CHAPTER NINE: IF IT WERE ONLY AS SIMPLE AS CONFUSION
Trixie awoke the next day to Linkin Park blasting away from her brother's room across the hall; 'One definite way to tell Mom's done split...' she mused, then looked over to her clock to see what time it was. Oh well, almost time for her to wake up anyway...
She rolled out of bed and landed in a heap on the floor. Trent's CD stopped and her door opened, revealing him peeking around and looking baffled at her being on the floor.
"What are you doing down there?" he asked.
Trixie blinked and looked around, then smiled sheepishly, "Not sure, really... I think I was trying to get out of bed."
Trent laughed, then came in and helped her up, but Trixie could tell that her safety wasn't the only thing on his mind.
"What's up?" she asked knowingly.
He half smiled and sighed, looking up at her drowsily as he sat down on her unmade bed, "Nothing much... just kinda wondering about something."
"Like?..."
"You and Craig..."
Trixie stared up at her ceiling with a sigh, flopping down beside Trent, "Nothing much to wonder about."
"Dude... you two were making out on your bed last night and when he came downstairs, he was walking like a guy who'd just gotten woke up from a really good dream," Trent said, "so yeah, there's definitely something to wonder about."
It was times like this Trixie wished that Trent would stop worrying about her, "Like I said, nothing much to worry about; I'm gonna go get ready."
And with that, Trixie grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom, leaving Trent to go back into his room and turn his music back on while he got ready.
The night before, Craig and Jimmy had come out of Trent's house with Craig talking about Trixie and the kiss. Jimmy thought it was sort of funny, but yet almost questioned the whole thing when Craig talked about her face had gone blank after Trent came in.
"I think I'm seriously gonna ask her to the dance," Craig said with excitement dancing in his voice. "What do you think?"
"Look, just do whatever YOU think would work," Jimmy replied with a grin as he caught a cab, "I'm no "Dear Abby" or anything."
Someone who'd been nearby caught most of what had been said and darted away, a mask of hurt on their face.
Emma went into first period to find a note sitting on her desk. 'Chris?' she wondered... 'No... he doesn't write this neat...'
Dear Emma,
I know you nor I have been the best of people to eachother here as of late, and I know most of that was my fault, and I really wanted to apologize for being such a pain in the ass. Your friendship means a lot to me and I want that back more than anything. Please Emma, give me a second chance?
Yours Truly,
Manny.
Emma started at the note for a moment and wondered. She cast a secretive glance to Manny, who was sitting alone in the corner; she really looked like she could use a real, true friend right now. She knew that if she ever wrote an apology note actually admitting SHE was wrong to someone, she'd certainly want them to consider it. Plus it seemed that Manny had cleaned up a lot this year... With that, she picked up her things and walked over beside Manny.
"No one's perfect, I guess... and everyone deserves a chance for redemption," Emma said with a small smile to Manny.
Manny flashed her 100-watt smile and hugged Emma, "Thank you so much, Emma... you really don't know how much this means to me..."
As Emma hugged back, Manny's grin never left and almost seemed a bit malevolent... but then of course it could've been the lighting...
Toby and JT walked into school, JT seeming a bit confused.
"She never called back or anything," JT said, "I didn't think dress shopping took that long."
Toby smirked, "Well ya gotta remember, most likely if she went with Paige then yeah, it was gonna certainly take awhile."
After first period, Trent walked into Mrs. Kwan's room with Paige and Jimmy. Terri was sitting in her seat and practically jumped out of her seat when she saw Trent coming.
"Trent... um, could I talk to you?" she asked.
Even in Trent's sleepy state, his eyebrow shot up, "Sure, I guess..."
Paige and Jimmy watched as Terri led Trent over to another part of the classroom, Paige smiling.
"Well, looks like someone might've had a change of heart," she said.
Jimmy shrugged a little, "It is possible..."
Terri turned when they had gotten far enough away from everyone else and suddenly took an interest in her sneakers.
"Look... Trent... I know I haven't been the BEST person to you about anything..." Terri began, but Trent cut her off.
"Ter, I understand..."
"Wait - I'm not finished, "Terri smiled, "I'm sorry I've been so distant about... going out and stuff... 'cause I really DO like you and, well... I just hope you'll forgive me and go to the dance with me."
