Читать книгу Senior Year, '94 - Megan B. March - Страница 9

Since joining the drill team the year before, Alicia had traveled quite often with them as they put on shows that usually sold out. The first show of this year was at the end of February, and Alicia secured me a spot by getting me a free ticket claiming that I wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way than to drag Krissa along with me. However, having bought her own ticket weeks ago, she didn’t really see it as being “dragged.”

“I can’t believe you’ve never gone to a drill team show before,” Krissa said. “I love watching the stuff they do and talked Ryan into taking me to all of the in-town shows last year. Man,” she said as we sat in the bleachers and watched them warm up, “I wish I was more flexible.” Secretly, she’d always wanted to try out, but a fear of failure had kept her from doing it.

“It’s not really my thing, I guess.” I popped a piece of gum into my mouth. Uniforms and going to practice morning and afternoons weren’t my style. “Hey, there’s Jibby!” I yelled, jumping up and flagging him down. He was with Kate, his cousin, and when he saw me he broke away from her and came jogging over. “What are you doing here?” I asked as he came up the bleachers.

“Hey, ladies. Kate’s the one who wanted to come. I thought I’d join her and check them out.” He made a sound in his throat and I knew he didn’t mean their skills. Girls clad in tight, sparkly clothes were everywhere, a guy’s dream.

“Alicia’s in drill. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” I eyed him suspiciously and he shrugged.

“I’m sure she’s really good at it.” Jibby would never have admitted to knowing if Alicia was there or not, but I knew better. “Can I sit down? I think Kate is going to sit over there with her other friends.”

Looking over to where Jibby nodded, I could see that, sure enough, Kate was sitting down with a gaggle of girls, already comfortable and looking like she’d been there for a while.

“Where’s Chad?”

“Work. Lucky dog,” Jibby muttered. “So, Krissa, you still dating that guy long-distance? What’s his name? Ryan?”

Krissa turned a light shade of red before curtly answering, “No, we broke up.” It was still a sore topic.

Looking at Jibby as covertly as I could, I mouthed that I’d tell him about Krissa and Ryan later and focused my attention as the announcer’s voice boomed out overhead, welcoming everyone to the day’s performance. Suddenly the school’s drill team appeared from behind a doorway and made their way to the middle of the gym floor. The crowd erupted into loud cheers, and by the looks Jibby and I were giving one another we both knew that for the next hour we wouldn’t be having any kind of conversation. Krissa ignored us both and was transfixed on the performers.

As time went on and the drill team performed to a few techno songs, Alicia, whom was in the center row of girls, caught my eye. Her smile was bigger than I’d ever seen her smile before, and after a minute or so I was sold on the idea that the massive amount of lipstick she was wearing had everything to do with it. In fact, even from where we sat I could tell all the girls around her were wearing gobs of make-up. Nevertheless, Alicia looked happy. Jibby looked so, too. He seemed engrossed in all the moves of the drill team, but then I saw where his eyes were directed and wondered if it was really Alicia he was into. They seemed to follow her everywhere and he wore a funny little smile on his face. I grinned as I speculated what excuse he would have used about being there had his cousin Kate not wanted to go to the performance that day.

Toward the end of their last set, the gym lights turned off and the crowd went wild when members of the drill team switched on regular flashlights and began another routine. Rays of white light flooded the darkness and Krissa excitedly grabbed my arm as the light rays began making patterns reflected around the gym. Halfway through, though, someone either dropped a flashlight or missed a catch, I couldn’t tell which, and the performance came to an abrupt halt followed by a few loud yells and a bit of commotion. In seconds, the lights were turned back on and I looked to where the drill team had been performing. A crowd began to form around someone, and when I stood up and strained to see more, I gasped when the crowd split for a second and I recognized a red-lipped Alicia sprawled out on the floor, hugging her right ankle. Tears were streaming down her face, smearing her make-up something awful. Jumping up from beside me, Jibby pushed his way down the bleachers, through the crowd, and right up to Alicia. Kneeling down he looked intently at Alicia’s ankle and asked her questions concerning her ankle and the pain she was in. Never being one to take action when someone else was hurt, I knew I’d just be in the way if I went down there. Krissa held onto my arm tightly and we both watched as more school personnel gathered around Alicia.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Krissa asked. “Maybe we should try to get down there.”

