Smoked Out

After three hours of driving in random directions, not knowing where I was going I caved and called Talon. He gave me a hard time and wasn't going to tell me anything but I threatened Axel's placement in my class, which of course was a lie, and he caved in. It pissed him off even more but at least I was able to get home safely and with enough gas leftover to get me to the rink tomorrow to teach my class. I didn't ask him if he was still at the cliff even though part of me felt like I should go back and get him if he was. I just couldn't shake the way he spoke to me and decided I was too stubborn to care about how he was getting home.

I walked through the front door of my house and was immediately hit with the smell of dinner cooking. I couldn't tell what it was my mom was making but the smell only got better as I walked toward the kitchen and greeted my parents. "Did you have fun with the girls?" Mom asked as I sat down at the kitchen table. I had almost ratted myself out about last night but remembered I was supposed to be at Amy's last night and caught myself.

"Yeah, just watched movies the whole time. Didn't really do much." I said casually, mentally applauding myself for pulling it off so well. I was disappointed for lying so much lately, and chided myself, knowing that I didn't deserve an applause. Ugh, what was happening to me?

"That's good." She said smiling. "We have some good news, I'm sure you'll be really happy about!" How I wished that was sarcasm instead of excitement dripping through her tone. How I wished she understood how unhappy I was actually going to be about this news. I looked over at her, plastering the fakest smile I had ever given to my face. "Lindsay is staying with us for a bit!"

"Oh goody!" I cheered in a half-assed attempt to sound excited. She didn't seem to notice how unbelievably unenthused I was. "For how long?" Please tell me she's leaving tomorrow. Please do me this one favour!

"As of right now she'll be here for the next month, but -"

"A month?!" I shouted, forgetting to stay composed. A friggen month? I wanted to cry and throw a fit and tell my mom to send her away.

"Hey cuz!" Lindsay chirped, entering the kitchen. "I see you've heard the amazing news!" I watched as she went over and hugged my mom who was beaming from ear to ear. She loved Lindsay. At times I even thought she loved her more than me.

"How come you're staying for so long?" I asked, my face was smiling but my tone was disappointed. "Don't you have school?" I tried to hide the judgment but Lindsay knew I was judging her.

"I decided it wasn't for me and came home, except my parents are in Florida for the next month and so Aunty Carol and Uncle B told me I could stay with them." Uncle B. Short for Benjamin. I never understood why she shortened his name to the first letter and kept my mom's normal. She sounded like such a suck-up when she said it.

"Oh goody!" I cheered for the second time, except this time sounding even more sarcastic than the last. I was so unimpressed with my parents right now. "Well, I'm actually skipping dinner here tonight because I, uh, have to get math help tonight and Talon was busy the rest of the day so this is the only time he can help me." Why out of all the excuses I could have possibly made did I use that one?

"But we made stir fry just for you." My mom said, pleading.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I just, I have to go!" I shouted, leaving the kitchen and practically running out the front door.

I took a deep breath, allowing the panicky feeling in my chest to calm down. What the hell was Lindsay going to do this time? I hated not knowing what to expect. The only thing I knew was that I should be terrified. And I was.

Why did I have to be so afraid of her? Why couldn't I just look her in the face and tell her she wasn't allowed to mess with me anymore? Ugh, because I've done that and I stand up for myself but it doesn't make a difference. I act like she doesn't scare me to her face but I know the truth and I'm sure she does too.

I wanted to drive somewhere but I couldn't take my car or my parents would know I wasn't with Talon and I couldn't go to Talon's because I wanted to feel better, not worse. I started walking in the direction I knew would bring me to food. I had my wallet on me still which I was grateful for, but I was furious that because of Lindsay I couldn't enjoy the stir-fry I loved so much.

I finally reached this little diner on the corner of Marly and Eastern St. half an hour away from my house and plopped myself down in a booth. I looked over the little brown menu in front of me and waited patiently for the waitress to come over. I ordered a chicken ceaser salad with a water when she did, trying to order the healthiest thing I could. I had already slipped this morning getting McDonalds which wasn't a terrible thing but a thing I couldn't let myself get in the habit of. My skating competition was coming up and I had to be ready for it.

It didn't take long for my food to arrive, I'm assuming because it was only salad, and I was in the middle of my second bite when Griffin walked in. He nodded over at me when he recognized who I was and I motioned for him to come over and sit down. I felt bad for leaving him at Carson's this morning. "Hey, fancy seeing you here." He said, sliding into the booth with me.

"I didn't really feel like being at home." I said, shrugging. "What are you doing over in this area? Didn't you move to like the other end of town or something?" I shoved another leaf into my mouth and waited for his response.

