it. It’s just the students demonstrating “school spirit”, right? We were only a little bit wrong. As I’m standing to go get something from the vending machines, this form just slams into my side. I instantly get knocked to the ground, the person who ran into me falling too but rolling to the side to avoid crushing me. I open my eyes and there’s the bright orange piece of cloth nearly everyone spent their time avoiding.

He jumped to his feet, winked at me, and continued to run like a bat outta hell. All around me ran his three other sophomore friends and two policemen. My friends fussed over me and made sure I wasn’t seriously injured as I watched the retreating figures. It wasn’t until later I had found out that James and his friends had loaded water guns with their own piss and sprayed down the entire school, faculty and policemen included. Yeah, that’s what I thought too.

Such a mature group of people.

That year I ended up getting transferred out of psychology because the class had gotten filled and I didn’t really care too much about taking it. Instead they put me on teacher aide duty in this “program” called In-School Suspension. ISS was kind of like a detention that lasted all school day, the troublemakers just sitting in a cubicle and doing work. My job as teacher aide was to run around the school and make sure teachers gave the students that were in ISS instead of their classes some work.

This is where James and his friends began to recognize me.

One day the teacher in charge of ISS, Mr. McAdams, had sudden chest pains. He quickly left for the nurse, leaving me in charge of the class for the forty-five minute long period that I was in there. I obviously wasn’t very strict - and people wouldn’t have listened to me anyways - so the whole classroom just started talking with their friends. I was sat at Mr. McAdams desk, attempting to complete my Algebra homework, and a figure perched himself on the corner of the desk. When I looked up, who else would be there but James himself?

“Hey, so you’re that girl I ran into after the heist, huh?” That’s how everyone referred to it, ‘the heist’. You’d think that they had robbed a bank instead of just spraying the student population and faculty with their urine. I simply nodded, determine to ignore him. Back then I was still worried about who I talked to incase my parents found out somehow. They had heard about James’s gang from other people’s parents and advised me against being around them. Being a good daughter, I listened.

Well James didn’t like that. He pursed his lips, his labret sticking out more prominently from the sudden pressure. He turned his head and did something. I wasn’t paying enough attention to tell you what it was he did. Whatever he did, it quickly attracted his friends’ attention. They soon flocked over, standing or sitting somewhere on or near the desk. James had moved, sitting on one of the armrests connected to the teacher’s chair. They tried relentlessly to get to me to talk, but I didn’t. It wasn’t until one of his friends grabbed my homework I finally looked up.

“Algebra, huh?” He scowled at it as he looked at all the numbers and letter spread across my page. I noted this guy as the ringleader, Matthew Sanders. He was the bulk of the group and would later become part of the football team himself. For now he was just a muscular guy with a lip ring and close-cut brown hair. He crumbled up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder. “You won’t need that anytime soon.”

I bit the inside of my cheek as anger flared in me. I was a pretty good student and I liked to get my homework done. I felt like I was a failure if I missed even one assignment. I’d have to go get a new paper from my teacher and I knew I would end up feeling flustered having to ask, seeing as I never had to before. So yes, I was cross with this group and I didn’t bother hiding it. One of the other friends, Brian Haner, laughed at me. “Oh, look Matt, you made her all angry.”

They laughed at me as a whole and my eyes narrowed, moments away from picking up the phone and dialing the principals. I didn’t though. I knew the whole class would hate me and not just James’s group. Besides, Matthew would have probably stopped me before I could since the phone was right next to him. James wrapped an arm around my shoulder which I quickly swatted away. He gave me a pouty look. “Aw, c’mon Sonya. Talk with us. You know you wanna.”

Luckily that was when Mr. McAdams came back and began to yell at everyone, including the guys who shuffled off to their seats. Mr. McAdams didn’t even get angry at me for not trying to keep the class under control. He believed that the four sophomores bullied me into letting them roam free and I didn’t have the guts to correct him. But ever since that day James and his friend kept trying to get me to talk and hangout with them. I lasted two long weeks before finally speaking to one of them.

I got stuck being a tutor for a remedial biology kid. I hated math but loved all kinds of science. So I really didn’t mind being a tutor, but I was anxious about the person I would be stuck with. They didn’t tell me who it was, just to meet them after school one Wednesday in the library and then we would begin our sessions. So I sat in my seat, repeatedly checking my watch. When ten minutes since our agreed time had passed, the door to the library swung open. I quickly turned around and instantly paled.

James Sullivan was the person I had to tutor.

He caught my eye and grinned widely, strolling over and reaching the table in three strides. He tossed his backpack onto the table and settled into the chair across from me. He had traded in his kimono for jeans and a Pantera shirt. I hadn’t seen him since Friday and I was wordless as I stared at his hair. It was no longer a blond mess. It was black and cut short and straightened. He looked...normal. He noticed how intensely I was staring and gave a grin. “I guess you like it. I was tired of the mess, too much to take care of. So, I cut it.”