“I don’t know if we can with this mob.” I looked around as dozens of people still crowded the bleachers trying to get down to the main floor.

“Let’s at least try,” Krissa suggested.

Stepping down the bleachers from my seat and with Krissa right behind me, I prepared myself to push through the throngs of people at the bottom of the bleachers. Before we got very far, the announcer was asking everyone to leave the gym quietly and calmly to ensure no one else was hurt and so that paramedics could swiftly come in once they arrived. Slowly we made our way on the floor toward Alicia, but were caught up in a large amount of people heading toward the exit. Try as we might, we found that we couldn’t do anything but exit with them.

Once out of the gym, Krissa pulled me over to the far side of the commons near the counseling offices. “Let’s wait here for Jibby to see what’s up,” she insisted. “He might be able to stay with her until the paramedics come.”

Screams of sirens soon pierced the air, and it wasn’t long until we saw an ambulance pull up and paramedics run into the gym with heavy red bags slung over their shoulders; one of them carrying a long orange plastic-looking board I assumed was a stretcher. About ten minutes later, Jibby came strolling out. He scanned the commons and saw Krissa frantically waving and yelling for him to come over.

“What happened?” we demanded in unison once he reached us where we stood by the wall.

“Someone dropped a flashlight, or didn’t catch it, and Alicia slipped on the damn thing and broke her ankle. They’re taking her to the hospital now to get it set. I’m sure someone on the team has tried calling her parents, but maybe you should, too.”

“Shit, you’re right. I’ll call them,” I said, looking around and remembering there was a pay phone around the corner, near the attendance office.

Sprinting to where I knew the phone was, I dug through my purse until I found the right amount of change to put in. Suddenly remembering that her dad was out of town and her mom was working at their jewelry store, I grabbed the phone book and began frantically flipping through it to find the number to the store. When Ashlyn finally picked up, I launched right into the story of how Alicia had been injured and was on her way to the hospital. Krissa and Jibby had joined me by then, waiting patiently beside the payphone as I finished giving Alicia’s mom the details.

“We’ll go from here to the hospital and keep her company until you get there,” I offered. Ashlyn thanked me and said she would be jumping in the car right away.

Hanging up, I turned to Krissa and Jibby. After discussing who didn’t have a car and who had ridden to the performance with whom, it was decided that I would drive us to the hospital. Leading the way with my friends slightly behind me, I listened as Krissa asked Jibby what he was doing out on the floor with Alicia.

“I was assessing the situation. I’m an EMT.”

Hearing Jibby, I had to swallow a gasp at his news. He had never shared this with me and I never would have pegged him for an EMT. The guy was full of surprises. With that in mind, I knew I had to get him alone at the hospital to ask what was up with him and Alicia.

Leafing through magazines and sitting patiently in the waiting room at the hospital while Alicia was having a cast put on her leg, we all looked up when Ashlyn arrived shortly after and hurriedly rushed past us and went in to see her daughter.

“Well, at least it wasn’t both of her feet and she can still drive with her left, unless she has a stick, of course,” Krissa commented.

“It’s an auto, but I don’t think that will make much of a difference with Alicia. She’ll be upset if she’s out the rest of the season for drill.” I reached for a different magazine because the one I’d been flipping through wasn’t very entertaining.

“Be right back, I have to pee.” Krissa got up and trotted off to the bathroom. I waited until she was out of earshot before pouncing on Jibby.

“Jibby,” I started out, looking at him.

“Mia,” he mimicked.

“What’s up with you and Alicia? I saw you staring at her all during the performance today. It also appeared that she didn’t get upset with you helping her.”

“She knows I’m an EMT and I wasn’t trying to get fresh with her.” Jibby studied his fingernails and then looked up at me. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You like her,” I playfully accused.