Trent blinked, "Y-you're asking ME to the dance???"
Terri's smile got a little brighter, "Of course; I couldn't think of anyone I'd wanna go with more."
Terri then kissed his cheek and started walking for her seat, leaving him dumbfound for a few more seconds before he got enough sense to go and sit in his seat.
As for Trixie's second period, Miss. Hatzilakos was giving them a class-long test. JT secretly wrote a note and tossed it back-handed at Trixie's desk, praying that it would land where she could see it, but Miss H. couldn't.
Trixie jumped a bit as a small piece of paper landed in her lap; she discreetly unwrapped the paper and read it, in JT's scrawly handwriting:
Can we meet after school and talk?
She smiled a little as she wrote back:
I was gonna ask you the same thing eventually; yeah, I don't have any plans. Meet me by the water fountains, okay?
She tossed it back to him and he got it and read it. He turned back to her with a smile and a wink to let her know he'd gotten the message.
Then, the bell rang and everyone put their test papers up front and filed toward their next classes.
Ellie caught up with Trixie while she was walking along, "Oh, hey El," she said.
"Hey, Trixie; Marco was telling me something rather interesting this morning," Ellie said.
"Like what?" Trixie wondered.
Ellie lowered her voice to a hushed level, "Did you kiss Craig last night?"
Trixie's mouth fell open, but then she closed it and said calmly, "What, did he tell every one of his friends?"
"I dunno, that's hard to say," Ellie replied honestly, "I'll just warn you, like Ashley would if she knew about this; Craig might make a good friend, but I would never trust him as a boyfriend."
Trixie nodded, "Thanks for the advice."
"Not a problem," Ellie smiled a little as she caught up with Sean.
"Hey El; 'sup, Trixie?" he said.
"Not much... well, I guess I'll head on to class, see ya later," Trixie waved to them and started toward her next class, only to see Jay leering at her from his locker. She just held her head high and walked on past, not thinking much of anything about it.
At lunch, Terri and Trent were acting like a couple and Trixie congratulated them on how things were working out. Ellie had come over to sit with them since Sean had checked out early for some reason or another and she was lonely.
Craig was about to come over to their table when Trixie spotted him and quickly excused herself, saying something about going to talk to some other friends.
"Probably JT," Paige said with a smile.
"No doubt about that," Ashley added.
"Why would she be going to see JT? She and Craig seem to have pretty good chemistry," Marco said, but then almost immediately regretted it.
"Wait... she and CRAIG?" Ashley asked.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, "What Marco here is trying to say is that he kissed her last night and he wants to take her to the dance."
"She never said anything about liking Craig," Paige remarked.
"When I asked her about it, she said there wasn't anything to wonder about," Trent added.
"What's up guys?" Craig asked, sitting next to Jimmy.
The girls got silent and slowly got up.
"We're gonna go dump our trash," Hazel said, kissing Jimmy's cheek.
So off the girls went.
Craig looked a bit confused, "What?"
"Dude," Spinner said, "you kiss Trixie once and you're in love with her?"
Craig's eyebrows furrowed together, "Spin, I like her, okay? I never said anything about being in love with her."
"Well you're making it apparent you feel something for her, telling everyone you kissed her and all," Trent pointed out.
"Not everyone... just you guys," Craig gestured to his friends.
"Yeah, but things DO manage to get around," Marco added.
"What, does Ashley know or something?" Craig asked, seeming unphased, "we've sorta gotten past all that you know?"
"I think the point is, don't go around saying too much before you know how she feels," Trent said, "I don't want anything getting started about her if she suddenly decides that she don't like you and goes out with someone else."
Meanwhile, Trixie got over to Emma's table and ducked down behind her, "Howdy."
Emma laughed, "Hey, who're you hiding from?"
"Ah, not hiding really, just avoiding," Trixie grinned, then sat beside her, "hey JT, Tob, Ken!"
"Hey," was chorused from the three. There was another girl there with long dark hair who Trixie hadn't seen before.
"Trixie, this is Manny Santos," Emma introduced, "Manny, Trixie Miller."
"Nice to meet you," Trixie said with a friendly smile.
