Admire Me 2 - 7. Chapter 7 Retaliation is a must

Mitch would not let me go. I could not believe I almost forgot about him. There had been so much craziness going on this semester.

As we held each other, I could feel in his presence, that something was different about Mitch. I guess not seeing or touching him in forever is what made the difference in my heart.

When I stopped dealing with Mitch last semester I was trying to leave off on a friendly note. I didn’t want him erased from my life for good.

That’s what it felt like right now. My mind was totally oblivious, not thinking or caring where Mitch was, but my heart kept feeling something I couldn’t explain… all I can say is, my feelings didn’t forget him at all.

His scent was strange but familiar. His hair was flipped at the ends. It held its usual almond brown color. His eyes were ever glowing indigo blue. I didn’t know what part of him not to stare at. I couldn’t believe it was true. I couldn’t believe he was with me… I missed this guy with all my heart.

My emotions started to go haywire when Mitch came into the same proximity. Who would expect him to be at the party tonight? That’s what I was feeling this whole time.

Is that even normal for a human?

Mitch tried catching me up on all the time we lost, and what he had been up to. I exchanged a few of my problems with him trying to hold my composure and not look like I was drooling over him.

Korbyn just stood there watching both of us. He didn’t like Mitch coming into the picture trying to reunite with me. I could see a vengeful glare in Korbyn’s eyes every time Mitch laughed about something I said.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to talk with Mitch like I wanted to. Right when we were getting into a deeper level of conversation two things happened that broke everything up.

Korbyn started being very jealous. He even started making smart comments in-between some of Mitch’s sentences. Then soon, they both started arguing. It wasn’t good at all. They both were getting riled up. It started to get heated at one point where they were going to fight, but I stepped between them hoping to bring this to a halt.

I was scared for Korbyn. I knew once Mitch got too mad he would be hard to contain. I held on to Korbyn because I knew I could handle him. Mitch on the other hand, would probably toss me away, so I didn’t want to get in the way of that.

Korbyn kept yapping while I was holding him back from Mitch. I was even putting my hand over Korbyn’s mouth to shut him up but he was not letting this happen. He didn’t want Mitch around.

Mitch stood in one spot, “let him go Braylon!” Mitch said taking off his hoodie. “Let him step into the opening! I promise it will only take one lick!” Mitch did a stance, putting his fists up, jumping around like a boxer would.

“No!” I shouted back. “I don’t want things to be settled this way.” I continuously wrestled with Korbyn. I was getting tired and I didn’t think I could keep this up. I begin to whisper to Korbyn, “This is Mitch you are trying to fight. Remember the one who is a gangster? He has had plenty of fights and probably has a knife on him!! Think about this before you go charging in.”

That was not enough warning to keep Korbyn from trying to fight. He kept struggling in my grasp, trying to claw his way to Mitch.

“I don’t care if he was a serial killer! I don’t care about any of that! He has crossed the line! He wants a fight…” Korbyn was breathing hard, almost slipping through my hand, but I grabbed his shirt hearing it tear. “He will get one!”

They kept arguing about me. It was almost like a contest to see ‘who’s the better man.’

The second reason, I didn’t get to talk to Mitch like I wanted was due to the police. Moments after struggling to keep Korbyn and Mitch from trying to rip each other’s heads off, the police came.

They arrived in a flash of red and blue lights shining through the neighborhood. Mitch took off running one way, I saw everybody running to their cars, and scattering into the woods. Everybody ran for it. They all sprinkled in every direction to get away.

When I came from behind the house, I saw one cop chasing that guy Gage that I met during the party. Soon the outside of my house was deserted. Like no one was ever there throwing a party.

The police coming out of nowhere was enough to shut the entire party down. They talked to my mom and Jason. the cop who talked with them said: A neighbor called saying, ‘they were loud.’

He let my brother off with a warning, for disturbing the peace. On my way inside the house, after all of the wild commotion died down, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Hannah’s pink car rolled down our street.

At that moment I knew who our so called ‘neighbor’s’ were. I knew Who complained about ‘disturbing-the-peace’. Jason’s party was shut down by Missy. This had her stench on it.

Dang it! She struck again!

The stupid part about his party getting shutdown was, my brother think I did it. All because of that dispute we had during the lap dance. He kept brushing by me at home mumbling ‘snitch’ under his breath all night.

Jason knew me all my life. He knows that I am capable of something like ‘shutting his party down.’ Hey, I even threatened to do it when we argued… but did I actually do it?

No.

How do I explain that to him though? The blood was painted on my hands to look like it was me, but who would believe I didn’t do something like that?

No one would.

Missy played her part well. I will give her that. She can make it look like I am the snitch and I got Jason’s party shut down all she wants. She can paint the blood on my hands and let me take the blame, but the truth of the matter is: I won’t stop until I have her blood on my hands.