“What? No, I—,” he stopped short, shaking his head and smiling at me when I raise my eyebrow at him. “Shit.” Running his hand through his long, dark, wavy hair, he added, “I can’t lie to you. Yeah, I like her, I probably never stopped. I want her back and I have for a while.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I got up and sat in a chair closer to where he was. “I could have put in a good word.”

“I don’t know. I figured you had your own shit to deal with, and I wasn’t about to ask you to help me get her back.” Jibby looked up at some commotion by the admitting desk where a lady was refusing to get out of a wheelchair. “I blame you, you know.”

“What? Why?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“You started bringing her around more because you two are a package deal.”

“Don’t you think eventually you would have wanted her back even without me bringing her around?”

Jibby nodded. “She’s still dating James, but I don’t think it’s going that well.” Jibby sat back and stared up at the ceiling.

“How do you know that?”

“Because the weekend before Valentine’s Day we hung out together.”

More than just surprised at this admission, I couldn’t believe Alicia had said nothing to me about that.

“She didn’t tell you, did she?” he guessed, judging my face.

“That was the weekend Jensen was here,” I said, shaking my head no, “and we were both preoccupied with what that brought. So what did she say about James?”

“Just that they didn’t talk as much on the phone anymore, and when they did, they fought.”

“What do they fight about?” For some reason I just hadn’t thought to ask Alicia how things were with her and James. It made me feel a little guilty that I was such a one-sided friend.

“You know, the usual stuff—girls and college life.”

Just then we heard Krissa’s loud voice from the hallway that led to the examining rooms on the first floor. She stood there frantically waving her arms trying to get our attention. “Come on, they’re letting us see Alicia!”

Getting up from our chairs we followed Krissa to the room Alicia was in. The door was wide open, and we could hear her complaining to her mom about the fall she took.

“Knock, knock!” Jibby said, pushing past me and Krissa to be the first one in the room. Alicia’s face lit up.

“Hey, guys!” Alicia looked to her mom right away. “Mom, this is Jibby. He helped me out before the ambulance came, he’s an EMT.” That bodes well for Jibby, Alicia actually introducing him to her mom.

“Wow, that’s impressive. It’s nice to meet you, Jibby. I’m Ashlyn.” She offered her hand and he firmly took it. “Jibby ... interesting. Is that a nickname?” She wasn’t being rude, just curious.

“Yeah, Jeremiah is my real name, but I prefer Jibby,” he replied, kicking the nearest chair leg lightly with his foot like a shy little boy would.

“Your name is familiar. Mia mentioned you before, I think.” Ashlyn looked at me and I nodded to let her know she was right. I didn’t dare look at Alicia for fear she was shooting me daggers for talking about Jibby in front of her parents.

“Well, I’m going to step outside and find a phone where I can call Dan to let him know what happened. I’ll let you four visit.” Ashlyn winked at me as she left.

“You guys can sit on the bed if you want,” Alicia offered, pointing to the end of the bed she was lying on. “I’ll be out of here pretty soon, I think. We just need to wait around until they get some crutches.” She was lying on top of the covers in full view with a cast that covered her foot and went to just below her knee. Alicia let us know that she wanted an air cast instead of the ‘monstrosity’ she was stuck with. “I would let you guys sign it if there was a marker or even a pen around here,” she grumbled. “Sucks, doesn’t it? I won’t be able to do drill for a while. Aside from my ankle, I broke two bones in my foot with that goddamn fall!”

“At least that’s all it was. You could have hit your head or something worse,” Jibby pointed out, hoping to console her.

Alicia gave him a glare but you could tell she wasn’t serious. “Still doesn’t make it any better.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pouted. Just then, with Ashlyn trailing behind, a nurse with the name of ‘Van’ on his name tag came in.

“There you are now, Colleen, ready to give these a try?” the guy with the crutches asked with an Irish accent. He was cute and had Alicia blushing. It must have been the scruffy brown hair, the luminous smile, and his unbelievably green eyes that got her blood boiling. For me, it was the accent. I was a sucker for it.

