Part 3: A Matter of Trust
"In your…opinion, what was the cause of Desdemona's death?" Mr. Katimski leaned back on his desk and folded his arms, sounding genuinely interested in our responses.
As usual, most of the class didn't even hear his question, let alone understand what he was talking about.
I fiddled with my pen and looked down at my copy of Othello. The play was romantic in a tragic sort of way. Like the part where Desdemona blames herself for her death, even though Othello was the one that murdered her. I cried when I read it.
Also as usual, Brian was the first to speak up. "Jealousy. Othello was jealous of Cassio. Desdemona should have realized it and stayed away from him. Instead, she made it worse."
I frowned faintly at his analysis. Desdemona was a victim. Iago was the one at fault. He manipulated the other characters and the circumstances to incriminate Desdemona when she was, in fact, innocent.
"That's very good Brian. Anyone else? Oh, come on class. No one has a different opinion?" Mr. Katimski scanned our faces and I dropped my eyes. "Very well. I want you all to re-read Act 5 for homework.
The bell rang and I eased out of my seat, scooping up my folder, books and pens and dumping them in my backpack. Someone sat on top of the desk next to mine and I looked over and smiled at Jordan.
"Hey," he yawned, rubbing the back of his head.
I laughed quietly at his sleepy expression. "Were you awake for any of the lesson?"
He frowned, but his protests were swallowed in another yawn. He shrugged, "The first few minutes. Anyways, we're on for tonight, right?"
I blinked and tried to remember what we'd planned for Friday night.
Jordan raised his eyebrows and I suddenly recalled him telling me about Tino's party at the beginning of the week. I hit my forehead with my palm, "Oh no, I completely forgot."
"But you can still come, right?" He looked at me expectantly.
The truth was I had no idea. My mom's moods were anything but predictable lately. But I couldn't disappoint Jordan, not when he'd actually asked me to go with him in advance. "Yeah, I think so. I'll have to check, but I don't think it'll be a problem."
The corners of his lips curved up in a smile. "Good," he said with satisfaction.
I followed him out of the classroom and found Sharon waiting for me. The usual awkward moment occurred where they both eyed each other with annoyance and slight dislike, both reluctant to back down to the other.
Jordan's attention was suddenly drawn down the hall where a group of his friends had just rounded the corner. He glanced back at me distractedly, "So I'll see you tonight?"
"I thought you were giving me a ride home."
Jordan clasped his hands together and shifted from foot to foot, darting a look at Sharon who pretended not to be listening. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. The band's having a rehearsal right after school today, so I won't be able to give you a ride."
"Oh." I frowned, more curious than bothered. "Well, that's cool. I can just catch the bus."
He nodded and stepped closer, bending slightly to kiss me. But just before he did he seemed to remember Sharon and quickly straightened. Jordan licked his lips and tucked my hair behind my ear, murmuring, "I'll pick you up at 8."
I smiled and watched him rush to catch up with his friends. I turned back to Sharon in time to catch her rolling her eyes. I laughed and mock-glared. "Shut up."
She sighed and shook her head at me, and we continued on to our next class.
At a Café
"Patty, you have got to talk to Graham." Camille Cherski said, jabbing the air with her fork.
Patty shook her head determinedly. "No. There's nothing to talk to him about. He'll just think I'm being possessive and jealous for no reason."
Camille gave her a dry look, "Look, it's good that you're supportive of this restaurant idea. But he is spending way too much time with that Hallie person."
Patty ate several more forkfuls of salad before addressing Camille again. "Nothing is going on between him and Hallie." She raised a finger to still her friend's protests. "Camille, I trust him."
Camille raised her eyebrows but nodded slowly, accepting the answer.
At School
"Are you sure you can't come?" I followed Rickie around the backstage area.
"Megan, Darcy's costume needs hung in the left rack." He pointed towards the correct area and then marked something down on a clipboard. I waited patiently for him to look back at me. "Angela look, you know I would just be a third wheel. Why is it so important that I come?"
I played with the ends of my sleeves. "I just…I'm going to a party with Jordan." I widened my eyes and made a face to try to convey my feelings about the concept. "And all his friends will be there, so…you know. I just don't want to seem clingy."