Those were the reasons I didn’t get to talk with Mitch. The good part about this whole ordeal, before Mitch made his escape he was sure to store his number in my cell.

 

I kept thinking about Mitch. Memories of him sketched my imagination while I daydreamed. My old feelings for him were trying to come back from the dead. The feelings I had when we first met. The surge of emotion that was so beautiful and yet surprising.

Yes, my mind was traveling back into last semester when that great, handsome guy took me to school in his infamous red Jaguar.

A day later, I waited until late at night before the thought of calling him crossed my mind.

I had to talk to Korbyn and Jade on the phone first. The clique had to figure out what to do about Missy. No one had come up with any new schemes sadly to say. Korbyn still had negative things to say about Mitch. Korbyn was not letting his hard feelings toward Mitch go away.

He called Mitch: ‘Paul wall want-to-be.’, ‘Jailbird.’, ‘Drug seller and user.’

He wouldn’t give Mitch a break. It was hard for me to listen because Mitch had a deeper heart than what Korbyn made him out to be. Although Korbyn didn’t care to know that.

Jade sounded super excited about something while we were on the phone. He laughed when I told him how both of them were about to fight. Jade was a fan of Mitch… to a certain extent.

Korbyn’s hate for Mitch must be coming because he sees Mitch as a threat to us ever getting back together. Not to mention, Mitch was there before he was. I could see why he was angered about Mitch coming back. Mitch came into my life when all of my friends were gone. He was my friend when Korbyn was my enemy.

 

When I pressed the call button, it didn’t occur to me until I heard the other phone ringing, that I had not talk to Mitch on the phone since… since last semester.

I don’t know why it feels longer than that.

After five rings, there was a sleepy, “Hello?” answering the phone on the other side.

“Is this Mitch?”

“Yeah,” When he figured it was me, I heard shuffling in the back ground. “Braylon?”

“The one and only.” I kidded, “If you are too sleepy I can call you back tomorrow. I know I waited late to call.”

“Nah, nah, you good.” He said his voice going from groggy to almost normal in a sense. “Hold on for a second, I’m about to go splash cold water on my face. That will get me up.”

“You don’t have to-“

Before I finished what I was saying, he interrupted swiftly, “No I want to. I waited long enough to talk to you period. I don’t want to wait anymore. Fate may not give me a second chance.”

My heart was already beginning to patter. The real conversation had not even started and he was making me react.

“Ok.” I told him.

He left the phone for what seemed like forty-five seconds. All I was hearing in his back ground was a TV in the distance.

“Alright, hello?”

“I’m here.”

“Good, now I’m wide awake. Let’s get to talking.” He said. His voice was still so deep. What I usually called ‘the smoker voice’. It was low and sexy. It played with my ears in ways he didn’t know.

We began talking about simple things. Not our lives in particular, or our troubles. This was talk of fun and a few jokes, a few moments we remembered about last year. Like when we first started riding in his car together, when he kissed me, and Shonda the girl who had his baby.

It was rocky when I heard her name. Shonda was the reason I didn’t want to deal with Mitch anymore. She had a baby for him. It sickened me that he got a girl pregnant and he would have the responsibility of a child forever. In my book, that meant he would always have to talk to her. I would always have to wonder if they were sneaking around, if I got with him. It was a lot to handle and in the pit of my stomach, I still felt that way sort of.

I switched the topic. I had to. Too much of the old was coming into the new. I wanted to let that go, and give him a clean slate even though that stain won’t go away.

I began to talk to Mitch about what my life has been like since he was away. The whole Missy thing, and my clique issues, what happened between Andrea and Korbyn. He really missed a lot of chapters in my life. When I filled him with the ‘T’ on what was going on, it was like he never left.

As usual Mitch instantly went into my defense. In his opinion none of this was my fault. He already had unresolved issues with Korbyn, and to him, Korbyn was looking pretty faulty at this point.

I finished catching him up with me. Now it was his turn. “So, what have you been doing since we last spoke?”

“Are you really ready to hear what I have been dealing with?” He asked me as if it was something he was so ready to share. Something that he anxiously waited to get off his chest for a long time.

“Yes. I’m sure it can’t be any worse than what I have been through.” I told him.

“Alright…” Mitch gave a breathy sigh. It was like he didn’t know where to start, or how to start with his issues. “Okay, I’m going to start right where we left off. Remember during Christmas break when I let you see my daughter and I wanted to get back with you?”

“Oh.” I sort of felt bad, because I remembered it clearly. That happened to be the night Korbyn knocked on my window, and kissed me. The night my relationship with Korbyn was born… I will never forget that moment. I was startled out of my sleep, thinking it was a stalker, a killer… I even thought it was Mitch! It was crazy. “Yeah I remember.”