“Her name’s Alicia,” an irritated Jibby grumbled under his breath, but Van only laughed and Ashlyn quietly explained what it meant to be called “Colleen” from someone who was Irish—a young girl. Jibby then turned a nice shade of red in embarrassment and watched with a hint of jealousy as Van instructed Alicia down the hall and into the stairwell to help her learn how to navigate stairs. They came back to the room after about twenty minutes. Being a rigorous member of the drill team, Alicia hadn’t really broken much of a sweat.

“Things could get a bit bockety in snow,” Van was telling her, “so it might be wise to get ice grippers.” He stroked his chin playfully and I heard Krissa give a little sigh. I was still stuck on Van’s use of the word “bockety.” Jibby rolled his eyes.

“I’ll grab ‘em right quick and show you how to put them on,” Van volunteered. He was more than eager to help and came back in a matter of minutes with the ice grippers, taking off the stock bottoms of the crutches and putting the ice grippers on. He then showed Alicia how to move the lever up and down to bring out or put away the sharp nubs used for gripping snow at the bottom of each crutch.

“Just make sure you pop this lever there up when you get inside or you’ll make a hames of it, and then you’ll really be banjaxed,” he told her. “These are great on ice, but hell on a regular floor.” Van gave a laugh and cranked up his beautiful smile, sending Alicia into full flirt mode and flashing him a bright one of her own. Krissa and I gave each other shy smiles at Van’s commentary while Jibby rolled his eyes covertly so only we could see. Before the nurse left the room he assured Alicia she was being discharged soon.

Krissa and I walked down the hall as Ashlyn stayed behind and helped Alicia get ready to leave. Jibby waited outside her room and insisted on bringing up the rear in case she fell or needed help. It was a good excuse to stick around, I thought, and when she was ready he even helped her into Ashlyn’s BMW.

I stood at the open door, my hands in my pockets. “With your car still being at school, can I pick you up on Monday on my way to zero-hour?” I offered.

“Yeah, sure. I hope my car won’t get broken into if I leave it there tonight.” Alicia furrowed her brow.

“It’ll be fine,” Jibby commented, “I’ve left my car overnight thousands of times.”

Raising my eyebrow, I wondered why he’d ever done that—it seemed likely he had been drunk or high, or both. I shook the thought away before my brain reminded me of Jensen and his partying ... and then went to an even darker place to Fallon.

After Ashlyn drove off with Alicia tucked into her car, I opened my truck for Jibby and Krissa to climb in. Krissa had offered to sit in the cramped back with the speakers, but this time around Jibby said he’d take one for the team and easily jumped in back. I started the truck and turned on the radio.

“Oh, turn this up! I love this song!” Krissa shrieked.

“Huh? I never would have pegged you for a Mazzy Star fan,” Jibby said, turning up the radio. The soulful voice sang about fading into someone and that person never knowing. Amidst the sad melody, it felt like my life at that moment.

“So that guy helping Alicia was hot, wasn’t he?” Krissa casually commented.

“Yeah, he was pretty cute. Loved the accent and the words he used,” I agreed.

“Oh, and his eyes were so dreamy!” Jibby mocked.

Krissa and I giggled, but also took the hint that Jibby wasn’t into gushing over a cute Irish guy who had spent twenty minutes alone with Alicia.

Since I had never been there before, Jibby guided me to where he lived and his house turned out to be near Meander Way, somewhat close to Krissa’s house. After dropping him off, I continued driving down the street to where Krissa lived and pulled up into her driveway a few minutes later to let her off.

“Weird day, huh?” Krissa fiddled with the door handle. “Did you know that when Ryan asked me out, I didn’t immediately tell him my answer?” Krissa looked at me and I shook my head no. It seemed like eons ago that they’d started dating and I wondered why she was saying something about it now. “When I did give him my answer, I spelled “yes” in cheese. You know, the hot cheese you get with the pretzels? He bought me a pretzel that day.” Krissa stared through the windshield with a far off look on her face.

“What made you bring that up?” I asked, fondling my keys and watching Krissa’s hand continue to play with the door handle.

“I don’t know. I guess I’m missing Ryan a little today.” She opened her door and stepped out. “Do you want to come in for a while?”

“Nah, that’s alright. I was thinking of stopping by Alicia’s to see how she’s doing. Maybe take her some movies and pizza. Do you want to come with?”

