It's Simply Complicated

Aliza swung open the front door that led into her house. She has trophies, binders, metals, candy and all sorts of leftover things from her debate tournament that weekend. One of the schools did not stay for the awards ceremony to gather their things so she received the duty of dropping it off since she lived one block away from the school itself. She headed into the kitchen to find something—anything—with which to stuff her face and stop her stomach from barking at her. She scooped up some leftovers and plopped them onto her plate before shoving it all into the microwave. She grabbed a fork, napkin, and a glass of water to set a place on the kitchen island for her to eat. She grabbed the food out of the microwave; picked up her calendar to see what else she had to do this weekend, before the dreaded Monday arrived; and took her seat on a barstool.

She perused the calendar as she inhaled the macaroni and cheese on her plate. She had to do all of her homework on the following day to get ready for all of her tests, while juggling the extra practices that were extended by a half an hour all week. She groaned when she realized that Westbrook, the school whose stuff she had to deliver, would not receive any of their stuff until the next weekend. She thought about dropping off the bags before school but realized she would be stuck in Westbrook’s morning carpool for nearly an hour before she would herself be late to her own school. It had only been a week since Aliza’s Barn Party and movie night, but she was already jonesing for another party to de-stress. Then, Aliza thought to just have Jeremy drop the bag off for her on Monday morning. He went to Westbrook and all he had to do was bring it to either the debate moderator or the classroom where debate practices were held. It wouldn’t take more than ten seconds out of his day and wouldn’t even require him to leave for school early. So as she chowed down on the last of the mac ‘n cheese before her, brought all of her things upstairs before she dialed over to Jeremy’s house.

“Hello?” A male voice answered.

“Hey. Jeremy?” Aliza asked going out on a limb that it was her friend.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s Aliza. What’s going on?”

“Oh, hey! Nothing much, we’re just hanging out.”

“Is it Ok if I drop something off? I need a favor.”

“Yeah, sure! Wait. Hold on,” he started. Aliza heard the phone hit something hard before she heard retreating footsteps. Jeremy left the phone on the counter and the line open. She smiled to no one in particular at what had just happened. He was practically a little kid: young and eager beaver-ish to help. She stood in front of her floor-length mirror in her bedroom and looked at her outfit: a black A-line skirt with an elastic band that ended an inch above her knees, a blue three-quarter length sleeved scoop neck blouse with a white camisole underneath, held together with a pair of red, canvas Toms for a splash of color. She twirled slightly to make sure that the back of her shirt was tucked in and was surprised when she heard a new voice answer the phone.

“Yeah?” Another male voice answered.

“Hello?” Aliza repeated as an attempt to decipher if it was Jeremy or not.

“Yeah?” The voice repeated.

“Where’s Jeremy?” Aliza asked after she confirmed to herself that this was indeed a new male voice that was on the line.

“He’s busy right now. What’s up?” The voice spoke back

“Nothing, really. I just need a quick favor. Pardon me, but who are you?” Aliza said with obvious agitation in her voice.

“Who am I? Who are you?” He antagonized.

“That’s really none of your business. I didn’t call for you, whoever you are.”

“Yeah, but I’m on the phone now.”

“Ok, can you give an adult the phone now and quit playing games,” she demanded. Aliza figured it was one of Jeremy eighth grade friends playing on the phone because a girl was on the other line.

“You’re talking to one,” the voice replied matter-of-factly.

“How old are you?”

“Fourteen."

“You’re lying.”

“How would you know? You don’t know who I am. You didn’t call for me.”

“Your voice is too low for you to be going through puberty.”

“Oh, you’re good.”

“Look, whatever game you’re playing, can you just save it? I’m tired and I’m cranky and I just want to drop something off and then come back home.” She nearly screamed into the phone.

“What does any of that have to do with me? You need to be nicer. You’re calling over here asking for a favor and you’re going to harass the person on the phone.”