"You too," Manny replied with a similar smile, starting friendly conversation with her all on her own...
After school that day, Paige asked Trixie if she wanted to go to The Dot with the gang (including Trent and Terri). She declined, saying she was going to meet a friend after school.
"Craig?" Paige wondered.
"Everyone's got that general assumption going, but that's far from the truth," Trixie replied with a small smile, "if you must know, my friend, it's JT."
Paige smiled a little, "Ask him along."
"Nah; I didn't get to talk to him yesterday and he's having some girl trouble, so..." Trixie trailed.
"Okay, gotcha," Paige winked. "Well, have fun!"
"You too, bye Paige."
Trixie adjusted her glasses and walked off to the water fountain to find her mop-top buddy. As she neared it, she could see that he was standing there already and brushed a stray hair out of her face and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
JT turned just in time to see Trixie approaching; as she did, a line to some oldies song that his dad had been listening to in the car on the way to school played through his mind:
Won't you look my way, one before you go,
and my eyes will say, what you ought to know.
Well, you got me standin' deaf and blind.
'Cause I see love as just a state of mind.
And who knows what it is that we might find, if we try...
"Hey JT," she said, stirring him from his thoughts, "so where we going?"
"Uh... wanna go over to my house?" he asked.
"Sure," Trixie shrugged.
"My parent's will be at work til six or so, so we can pretty much do whatever we want, just gotta have the house clean before they get home," JT said with a grin.
Trixie laughed, "Sounds cool."
The gang was at The Dot later all talking and having a good time; before they had gone in, Craig had went by and asked Trent where Trixie was. When Trent said she was with JT, Craig looked a bit confused, but just smiled and thanked him, then went on home.
"Oh my gosh, I SO cannot wait for this dance... has anyone heard what the theme's going to be??" Paige asked.
"I don't know, but I've heard that it's going to be stars or something," Hazel replied.
"Well I heard something about a fall theme," Spinner added.
"Psh, you're ALL wrong 'cause I heard it's supposedly a "night of enchantment" sort of thing," Trent stated.
Terri laughed at their playful arguing; but as she casually glanced out the window, something caught her eye and caused her to gasp a bit louder than she'd meant to.
"What's wrong, Ter?" Trent asked, placing a concerned hand on her back.
"Oh, nothing... just a hiccup... excuse me," she got up and walked calmly to the restroom.
When she got in there, she looked into the mirror for a moment before scolding herself. 'You're just seeing things, Terri, calm down before you worry someone!'
"Terri? Something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost," Paige asked as she came into the restroom beside her and applied lipgloss.
"Oh I'm fine... just some hiccups," Terri replied, hoping that would stop her friend's questioning, which it did.
Jimmy seemed a bit uneasy when Terri walked off and Paige walked off after her.
"What's up, Jimmy?" Hazel wondered.
"I don't know... but something's not just right," Jimmy replied.
"What, with Terri?" Trent asked, "She said she had the hiccups."
"Yeah, but I don't think so..." Jimmy said, his face contorted into a serious mask. "But I won't say anything 'cause I don't know for sure... I just hope Terri would..."
Almost everyone except Trent got what he meant by that, but he decided not to ask.
At JT's, he and Trixie got something to drink and went up to his room to talk for a bit.
Trixie laid on his bed for a moment before she turned to him, sitting in his computer chair. "You know, something rather odd happend to me last night..."
"Like what?" JT asked, getting a sip of his drink and looking at her inquiringly.
"Well, Craig came into my room last night after I got home from shopping; we talked a little bit, then... he kissed me," Trixie explained.
JT's face fell a little, but he caught himself before Trixie could notice, "Really? Hey wow, sounds like someone likes you..." he said, sounding a bit shakier than he'd intended to.
"Yeah... one problem; I'm not sure what to think of him."
Ah, a glimmer of hope. "Whaddya mean?"
"Well..." Trixie smiled a bit as she recalled the kiss, "it was great and all that, the kiss was... really great... and he's cute. But thing is, I don't know him well enough to know if I like him or not, and people have been telling me things about him."
JT nodded, "Yeah, there were a lot of problems with him, Ashley, and Manny."
"Manny?" Trixie seemed a bit surprised.
"Yeah... but anyway, back to what you were saying?"