“I think I’m just going to vegetate, but thanks for the offer. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Later,” I said as she shut the door.

Putting my truck in reverse, I backed out and headed to the video store and Bullwinkle’s, trying to keep from thinking about the last time I had been there with Jensen. Picking out a couple of movies that sounded good, I got to Alicia’s just as Ashlyn was pulling out of the driveway. I unrolled the window to talk to her as we stopped next to one another in the driveway.

“Mia, I’m so glad you’re here. I have to go back to the store and I really didn’t want to leave Alicia. She says she’s fine all set up on the couch, but I don’t know ….”

“I’ve got it handled. I picked up some movies and a pizza, and she’ll be all set until you get home.”

“Oh, honey, thanks for being here. Dan will be home tomorrow morning and he can stay with her then. Front door is unlocked, so go right in. I’ll see you later!” Ashlyn sped off before I could say anything in response.

Making it to the front door with three movies piled on top of an extra-large pizza box, I carefully opened the door and yelled out a long “hello” before pushing the door closed with my foot and heading to the living room where I knew Alicia would be.

“Mia! In here! Thank Jesus someone is here with me. I didn’t want to stay here by myself and die of boredom!”

Walking in, I handed Alicia the movies and put the pizza box down on the coffee table.

“You brought food and entertainment! You’re a saint!”

“I do try. Want a plate, or do you just want to eat out of the box?” I asked, but Alicia gave me a look that told me I knew her better than that. “I’ll go grab some paper towels.”

Alicia handed me one of the movies when I came back in. “Put this one in.”

“Not just yet. I want answers,” I said, grabbing the movie and setting it on the couch next to me. “Jibby.”

Alicia looked a little surprised. “Oh, that.” She rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. I like him, okay? I think we’re on the verge of dating. He just sort of grew on me, you know?”

“What about James?”

“What about him? I broke it off last night. The distance thing was just not worth it. Plus, I think he wanted to see other girls. Anyway, I could tell he was going that direction. I just broke it off before he did.”

“Oh, Leesh, I’m sorry. I had no idea things weren’t okay with you two.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. I wasn’t really open about what was going on.” She fluttered her hand around in a dismissive way. “Can we put the movie in already?”

When Alicia was done talking about something, she was done, and I knew better than to keep prying for more details. Besides, she’d confirmed what I thought, so what more did I need to know? I got up and popped the tape into the VCR and sat back down. We didn’t really talk much more about James or her possible relationship with Jibby. If she wanted to say anything more, I figured she would bring it up on her own. Instead, we just watched movies, ate pizza, and shared idle chit-chat about school and her injured ankle.

Around seven, after watching two movies and eating a lot of pizza, I gave Alicia a couple of pain killers and helped her to bed. Ashlyn came home a little later, and I filled her in on our evening before taking off for home. When I unlocked and opened the door to my place, the phone was ringing and I ran over to answer it.

“Hello? I wondered who could be on the other end.

“Hey. What are you doing?” Jensen’s voice was quiet.

“I just got back from your house, actually. At the drill team thing today, Alicia broke her ankle and some other bones in her foot during the flashlight performance.”

“What? No shit! Is she alright?” A very different Jensen from a moment ago bellowed into my ear.

“Yeah, she’s fine.” I held the phone away for a second to give my ear a break. “I think she’s more worried about leaving her car at school for the weekend.”

“Leave it to Alicia to be worried about everything else but herself.”

“I have something to tell you, but you didn’t hear it from me.” I sat down on the couch, suddenly feeling conspiratorial.

“Go on,” Jensen urged, sounding intrigued.

“I think Leesh is going to get back together with Jibby! She and James broke up last night.”

“Damn! I had no idea they weren’t getting along.”

“I know! She never even said anything to me about it. Jibby told me he’s been spending time with her lately, and then she mentioned all she and James did was fight. When I brought it up today she was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.”

“Well, some people just aren’t meant to stay together or have long-distance relationships ... but some people aren’t us,” Jensen added in a somber voice.

My heart felt like it skipped a beat. “Oh, Jensen,” I breathed, unsure of what to say next.

