Misplaced Words

I lay on my bed, tossing a handball up and down, particularly reminiscent today. I can’t seem to concentrate on anything – any time I try going back to my homework, another memory comes flooding in. I guess it’s just going to be one of those days. I sigh and feel a wave of emotions crash into my chest.

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“Hey Maximus,” my brother’s voice startles me out of my sleep. He nudges me on the arm and I groan. “The ‘rents left again.”

“Wow,” I grumble sarcastically while rubbing my eyes, “that’s a surprise.” I yawn and throw my blanket off of me, “what is today’s agenda?”

“Well,” he smirks, leaning against my door frame, “actually, I’m riding solo today.”

I frown and kick the edge of my bed, “so, why did you wake me up? At least I could have slept in if I have to stay home alone today.”

“Just for a couple of hours,” he crosses the room and scruffs up my hair, a sympathetic smile on his face. “I’m meeting a girl today. That one I told you about?”

“The online-chat girl?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah,” that constant mischievous smile of his, slips onto his face. “I’ll see how far I get tonight. In the meantime, maybe you can finish up on the homework you got or whatever? I won’t be long…at least, I don’t think I will, then we can have some fun” he winks at me.

He leaves the room and I shout after him, ‘give her hell’. I hear him chuckle as he hustles down the stairs. That guy really knows how to get girls to eat out of the palm of his hand. Hopefully, I can out do him one day, show him how it’s really done. I jump out of bed and head into my bathroom, happy that I relieved myself finally. I slip out the bathroom grabbing a snack from my mini fridge and sit at my desk. I really should get started on this homework if I want to keep my average up.

My grades in school have nothing to do with my acceptance into MJA, but I hear its crazy-hard work, so I want to make sure that I keep my grades up so I can get on the top five at that place. A part of the reason I even auditioned was because my brother says I’m a great dancer. I really want to make him proud of me, I didn’t even realize my own passion for dancing until my parents stuck me into some children’s tap dancing class. They felt bad that my brother was always stuck watching me and this was their way of giving him more freedom. I only spent a few weeks in that class before I ventured out into other forms of dance: hip-hop, salsa, even a little contemporary.

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When I made it into MJA, I was so glad. I guess I never realized how much I needed to get out of that place. Some of my friends say that it’s really cool that my parents are barely home because that means I get to do whatever the heck I want. The reality is, it meant me being dragged around by my bother to all his hangout spots. Sometimes, it was cool. I liked when we’d go over to his friend’s house and I got to play video games with his little brother. Most of the time though, we’d go to a girl’s house; which at first, made me uncomfortable. Some girls didn’t even care if I was out of the room yet; they’d jumped my brother right away. Of course, he loved this. He said it was educational for me.

He’d always say, “Just showing you the ropes, kid.”

I’d smile and shrug it off, at the time I thought his stunts were award-worthy. I thought I was learning from the best, and he made me the man I am today. Here I am, practically stalking a girl and her sister. My brother would be so proud, the thought makes me feel queasy. I don’t want to be like him, not when I know all that he has done, but I don’t know how to be any other way. I look at the picture of me, Tally and my brother all smiling on the front porch of our beach house in Hawaii and sigh. Tally, well, she is a whole other story. I remember when my bother started messing around with her, he had that same grin he always got when he got the girl he wanted. Something was different with her though, that is when I realized that she intended to stick around. I couldn’t help but gain respect for her. The others were a ‘hit and run’, as she put it, and she wouldn’t be that girl.

Tally and Aaliyah were the same in that way, that stubbornness to get their way. I guess my slight obsession with Aaliyah is just the fact that she was able to stand up to me. That day, when I insulted her sister and she slapped me in the face, it took me by surprise. I was used to going from girl to girl, seeing how they would react to an insult here and there, before a sudden make-out session. I can’t believe the amount of girls who would just let me feel them up after I had treated them like they were nothing. Of course they would always give me the same crap speech, they won’t be easy and they won’t let any man treat them a certain way. In the end, there we are making out on her basement couch, and she’s never puts up a fight.

With Ally, it was different; I hadn’t even gotten to the part where I throw a subtle derogatory name her way; she put me in my place early on. I loved that. It proved to me that not all girls will let me control them, that they’re not all easy and submissive like my brother claims them to be. There’s always a girl that stands up to you and doesn’t take your crap, one who isn’t afraid to fight back. I needed that, and apparently so did Robert. Well, at least that’s my theory; he’s out looking for that girl that will put his games to a stop. Tally was good for him at first, but the longer she stood with him, the more she would give in. Of course that just means that my brother just got bored with her.

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“Where are we going?” Ally asked, trailing behind me.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Already, it felt like old times. I grabbed her hand and led her down the crowded path, a smile on my face. We finally get to the town square and she gets excited at the sight. This is the perfect date to take her on. I knew how laid back and fun Ally could really be, and since I finally had another chance, I wasn’t going to mess it up. As we moved further into the scattered crowds, bubbles floated around us and music filled the air. It was a light atmosphere; I didn’t even have to try to get her to be at ease with me.

“Wow,” she giggled, “this looks like so much fun!”

She stopped at the apple-bobbing station and beamed up at me. I chuckled; her excitement reminded me of a kid in a toy store.

“Let’s walk around a bit more, shall we?”

She nodded and hooked her arm through mine. As we walked pass hand-crafted jewelry and snack booths, Ally was warming up to me. I kind of felt bad that I took advantage of the fact that she had lost some of her memory – the only reason why we were out on this date in the first place.

She came up to my table at lunch yesterday, chatting me up as if we had never met before. I had known about her accident, of course; I tried giving her that letter a few months ago, alerting her that something bad was going to happen, but I guess she didn’t pay it any mind. Well, I can’t blame her, I did plant her one and feel her up a bit…whatever. I know it wasn’t the first time something like that has happened before. Anyway, I jumped at the chance to take her out, and it was easier than I expected. I waited outside of her last class of the day and asked her to join me for the State Fair. I know how much she likes that kind of game & ride atmosphere, and technically to her, our date at the amusement park on the MJA campus never happened, so this would be a fresh start.

I glanced at her, her dimples making their appearance as she sports a smile. Her eyes lit up at the sight of a small wooden makeshift stage. The chorus for On Top Of The World by Imagine Dragons came on and she dragged me onto the stage, along with other couples, friends, and families. We started to dance freely, spinning around and clapping along to the music. She grabbed my hands and we twirled together, the world around us a big blur of colors in the background. She was in fits of laughter, losing her strength to hold onto me. She stumbled into my arms, wiping stray tears and regaining balance. She looked up into my eyes and it was as if it was the first time I looked into them; those radiant green orbs dancing with happiness.
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I sigh, sit up and toss the handball into my waste basket. That was a good day. I wonder how it would have been if I’d known before that this new girl I met and her sister were once victims of my brother’s charm. Maybe if I would have been nicer or held on to her…I had to break it off with her though – at the time I wanted the drama to really set in, just for laughs. If I could go back, I would do it all differently.