“A day or so after that, C.J. told me that you and Korbyn started dating.” His voice was getting rough, he sounded like this was still a fresh wound for him. Like it was hard for him to even muster the story all because what the pain of saying it brought about. “I felt like you forgot me. All I could hear was C.J. telling me about how happy you were. It broke me… it broke me down.” His tone picked up and fell back down. “It hurt to know you found happiness without me. You found a happiness that was not within me…”

Mitch on the other end of the phone was going back to that space. I could feel his words getting choppy, his breathing getting a bit faster. I almost could see the images he called forth from his remembrance; I could taste every detail of the longing he endured.

“I messed everything up, I know I did.” He admitted like a victim. “I remember it all. Like it was all my fears of emotion had come to life. I kept thinking to myself: How could he forget all the emotion we had? How was it so easy for him to cut me off?” He wasn’t finished caring about me. In so many words he just wanted my happiness to come from him. He want to be the person responsible for the happiness in my world.

This made me feel awkward. Like maybe, I gave up on him too soon, or I didn’t give him a real reason to be done for.

“Mitch… it wasn’t my intention.” What do you tell a guy who had such strong feelings for you and you left them feeling like that alone? I was stuck. “It wasn’t my plan to leave you feeling like that. I thought I was doing a favor by getting out of your way so you can have time with your daughter.”

He heard me. He listened but he continued to tell his side of things without replying back. “I had a break down, I’m not going to lie. My temper flared, my body was reacting before I thought.” It was amazing how underneath his hard exterior Mitch had soft spots for me. He was the thuggish guy you never hear express themself. “I couldn’t keep you out of my thoughts. When I tried to force you out of my thoughts, you appeared in my dreams. I needed something to keep me occupied.”

He drew quiet for the extension of a minute. He let the quiet soak into the phone. I don’t know if he was letting me grasp what he was dealing with or thinking of what to say next.

I encouraged him to keep talking. I wanted to hear what he experienced.

“Then…” It took him a while but he found his footing back into the discussion. “I got deeper involved with the gang stuff. I sold some drugs here and there, I got a new number, I stayed out of contact with everyone, and-“ His voice cracked from the weight of his problems. He stopped all of a sudden.

“And?” I said carefully. I was trying to get him to speak more. “Say what you are thinking Mitch ‘And what?’ I’m here now.”

“Annnd,” He held it for a second, scared of something. “Don’t judge me… but things were bad for me then, and I went to jail.”

“No judgments made.” I told him when he finished. “I’m not going to judge you. You have been more that a great person to me. It wouldn’t be right.” I was praying that he felt my sincerity.

“Thanks,” Mitch said in a way that sounded like he was picking himself back up. “At those times I thought I was losing my mind. I didn’t know how to handle you being with a sneaky weird guy like Korbyn. I didn’t have a reason to go to school when the break was over so I didn’t go.”

It made me sad to hear him talk like that. Mitch was no softy, and when he talked like this it made me come undone. All these days I had forgot about Mitch. Not one of those days did he forget about me.

Yes, I was thinking that my problems were feeble compared to the misery he had been through. He had an inferno of troubles. At the same time, I felt like I could correlate with him in his frustrating trials.

“I had no idea it was that bad. I don’t even think I can say anything right now.” All I could do was put my hand over my mouth while I laid in my bed shocked. I left him but I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

“It’s cool now. I mean, I took part in my own destruction. I will admit that.”

“How?”

“Because I got drunk and fell for peer pressure from the straight guys.” He went on, taking the bullet when he didn’t have to. “I should have had my own mind then. I should have just been myself and not did anything period. My mistake affected my future. I should have seen that coming.”

“You can’t take the whole blame Mitch.” I sharply said. I couldn’t let him be hard on himself after dealing with all that pain.

“Yes I can,” He said quickly, “and I will.”

“I’m not going to let you take all the blame. I just can’t.” It was so hard to let someone be so noble. He was not even blaming me for this situation. Not even a fraction!

“It’s too late, I already taken the blame for it, I suffered my guilt… and I did it for both of us.”

I lost my words. Nothing was worth saying after he said he did it for ‘us’. He took on my pain and dealt with it. He was like a shield of some sort.

He picked up my silence and started to talk, “Now that we are back talking again. I have been losing my bad ways, and staying free of trouble.” I heard his gentle smile as he spoke. I know that smile anywhere.

“That is a good thing.” I complimented him.

After that I tried getting him to come back to school, it would be nice having Mitch back. He disagreed though.

We switched the topic to my situation at school. Mitch was asking many questions. I could hear his phone shuffling when I explained the reason Korbyn and I broke up on Valentine’s day.

“I have never heard of something like that.” Mitch thought out loud. “It’s pretty dumb though. I think you had every right to ruin those gifts that ho gave him.”

