Junior Year, 93-94. Megan B. March
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as everyone grabs their pizza.” He then kicked back on the couch and looked at me. “Babe, can you grab some pop from the fridge?”
“Are your legs broken? Who was it that went to pick up the pizzas in the first place?” I scowled at Jensen’s laziness. He was beginning to act a little too much like an ass for my taste.
“Yeah, squaw, go get our drinks,” Gabe joked. When he saw the surprised look on my face he quickly said, “Not really, you know I’m only kidding.” He got up from the couch. “I’ll help you since Jensen is kind of being an asshole right now.”
Jensen, who had been given back his game controller by a pizza hungry Karl, hadn’t heard a word Gabe said because he was too busy playing the game, trying to collect every ring.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s just preoccupied. Going away is a big fucking deal.”
Gabe and I were walking upstairs together and I found myself smiling at Gabe's use of the English language. Priceless. His choice of words had also rubbed off on Jensen.
“Won’t you be leaving for school soon, too?” I asked as we reached the top of the stairs and headed for the kitchen.
“Nah, I’m staying around here to save money by going to UAS. I may leave after I get my Associates, though.”
“I didn’t know you were staying here,” I said, pulling open the door to the refrigerator and seeing that someone had stocked it with multiple six packs of different kinds of pop. There were about eight six-packs of Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew. I handed four of the packs to Gabe, while I took the other four and the two of us made our way back downstairs to join the others. “So, Tyler is headed to some acting-type school in New York and Karl is moving closer to Jessica,” I reiterated, more for myself.
“Yeah, and you and I are stuck here in town. It kind of sucks that everyone else will be gone and starting new lives, so to speak. No more late pizza and movie nights. That’s when reality will hit.”
“Don’t remind me,” I complained, rolling my eyes.
“Well, we can be miserable together. I’m happy to hang out with you anytime. You’ve got my number, right?”
It felt a little odd having a conversation with Gabe about getting his number so we could hang out, but his face told me he was just being a genuine friend and I had nothing to worry about. I wish things were that way with Nate. Shit. Should I tell Jensen about Nate’s comment about my skirt? Or, what Alicia witnessed today at Heritage?
“I can get your number from Jensen. He’ll probably be happy you can keep an eye on me. You know … make sure I’m staying out of trouble and all. Also, you never know when I might need a handyman or a mechanic.” I laughed and the two of us walked over to the couch and set the pop down on the coffee table. Tyler and Jensen were still struggling it out, seeing who was best at playing Sonic.
“Who’s keeping an eye on whom?” Jensen asked as I sat down next to him and propped my feet up.
“Oh, Gabe. He’s going to keep an eye on me while you and everyone else are away at school. He’s staying here.”
“Oh, yeah, didn’t I tell you that?” Jensen asked, reaching for a can of Dr. Pepper.
I shook my head no and reached for my own Dr. Pepper to open. Although he'd gained back his short-term memory that he'd temporarily lost for a few months, every now and then he would miss something. Jensen opened his pop and handed it to me; he did have some chivalry left after all. I gave him my unopened can and leaned against him.
“Hey, no popcorn?” Tyler asked after pausing the game. I shrugged and he grabbed a giant piece of pizza instead and put half of it into his mouth.
I picked up the stack of movies and read the back of each trying to decide which one I wanted to see first while Gabe was checking out the game station trying to figure out how to turn it off. Unable to make up my mind, I began to ask the guys which movie they preferred to watch first when Jessica came strolling into the room. Karl’s face lit up like it was Christmas and he covered the distance between them with three large steps, grabbing her up into his arms.
“You made it! I’m so glad you got off work early.” Karl grinned like a love-struck fool.
“Hey, Jessica,” I said with a smile. “Glad I won’t be the only girl here—I was beginning to feel outnumbered.” She laughed, which seemed genuine for once.
Everyone else said hello to Jessica between mouthfuls of pizza. The way they were packing it in I’m surprised any was left for her, but she was able to slide a slice onto a napkin before snuggling up to Karl on the couch. I called out the choices of movies and got the biggest response for Candyman.
“Dim the lights!” Jessica commanded. “This one is supposed to be scary.” She moved in closer to Karl.
With the lights turned off, the only brightness that made its way into the room came through the shades that were in Jensen’s opened bedroom. Eerie music began to play through the speakers and everyone quieted down. When the movie started, I followed Jensen back to the couch and sat down right in front of where he was with my legs crossed underneath me. He rubbed my shoulders lightly and kissed my neck.
“You changed,” he whispered, “and I wish you hadn't. There go my thoughts of taking that outfit off you later." He squeezed my shoulder and I felt my stomach twinge in response. Turning around, I kissed him quickly and he told me that he loved me. “I don’t think I told you how beautiful you look today,” he whispered into my ear, his breath moving a few of my hairs and tickling my skin. “When your hair’s this way it does things to me—I love it.” His whisper was just low enough so only I could hear. I felt my face blush and was glad we were under dim lighting.
Moving his arms down to circle my waist, I snuggled closer and put my head back against his chest, content to just be close to him. We stayed that way through both Candyman and Sneakers, but by ten o’clock I decided to call it a night and go on home; Sliver and Singles would have to wait. I figured Karl, Gabe, and Tyler would more than likely spend the night with Jensen, whom they hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with since school let out. I’d see them all again in the morning. I hoped none of them thought I had monopolized too much of his time.
Jensen walked me out to my truck after I finished saying goodnight to his friends and his parents who had just come home. I hopped inside and let my legs dangle outside of the open door. A Scorpions song quietly played on the radio as I reluctantly said goodbye to Jensen.
“I’ll miss you,” he said as he nuzzled my neck with his nose and held me around the waist. His lips found mine and I held his face with my hands. We continued to kiss until Gabe's incessant yelling for Jensen broke the moment. “Be there in a sec,” Jensen yelled back, then turning to me he murmured, “Jesus, Gabe can be so impatient.”
“They probably want to play Sega. What else are you guys going to do other than stay up all night? You won’t watch Sliver and Singles without me, will you?”
“Well, we might, but you and I can watch them again tomorrow. Are you coming over for breakfast?”
“Well, I think you need to have time with your friends and I hijacked that tonight. I also have to register for school tomorrow. I’ll come over in the afternoon when I’m finished.”
“Deal.” He moved in to kiss me and I covered the rest of the distance between our lips.
Krissa’s last name starts with the letter V so she was scheduled to register before I was, and since I had to wait to register, I had to rely on Krissa to pick out a good locker. Krissa knew which areas to stay away from, so hopefully she was able to find one that we both liked, although I had completely forgotten to tell her that the locker sharing situation had changed. I looked for her after walking into the commons area after finding a parking spot that was a little too far away for my taste.