"Yeah, well... to be honest, I don't think I could ever LIKE him like that, you know? He seems a bit desperate at the moment, plus he's more like someone I'd be best friends with," Trixie said honestly.
JT pretended to be offended, "Then what am I?"
Trixie laughed, "My best friend, of course."
"Oh, by the way... you know all the advice you've been giving me about that girl? Nothing's worked so far," JT said.
"How come?" Trixie wondered.
"Well any time I try anything, it seems like nothing goes right, like she doesn't believe or like me," JT confessed.
Trixie frowned, "Hmm... that's really strange. JT, you're a likeable guy, really, so I don't see how this isn't working for you."
"What should I do?"
Trixie sighed, "Maybe she's not worth your time..."
JT blinked increduously, "What? Not worth my time??? Trixie, this girl means a lot to me, of course she's worth my time!"
"Okay, okay, calm down..."
"Sorry..."
"It's okay; alright, one more operation. This should actually work," she said.
"What is it?..."
Trent got home a few minutes before Trixie did and told her about the odd occurences while they were all at The Dot. She agreed that it seemed a bit odd, but assured him that he shouldn't think too much about it and get some sleep. He was so tired that he agreed and went straight to bed.
Later on in the night, Trixie awoke to an odd noise at her window. 'What the hell?...' she thought to herself. She got up and looked out, seeing JT out on the front lawn, waiting for her to open her window.
"Hey Trix! Come here, I need to talk to you!" he said in a loud whisper.
Trixie sighed and wiped her tired eyes, "Hang on..."
She straightened her ponytail and wiped at her sleep-smudged eyeliner and decided she didn't look completely grotesque and slipped on a pair of jeans over her sleep shorts and walked downstairs and out the front door.
Seeing JT standing over by their storage building, she walked over to him, "Sorry I look so sloppy, but this is what's expected of someone who's just got woke up and is only haf concious, now what do you want?"
JT couldn't help but chuckle at her ramble, "No Trix, the just-got-up look actually goes for you."
"Haha very funny, what's the deal?"
"I was being serious... you actually look kinda pretty without so much makeup... not like you weren't pretty with it or something," JT added quickly.
"Okay? JT, what did you wake me up for?" Trixie asked, seeming to be loosing her patience.
He blinked and for once, Trixie saw nervousness in his eyes as he reached up and brushed a stray hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, "Trix, I... I like you."
Trixie's green eyes widened a little bit, but then they crinkled in laughter, "Oh man, that was a good one!"
"What? Trixie, I'm being serious! I'm not kidding!" JT said, not caring to let his frustration show.
Trixie stopped laughing and stared into his eyes, "Wait... what happened to the other girl?"
"YOU were the girl, Trixie! I liked - like - YOU!" JT said.
Trixie's stare then went down to the ground and she chewed her lip nervously, "I never noticed..."
"Well I do; and I tried everything, but you only took it as a joke. I was about to give up, but I got advice from someone else and knew I had to keep trying," JT said honestly. "Trixie, I've gone this far, done all this to try and prove that I like you and have felt like it was all a waste. But now I've actually come out and said it, so I hope you'll at least consider being my girlfriend and going to the dance with me."
Trixie was unsure how to respond to thisand it was apparent on her face that she was thinking this.
"Take all the time you need... I'm willing to wait," JT said sweetly, then walked a step closer to her and kissed her cheek softly, looking into her eyes once and then turning to walk away.
Trixie stood there in her driveway for a moment, looking up at the moon and trying to make sense of what had just happened. But it all became clearer in that split second than anything else in her life...
She liked JT...
"JT, wait!" she called, sprinting after him.
When he turned around, she was standing there; she wrapped her arms around his neck and gently kissed his lips.
"You don't have to wait anymore; I've put you through enough waiting," she said with a smile.
JT smiled the biggest smile she'd ever seen him smile as he cupped her cheek with his hand and kissed her once more, "I'll see you tomorrow, Trix."
"Night, JT," she said, walking back up to the house. When she got inside, Trent was sitting on the couch arm with a smirk.
"I knew it," he said with a sneaky, yet sleepy grin.
"Oh shut up and go to bed," Trixie replied roughly, but smiled, knowing she wasn't and couldn't be angry at her twin. "Goodnight."