“I know.” I caught myself sounding a little down. I realized I couldn’t sound too sad because Mitch was back in my life. Who knows where we might end up this time… if he still felt like he once did.

“Quick question for you Bray.” He said out of the blue, in his husky sensual tone.

I switch the phone to my left ear, smiling “Okay, go for it.”

“What did that metal-mouth-boy get you for Valentine’s day anyway?” Mitch was prying. It was a serious question however. I had to be honest because Korbyn did give me gifts from the heart. Gifts I still hold at night.

“He laid a rose on the porch for me when I woke up and came outside. He gave me a pair of black underwear with his initials on them. He tried to give me a cupcake but I’m on a salad and granala bar diet.” I named off. Mitch listened intently

“That’s nice, I guess.” He wasn’t liking it. I could hear it.

“There is more.” I shouldn’t bring up the other gifts but he wanted to know so why hold it back now? “He sent a white furry bear with the same brown eyes as mine. It was so romantic, it showed he paid attention to my eyes. He left me a card, a new rose because the one on my porch was showing signs of withering, and a balloon that said: ‘Admiring You!’” I thought I was finished but I had one more thing to add. “Oh, and he stuck a granola bar in the bear’s pouch to make up for the yucky chocolate cupcake he tried to feed me.” I happily ended. “As much as we fought I think he still cared.”

Mitch laughed then his mood shifted from the sad depressed guy to an exuberant light hearted man. “Ummm, yeah,…” he stared off. I don’t know why he was acting so freakish, he sounded like a jealous person trying to act nonchalant.

“What is your deal?” I said feeling a rush coming on.

“Braylon, baby? Is it okay if I call you that?”

A shiver wildly traveled my spine. It had been a long time since he said that. I don’t even know if I could handle being called baby by him without losing it. “I don’t care as long as you answer my question.”

“Cool, cool. So I can tell you something, right?”

“Sure.” I was beginning to worry about him.

“I laid that rose on your porch.” He confessed slowly. My mind went black, and then blank. I didn’t know what to say. “I bought you that bear, that new rose, that granola bar, I even wrote you the card.” He opened up with all the heart he could.

“Wait but… but…” I tried to replay Valentine’s day. It made sense, but some pieces Where missing. “If it was you, how did you do it? I thought Korbyn-“

“No Korbyn didn’t! He doesn’t watch you like I do.” Mitch finalized. “Those were my gifts to you. Although we left off on bad terms, and I was going through my stage of a break down, I couldn’t go without giving you something on Valentine’s Day. I’m surprised you couldn’t tell I sent you that stuff. I pay attention to you even when I’m not at school Braylon. I want you to know that.”

My phone wanted to drop to the floor. My heart sunk. I felt things swimming, and swinging around inside of me. This was a total new outlook. Mitch gave me those gifts! No wonder Korbyn looked at the roses so strange… no wonder the teddy bear smelled so familiar but unfamiliar at the same time.

“How did you do it?”

“C.J. was my eyes since I didn’t want to go to school anymore.” Mitch began to explain with a new alacrity. “C.J. would tell me everything you were doing, everything you wore, what you ate, your little diet and everything. That’s how I knew to put a granola bar inside the bear’s pouch.” Mitch was giving me every detail, and it was matching up. I can’t believe I gave Korbyn his credit. “Early that morning I woke up and dropped that rose off for you. The night before I bought the bear because its eyes were just like yours and I couldn’t pass it by. The red balloon that said: ‘Admiring You!’ was all me.“ He went on.

Before I could ask: ‘how did you leave the bear and balloon?’ he was already answering the question.

“I know what you like. I have been around you long enough, I might not have been there at school, but I was there. I know you probably didn’t want to see me so I gave you my gifts at a distance. That’s why I had C.J. to give my gifts to the student council. He signed your name, and left it there for it to be delivered to you. To be honest, C.J. helped me out a lot.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to think, but I can say thank you for everything. I loved it!” I was talking but still in an amused shock. All these nights I was hugging Mitch’s bear? The same scent the bear held was the same captivating smell I got from Mitch when I saw him at Jason’s party.

One thing I should have known was Korbyn’s scent is way different. Mitch loves the color red. His hoodie, his jaguar. It explains the color of the balloon, the ribbon around the bear’s neck, the roses, it just all made matching sense.

I flashed back to the day I had the rose from my porch in Korbyn’s car. He took credit for it, but he gave a weird look. Everytime I mention it. It never occurred to me until now, that if Korbyn was going to give me something he would do it when we did ‘gift exchange’. (Which he did.)

Knowing that Mitch sent the card was wowing me. It certainly changed things. I remembered the card. It spoke truths about Mitch I was feeling:

“Know in your mind that someone is always thinking about you and most of all, Know in your heart that someone cherishes you.”

