Bottled Blue

I got my tea and followed Jett onto the community college’s front lawn. He was drinking coffee, and even though I didn’t like how coffee tasted, I liked how it smelled. So through the sharpness of the chill, humid ocean air, I could smell the warm scent wafting over from his cup. He was quiet until we reached a low cement brick wall that separated the grass from the parking lot. He leaned against it, and I sat down, making sure I didn’t topple over the back. There was a broken beer bottle back there that I’d probably wind up landing on.

“How’s the tea?” he asked.

“Really good, actually. The only problem with tea is that it goes from molten fires of Mordor to ice-cold in five-point three seconds.” He laughed.

“Coffee does too. Plus, it tastes like candy if you put the right stuff in it.” I wrinkled my nose.

“I hate coffee.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t taste like it smells.”

“Not black, it doesn’t. My mom buys this cookies and cream flavored creamer. It’s amazing. Here, try mine.”

“Eyuuuu, no.”

“What are you afraid to share with me? I swear I brush my teeth.” He smiled, and I rolled my eyes.

“That’s gross. I don’t want your nasty mouth germs.”

“Just try it.”

“No.”

“I’ll leave you alone if you try it.”

“Forever?” He considered this for a moment.

“No, because we have to do homework together. But other than that, I’ll leave you alone for as long as you want me to.”

“You won’t make me go on adventures with you anymore?”

“I won’t force you again, I promise.”

“Give me the coffee.” I set my tea down on the wall and took his coffee in my hands. It smelled delicious, and I hoped I wouldn’t get mono or something. I took a sip and the liquid scalded my tongue. I winced and handed it back over.

“So?” he asked, taking his cup. His black eyebrows rose, and widened his eyes. They looked really green standing beneath the palm trees.

“It’s okay.”

“You just have bad taste.” I huffed.

“Obviously.” His eyebrows crinkled this time.

“Was that a crack at me?” I glanced at him, startled.

“No! The world doesn’t revolve around you, Kanellis. Get over yourself.” I took a sip of my tea and looked away.

“Okaaaaay,” he said. But with that snarky tone that suggested he didn’t believe me. I wanted to kick him. I refrained, but only because a group of girls walked out of the school, and I recognized them.

“Hey, Jett,” one of them said after spotting us. She trotted over, excited to see him. It was Katie Williams. The girl who’d been so glaringly obviously in love with Jett since freshman year.

“Hey,” he said with a nod.

“What are you doing here?”

“My mom signed us up for an art class, but we skipped out.” She briefly glanced at me and turned back to him.

“So why are you hanging out with Sasha?” Like I wasn’t even there.

“Aasha,” he corrected. “She got me into this mess. It’s payback.” Of course. Because it’s not like we were friends or anything. Just forcibly shoved together for the sake of science and revenge.

“Oh, how?”

“She suggested I try new things. I made the mistake of telling my mom about it. Mostly I just wanted her to give me money, but here we are instead.”

“Then it was your own fault, you dumbass,” I said. He grinned down at me.

“I just like to torture you.”

“Bite me.”

“Oh well—it sounds fun,” Katie said, pushing herself back into the conversation at front and center.

“What are you guys up to?” he asked.

“Just visiting Vivian’s mom.”

Her friends were all standing relatively close to her. And since she was standing fairly close to Jett, and he was standing close to me, we were all kind of close to each other. I hated how they always felt like they had to be within an elbow’s reach of each other at all times. That’s what I liked about my friends. We didn’t have to talk 24/7. And when we did, we understood the value of personal space. Jett didn’t seem bothered about it.

One of the friends, Vivian, took a side step in her blatantly obvious attempt at pushing me out of the conversation. I wasn’t even in the conversation, but she apparently felt the need to wing-woman her BFF by blocking me from Jett’s view. I wasn’t competition, and she didn’t have to worry about me. And it was unlikely Jett would have even looked at me if she hadn’t turned her back and stepped on my foot.

“Ouch,” I said, yanking my foot back. But the wall was narrow, and I immediately lost my balance. I reached for Jett and latched onto the sleeve of his hoodie. But it was already too late. I just proceeded to yank the both of us over the wall. He landed with his palms on the edge of the bricks, and I was flat on my back with my legs sticking up and my skirt at my waist.

“Holy crap,” he said.

“Oops, sorry,” Vivian said, stepping back with a smile. I let him go, but he stayed with his hands on the edge of the wall.

“Are you okay?”

“I think I landed on that broken bottle,” I admitted.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s a broken bottle, Kanellis.”

“You’re handling it pretty well.”

“I don’t think any glass got through my jacket, but I don’t like that you can see my underwear.” I shifted to try and pull my skirt back down, but it was almost useless with how he was standing over me.

“If it makes you feel any better, they’re cute.” That finally did it. I lifted my leg and kicked him in the chest. He laughed and stuck his hands out. “C’mon. I’ll help you back up.”

“You better. You dickwad.” I slid my hands into his, and he yanked me back up over the wall, where I quickly scrambled to pull my skirt back down. I hoped none of the girls could see how my cheeks were burning. They’d probably tell the whole school.

“Sorry,” Vivian said again. I was pretty sure she was apologizing to Katie for accidentally shoving all of Jett’s attention on me and then making him say I had cute panties.

“It’s cool. Don’t worry about it,” I said anyway. I looked around for my tea, but it had fallen over the wall and emptied. I sighed and turned back to Jett. He looked concerned. “I’m okay.”

“There’s a rip in your jacket.”

“It’s fine. I’ll have my dad fix it.” He turned back to his friends.

“We’re gonna head back inside. I’ll see you guys at school.” Katie looked disappointed.

“Oh. Okay. Bye, Jett,” she said. They all walked off, giggling to themselves. Probably about me and my stupid polka dot undies. I was still really embarrassed. I didn’t even look at Jett as he led me back into the building.