liar pants on fire. For a second I wonder if Mel will pick up on it the way Kira did. If suddenly I ' m not a good liar anymore and she ' s going to call me on it. Tell me I ' m fake , but she only looks over and smiles.
" I ' m always in a good mood. I have a notebook in the glove box. Can you grab it? " she asks. I put it on her lap , but don ' t put my hand back , feeling wrong all of a sudden.
Lunch isn ' t long enough to eat there , so we grab our food to go. I drive Mel ' s car back so she can eat easier , picking at my own fries as we go. The car is way more silent than it should be , which gives thoughts and memories time to jump around in my head. So don ' t feel like going there. I ' m determined to make this day , hell , all the days after it too , into something better than they ' ve been.
" So , you guys want to do something this weekend? Maybe for the night? I ' m sure I can pull the staying-at Travis ' s-card. " It ' s then the genius of my mind strikes me. This is the perfect plan. I ' m feeling a little weird about what happened with Mom anyway. Sara ' s going to be with Bill. Maybe it will help me and Mel , and Travis and Trina at the same time.
" Can ' t ," Travis says. At the same time , Mel and Trina speak up about some cheer sleepover.
" What? " Anger starts to creep in. " Cheer sleepover? You guys have never done that before , have you? "
" Dude , let ' s plan a team night out! " Travis jumps into the conversation , but I ' m still on the cheer thing.
" Mel , weren ' t you the one saying we never get to see each other? " Wow ... I sound like a girl. What ' s wrong with me? Really , it ' s not even that I care. Do I?
I glance at Mel quickly , seeing if I feel that urge to touch her. Trying to figure out if it ' s really her I want to spend time with or if I ' m a jerk who ' s using her because she gives me the sense of normal I crave.
" It ' s something new Trina and I came up with. We ' re captains this year and we really want to bring the team together. " Mel ' s head is buried in a text on her cell. She looks up at me only to say , " Umm , careful. You ' re going to drip ketchup on my car. "
So , Mel can ' t hang out. My body suddenly relaxes , and I pop the dripping fry in my mouth , not even realizing I ' d been tense at the idea of spending time with her. It ' s like my body and brain are at war with each other. My head is telling me to do whatever I can to make this work because it fits. We fit. But my body? I ' m just not sure I ' m feeling it anymore.
When we get back to school , Trina and Mel go their way , and Trav and I head to English. It ' s not until we ' re almost there that I realize Mel didn ' t kiss me goodbye. Really , it ' s not a big deal , but for her it is. I mean , it wasn ' t too long ago Travis gave me shit about Mel and her leash.
" Is it weird that before we could hardly get two seconds to ourselves and now they want nothing to do with us? "
" Nope. " Travis shakes his head. " It ' s normal. People grow ... change ... get antsy. I ' m pretty sure there ' s an expiration date on all relationships. "
I raise my eyebrows at him , wondering when he figured all this out. When he turned into Mr. Cynical all of a sudden. " And how close are we to ours? "
Travis pats me on the shoulder. " Just about expired , my friend. " He turns and walks into class. In my head , I know he ' s right. I ' m pretty sure we ' re past the expiration date , I ' m just not man enough to clean out the fridge.
***
Mrs. Z ' s praise of my homework gives me a high that carries me to practice. Here , I don ' t need anything else but a ball in my hand and four teammates with me on the floor. When practice is over , Mel and Trina disappear to do whatever it is they ' re doing lately , leaving me and Trav on our own.
" Wanna do something? Tad ' s parents let him move into the room behind their house. People have been going there to chill and stuff. I ' ve been a few times. It ' s crazy. He has a
" I ' m always in a good mood. I have a notebook in the glove box. Can you grab it? " she asks. I put it on her lap , but don ' t put my hand back , feeling wrong all of a sudden.
Lunch isn ' t long enough to eat there , so we grab our food to go. I drive Mel ' s car back so she can eat easier , picking at my own fries as we go. The car is way more silent than it should be , which gives thoughts and memories time to jump around in my head. So don ' t feel like going there. I ' m determined to make this day , hell , all the days after it too , into something better than they ' ve been.
" So , you guys want to do something this weekend? Maybe for the night? I ' m sure I can pull the staying-at Travis ' s-card. " It ' s then the genius of my mind strikes me. This is the perfect plan. I ' m feeling a little weird about what happened with Mom anyway. Sara ' s going to be with Bill. Maybe it will help me and Mel , and Travis and Trina at the same time.
" Can ' t ," Travis says. At the same time , Mel and Trina speak up about some cheer sleepover.
" What? " Anger starts to creep in. " Cheer sleepover? You guys have never done that before , have you? "
" Dude , let ' s plan a team night out! " Travis jumps into the conversation , but I ' m still on the cheer thing.
" Mel , weren ' t you the one saying we never get to see each other? " Wow ... I sound like a girl. What ' s wrong with me? Really , it ' s not even that I care. Do I?
I glance at Mel quickly , seeing if I feel that urge to touch her. Trying to figure out if it ' s really her I want to spend time with or if I ' m a jerk who ' s using her because she gives me the sense of normal I crave.
" It ' s something new Trina and I came up with. We ' re captains this year and we really want to bring the team together. " Mel ' s head is buried in a text on her cell. She looks up at me only to say , " Umm , careful. You ' re going to drip ketchup on my car. "
So , Mel can ' t hang out. My body suddenly relaxes , and I pop the dripping fry in my mouth , not even realizing I ' d been tense at the idea of spending time with her. It ' s like my body and brain are at war with each other. My head is telling me to do whatever I can to make this work because it fits. We fit. But my body? I ' m just not sure I ' m feeling it anymore.
When we get back to school , Trina and Mel go their way , and Trav and I head to English. It ' s not until we ' re almost there that I realize Mel didn ' t kiss me goodbye. Really , it ' s not a big deal , but for her it is. I mean , it wasn ' t too long ago Travis gave me shit about Mel and her leash.
" Is it weird that before we could hardly get two seconds to ourselves and now they want nothing to do with us? "
" Nope. " Travis shakes his head. " It ' s normal. People grow ... change ... get antsy. I ' m pretty sure there ' s an expiration date on all relationships. "
I raise my eyebrows at him , wondering when he figured all this out. When he turned into Mr. Cynical all of a sudden. " And how close are we to ours? "
Travis pats me on the shoulder. " Just about expired , my friend. " He turns and walks into class. In my head , I know he ' s right. I ' m pretty sure we ' re past the expiration date , I ' m just not man enough to clean out the fridge.
***
Mrs. Z ' s praise of my homework gives me a high that carries me to practice. Here , I don ' t need anything else but a ball in my hand and four teammates with me on the floor. When practice is over , Mel and Trina disappear to do whatever it is they ' re doing lately , leaving me and Trav on our own.
" Wanna do something? Tad ' s parents let him move into the room behind their house. People have been going there to chill and stuff. I ' ve been a few times. It ' s crazy. He has a
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