 

 

 

I told Jade about who the Valentine gifts really were from. He almost fainted, at the same time, he seemed happier than I was. I wanted to confront Korbyn for lying and taking credit for Mitch’s gifts. I thought about it for hours before I decided to let him off the hook.

It didn’t occur to me until later that: Korbyn seeing me get these unknown gifts is probably why he kept Andrea’s necklace. It would make sense, but I still think it was lame of him. I don’t think it was a good enough excuse to keep a necklace even if it was true.

School was getting better. When lunch time came my alpha spirit was reflated. I came to school encouraged and ready to make a statement. My first idea was I getting my table.

I informed Jade and Korbyn that today would be our day. I charged into the situation believing in myself. Believing that my plan to get my throne back would not fail. Of course Jade tried to give me good counseling. Reminding me of what happened last time we tried to get our table back. Korbyn on the other hand was wondering if I had lost my mind.

What I was thinking, wouldn’t be smart… if I didn’t have some sort of alpha mind set.

On my clique’s arrival Missy and her girl plastics put up the same boring fight. They gave there petty jokes, and tried to make us leave, arguing with us back and forth.

Everyone knew how this ended last time. It was almost like a reenactment of the last scene of me trying to get my table back. I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice no matter what it took. Even if I get squashed by the oversized jocks I won’t backdown.

“Missy, it’s time to get up!” My tone alerting her of danger. I was sick of arguing. She had to move. “You and the other ‘Golden Girls’ have to leave.”

She shook her head, trying to summon her body building jock guys. “I don’t think so.” She put her arm up and her fingers looked like they were about to snap. “We have been through this before. We all know how this ends.”

The guys at the table wearing lettermans, underneath their jackets had bulging muscles that could turn me into cream with one fatal punch. They all waited on the sound of her command. Giving me glares that could start wars. Each of them was still taller than me and the way they out numbered my clique set the intimidation factor into play.

“Snap!” went sound of Missy’s pink nail polished fingers. without hesitation each of the boys at the table stood firm, and giant size over us. i started to feel a bit shaky all of a sudden. I didn’t know if I would be able to face them man to man. It was frightening being in the shadow of athletes who could crush you in seconds.

“Move!!!” The biggest one jumped at me. His boulder sized shoulders flexing. He growled like a grizzly making Jade tremble, and Korbyn take a step back.

I wanted to close my eyes and count to ten hoping it would make him vanish. I wanted to take a step back like Korbyn did, I wanted to run again… but I didn’t. I had to make a statement.

Everyone was laughing about this time the jocks started to step toward me,…

   …

 

“SNAP.” Went my fingers.

I heard noises of students in awe wondering what I could be snapping for. Jade was lost, Korbyn was baffled. I was standing in the way of danger and I was hoping I just bought myself a ticket out.

On the command of my snap C.J., Mitch, and a crowd of other guys from the urban table ran to my rescue. I had my defenses ready. (Yes I was shocked. Yes I was even more shocked to see Mitch back in school.)

All of the Jocks bodies seemed to lose their intimidating muscle. They were looking less angry and more friendly by the time the urban guys made their way over to stand between me and them. I was wondering what was wrong? They didn’t seem to tough now.

I wasn’t backing down. This time I had a plan.

“I have troops too.” I sharply hissed at Missy. She sat there in the seat with her eyes big. I knew she wasn’t expecting me to have a plan or any type of back up.

“Get up.” Krobyn ordered them. “Or this cafeteria gets ugly.”

Mitch stepped in front of me at that point. He pushed me back slightly to stand before the boulder bodied jock who yelled at me earlier.

“We got beef?” Mitch roughly spoke. Ready to attack.

The big jock began to back up after seeing Mitch wasn’t going to toy with him. The other jocks started stepping back too. They knew their place. I’m sure in their minds they were wondering, ‘why did Missy get them involved with this?’ Everyone knows gang violence doesn’t end with fighting.

I knew what Mitch, C.J. and the other urban dudes were capable of.

“No dude we don’t have beef.” The big jock said glancing from side to side backing away. His hands were shifty, he looked out of sorts. “I thought we were cool, Mitch?”

“Yeah, Mitch we haven’t seen you lately where have you been?” another Jock stammered.

“You heard what he said!” Mitch ignored the two jocks who tried to be nice. Walking around them to the table where Missy sat, “GET UP! GET UP! GET UP NOW!” He banged his fist hard against the table scaring Missy and her girls. All of them stood up, after going white in the face from how threating Mitch was being.

It was so terrifying to them that all the girl plastics, and jocks scuttled away like rats. Not even putting up an argument, not even leaving with a sarcastic look. They picked up their purses, jackets, and trays, leaving so fast no one would have thought anyone sat there.

It was good to have troops. After all, they won me back the table. My security was back. I knew that for sure when Mitch winked at me before going back to his table.