"Yeah, I did, but Carson was coming over to this end today so I got a lift with him. He and my buddy Chase are just having a smoke outside." I suddenly felt even more guilty for not giving him a ride.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you a ride home this morning, my mind completely gapped that you would need one." He looked at me playfully and punched me lightly in the arm.

"No big deal, Mace." He said, winking. I smiled, feeling better now that I knew he wasn't holding it against me.

"So did-"

"Griff!" Someone shouted across the diner. I looked up and saw Chase and Carson making their way over to the booth. They stopped in front of it, towering over Griffin and I as Chase smiled down at me. "Hi." He said, confused but not annoyed about me being there. Chase has the kind of smile that could make any girl swoon, his teeth were so perfect and white and his lips were the perfect size; not too big and not too small. I felt my stomach start to knot and realized I had butterflies. This wasn't the first time I'd seen him. I've seen him around at school with Carson's group of friends and knew who he was because he used to go out with this girl Courtney who's friends with Amy. He had soft ocean blue eyes and the softest chest nut coloured hair. Well I assumed it was soft because it looked soft. I've always found him extremely attractive but never really talked to him because he hung out with Carson.

"I guess you have to go?" I asked, looking over at Griffin. He started to say something but was interrupted by Chase who sat down beside me in the booth and said "I don't see why we can't all eat together."

"I guess not." Griffin said, moving over on his side of the booth so that Carson could sit down. I was okay with Griffin sitting with me in the booth but I was hoping they would all find a table somewhere else and leave me be once they got inside. Today just wasn't my day.

"Salad, really?" Carson said, raising his eyebrows at me. "Could you be any more of a girl?" I rolled my eyes at him, annoyed.

"You can leave if you're just going to sit here so you can make fun of me." I was not in the mood for Carson today. I wasn't in the mood for Carson ever.

"Relax, Crawford. I'm just messing with you." He winked at me and I felt bile rise in my throat. "You sure can drink though. You proved that last night."

"You were at the party last night? I didn't see you." Chase said, sounding impressed. I think he could tell by how Carson was reacting to me that I wasn't the kind of girl they liked to hangout with.

"Yeah, she claims she doesn't drink but you should have seen her last night. She-"

"I don't drink. I only drank because you promised that if I did you would work on the project with me. You practically forced me to chug those drinks." I raised my hands in exasperation.

"I didn't force you into anything. You chose to drink them all on your own. It's not like I held a gun to your head."

"You may as well of! My grades are equally important to me as my life is." I pretty much shouted this over the table at him.

"You live a very sad life, my friend." He said, just as the waitress came over, clearly having finally noticed the newcomers. She took their order and walked off, leaving me alone with my misery and half-eaten salad.

"Let's just calm down." Griffin spoke, for the first time since Carson sat down. "Macy is actually a really cool chick and you're just being an ass Carson."

"Thank you." I said, surprised that he spoke up for me. Griffin was just as much my friend as he was theirs but I still hadn't expected him to stand up to Carson. I always figured it was a what-Carson-says-goes sort of relationship they had, but I guess I was wrong.

"And you, Macy, need to stop taking things to heart and loosen up." He was pointing his finger at me now, but he wasn't speaking in a rude tone.

"Yes, sir!" I said, saluting him in a playful way.

"Good, now let's try it. Carson, say something nice to Macy." Griffin was smirking now and I could tell he was enjoying this conversation a little bit more now that he was treating us like toddlers.

"What are we, three?" Carson said, rolling his eyes.

"Carson!"

"Uh, okay. Oh hi, Macy, what a nice name you have." Carson put on his prize winning smile and spoke in a very enthusiastic way to be dramatic.

"Now say something mean, and Macy don't let it get to you." I was scared for what he was going to say.

"Ew Macy, like really? A salad?" Carson said flicking his hand at me like I was the most outrageous person to ever walk the Earth. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.

"Ha ha ha, Carson, you are so funny!" I was speaking with sarcasm but I was laughing which made Carson think I wasn't actually being sarcastic and he smiled widely at me.

"There we go. All better." Griffin said as the waitress appeared with their orders, which were all massive burgers that made my tiny salad look ridiculous. I was pretty much done it now anyway; I only had a few leaves left, but I picked at them while the guys ate so that I wouldn't feel so out of place.

How was it that out of my entire high school career after grade nine I had managed to avoid them, but lately I felt like my entire life was intertwining with theirs’? I blamed it all on Talon. If he hadn't moved into my stupid basement, I wouldn't have been so on edge about his brother joining my class, and I wouldn't have woken up late that day for school resulting in me picking my own partner, and everything would be a lot different right now. On the other hand, I didn't mind seeing Griffin.

We talked while they ate and it didn't go half as badly as I anticipated. Carson got bored with making fun of me (or Griffin's stern looks scared him) and we actually had a pretty good conversation. It wasn't anything academic or in my realm of knowledge but they seemed to include me in their chat and actually listened when I gave them my input. Even when my knowledge about their girl problems and car troubles was minimal.

