4. Invitations and secrets

The most exciting detention was over an hour later. I was both thankful and disappointed when Thomas went to help Daphne, the older girl, after he stated that ‘I painted his heart’. Whatever that was supposed to mean in his head.

"What a self-oriented, annoying...like he is made of confidence!" I bit out angrily as I climbed inside Linda's Chevrolet.

"Hi to you, too!" she teased, as a small giggle escaped her. I shot her a serious look which made her continue, "Ok. Who?"

"Like you have to ask. That… Thomas." My face scrunched up in annoyance when his name left my lips. Linda placed a hand on my shoulder and I sighed. A second later, someone unexpected appeared outside my window making me jump in my place.

It was him, of-freaking-course!

He knocked on the glass and bent down slightly to look at me with his perfect invading-my-space smile. I turned to Linda to send her This-is-what-I-was-talking-about look, and she just shrugged at me apologetically. Another knock on my window followed, and I decided to open it, to see what was so important to make the school’s new popular boy come after me in the parking lot.

"Can I help you?" I spoke sarcastically, as I looked at his amused blue eyes.

"Oh, you can do lots of things for me..." He started, making me roll up the window, "Okay! Okay! Wait!" He hurriedly spoke, and his smile faded a little.

"Start talking already!" Anyone could have heard the annoyance in my voice from a mile away.

Look at me, ordering famous people.

"Hi there," he grinned again, seeing Linda in the driver's seat next to me.

My window started closing again, but this time it was Linda,  and I secretly passed her a wide smile.

"Okay, I just want to ask one thing. Wait!" He pleaded, but this time he sounded serious.

The glass was left half-closed, as I waited for him to spill the beans.

"I have a thing tomorrow night at Cherry on top. I am inviting you to come and watch it... Both of you. It's free passing and all," he spoke, and his lips lifted at the edges in the cutest way possible, "I can save you a seat at our table near the stage."

I turned around to look at Linda to seek her opinion, and she just pursed her lips, not helping me one bit. With an exasperated sigh, I turned to him and opened my mouth to reject his offer but stopped when I saw his expression.

"Please? Say you will be there... For support and whatever." He pleaded, with puppy dog eyes which made his irises seem lighter than usual, and his bottom lip jutted out in a pout. 

I bit the inside of my cheek in thought, and finally blew out a puff of air through my nose. I decided to not judge too fast and think over it since it might end up being fun after all.

"Maybe," The uncertainty was clear in my tone, but I was proud of myself for not melting because of his intense gaze.

"So, will you come?" He leaned so close that his face was almost pressed on the car window.

"I guess, you’ll have to wait to see," I teased, with an evil smile on my lips, "Bye now, Alex.” With that, I turned to Linda, "Shall we?"

"Who is Alex?" Thomas questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion. I repeated what I had said to him in my head and mentally facepalmed myself. 

Damn, I talked too fast sometimes. Whatever, it was not offensive… right?

A nervous laugh escaped me and I cleared my throat before answering. "You… I mean you remind me of him. Alex Band… from The Calling?"

He watched me with a confused look, his head tilted to the side making him look like an adorable puppy. I took that as an indication he didn’t get it. I sighed and said the name of their most famous song, to try and spin the wheels in his head.

"The Calling? 'Wherever you go'?" I stated, and he shook his head at me.

"I know who they are… and the song. I have just never had someone say that to me." He explained.

"Ah… Glad to be the first then. Bye, Thomas." I gave him a smile, and he returned it with one of his own cheeky ones.

"See you tomorrow, charming smile."

Linda started the car, and with that we drove away, leaving him behind. I sighed and turned to her.

"Did you see what I am dealing with?"

"Uh-huh, he sure is self-oriented and annoying." She agreed and nodded keeping her eyes on the road.

"You have no idea. He even implied that I have a crush on him and when I told him he is delusional, he said that I WILL have a crush on him. Can you imagine?!" My voice raised by an octave, as I waved my hands around.

"Seeing how he acted just now, I can imagine him saying that," she stated while glancing away from the road. "But I can't imagine you falling for such a douche."

"Uh-huh, he is a womanizer. Totally not something to aim for." I convinced myself out loud.

No matter how enigmatic his blue eyes were, I must admire them from a distance... like a painting or TV. He was not for me, at all.

"Good word for it. 'Womanizer'. He has an interesting T-shirt, though." She laughed, and I joined her. 

Wait until I tell you the story!