Trixie awoke the next day to Linkin Park blasting away from her brother's room across the hall; 'One definite way to tell Mom's done split...' she mused, then looked over to her clock to see what time it was. Oh well, almost time for her to wake up anyway...
She rolled out of bed and landed in a heap on the floor. Trent's CD stopped and her door opened, revealing him peeking around and looking baffled at her being on the floor.
"What are you doing down there?" he asked.
Trixie blinked and looked around, then smiled sheepishly, "Not sure, really... I think I was trying to get out of bed."
Trent laughed, then came in and helped her up, but Trixie could tell that her safety wasn't the only thing on his mind.
"What's up?" she asked knowingly.
He half smiled and sighed, looking up at her drowsily as he sat down on her unmade bed, "Nothing much... just kinda wondering about something."
"Like?..."
"You and Craig..."
Trixie stared up at her ceiling with a sigh, flopping down beside Trent, "Nothing much to wonder about."
"Dude... you two were making out on your bed last night and when he came downstairs, he was walking like a guy who'd just gotten woke up from a really good dream," Trent said, "so yeah, there's definitely something to wonder about."
It was times like this Trixie wished that Trent would stop worrying about her, "Like I said, nothing much to worry about; I'm gonna go get ready."
And with that, Trixie grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom, leaving Trent to go back into his room and turn his music back on while he got ready.
The night before, Craig and Jimmy had come out of Trent's house with Craig talking about Trixie and the kiss. Jimmy thought it was sort of funny, but yet almost questioned the whole thing when Craig talked about her face had gone blank after Trent came in.
"I think I'm seriously gonna ask her to the dance," Craig said with excitement dancing in his voice. "What do you think?"
"Look, just do whatever YOU think would work," Jimmy replied with a grin as he caught a cab, "I'm no "Dear Abby" or anything."
Someone who'd been nearby caught most of what had been said and darted away, a mask of hurt on their face.
Emma went into first period to find a note sitting on her desk. 'Chris?' she wondered... 'No... he doesn't write this neat...'
Dear Emma,
I know you nor I have been the best of people to eachother here as of late, and I know most of that was my fault, and I really wanted to apologize for being such a pain in the ass. Your friendship means a lot to me and I want that back more than anything. Please Emma, give me a second chance?
Yours Truly,
Manny.
Emma started at the note for a moment and wondered. She cast a secretive glance to Manny, who was sitting alone in the corner; she really looked like she could use a real, true friend right now. She knew that if she ever wrote an apology note actually admitting SHE was wrong to someone, she'd certainly want them to consider it. Plus it seemed that Manny had cleaned up a lot this year... With that, she picked up her things and walked over beside Manny.
"No one's perfect, I guess... and everyone deserves a chance for redemption," Emma said with a small smile to Manny.
Manny flashed her 100-watt smile and hugged Emma, "Thank you so much, Emma... you really don't know how much this means to me..."
As Emma hugged back, Manny's grin never left and almost seemed a bit malevolent... but then of course it could've been the lighting...
Toby and JT walked into school, JT seeming a bit confused.
"She never called back or anything," JT said, "I didn't think dress shopping took that long."
Toby smirked, "Well ya gotta remember, most likely if she went with Paige then yeah, it was gonna certainly take awhile."
After first period, Trent walked into Mrs. Kwan's room with Paige and Jimmy. Terri was sitting in her seat and practically jumped out of her seat when she saw Trent coming.
"Trent... um, could I talk to you?" she asked.
Even in Trent's sleepy state, his eyebrow shot up, "Sure, I guess..."
Paige and Jimmy watched as Terri led Trent over to another part of the classroom, Paige smiling.
"Well, looks like someone might've had a change of heart," she said.
Jimmy shrugged a little, "It is possible..."
Terri turned when they had gotten far enough away from everyone else and suddenly took an interest in her sneakers.
"Look... Trent... I know I haven't been the BEST person to you about anything..." Terri began, but Trent cut her off.
"Ter, I understand..."
"Wait - I'm not finished, "Terri smiled, "I'm sorry I've been so distant about... going out and stuff... 'cause I really DO like you and, well... I just hope you'll forgive me and go to the dance with me."