Apparently, he didn’t want to go there because he changed the subject so fast I got proverbial whiplash. “So, I was calling about spring break.”

“Are you still coming home?”

“Yeah, but I can’t stay for the whole thing. I have to come back early.”

“Oh. Will you be staying at Gabe’s or your house?”

“Probably my house, or if you’re not too pissed off at me for acting like a dick during my last visit, maybe I can stay with you?”

What’s this? I perked up at the mention of him staying with me. “Of course, but my spring break is a week earlier and I won’t be here during the day.”

“That’s alright. I can drive you to school and we can have lunch together. Maybe work at the store a little while I’m there. Are you working that week?”

“I guess I can try to take a few days off since I’ll be working full-time during my break.”

Jensen seemed to like that idea and asked me to go for it. “Well, I’d better call home and see if Alicia is in a drug-induced stupor yet.”

“She was headed to bed with painkillers when I left. I’m not sure how good those pills are, but if she’s still up, I’m sure she’d like to talk,” I finished.

Jensen told me he loved me, and then he was gone.

Getting up slowly off the couch, I put the phone back in its cradle and thought about my life with Jensen. I went to the kitchen and reminisced over the roses he left there the last time he had come to town. Although dead and long gone, I felt as if I could almost smell them. I turned the light on over the sink and eyed my bag by the couch, thinking it was probably as good a time as any to do homework. Reluctantly, I pulled out my books and started in.

Jibby called the following morning just as I was putting a load of laundry in. “Hey, girl!”

“Jibby! How’s life?”

“Listen, I was calling to ask your opinion on something. Oh, and to tell you that I’ll take Alicia to school on Monday. She doesn’t want to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn with you.”

I laughed. Of course she didn’t, but I wished she had told me herself. “Alright, I get it. Only the birds and I are up that early. So, what can I help you with?”

“I think I’m going to take Alicia to lunch on Monday and ask her out.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“Do you think she’ll say yes? I mean, we had kind of a shitty break-up last year and our relationship wasn’t really ... um ... built on a foundation that would last.”

“Yeah, she told me. I think this time around it’ll be different. She told me she likes you, too,” I confirmed, hoping I wasn’t betraying Alicia’s trust. After all, she hadn’t sworn me to secrecy.

“Fuck, yeah!” he yelled in my ear. He was obviously excited about making it official and being an item once again. “Wait, you don’t think I should back off and give her time, do you? I mean, she just broke up with that James guy. Don’t girls need time to be alone, or some shit like that? Anyway, that’s what Kate says. Something about it taking one month for every three you dated to get over someone.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “If she needs time she’ll tell you. What does your heart say?”

“I don’t know. Shit ... I guess it feels like the right time to ask her. She and James haven’t gotten along for a while, maybe a month or more. Tragic relationship.”

“Tragic?” I wasn’t sure what he meant.

“You get what I mean.”

I actually didn’t. “Whatever. Just ask her. Like I said, she’ll tell you if it’s not the right time. If she does, just remember it doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to be with you.”

“Yeah, yeah … alright. I’ll see you tomorrow and tell you what she says.”

The two of us hung up without me saying that I’d probably know much sooner than tomorrow her reaction—our lockers were close and we talked all the time.

As predicted, I found out before Jibby told me that he and Alicia were officially back together, although not as I’d originally thought. Having gotten out of zero-hour early, Krissa and I wandered into the commons to people-watch and low and behold the two of them were there together. Just as I was about to call their names, in front of everyone and without a care in the world, Alicia pulled Jibby toward her and kissed him right there to a chorus of hollers, whistles, and clapping. Krissa freaked out over it and I couldn’t help the shit-eating grin I had plastered on my face. Nate and Aria were somewhat oblivious to what was going on because Aria was in the stage of fulfilling every craving she had by eating everything in sight. Nate seemed to be going through a stage where he was just existing. I wasn’t sure of another way to put it. I didn’t see him much in zero-hour and imagined he was falling pretty far behind. I supposed it had a lot to do with the way his life had turned out and the fact that soon it would make an even more drastic change.