What a Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy

My mom called Ryan's house a little while later.

"What is it?" I asked my mom. I was a little annoyed. She knew not to call unless it was really important.

"I'm sorry to call," she said. "But your friend, Brendon won't stop bugging me. He's freaking out because you're not here and he doesn't know where you are. Do you want me to tell him you're at Ryan's house?"

"No," I said. I glanced at Ryan who was watching me. "I'll just come home for a little bit."

"Ok," she said. "See you soon."

"Yeah, bye," I said before hanging up. I sighed. "I have to go to my house for a little bit."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"Brendon won't leave my mom alone," I said. "I should get over there before he calls me in as a missing person or something."

I pulled on a pair of shoes. I walked over to Ryan and kissed him quickly.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," I said.

"Ok," he said. He smirked. "Have fun."

"I'm sure I will," I said, rolling my eyes. I left Ryan's house and got into my car.

When I got to my house, I saw Brendon sitting on the steps of my porch. When he saw me he jumped up, looking relieved. He had rushed over to my car and opened my door before I had even been able to turn my car off.

"Jenny!" he said. "Where have you been?"

"I just had to get away for a little bit, you know?" I said, getting out of my car.

"Yeah," he said. "I've just been worried about where you were."

"I'm sorry," I said, looking at my feet. "It was just kinda spur of the moment."

"It's ok," he said.

"So why have you been looking for me?" I asked.

"Like I said, I was just worried," he said. I noticed his eyes travel down my body, taking in what I was wearing. His eyes rested on my feet and stayed there. Wondering what was so interesting, I looked down at my shoes. I felt the blood drain from my face. They were the shoes that Brendon had seen when he went to Ryan's. I looked up quickly.

"So," I said. Brendon looked back up at me. He didn't say anything about the shoes. "If you don't mind, I think I'm gonna go take a nap. I'm exhausted."

Brendon nodded his head.

"Ok," he said. "I'll see you later."

I walked up to my house and went inside. I went to watch Brendon from a nearby window. He was still standing in the same spot, staring at the ground. After a minute, he went to his car that was parked in the street and got in. He drove away quickly. When I was sure he was gone, I left the house and got back into my car. I started it and hurried back to Ryan's house.

I entered Ryan's house and found Ryan asleep on his couch.

"Ryan," I said, shaking him slightly. His eyes fluttered open. He saw the worried expression on my face and sat up instantly.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I don't know why, but I immediately burst into tears. "Hey. Come here."

Ryan pulled me down onto his lap and hugged me to him.

"Tell me what happened," he said.

"I'm sorry, Ryan," I cried.

"Sorry for what?" he asked. "What happened?"

"My shoes," I said through my tears. "Brendon saw my shoes."

"So?" Ryan said.

"They're the shoes they saw here when he came by!" I cried. Ryan looked at my feet.

"Shit," Ryan said. "You're sure he recognized them?"

I nodded my head. Ryan gave an aggitated sigh. I cried harder.

"I'm sorry," I said again. Ryan rubbed my back gently.

"It's ok," he said.

"It's not!" I cried. "He's gonna find out. Everything isn't going to work out."

"Jenny," Ryan warned. I didn't hear him.

"He's not going to trust me," I said. "I'm so sorry. I ruined everything. It's not going to work."

"Jenny!" yelled Ryan, pushing me off of his lap. I buried my face in the couch and sobbed. "You need to think about what you're saying."

"I'm such a screw up," I said.

Ryan sighed again.

"You're not a screw up. You just aren't thinking about what you're saying," Ryan said. I continued to cry. I felt Ryan's arms wrap around me. "Stop crying. You're overreacting."

Ryan pulled me up and cradled me in his arms. It took a minute to get my tears under control. Ryan lifted the bottom edge of his shirt and wiped my face off with it, drying it for me. When he was done, Ryan kissed me on the forehead gently.

"Everything will be fine," Ryan said softly. "Ok?"

I nodded my head, sniffling.

"Ok," said Ryan. "Let's go to bed now. I'm tired."