Trent blinked, "Y-you're asking ME to the dance???"
Terri's smile got a little brighter, "Of course; I couldn't think of anyone I'd wanna go with more."
Terri then kissed his cheek and started walking for her seat, leaving him dumbfound for a few more seconds before he got enough sense to go and sit in his seat.
As for Trixie's second period, Miss. Hatzilakos was giving them a class-long test. JT secretly wrote a note and tossed it back-handed at Trixie's desk, praying that it would land where she could see it, but Miss H. couldn't.
Trixie jumped a bit as a small piece of paper landed in her lap; she discreetly unwrapped the paper and read it, in JT's scrawly handwriting:
Can we meet after school and talk?
She smiled a little as she wrote back:
I was gonna ask you the same thing eventually; yeah, I don't have any plans. Meet me by the water fountains, okay?
She tossed it back to him and he got it and read it. He turned back to her with a smile and a wink to let her know he'd gotten the message.
Then, the bell rang and everyone put their test papers up front and filed toward their next classes.
Ellie caught up with Trixie while she was walking along, "Oh, hey El," she said.
"Hey, Trixie; Marco was telling me something rather interesting this morning," Ellie said.
"Like what?" Trixie wondered.
Ellie lowered her voice to a hushed level, "Did you kiss Craig last night?"
Trixie's mouth fell open, but then she closed it and said calmly, "What, did he tell every one of his friends?"
"I dunno, that's hard to say," Ellie replied honestly, "I'll just warn you, like Ashley would if she knew about this; Craig might make a good friend, but I would never trust him as a boyfriend."
Trixie nodded, "Thanks for the advice."
"Not a problem," Ellie smiled a little as she caught up with Sean.
"Hey El; 'sup, Trixie?" he said.
"Not much... well, I guess I'll head on to class, see ya later," Trixie waved to them and started toward her next class, only to see Jay leering at her from his locker. She just held her head high and walked on past, not thinking much of anything about it.
At lunch, Terri and Trent were acting like a couple and Trixie congratulated them on how things were working out. Ellie had come over to sit with them since Sean had checked out early for some reason or another and she was lonely.
Craig was about to come over to their table when Trixie spotted him and quickly excused herself, saying something about going to talk to some other friends.
"Probably JT," Paige said with a smile.
"No doubt about that," Ashley added.
"Why would she be going to see JT? She and Craig seem to have pretty good chemistry," Marco said, but then almost immediately regretted it.
"Wait... she and CRAIG?" Ashley asked.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, "What Marco here is trying to say is that he kissed her last night and he wants to take her to the dance."
"She never said anything about liking Craig," Paige remarked.
"When I asked her about it, she said there wasn't anything to wonder about," Trent added.
"What's up guys?" Craig asked, sitting next to Jimmy.
The girls got silent and slowly got up.
"We're gonna go dump our trash," Hazel said, kissing Jimmy's cheek.
So off the girls went.
Craig looked a bit confused, "What?"
"Dude," Spinner said, "you kiss Trixie once and you're in love with her?"
Craig's eyebrows furrowed together, "Spin, I like her, okay? I never said anything about being in love with her."
"Well you're making it apparent you feel something for her, telling everyone you kissed her and all," Trent pointed out.
"Not everyone... just you guys," Craig gestured to his friends.
"Yeah, but things DO manage to get around," Marco added.
"What, does Ashley know or something?" Craig asked, seeming unphased, "we've sorta gotten past all that you know?"
"I think the point is, don't go around saying too much before you know how she feels," Trent said, "I don't want anything getting started about her if she suddenly decides that she don't like you and goes out with someone else."
Meanwhile, Trixie got over to Emma's table and ducked down behind her, "Howdy."
Emma laughed, "Hey, who're you hiding from?"
"Ah, not hiding really, just avoiding," Trixie grinned, then sat beside her, "hey JT, Tob, Ken!"
"Hey," was chorused from the three. There was another girl there with long dark hair who Trixie hadn't seen before.
"Trixie, this is Manny Santos," Emma introduced, "Manny, Trixie Miller."
"Nice to meet you," Trixie said with a friendly smile.
"You too," Manny replied with a similar smile, starting friendly conversation with her all on her own...