"You want to head over to my house with us, Macy?" Griffin asked when everyone was finished eating and getting ready to leave. It was only 7:30 and though I didn't need to rush to get home, I also didn't want to go with them and ruin the peace we had built by eventually getting into another argument with Carson later in the night.

"I'm okay, thanks." I said smiling at him to let him know I really was grateful for the offer. "I think I'm going to stay here a while longer." He shrugged his shoulders, gave me a light punch on the shoulder and turned to walk away.

"Um, yeah, I think I'm going to stay back also." Chase said, shrugging. "Don't feel up to gaming tonight."

"Uh, okay." Carson said, confused. "See ya." And then he and Griffin were walking out of the diner leaving me alone with Chase and feeling very awkward, especially since we were sitting on the same side of the booth. I suddenly felt like that was too close.

"Why didn't you go with them?" I asked, confused.

"I guess I just wanted to get to know you better. Haven't really seen you around much, so I thought now was my chance." He smiled again, that stupidly amazing smile. I bet he knew just how much girls loved it. They probably told him all the time.

"Oh, well there isn't much to get to know really." I wasn't the most interesting person to ever walk the Earth and even though I found Chase super attractive, I also knew what kind of girl he was into and I was not it. This thing he had for me right now would be very short lived.

"Sure there is." He rested his elbow on the table and leaned his head over to me. "For starters, why do you come to diners by yourself and eat salads. And I'm not pulling a Carson. You had chicken in your salad so you were clearly making sure you had some protein in your meal. I was just wondering if there was a reason." Jeez, mental note to never order a salad again ever. You'd think I was eating dog liver from the reactions people get from it.

"Well I figure skate so I have to stay in shape. And I don't always come to diners alone. Just today." I was defending myself even though part of me felt like he wasn't passing any judgments.

"Skating. See that makes sense." He said, nodding like he finally figured out all the big questions in the universe. "You're too lean to play basketball, and not super muscular to play volleyball, so I was guessing dancer, but skating makes more sense."

"You were observing me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. What an odd guy, he was.

"I observe a lot. Should I keep my observations to myself from now on?" He was so confident but there wasn't any cockiness in his tone. He seemed genuinely interested in me. Not necessarily as a dating prospect, but definitely as someone he could be friends with.

"Some observations are good, others can be a little creepy." I admitted, feeling more relaxed now that I didn't think he was trying to jump into my pants.

"Creepy. It's every guy's dream to be called that." He spread his arms out wide to emphasize his point.

"I'm sorry," I said giggling. I just giggled, ew. "I'm just not used to people observing me, I guess."

"I'm sure they do and you just don't notice." I shook my head.

"I'm sure they don't." I sighed. "Anyway, I should probably start walking home now." He stood up out of the booth in one swift motion and held his arm out for me to take as I got out. He was smooth, I'd give him that.

"Let me walk you." I stared at him wide-eyed. In what world did Chase Backus walk me home instead of going home himself to screw some other girl? I tried to tell him he didn't have to but he insisted and so eventually I gave in and let him.

It was weird being treated so nicely by a guy I never thought in a million years would be anything but an ass, but I kind of liked his company. He told me a bit about himself, like how he used to play hockey but doesn't anymore. How he's trying to quit smoking but failing. He has a little sister named Aubrey and an older brother he never sees named Brent. I told him things about me too which surprised me.

And most of all, he made me laugh. And I realized that I liked laughing, especially when he was the one making me laugh. I felt like I was talking to somebody I had known a long time, like we had the same history that Griffin and I did except that we didn't. I realized that he was actually a pretty decent guy. So when we reached my door and he said "Hey, Macy. Do you want to go out with me Tuesday night?" I replied with, "Sure" without giving it a second thought. We exchanged numbers and I went inside with a weird happiness taking over me.

Until I realized that Lindsay was still here. I had forgotten all about the family drama I was walking into when I came home. I really didn't want to face her but she was staying in my room and I had no choice but to see her. My parents were in bed now and I checked the clock. 9:30. I hadn't realized how long Chase and I spent talking outside my door before I came inside. I opened my room door, expecting to find Lindsay, but instead there was a note that read Out for the night. Don't be too happy, I'll be back tomorrow morning. Xo I crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can by my desk, enjoying the one night of freedom I had left.

I crawled into bed, deciding that an early night would be best since I had to teach tomorrow and soaked up the warmth of the sheets just as my phone vibrated.

Chase:

Looking forward to Tuesday. :)

I smiled at my phone and sent him a text saying Me too (: before placing it on my bedside table and falling asleep in a completely happy state. I really was looking forward to Tuesday.