"Some popular girl can have him. Maybe a cheerleader? Give it time. They will find each other." I added, but I could feel a lump forming in my throat.

***

I was sitting on my bed with my back leaning on the headboard. ‘Shinedown’ was playing in my headphones, as I painted my next idea for the wall in the corner of the hall. I felt very inspired and was sketching stuff all evening after Linda drove me home.

I told her what Thomas was doing around me, and she only rolled her eyes. She agreed with me that I had to stay away from him. 

He is up to no good! 

She had said this before we switched the topic, and her words kept playing on a loop in my head for the last few hours along with a few of Thomas’s words.  

But you have a crush on me! 

I couldn't stop thinking about the way he stood, the way he leaned on the wall, how he kept his eyes locked on me. I could vividly remember his scent and the minty breath… I shake my head to get rid of these. I couldn’t afford to have my heart broken. I already felt like I had enough of that with a mother who didn't even care enough to come and at least see me. Sometimes, I had forgotten her face and had to go on social media to look at her photos.

I decided to listen to the song that made Thomas's band famous in our town and searched for it on my phone. I couldn't help but like it. I had heard it before, but I really listened to it this time. The lyrics were deep, and the music, catchy and cool. A little light for my taste, but I could still like it. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the headboard, taking in the song.

"... And you knew when you left - you can count on me.

And you lied to yourself, you can't escape from this.

It's who you are, who you should let yourself be.

Come back, your true self you can't dismiss..."

When I think about it, it's not that deep, I thought and sent the link of the song to Linda. She saw it instantly - like she always does - and in a few seconds, she replied to me.

“So, are we going tomorrow?”

“Why would we?”

“The song is not bad. We can have fun and ignore the lead guitar and singer of the band.”

I laughed and knowing me, she sent a laughing emoticon, which I returned followed by a message.

“We can go if you like them, but HE will not ignore me.”

“I do like their music, and I am feeling like clubbing... but if you can't handle it - we can stay home and do homework.”

One hell of a choice she gave me! Of course, I can handle it! Not that I hate his special attention to me, I can resist his pathetic try to seduce me. Eventually, he will give up, right?

"Prepare yourself for a rock night." I wrote to her, and she responded with a dancing emoji.

I got up, tossed my headphones and mobile on the bed. I walked to my wardrobe, wondering what I could possibly wear to a dance club on a rock night.

I had all kinds of band T-shirts with my favorite faces on them, a few black jeans and other black clothes. I liked black, sue me! I brought up one of my T-shirts to my chest to see how it looked. It was like all the others that I owned, just with different pictures on it. Were my clothes boring? I moved the cloth a bit up, revealing my belly button, thinking how I would look with short and revealing tops like those Linda wore.

A crazy idea came to my mind and I exited my room to go to the bathroom. I was about to cut one of my older T-shirts, so it can resemble a short top and needed scissors from the bathroom cabinet. I went inside, got what I came for, and cut the black cloth, ignoring the fact that I might feel sorry for destroying something I loved for so long. When I was done, I got dressed and took my time to get used to seeing my tummy like that. 

Was it ok? Should I cut it more or get the sewing kit?

I turned around a few times and my foot bumped into something. I frowned in confusion then bent down and saw the glittering mobile belonging to Tina. I assumed she had lost it when she was taking a shower or something. 

Grabbing it, I walked down the corridor to go to her room. A foreign feeling invaded my senses, I almost never came here. I knocked a few times and waited for a few moments. When I heard no reply, I walked inside to leave it on her desk. The room was dark, but her laptop was on, giving me enough light to be able to see where I was going. I placed the mobile near her keyboard, but my eyes got fixed on what she was doing on her computer.

She had a picture opened on her social media. The chat window was also opened and a message was written, but not sent. I couldn't help my curiosity and read it. My eyes widened and I almost yelled in surprise, as I realized what was going on. My hand automatically flew to my mouth and I double-checked.

Nope, no mistake there! Holy... mother of...!

The message said, "I never told you what I really think of you. I am not what I let people believe I am. I could show you how loved you can feel and what I can give to you. I can make you really happy… If you let me, I can show you who I really am, but I am so afraid that you will reject me.”

What actually puzzled me wasn't the message, but to whom it was directed, even though it wasn't sent. The picture that was opened, belonged to Emma… Steven's current girlfriend. 

Holy Moly! Who would have thought that Tina was a lesbian?

"What the hell are you doing in my room?! And who gave you permission to look at my things?!"  I heard the angry childish voice of my step-sister, making her presence known.