“Why?” I demanded. Actually, I didn’t mean to demand it. It just slipped out that way. And it wasn’t really that I cared for the old style he had, so I wasn’t trying to make him change it back or anything. I dunno, it was just hard to explain. I had come to recognize James with his strange look and all of a sudden he tries to fit in with the rest of the student population. It was nerve wracking! It filled me with such an annoyance I didn’t want anything else but to glue all his hair back on and make him look crazy again.

He smirked at me, leaning forward in his chair and nearly making it halfway across the table because of his freakish height. “Why do you care so much? It’s not like you’re my friend or anything.”

“It’s not James-like,” I argued. This caused him to raise an eyebrow at me.

“Since when did you know what I was like? How do you know this isn’t me?”

“Because it never has been! It’s the second semester of your sophomore year and you always wore that stupid kimono and had your hair look like a nest! That’s the James I know. The James everyone knows.”

“Well you wouldn’t talk to the old James so I made a new one.”

I opened my mouth to say something but stopped short as the words sunk into my head. He changed how he looked so I would talk to him? That didn’t make any kind of sense in the least. He was positively stupid. Absolutely and completely stupid. “Why would you change the way you look just to talk to me?”

“Because I’m weird. People wouldn’t talk to me unless I looked like other normal people. And you’re one of the most normal people I’ve met. So I put all my weird stuff away so you’d talk to me. See, you wouldn’t have even bothered saying this if I kept the stupid hair and kimono,” James pointed out.

I grumbled to myself. I hated to admit it, but he was right. Even though I was used to seeing him like an escaped convict in the wrong country, he scared me into not wanting to talk to him. But now, I didn’t feel as intimidated. Now I know you’re thinking That’s not nice at all! You don’t judge a book by it’s cover, yada yada. Well, none of you had seen the six foot two crazy running around in a kimono. That is all I’m going to say as an argument.

“But why me?” I pressed.

He shrugged. “I dunno. You’re just really pretty. And I just like you for some reason.”

I blushed a deep red and studied the table. After a minute I cleared my throat and slipped out my biology book. “Okay, what do you need help with?”

From that day we kind of just clicked. It could be the fact that he completely changed the way he looked just because he had a crush on me, but who knows? I began to hangout with him and his friends, much to my parents displeasure. I watched him grow with his band and also fall with them. I could sit here and tell you I never joined them in their antics, but what’s the point in lying to you? I was still a good student but I wasn’t so good outside of school and on special occasions. I could even tell you a story or two that even ended with James and I sitting side by side in the backseat of a cop car.

I still don’t think my parents have ever fully forgiven James for the trouble he and his friends got me into.

James was quite the crazy kid, but I loved him fully for it. Oh, did I miss the part when I knew I fell for him? My apologies, I’ll back up.

It was my sophomore year, James and guys’ junior year.It was homecoming and Val - Matt’s girlfriend - had talked Matt into going to the dance with her. Us, being good friends, decided to go with them. And by ‘go with them’ I mean we snuck in and Brian spiked the punch bowl. By the end of the night we - along with a lot of other kids from our school - were being kicked out. Some kid, David Samuels, offered his house for a party and obviously a bunch of kids took their fake IDs to get more alcohol.

Long and boring details later, at least eighty of us were crammed into this two story house, drunk as we all could be. I knew some part in the house was messing with weed (it was strong in the air) but I avoided it for the most part. I had to go around there once because James wanted me to go, but I’m not that much of a badass. Alcohol and cigarettes only, thank you. I lost sight of all my friends - which, in reality, is a pretty big achievement. I had seven with me when I walked in - and said ‘fuck it’. I ended up on the sloppy made dancefloor with a red solo cup filled with some kind of clear alcohol.

I was having fun, dancing along to Motley Crue, and all of a sudden someone’s arms are wrapped around me. I look down and saw very unfamiliar arms with a snake wrapping around the left forearm. I turn around to see some sleazy looking guy grinning down at me. Okay, more specifically, grinning down the dress I was wearing at my chest. I tried to push him off of me, but I didn’t have any kind of muscles in my whole body to compare to the ones in his biceps alone.

“Where you going, baby?” He slurred to me, kissing me on the neck. I cringed and continued to try to shove him off. This guy crossed too many lines. One, no one calls me baby. Two, no one touches me unless I know you and am okay with it. Three, no one touches my neck. Ever. Four, no one kisses me unless there is a mutual attraction. Though, technically, I’ve never done number four in general, but still!

“Get the hell off of me,” I spoke as calmly as I could. I was beginning to feel my ears heat up, a clear sign that I was getting very angry. The guy before me noticed this and took time to laugh at it.

“It’s like that one cartoon I watched. It’s cute. Means you like me, huh?”

