Lie In The Grass, Next To The Mausoleum
Lie In The Grass; Next To The Mausoleum- Three
"Oh, shut up Evie. You're totally into him."
It was 8:00 pm, and Siobhan was lounging on her bed while I painted her toenails. I figured I owed it to her after dragging her around all day with Pete and Casey, making her play soccer with us, and bumming money off of her for fries.
I rolled my eyes and continued filing her pinky toenail, repeating for the third time in the past minute "I am not into Pete, Siobhan."
Siobhan scoffed (she wasn’t in a very good mood for having to spend five hours with Casey). "Evangeline, no matter how many times you tell me you aren’t, I know you are. I can read you like a book." She said waspishly, adding "Put your back into it." as I idly filed her toenail.
I grinned at her grumpiness and filed harder, invisioning the sparks that were surely flying from where file met toenail.
"I know you’re just trying to convince yourself that you aren’t crushing on him." She continued, handing me a bottle of light purple nail varnish. "But here’s the thing: you dragged me around all day just so you could be with him. And I didn’t complain. You wanna know why?" She inquired, raising her eyebrows at me.
"More than anything." I grumbled, brushing the polish onto her toenail.
"Because I love you." She said, ignoring my sarcasm. "And I want you to be happy."
I opened my mouth to reply, but Siobhan cut me off.
"And you will not be happy until you quit lying to yourself and admit it already. Because I can see right through you." She finished her lecture and leaned forward to pinch my cheek; I swatted her hand away.
"So maybe I have a teeny weeny little thing for him." I admitted, holding up my hand as Siobhan smirked triumphantly. "But it’s just an infatuation. It’ll go away." I was getting less certain with every passing second, and I looked to Siobhan for reassurance.
"Won’t it?"
Siobhan’s face softened immediately as she sensed my vulnerability, and she held out her arms. I crawled onto the bed and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug, stroking my hair.
I have no idea why, but suddenly I was blinking back tears.
Siobhan felt me shaking and hugged tighter, whispering in my ear.
"Shhhh… You shouldn’t be afraid of having feelings for someone Eve. It’s normal. And," She said, lowering her voice even more, even though no one was in the room. "Just between you and me, remember when Casey tackled me when we were playing soccer?"
I snorted. Of course I remembered. Siobhan had slapped him on the face, yelling "SOCCER IS A NON-CONTACT SPORT GREENE!"
She slapped the back of my head as she felt me giggling, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Well, he whispered something in my ear. He said that he thought Peter was majorly crushing on you."
I lifted my face out of the crook between her shoulder and neck and stared at her.
"Did he really say that?" I asked, abandoning my formal denial. Siobhan nodded vigorously, beaming like a little kid excited to give a Christmas present. My face broke into a smile and I hugged her tighter.
"Now finish my toenails slave!" she yelled, slapping my ass playfully. I rolled off of her and returned to my work with renewed heart.
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The next few days came and went without incident. I was practically living with Siobhan these days, seeing as my family situation wasn’t exactly pleasant. We saw Pete on his lawn practicing soccer once or twice, and each time the evil butterflies of darkness infiltrated my stomach, rendering me absolutely incapable of anything besides grinning when he waved at us.
Then came Friday, and the mid September sun was all but baking Siobhan and me from the second we walked out the door.
At around 11:00, I saw Peter in the hall and he grinned at me as he passed on his way to class. It made my day. I shit you not.
I know that sounds totally pathetic and schoolgirlish, but it’s true. It was to the point where I looked forward to sitting in class just so I could think about him. Siobhan was even being a little nicer to Casey, who was making a valiant effort to pronounce her name in the health class the three of us shared.
"You moron." Siobhan said, rolling her eyes. "It's not that hard. Sha-von. Sha-von." Casey’s face was scrunched in frustration.
"I just don’t GET how it’s spelled like Sioban but it’s pronounced Sha-von!" He exclaimed, and Siobhan clapped her hands.