That was the straw that broke that camel’s back, figuratively speaking of course. If it wasn’t, it definitely was the thing that sent Aliza in a frenzy of raging emotions. This random guy was on the phone criticizing her. He didn’t even know her and there was no purpose that he could serve her and he had the audacity to nag her about phone etiquette. She started pulling on her jacket and decided that was going to take a nice walk over to Jeremy’s house, which was only a block in the opposite direction of Westbook, to put his pipsqueak of a friend into his place.

“IT’S NOT YOUR PHONE! YOU’RE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN IT’S NOT YOUR HOUSE!” Alize screamed. “I DIDN’T CALL FOR YOU! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND FRANKLY I DON’T CARE! SO WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU HAVE TO TELL ME IS IRRELEVANT!” She screamed as she ran down the stairs and out of the house, beginning her walk.

“Fine, you’re the one who needs something not me. I don’t care. I live nearly a hundred miles away.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aliza sighed, knowing that she was giving into something he wanted. She jogged to cover the distance in a faster time. If this kid was leaving and going a hundred miles away, she wanted a piece of him before he took the next thing smoking out of there.

“Nothing,” he said as he hung up on her.

An infuriated Aliza crossed the street once Jeremy’s house was in sight. She didn’t really care because this guy had another thing coming to him if he thought he was going to get off the hook that easily. She walked into the front door, something that just came with the territory of going to Jeremy’s house. She could just walk in like she owned the place. She was over there often and she was practically part of the family—like Jeremy’s older sister.

The door chimed softly as she stepped in and Jeremy’s actual older sister made her presence known.

“Oh! Hey Aliza!” Shauna greeted before she retreated back into the home office she had just come out of.

Aliza gave a quick greeting and a slight wave before she went into the living room expecting to the find the boy who had managed to make her night worse. There she only found Dexter, another one of Jeremy’s friends playing a video game.

“Hey Dex,” Aliza greeted pleasantly. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just chilling,” he said in his too-cool-for-school tone of voice.

“Nice, I see that,” she said, motioning towards the screen with the football players colliding into each other. “Who’s all here?”

“Uh, me, Jeremy, Evan,” he listed.

“Oh! Evan’s here,” Aliza repeated as all of the pieces began to fall together. “Can you grab them for me? But don’t tell them I’m here.”

“Uhhhh,” Dex started. “Ok, I guess.”

Dex paused his game and got up from his seat cautiously. He gave Aliza a funny look-over before deciding to just honor her request. He retreated upstairs leaving Aliza in the living room.

In the brief time, it took Dex to get Evan and Jeremy, Aliza managed to think through a couple scenarios. She thought about standing, and though confrontational, because a good offense is the best defense. Her knees began to quiver slightly as she thought about what was about to happen so she decided. She could sit and then yell at him once he walked in, but that wouldn’t have been to successful. Because she was sitting and he was standing, she already lost leverage in the power struggle that had yet to begin. Instead, she opted to sit and remain calm and let him come to her and come to her he did.

Aliza heard the boys bouncing down the stairs as she sat leaning back on the sofa furthest away from the door her arms and legs crossed. She heard Evan’s voice resonate as he led the pack, “I know she’s down there.”

Aliza stiffened, slightly disappointed that she lost the element of surprise but remained as stoic as she could be.

There he was. Evan McAlister in his shining glory, which was enough to make Aliza vomit up the food she ate three months ago. He had dark brown hair and eyes that color of chocolate. Standing at 5’10, he wasn’t a tall, burly guy but he definitely stood over her petite 5’2 frame. She continued to sit there with her body crossed and tense as he walked over to her with wide, outstretched arms. Her face was straight with a small scowl to express her distaste for him.

Nonetheless, he approached her and bent down and enveloped her in his arms. Her arms remained crossed but that didn’t matter much to him. He shifted his weight onto her, which forced her to topple over. He held her in his arms and she was on her back, though her arms were in between their bodies. She couldn’t fend him off so she settled for pushing him in the chase to create some space between them. She hated it when he did this, even though she’d never admit how good it felt when he held her.

“Come on, Aliza,” Evan whined. “You know you can’t stay mad at me.”