Korbyn saw the wink. He said nothing about it because he knew what Mitch did couldn’t be done by him. I know Korbyn wanted to thank Mitch for scaring the Jocks away but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Being that they both wanted the same person.

 

We were attending a schduled meeting at Jade’s house. Thank goodness his mom was not home. Our meeting was long waited for.

When I arrived Jade welcomed us to buttered biscuits that sat on a glass plate in the middle of his dinner table. He gave out tea cups, and poured Korbyn and myself a hot serving of honey tea.

The treat happened to taste delightful. I couldn’t eat anything that was too fattening. Jade let me know before hand I could eat anything sitting on the table. Everything was low calories. He took the liberty of adding up the calories to make sure this was something I could enjoy as we held our meeting. Jade managed to stay inside of my dietary guidelines with this snack of choice.

This is what you would call a ‘tea party’ or a ‘tee party’. (Either way you put it, someone’s tee will be spilled.)

I started the meeting off after reaching for a buttered biscuit putting it on my plate. I had a little bit of gossip that Jade would want to hear.

“You know Mitch told me something you might want to tune into.” I said looking across the table at Jade as he sipped the hot tea.

“About?” Jade’s brown eyes put him at the edge of his seat.

“This concerns your ex.” I threw in watching him grab his chest as if the tea burned his insides. I knew better though. “Yeah, C.J.“

“Oh what is it? If it has to do with him being with a new girl-“

“It’s not what you think.” I stopped him from making an assumption. “I’ll just tell you.” I didn’t have time to have him getting depressed when this wasn’t a situation to worry his pretty face about. “Okay so, Mitch told me, C.J. said ‘he would never date a pill head.’ He isn’t dating Candice. He never was dating Candice.”

“Then why were they always hugged up by his locker?” Jade was going into a fluster.

I didn’t want him to get upset just yet. Not until he heard everything. “To be honest, he was only trying to make a sell. He was trying to keep her buying from his product… that’s what Mitch said, I know Mitch wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

Jade’s skin seemed to fill in brightly. Underneath the shell of anger for Candice I could tell he wanted to smile. “I don’t know if I want to give C.J. a chance anymore. Even if it is all true.” Jade shrugged it away.

Korbyn wasn’t in the conversation. He minded his own business when it came to matters like these. If it wasn’t a situation that affected him directly then he was not going to talk on it. Like I said, he was not a gossiper. He was there for the refreshments of tea and biscuits at this time.

Letting the butter melt on my tongue in the steam of the honey tea. I cleared my throat, feeling my nasal passages opening up more. “Okay, next order of business.” I told them changing the topic. “Does anyone else have any gossip or information they have heard?”

Korbyn shook his head. His golden spiked hair wagging above his head making him seem adorable. “I have nothing as usual.” He glanced down at Jade. “I know you do.”

“Now that you mention it.” Jade smirked setting his tea cup down on the table steadily. “I heard Missy is throwing a party.”

The blood in my veins started to jump. It was exciting news to hear. “Oh really?” I chewed some of my buiscuit. “We just attacked her for the first time. The whole party thing sounds like another opening for another strike.”

“Agreed.” Korbyn said.

“Jade what else do you know concerning this matter?” I inquired for details.

“It will be held at her house on Saturday, around 9:00pm. She has been devastated about the A-list taking back the table. I hear her support for the students at the school fell a lot since you took the table back. So she is throwing a party and inviting anyone who wants to come.”

“Hmm that isn’t like the girl plastics.” Korbyn’s green eyes were concentrated on something in the talk finally. “They normally do the invite only type of parties.”

“Good point.” I picked up on what he was saying. “The only reason this isn’t ‘invite only’ is because we took our table back. Missy is losing the support of the students, and throwing a party is a way to get them on her side. At least to be behind her.” I explained.

They both sat there thinking about what I said. Letting it sink in. I didn’t know if they were lost or just didn’t know what to say.

Korbyn put a finger to his tea cup running it over the rim. “I think the real question here would have to be: Are we going to this party?”

Jade stopped chewing, “That is true.” He thought for a minute, “but I don’t know if going would be a good thing. What if it is a trap? I mean, she already wants the school back on her side. Plus, she has been so unpredictable with her moves.”

Jade had a good point.

In my planning phase I was wondering if it would be best to go so I can strike at her again, or not go because this could be a chance for her to set me up again.

“I don’t think this is a good move for us to attend.” I made the final conclusion. “I want to go and destroy her, but something tells me that wouldn’t be a good idea because she might have something up her sleeve.”

“True.” Jade voiced.

“I feel like that too.” Korbyn followed, staring at me with his eyes digging deep into me, as if he wanted to know if that was really how I felt.

“Great. So we make a pact now. None of us go to that rotten skank’s party. All in favor say, ‘I’.” I was the first to raise my hand and say ‘I.’