After school that day, Paige asked Trixie if she wanted to go to The Dot with the gang (including Trent and Terri). She declined, saying she was going to meet a friend after school.
"Craig?" Paige wondered.
"Everyone's got that general assumption going, but that's far from the truth," Trixie replied with a small smile, "if you must know, my friend, it's JT."
Paige smiled a little, "Ask him along."
"Nah; I didn't get to talk to him yesterday and he's having some girl trouble, so..." Trixie trailed.
"Okay, gotcha," Paige winked. "Well, have fun!"
"You too, bye Paige."
Trixie adjusted her glasses and walked off to the water fountain to find her mop-top buddy. As she neared it, she could see that he was standing there already and brushed a stray hair out of her face and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
JT turned just in time to see Trixie approaching; as she did, a line to some oldies song that his dad had been listening to in the car on the way to school played through his mind:
Won't you look my way, one before you go,
and my eyes will say, what you ought to know.
Well, you got me standin' deaf and blind.
'Cause I see love as just a state of mind.
And who knows what it is that we might find, if we try...
"Hey JT," she said, stirring him from his thoughts, "so where we going?"
"Uh... wanna go over to my house?" he asked.
"Sure," Trixie shrugged.
"My parent's will be at work til six or so, so we can pretty much do whatever we want, just gotta have the house clean before they get home," JT said with a grin.
Trixie laughed, "Sounds cool."
The gang was at The Dot later all talking and having a good time; before they had gone in, Craig had went by and asked Trent where Trixie was. When Trent said she was with JT, Craig looked a bit confused, but just smiled and thanked him, then went on home.
"Oh my gosh, I SO cannot wait for this dance... has anyone heard what the theme's going to be??" Paige asked.
"I don't know, but I've heard that it's going to be stars or something," Hazel replied.
"Well I heard something about a fall theme," Spinner added.
"Psh, you're ALL wrong 'cause I heard it's supposedly a "night of enchantment" sort of thing," Trent stated.
Terri laughed at their playful arguing; but as she casually glanced out the window, something caught her eye and caused her to gasp a bit louder than she'd meant to.
"What's wrong, Ter?" Trent asked, placing a concerned hand on her back.
"Oh, nothing... just a hiccup... excuse me," she got up and walked calmly to the restroom.
When she got in there, she looked into the mirror for a moment before scolding herself. 'You're just seeing things, Terri, calm down before you worry someone!'
"Terri? Something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost," Paige asked as she came into the restroom beside her and applied lipgloss.
"Oh I'm fine... just some hiccups," Terri replied, hoping that would stop her friend's questioning, which it did.
Jimmy seemed a bit uneasy when Terri walked off and Paige walked off after her.
"What's up, Jimmy?" Hazel wondered.
"I don't know... but something's not just right," Jimmy replied.
"What, with Terri?" Trent asked, "She said she had the hiccups."
"Yeah, but I don't think so..." Jimmy said, his face contorted into a serious mask. "But I won't say anything 'cause I don't know for sure... I just hope Terri would..."
Almost everyone except Trent got what he meant by that, but he decided not to ask.
At JT's, he and Trixie got something to drink and went up to his room to talk for a bit.
Trixie laid on his bed for a moment before she turned to him, sitting in his computer chair. "You know, something rather odd happend to me last night..."
"Like what?" JT asked, getting a sip of his drink and looking at her inquiringly.
"Well, Craig came into my room last night after I got home from shopping; we talked a little bit, then... he kissed me," Trixie explained.
JT's face fell a little, but he caught himself before Trixie could notice, "Really? Hey wow, sounds like someone likes you..." he said, sounding a bit shakier than he'd intended to.
"Yeah... one problem; I'm not sure what to think of him."
Ah, a glimmer of hope. "Whaddya mean?"
"Well..." Trixie smiled a bit as she recalled the kiss, "it was great and all that, the kiss was... really great... and he's cute. But thing is, I don't know him well enough to know if I like him or not, and people have been telling me things about him."
JT nodded, "Yeah, there were a lot of problems with him, Ashley, and Manny."
"Manny?" Trixie seemed a bit surprised.
"Yeah... but anyway, back to what you were saying?"