"You said it right!" She squealed, beaming. Casey punched the air in victory and joined her clapping, and I suddenly appreciated the beauty of those "I'm with stupid" t-shirts.
The teacher glared at us, and I pointed at Casey and Siobhan accusatorily. They immediately shut their pie-holes, but glared at me, Casey mumbling 'teacher's pet'. I ignored him.
After school that day, Siobhan and I were walking down the steps when we heard a familiar shout.
"Al! Siobhan!" I turned in surprise as Casey correctly pronounced Siobhan’s name, jogging toward us with- my stomach flipped- Pete on his heels.
They closed the distance between us and Casey spoke first.
"Howdy ladies!" He said after giving Siobhan a high five for getting the name right. "Entertain us, we’re bored."
Pete caught my eye and smiled and I blushed, looking away quickly. Siobhan glanced us and smirked; I could tell she was about to say something embarrassing so I cut her off when she opened her mouth to speak.
"Yeah! What d'you guys want to do?"
"I dunno," Casey began. "We were thinking we could grab a bite to eat and then go to the game."
Siobhan and I looked blank.
"Game?" she asked, giving him the 'I'm not following' look.
"Tonight is the varsity football team’s first game." Pete supplied, looking right at me even though Siobhan had asked the question. I smiled; I couldn’t help it. It was one of those crushes, where every time you talk to or about them you can’t stop grinning for days.
"Sure," Siobhan said, surprising me. I thought she’d politely decline, for sure. Make up some excuse having to do with something or other. But there she stood, smiling from Pete to Casey, accepting their offer. I was dumbfounded. The second Siobhan’s elbow made contact with my ribs I snapped out of it, nodding my head in agreement.
"Sure, yeah. That’d be great." I said quickly, receiving a weird look from Casey and a grin from Pete. Siobhan linked her arm through mine and began walking, forcing me to follow.
"We just have to change," she said to the boys over her shoulder. "We’ll meet you outside Pete's house." Casey raised his hand in acknowledgement, but mumbled something to Pete quietly, causing the latter to burst out laughing.
"He definitely just made some dirty joke at our expense." I observed, and Siobhan snorted.
"I was just thinking the same thing."
It was 8:00 pm, and Siobhan was lounging on her bed while I painted her toenails. I figured I owed it to her after dragging her around all day with Pete and Casey, making her play soccer with us, and bumming money off of her for fries.
I rolled my eyes and continued filing her pinky toenail, repeating for the third time in the past minute "I am not into Pete, Siobhan."
Siobhan scoffed (she wasn’t in a very good mood for having to spend five hours with Casey). "Evangeline, no matter how many times you tell me you aren’t, I know you are. I can read you like a book." She said waspishly, adding "Put your back into it." as I idly filed her toenail.
I grinned at her grumpiness and filed harder, invisioning the sparks that were surely flying from where file met toenail.
"I know you’re just trying to convince yourself that you aren’t crushing on him." She continued, handing me a bottle of light purple nail varnish. "But here’s the thing: you dragged me around all day just so you could be with him. And I didn’t complain. You wanna know why?" She inquired, raising her eyebrows at me.
"More than anything." I grumbled, brushing the polish onto her toenail.
"Because I love you." She said, ignoring my sarcasm. "And I want you to be happy."
I opened my mouth to reply, but Siobhan cut me off.
"And you will not be happy until you quit lying to yourself and admit it already. Because I can see right through you." She finished her lecture and leaned forward to pinch my cheek; I swatted her hand away.
"So maybe I have a teeny weeny little thing for him." I admitted, holding up my hand as Siobhan smirked triumphantly. "But it’s just an infatuation. It’ll go away." I was getting less certain with every passing second, and I looked to Siobhan for reassurance.
"Won’t it?"
Siobhan’s face softened immediately as she sensed my vulnerability, and she held out her arms. I crawled onto the bed and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug, stroking my hair.
I have no idea why, but suddenly I was blinking back tears.
Siobhan felt me shaking and hugged tighter, whispering in my ear.