“I.” Jade’s hand went up almost as soon as mine did.

“I.” Korbyn said later.

 

Over the week our plan was not to go to the party, at the same time, get less people to go to Missy’s party as possible. How else would it embarrass her if no one showed? That would be a big slap in the face. It would embarrass her like nothing else in the world. I can’t say if we were successful at disinviting the kids at school but it was worth a try.

I for sure know that one person isn’t going. That person being Mitch. He said ‘he wasn’t going if I wasn’t going.’ I know I could count on his word.

I was so set on getting Missy back that I called Mitch and told him to shake Hannah up. Scare her a little.

I was thinking if Mitch and his gang pretended to be after one of the girls, people at school would be too frightened to attend the party. Let’s just say, I was getting more creative with uninviting people.

My mind kept cycling and cycling. With each new cycle my thinking was getting malicious and carless. It came to the point where, I called Mitch again and told him, to scare Hannah in the worst way he knew how.

Mitch, C.J., and a few others waited until late night to start their plan. A time when the streets where quiet, very dark, and the majority of the city slept. He was keeping me informed on the status of his plan. What he was going to do, who was involved, and how it was going to go.

It felt like his gang was my own private military. That type of power at my fingertips was luscious.

Mitch stopped by my house before his big mission. It was terrifying in an unexpected way, to see him huddled in a car with five other guys who I could not recognize. They were all dressed in black. From the shoes, to the black sweat pants, to the black sweaters, all the way to the black ski masks that only showed their eyes.

I was uneasy seeing them at my house at this late hour. It was like I was going to be mauled or held at gun point. I approached the passengers window with my arms folded, trying to keep the night’s cold air at a distant, and also to try not to look frightened around these strange masked gang guys.

I had to remember I was calling their shots. I was the one who was making the rules, not them. Mitch wouldn’t let them hurt me.

The window let down as I bent down a little to look inside. The guy in the passenger seat took his ski mask off… it was only Mitch’s face that came from beneath it. I was so glad it was him.

“I wanted to stop by so you will know that I am really doing this for you.” The indigo blues of his iris’s seemed to glint. It was safe to see him, it put me at ease. he reach a gloved hand out the window, gently touching my elbow. “Hey… why are you so tense?...” He pulled me closer to the car. “Relax. We aren’t going to hurt you. Especially me. Don’t let the black masks fool you.”

His friends in the car snickered behind their creepy ski masks. It was nurturing to hear Mitch say that but it was scary still.

“I’m not… scared.” I shook, feeling the wind making me jitter.

“I just wanted you to wish me luck.” He gave me a smile. His friends began to shift around in the car, like something was making them question, or wonder about our friendship.

“Good luck Mitch.” I said so that his friends would be thrown off his trail. God knows who they would tell if they found out anything about Mitch. God knows what they would do. “Have fun, and scare the living crap out of her.”

He laughed in a deep voice. “I can make that happen.” He stared at me in a daze, not know what to say. Not knowing if what he wanted to say was the right thing to say in front of his crew. “It feels good to help out with your evil schemes.”

I know Mitch wanted to say more, that wasn’t what he wanted to say at all.

Mitch came through with his side of the deal. He did the drive-by on Hannah’s large doll like house. Him and his creepy friends rode by her house, and unloaded paint balls on the windows, shooting the car outside, shooting the doors all with paint ball guns. Her house was splattered in a mess of colors. Something that would take years to clean off.

A decoration of violence. Her house was rained upon by my wrath. She should be happy I didn’t let Mitch use real guns because it could have gotten too messy. Not that I didn’t think about it before hand.

But who knows what I am capable of? Oops.

What am I saying?

This was a social war. Destroying her house and frightening her was enough right?

 

The newspapers had pictures of Hannah’s house plastered everywhere. What once was a beautiful home, looked like a shack now. Hannah’s dad was on the front of the newspaper. He was bald, with aging wrinkles on his face. The drive-by shook him up so bad he was on the cover of the newspaper crying next to Hannah.

The plan was a success. I had finally delivered a strike to her clique.

Korbyn thought that I went too far but who is he to judge me? I’m in control here. If I didn’t make a call soon, we would have been under attack again. I had to punish these whores for their action. They didn’t care about me when I was going through my troubles.

At least Jade agreed with me all the way. I was proud of that.

 

 

The night of Missy’s party, I was at home staring at my ceiling. I tried to keep my mind from wondering what the party was like. I couldn’t wait to see if I scared all of her party goers away.

I wanted this to be an ultimate embarrassment for her. I had to teach her lesson, after lesson, for what she did. It was ten o’clock I know the party was happening. I tried to keep my mind from wondering what was going on at the party. I know her party had the best dance music, the best refreshments, and a gyrating crowd (if my plan to scare them didn’t work.)