"Yeah, well... to be honest, I don't think I could ever LIKE him like that, you know? He seems a bit desperate at the moment, plus he's more like someone I'd be best friends with," Trixie said honestly.
JT pretended to be offended, "Then what am I?"
Trixie laughed, "My best friend, of course."
"Oh, by the way... you know all the advice you've been giving me about that girl? Nothing's worked so far," JT said.
"How come?" Trixie wondered.
"Well any time I try anything, it seems like nothing goes right, like she doesn't believe or like me," JT confessed.
Trixie frowned, "Hmm... that's really strange. JT, you're a likeable guy, really, so I don't see how this isn't working for you."
"What should I do?"
Trixie sighed, "Maybe she's not worth your time..."
JT blinked increduously, "What? Not worth my time??? Trixie, this girl means a lot to me, of course she's worth my time!"
"Okay, okay, calm down..."
"Sorry..."
"It's okay; alright, one more operation. This should actually work," she said.
"What is it?..."
Trent got home a few minutes before Trixie did and told her about the odd occurences while they were all at The Dot. She agreed that it seemed a bit odd, but assured him that he shouldn't think too much about it and get some sleep. He was so tired that he agreed and went straight to bed.
Later on in the night, Trixie awoke to an odd noise at her window. 'What the hell?...' she thought to herself. She got up and looked out, seeing JT out on the front lawn, waiting for her to open her window.
"Hey Trix! Come here, I need to talk to you!" he said in a loud whisper.
Trixie sighed and wiped her tired eyes, "Hang on..."
She straightened her ponytail and wiped at her sleep-smudged eyeliner and decided she didn't look completely grotesque and slipped on a pair of jeans over her sleep shorts and walked downstairs and out the front door.
Seeing JT standing over by their storage building, she walked over to him, "Sorry I look so sloppy, but this is what's expected of someone who's just got woke up and is only haf concious, now what do you want?"
JT couldn't help but chuckle at her ramble, "No Trix, the just-got-up look actually goes for you."
"Haha very funny, what's the deal?"
"I was being serious... you actually look kinda pretty without so much makeup... not like you weren't pretty with it or something," JT added quickly.
"Okay? JT, what did you wake me up for?" Trixie asked, seeming to be loosing her patience.
He blinked and for once, Trixie saw nervousness in his eyes as he reached up and brushed a stray hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, "Trix, I... I like you."
Trixie's green eyes widened a little bit, but then they crinkled in laughter, "Oh man, that was a good one!"
"What? Trixie, I'm being serious! I'm not kidding!" JT said, not caring to let his frustration show.
Trixie stopped laughing and stared into his eyes, "Wait... what happened to the other girl?"
"YOU were the girl, Trixie! I liked - like - YOU!" JT said.
Trixie's stare then went down to the ground and she chewed her lip nervously, "I never noticed..."
"Well I do; and I tried everything, but you only took it as a joke. I was about to give up, but I got advice from someone else and knew I had to keep trying," JT said honestly. "Trixie, I've gone this far, done all this to try and prove that I like you and have felt like it was all a waste. But now I've actually come out and said it, so I hope you'll at least consider being my girlfriend and going to the dance with me."
Trixie was unsure how to respond to thisand it was apparent on her face that she was thinking this.
"Take all the time you need... I'm willing to wait," JT said sweetly, then walked a step closer to her and kissed her cheek softly, looking into her eyes once and then turning to walk away.
Trixie stood there in her driveway for a moment, looking up at the moon and trying to make sense of what had just happened. But it all became clearer in that split second than anything else in her life...
She liked JT...
"JT, wait!" she called, sprinting after him.
When he turned around, she was standing there; she wrapped her arms around his neck and gently kissed his lips.
"You don't have to wait anymore; I've put you through enough waiting," she said with a smile.
JT smiled the biggest smile she'd ever seen him smile as he cupped her cheek with his hand and kissed her once more, "I'll see you tomorrow, Trix."
"Night, JT," she said, walking back up to the house. When she got inside, Trent was sitting on the couch arm with a smirk.
"I knew it," he said with a sneaky, yet sleepy grin.
"Oh shut up and go to bed," Trixie replied roughly, but smiled, knowing she wasn't and couldn't be angry at her twin. "Goodnight."