"Shhhh… You shouldn’t be afraid of having feelings for someone Eve. It’s normal. And," She said, lowering her voice even more, even though no one was in the room. "Just between you and me, remember when Casey tackled me when we were playing soccer?"
I snorted. Of course I remembered. Siobhan had slapped him on the face, yelling "SOCCER IS A NON-CONTACT SPORT GREENE!"
She slapped the back of my head as she felt me giggling, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Well, he whispered something in my ear. He said that he thought Peter was majorly crushing on you."
I lifted my face out of the crook between her shoulder and neck and stared at her.
"Did he really say that?" I asked, abandoning my formal denial. Siobhan nodded vigorously, beaming like a little kid excited to give a Christmas present. My face broke into a smile and I hugged her tighter.
"Now finish my toenails slave!" she yelled, slapping my ass playfully. I rolled off of her and returned to my work with renewed heart.
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The next few days came and went without incident. I was practically living with Siobhan these days, seeing as my family situation wasn’t exactly pleasant. We saw Pete on his lawn practicing soccer once or twice, and each time the evil butterflies of darkness infiltrated my stomach, rendering me absolutely incapable of anything besides grinning when he waved at us.
Then came Friday, and the mid September sun was all but baking Siobhan and me from the second we walked out the door.
At around 11:00, I saw Peter in the hall and he grinned at me as he passed on his way to class. It made my day. I shit you not.
I know that sounds totally pathetic and schoolgirlish, but it’s true. It was to the point where I looked forward to sitting in class just so I could think about him. Siobhan was even being a little nicer to Casey, who was making a valiant effort to pronounce her name in the health class the three of us shared.
"You moron." Siobhan said, rolling her eyes. "It's not that hard. Sha-von. Sha-von." Casey’s face was scrunched in frustration.
"I just don’t GET how it’s spelled like Sioban but it’s pronounced Sha-von!" He exclaimed, and Siobhan clapped her hands.
"You said it right!" She squealed, beaming. Casey punched the air in victory and joined her clapping, and I suddenly appreciated the beauty of those "I'm with stupid" t-shirts.
The teacher glared at us, and I pointed at Casey and Siobhan accusatorily. They immediately shut their pie-holes, but glared at me, Casey mumbling 'teacher's pet'. I ignored him.
After school that day, Siobhan and I were walking down the steps when we heard a familiar shout.
"Al! Siobhan!" I turned in surprise as Casey correctly pronounced Siobhan’s name, jogging toward us with- my stomach flipped- Pete on his heels.
They closed the distance between us and Casey spoke first.
"Howdy ladies!" He said after giving Siobhan a high five for getting the name right. "Entertain us, we’re bored."
Pete caught my eye and smiled and I blushed, looking away quickly. Siobhan glanced us and smirked; I could tell she was about to say something embarrassing so I cut her off when she opened her mouth to speak.
"Yeah! What d'you guys want to do?"
"I dunno," Casey began. "We were thinking we could grab a bite to eat and then go to the game."
Siobhan and I looked blank.
"Game?" she asked, giving him the 'I'm not following' look.
"Tonight is the varsity football team’s first game." Pete supplied, looking right at me even though Siobhan had asked the question. I smiled; I couldn’t help it. It was one of those crushes, where every time you talk to or about them you can’t stop grinning for days.
"Sure," Siobhan said, surprising me. I thought she’d politely decline, for sure. Make up some excuse having to do with something or other. But there she stood, smiling from Pete to Casey, accepting their offer. I was dumbfounded. The second Siobhan’s elbow made contact with my ribs I snapped out of it, nodding my head in agreement.
"Sure, yeah. That’d be great." I said quickly, receiving a weird look from Casey and a grin from Pete. Siobhan linked her arm through mine and began walking, forcing me to follow.
"We just have to change," she said to the boys over her shoulder. "We’ll meet you outside Pete's house." Casey raised his hand in acknowledgement, but mumbled something to Pete quietly, causing the latter to burst out laughing.
"He definitely just made some dirty joke at our expense." I observed, and Siobhan snorted.
"I was just thinking the same thing."