I laid there imagining rainbow of lights coloring the dance floor, students mingling, and having a great time.

‘Stop Braylon!’ I had to force myself to stop wondering. I know if I went to Missy’s party, it would be traps waiting for me every step I take. I had to resist this urge. Not only that but Korbyn, Jade, and I all agreed not to go. They would really be questioning my leadership qualities if I went anyway. I couldn’t have that.

Maybe I should call Mitch? Talk to him a little. Maybe he could take me riding around to get this party mess off my mind, or even take me on a date like he did the other day.

It was funny when we went out on a date to celebrate his accomplishment in my plans. He wanted to go to KFC. I wanted laugh in his face but I was trying to be considerate. The date actually turned out better than I thought. I wasn’t used to his way of going out on dates.

Mitch was trying with me. I had never been on a date with him and I didn’t realize it until that day.

He ended up eating the food I didn’t eat, including the rest of his own. Mitch wasn’t on a diet, he didn’t care what he ate, when he ate. He smacked, chewed with his mouth open, burped out loud, and had grease all over his fingers. It was something seen as disgusting to me… but not that night.

I kept telling him: ‘Mitch, could you stop smacking?’, ‘Close your mouth when you chew.’, ‘Don’t suck your fingers.’, ’Wipe your mouth off.’

He would do what I said but after a while he would go back to his eating habits. He did try to apologize when he would catch himself. I could remember his mouth being stuffed while he said, ‘Sorry baby, I can’t help it.’

Something about it wasn’t too disturbing. I guess I saw it as him being his natural self around me. It takes a lot of comfort for someone to be that way.

I didn’t want Mitch to call me, baby. It was something Korbyn called me. When Mitch heard me tell him that he slowed his chewing, and his eyes dropped. I could never forget his expression. That’s another reason I wanted to call him.

He decided to call me his ‘boo’. That title was new for me.

At the end of our date, I wiped his mouth with a napkin. Getting the grease and chicken crumbs off his lips. His only response was, ‘Thank you, boo.’

 

[We want that candy life.

I’d like the candy life.

Could we get a taste of the candy life…]

 

I was instantly torn from my imagination of the other day. My ringtone started playing and before I knew it, I was not at KFC eating chicken with Mitch, I was laying in my bed holding on to the white fluffy bear he gave me.

It was Jade calling.

When I answered, he asked me what song did have for my ringback.

“It’s a song by Lady Gaga. I heard it recently and fell in love with it. I had to set it as my ringback tone.” I told him.

“I heart that song,” Jade said “I have to download it later.”

“I’m sure you did like it. You know I love Lady Gaga’s music.” It was a fact Jade already knew.

Jade was starting to sound antsy. “Yeah, I know. How could I forget.” His breathing started to fasten, “but I have something very important to tell you.” His voice went into a light pant.

What could be wrong?

“What?” I asked him wondering.

“First off, you are not going to believe what I am about to say. So, I’m outside your house right now Bray.” My heart quickened. I didn’t know if he was trying to stalk me, or if he was planning something secretly. “You have to see this to believe it…”

Jade was in no joking manner. His tone was serious. From the sound of his voice, something happened! Something went wrong somewhere!

I rushed to my closet hanging up my cell. Picking out my best areopostale shirt, throwing my shades on the ridge of my head, and yelling to my brother Jason, “I’ll be back soon. Don’t lock me out.”

Within a short span of time I hopped into Jade’s expedition. I couldn’t believe he was outside my house this late. I know it had to be urgent for him to be even out around this time.

Jade buckled and let me buckle up, and we started to drive to God knows where. I know Jade wouldn’t get me stirred up for no reason. He knew me too well. He wouldn’t dare try to make a fool of his alpha.

“Jade you have to give me something, some kind of detail. What is going on? What happened?” I was on the edge of a tantrum from lack of information. My mind kept thinking of the worst case scenarios.

“I would say it.” Jade politely said. “I could come out and tell you everything I know,” he paused his voice thinly spreading through the car’s engine, “but no words can capture this, like seeing it with your own eyes.”

“Jade don’t play a game with me!” I was stressing. It was showing. My foot couldn’t be still. “You have known me for years. You know how I would react if you are messing with me. You know you could be punished for-“

Jade immediately spoke then, “Braylon, you have known me too.” He was sounding soft, and submissive. “I would never get you out of the house at this time for no apparent reason. I am your beta. I am forever in your service.” He took his brown eyes from the road to gaze at me slightly. “You know one day I should come by at this time to pick you up… that is if you would allow me. We do need personal time together.” He focused on the road again. “You know how I feel about you-“

“Jade…”

“But that is another matter entirely.” He tried to say before hearing if I would reject him. “What I have to show you, will make you know I am loyal to you. It will also catch you off guard.”