How You Are

I guess this is it. I guess this is what its like to break up. It kinda sucks, you know, to break up. But the worse part of it is like, having to tell people. Just to be like, "we broke up" so everyone would go…aw…poor you.

I hate that.

            "Really? Tell me; was there a lot of yelling?" Rayanne's hyped up voice filled Angela's room.

            "Rayanne!" Angela exclaimed, covering her head with her hands.

            "What?" She said, looking around cluelessly and popping another piece of candy in her mouth. "I mean, c'mon, you should have made a big show about it at least." Rickie walked over to the bed and sat next to Angela.

            "Do you miss him?" He asked softly. Angela groaned and rolled over onto her back.

            "No!" She exclaimed. "Yes…maybe. Sort of."

            "Ah…" Rayanne said, nodding, "You miss the making out don't you?" She said, turning to stare at her friend. "Don't you?" Angela rolled her eyes and sat up.

            "It's not like that, guys. It's not. It's just like…to have something…like, ok; we know that the first president was Washington."

            "Really?" Rayanne said. "I thought it was Lincoln." She replied carelessly, eating another piece of candy. Rickie rolled his eyes. Angela turned to Rickie instead.

            "Well it's like…to one day someone would be like…no…the first President was Jefferson." Rickie thought about it for a second.

            "Who is Jefferson?" Rayanne asked.

            "He wrote the declaration of independence…?" Rickie said, trying to ring a bell.

            "The Declaration of what?" Rayanne asked, and then burst out laughing at the looks her friends were giving her. "Please! God, I'm 15, I know what that is! You should have seen the looks on your faces!" She exclaimed, laughing. "I'm like, not Catalano, you know." Angela stopped laughing while Rayanne continued. "You know…like those guys…who make the snow?!" She mocked. Rickie burst out laughing and Angela watched her friends, slowly beginning to chuckle as well.

            So maybe I was better off without him. I mean...what kind of relationship did we have anyway? It was like...2 words we said to each other...and besides, when I kissed him he always tasted like cigarette smoke.

That illegal...foreign taste...

            "Angela!" Rayanne's voice snapped Angela to attention.

            "Yes?" She said calmly, still staring out into space. They were perched on the sinks in the girl's bathroom; just a few minutes before everyone would come bounding in for their fifth period make up touch ups. Rayanne was applying some more fuchsia lipstick.

            "So anyway, Tino, he was like...sure I'll get you into this club, but the bouncers won't check ID on Tuesdays cause like...no one goes to clubs on Tuesdays."
            "So then what's the point of going?" Rickie asked, sitting on the ventilator. Rayanne rolled her eyes.

            "Duh! To be in the club. This isn't just a club, Rickie!" She said, dramatically jumping off the sink and walking towards him. "This is the club. The club of the entire state of Pennsylvania!" Rickie and Angela both began to laugh. "So what does Tino do, he gets caught with our fake ID's and so the bouncer wouldn't like, let us in, so he chased us down the street," Rayanne noticed some girls going into the bathroom. "we got in the car, and then the police started chasing us, okay, and then the only way we could lose them is if we jumped this bridge, right," Rickie and Angela exchanged glances.. "So we did it. And the cops just stopped and watched us. And then we went home." She said, shrugging. Now there were almost five girls staring blankly at Rayanne, one of them Sharon. After the girls began gossiping, Sharon approached the trio.

            "So what really happened?" She asked. Rayanne turned around and grabbed her bag.

            "Guess you'll never know!" She said, leaving.

            "Hey Sharon," Angela said, following Rayanne. Rickie nodded to her, also following.

            "Bye." She said, watching them leave.

            "So anyway," Rayanne said again, now walking down the hall, "What happened was, the bouncer chased us down the street and he was like, "Now you kids don't never come back!" She said, impersonating an old fat man with a deep voice. Angela walked up to her locker, but Jordan got there first. She turned around, sighing. Rickie and Rayanne watched silently.

            "Sorry. I just need to get a book." Jordan said, watching Angela for a reaction.

            "Fine. Whatever." She said shortly. Jordan grabbed the book and stared at her, keeping a hand on the locker door.

            "Hey...I don't know what actually went down the other night..." He began "But like, maybe you'd want to still come to practice tonight. I wrote this other song..."
            "Is it about your car?" Angela cut off, wondering why she was being so bitter.     

            "No," He stated brusquely. He looked down at her, searching for something, but her eyes wouldn't lock on his. "So, I'll pick you up at eight...?" He said, walking away, leaving the statement as sort of a question. Angela merely glanced at him.

            "Well count me out. I'm not going to another band practice." Rayanne said once he left. Angela looked pleadingly at Rickie.

            "You went last time!" She whined.

            "Okay..." He said. "I'll meet you there."

            "You're the best," Angela said thankfully. She shut her locker and they walked away, while Brian Krackow watched from a distance.

I thought breaking up was something like what happened to Sharon and her boyfriend, lots of yelling, a definite problem that needed to be resolved, means for a big fight. But 'breaking up' with Jordan…it was confusing and sweet...

I guess that like, even breaking up with Jordan Catalono is mysterious and unpredictable.