CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
BLAKE’S POV

“Doesn’t it seem weird to you how unnaturally happy Anthony is?”

I did not anticipate the slamming of my locker that followed after my statement and the long, frustrated sigh that accompanied it.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked, already dreading the kind of trouble I was in. Lately, it felt like just my mere existence was pissing Crystal off. She sighed and rolled her eyes and yelled at the slightest things that I did.

“You! Your constant obsession with my brother and his love life. That’s what’s wrong.”

“I’m not obsessed!” I said, whiningly. “I haven’t spoken that much about his love life either.” She gave me a deadpan look and faced her brother.

“‘Babe, have you noticed that Anthony smiles more now than he did before? Babe, have you seen how late he’s getting home lately? The world is a dangerous place, he shouldn’t be out that late. Babe, Anthony doesn’t drive to school anymore, have you noticed that?’ That’s all you ever say to me!”

I stared at her, unsure what to say. It is true that I’ve been talking about Anthony a lot more than usual since the Halloween party, but that was only because I was concerned. I was talking from the place of a worried and concerned friend who only wanted his friend to have the best first boyfriend and not some Steph Curry wannabe from North Central. If she thinks the little observations I make, as well as the little comments I input on a daily when we were together, was me being anything other than caring and concerned, then dare I say she wasn’t such a good sister.

“That’s not all I say to you. I told you to not slam my door so harshly this morning when I came to pick you up. Then I called you beautiful.” I smiled at her, thinking that would cheer her up, but lately it seemed like I have lost my ability to be charming. She wasn’t having any of it.

“Blake, Michael is a nice guy. He likes Anthony a lot and he treats him the way he deserves to be treated. You can’t keep hating the guy when he hasn’t even done anything wrong yet!”

“I don’t want to wait for him to do something wrong before I make a move. Anthony needs to be protected. He doesn’t know which guy’s good enough for him.”

“Oh my God! He isn’t a kid! Stop obsessing over his relationship and start focusing on yours cause I’m getting really mad at you right now and you don't want that.”

Over by his locker, Anthony smiled so brightly, he had a sheen to his skin. It was so unlike anything I’ve ever seen on him before. It was the kind of glow that could only be accomplished after one thing...

“He has that after sex glow, doesn’t he?” I asked Crystal. I guess that was the last straw cause she stomped on my foot and gave me her nastiest glare yet.

“I wouldn’t know what after-sex glow looks like if it punched me in the face and kissed me afterwards!.” She hmphed and stormed away, leaving me to writhe in pain. The girl wore heels today!

I continued to watch him even though common sense told me to go after my girlfriend. There was something different about him today, something I never noticed before. He looked more handsome and a little taller, and his hair was just perfect. His smile was captivating and his lips were...

I shook my head and snapped out of whatever thoughts my mind had conjured up. There was a funny image that kept replaying in my head from the night of the Halloween party but I refused to entertain it. All it did was mess with my thinking for the rest of the day if I ever so much as thought about it.

The bell went off and Anthony and the rest of the school population went to their respective classes. I wasn’t in the mood to sit through an hour of history, especially since I knew I’d be distracted the whole time, so I decided to go to the parking lot and just wait in my car.

“What the hell...?” I said to myself when I reached my car. Beside it was a rusty old Buick that looked like it would crumble if a feather fell on it. But that wasn’t what surprised me most; it was the red-haired girl that was trying to tear off the door from its hinges that made me stop in my tracks. I recognized her as the girl from Chem class.

“Uh...” I said, too stunned to say anything else.

“Fancy seeing you here Blake Lindell,” she said, a little out of breath. When it didn’t look like it was going to budge, she let go of the door handle and blew a raspberry. “Well, there goes my elaborate escape plan.”

“You were trying to cut class?” I didn’t mean to sound so judgy – after all I was also skipping class – but something about how pale she looked the first time I saw her made me say that like I was her father scolding her for getting in trouble. Luckily for me, she didn’t find it offensive or anything.

“I’m guessing you also want to ditch. I have a class with the most boring Algebra teacher on the planet. I will not survive one minute of it.”

“Mr. Thompson? Yeah, he tends to suck the life out of things.”

“Yeah, it’s probably why Mr. Arnold looks like that.” There was a brief pause as the both of us digested her words, then a knowing smile spread across out faces before we erupted in full blown laughter.

“So,” she said, ending our shared laugh. “Where do you plan on going today?”

“Uh, well, I just wanted to stay in my car and wait out History.”

“God, and people call you fun!” She rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. My ego was hurt by her statement. I was fun! The funnest person in the whole school. I once threw a party that lasted the entire weekend – roof dives, bouncy house, wine, champagne, beer, spirits, food unending and really, really pretty ladies from Club 22. For the entire week after that, everyone who attended the party was still recovering from their hangover. That’s a clear sign of a fun well had right there regardless of what my parents thought when they came back from their couples’ retreat the day after the final bash!

“I wanted to go to Funville. They give 50% off on school days because not many students will be available to enjoy it. The only time to fully enjoy an amusement park is when no one else will be there.”

I looked at her for a few more seconds to determine whether she was kidding or not. This chick was serious. She really wanted to skip an entire day of school to go to the amusement park!

I was fun and I was really okay with skipping class, but I’ve never skipped an entire day before. But it would be pathetic of me to not agree to it, especially now that I remembered that Anthony skipped school too just to hang out with Michael of all people.

Ugh! Just thinking about them again put me in a mood.

“Alright Blake Lindell. I’m about to take you to have the fun of your life. Consider this a thank you for not letting me die earlier.” She continued to struggle with the door. I was honestly surprised that it wasn’t already dismantled from the vigorous way it was shaking as she tugged at it.

“Uh, why don't we take my car instead?” I suggested. She paused and looked at my car beside hers.

“Why? My car isn’t good enough of you, Blake Lindell?”

“No, not that. Just the fact that we can’t even get into your car.” She looked down at the door as if just realising that it can’t open.

“Oh. Okay then. Prepare to be amazed at the amusement park today. They don't open up their best rides when kids can’t come and only give adults who pay a certain fee access to it, but I know how to go about it.” She was so happy as she announced this and got into my car. Her smile was contagious and I was soon wearing the same one as hers.

“Maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to help you get rid of your boy problems.” She wiggled her brows and smiled, excited that she was about to make my life better. But all her statement managed to do was remind me once again of Anthony Pearce and the fact that he was making out with someone else.