“Yeah, I like you so much I want to claw your eyes out with my nails,” I hissed back. He didn’t seem to hear me. He tried to kiss my neck again but I quickly avoided it this time. Just as he was about to say something, someone had grabbed his upper arm and whipped him around on the spot. James stood before him, at least five inches taller than him and with the darkest glare I had ever seen him produce.

“Is there a problem here?” James demanded, his eyes so narrowed that I could barely see the blue in them. Didn’t help it was pretty dim in the area they had transformed into a dancefloor. The sleazy guy wrapped an arm around my shoulder and shook his head.

“Nah, man. My girl and I were going to go ahead and blow this joint,” he spoke with a smile that could only fit a druggie. He obviously didn’t go to our school. Nearly everyone at school knows that James and I, along with the rest of our group, were thick as thieves. His eyes trailed over to me and he was obviously displeased by the look I gave him.

“Really? Because to me it looks like you’re trying to force her to stay with you.”

“And why would you think that?”

“Maybe the fact that she’s my girlfriend and is currently giving me a look that makes me want to rearrange your face.” Girlfriend? That was new. But hey, what could I complain? It worked. Sleazy man’s eyes grew wide and he quickly let go of me. James grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him and then behind his form. Without turning around he asked, “You okay, Sonya?”

“I’m fine,” I announced, watching the guy who was obviously frustrated. I’m not sure what exactly happened. I saw Sleaze raise one hand and then suddenly James had tackled him to the floor and was punching him repeatedly. There was a scream somewhere and the music stopped playing, people quickly evacuating the dancefloor so they wouldn’t get hit in the crossfire frenzy taking place at their feet.

It seemed like only seconds took place before Zack and Brian were appearing out of nowhere, yelling and pulling James away from the fight. He had a bruise forming around his eye and had a split lip. The guy was a lot worse. He was laid on the floor, curled in a ball. Some dude I only barely recognized from school walked up to me and asked, “Did this guy try anything?”

“Well, he...” I paused looking over at James and all sympathy I might have felt for Sleaze was gone. I wanted to stop him from getting injured anymore since he probably already needed medical attention, but he had hurt one of my friends. You don’t hurt Sonya Carruthers's friends. I returned the guy’s stare and nodded. “He tried to pull me away from the party.”

“Thank you, Sonya.” With that he walked over the the guy, motioning for his friends. They picked him up and then proceeded to march to the backdoor. By the sound of it, they had tossed him in the pool and threatened to call the police on him if he ever tried to touch anyone again. It was then I recognized the boy from school. He was Scott Parkers. He was a senior, head of the wrestling team, and the guy who I single handedly helped pass his Physics final last year.

I told you I liked science.

I quickly turned to James to find someone had fetched him an ice pack which was now pressed to his eye as Zack helped him towards the door. I stepped forward and took his spot. “You and Brian go find the others. I’ll help him outside.”

Zack nodded and he and Brian melted into the crowd, which was slowly going back into party mode. You know, they looked a lot like spies from James Bond movies. I would have been more impressed if I wasn’t worried about the beaten up James leaning on me. I led him outside and walked to the end of the driveway, sitting us on the curb. It was silent for a few minutes aside from James spitting blood onto the concrete and his groans as he had to readjust the ice pack each time. Suddenly he quietly asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Coming from the bleeding guy? I’m perfectly fine.” I looked over at him to see him studying the ground. I sighed, leaning into his side. “Seriously, he didn’t do anything to me.”

“He was all over your neck.”

“It didn’t bring me any physical pain, I just didn’t like it. What was all that about anyways? He barely raised his hand and you went ape shit on him.”

His unblocked eye went wide as he turned to look down at me. “You didn’t see it?”

“See what?”

“He had a knife! I thought he was going to try to attack you, so I attacked him.” I was quiet, thinking over the scene in my head. Maybe he did have a knife - I didn’t have a full view of him. But why would James risk himself like that? He shouldn’t have even thought of me in that moment! I was behind him, if he was going to hurt anyone it would have been James.

“Why would you do that? You were in more danger than I was.”

“The same reason I stopped looking crazy as hell last year.” He paused, looking at me again. He removed the ice pack and laid it on his lap as he stared at me intently. The swelling in his black eye was not yet too bad yet. I swallowed hard, staring into his crystal blue orbs. “Because I like you. And I’m willing to put myself in danger to protect you.”

Like I mentioned before, I had never kissed anyone. But somehow that didn’t stop me from cupping James’s face and pulling him down to meet my lips. He quickly kissed back, wrapping an arm around my midriff and pulling me close to him. We didn’t part until we were both out of breath. I sat back and smiled up at James who was mirroring me.

“We’ll have to work on your kissing skills.”

I chuckled, smacking his lightly in the stomach. But I leaned into his side and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. And that’s how we sat as we waited for our friends to come back outside.

That’s also how I entered a relationship with my crazy, idiotic best friend.