He nodded slowly, smiling half-heartedly. "So you figured if I were there you would have someone else to hang out with."
"Well…yeah, I guess."
Rickie sighed. "I'm sorry, but I really can't go tonight. Our Town is next week and there's still all this work to do. What about Sharon?"
"She's gonna come to my house to help me get ready, but it's not really her type of party…"
His nod was distracted. "Yeah, I guess not. No, Rachel, it needs to be more green!" He patted me on the shoulder with a final apology and walked quickly over to the props.
I sighed and adjusted my backpack, reluctantly turning away.
I dropped down into the bus seat and leaned my head back.
"Excuse me. I said, excuse me! Ow! That was my foot you jerk!" The seat moved as Sharon sat heavily down next to me. She scowled and rubbed at her foot, muttering angrily under her breath. "I hate the bus. I cannot wait until I can drive."
"I thought you already have your permit." I said questioningly.
"Well, yeah. Not like it does me any good. I meant drive as in, by myself, with my own car. Never having to take the bus ever again." A scrawny freshman in the front of the bus started yelling out the window to his friends. Sharon leaned forward to snap at him but pulled a disgusted face and jerked her hands away from the seat, a wad of gum still sticking to her palm. "Oh that is so gross."
I turned my face towards the window to hide my grin. Outside the bus, the parking lot was crowded with parents picking up their kids, freshman leaving on their bikes and the upperclassman driving off in their own cars, each group linked in their desperate desire to leave Liberty High. Like prisoners breaking free, I reflected.
I heard the bus doors shut and the outside world began to slide past. I jerked forward suddenly as we came to an abrupt stop and the doors re-opened. Everyone glared as an out of breath and very red-faced Brian Krakow walked down the aisle, apologizing.
He sat down in the seat behind us and Sharon rolled her eyes at him. Abruptly she turned back to me and said, "So look, Angela. I've been meaning to ask you. You know how Our Town is next week? You're going right?"
I just looked at her and she sighed, "Oh, come on. After all the work you've put into it, and all the work Rickie has put into it, you're just not going to go?"
"Well, that was the idea." I shrugged and turned back to the window, subtly hinting to her to drop the subject. Unfortunately Sharon doesn't understand subtle.
"Angela. We all know you're still mad at Rayanne. I know it, she knows it, gosh even Krakow here knows it." Brian quickly lifted his head. "But I need you to go, Angela."
The desperation in her tone was evident and narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Why?"
Sharon licked her lips. "Alright you know John, the writer for the yearbook? Well, see he came in today and it turns out that his grandparents are having their 50th wedding anniversary next week. Though God knows why that's important enough to skip a week of school over but-"
"She wants you to write a review for the play." Brian interrupted.
She turned around and glared at him. "Excuse me, but who gave you permission to join this conversation?"
"Don't talk so loud next time and maybe I won't feel the need to jump in."
I interrupted them. "Wait a second. Sharon I'm not writing a review for the play."
She quickly forgot Brian. "Why not?"
"Why not?" I asked incredulously. "Why? I don't have time to write a review on it and I'm not even going to the play."
"You don't have time?" Both Sharon's eyebrows and voice rose. "You don't have time? I am juggling yearbook, student council, tutoring, band, the dance committee and any other activity the Principal happens to need a student to organize. Plus, I have to deal with a jock boyfriend that I can't seem to lose no matter how hard I try. I don't have time. You have plenty of time, Angela."
I frowned in surprise at the sudden attack. "What do you mean? I've been working backstage on Our Town for weeks now."
Sharon rolled her eyes, "Angela, you don't even turn up to half of the rehearsals. C'mon. The only thing taking your time right now is Jordan."
Brian's eyes darted to mine and felt my face flush with anger and slight embarrassment. Sharon cut me off as I opened my mouth to respond. "No it's true. You don't even hang out with your other friends anymore. And usually that's okay, but I need you to do this for me Angela. You have a way with words that I don't. I really really need you to write this review."
Sharon and Brian both watched me closely for my response, but I just stared back at them. My pride kept me from admitting she was right. I couldn't recall the last time I had done something with just my friends. I didn't realize how much I was neglecting them.
Rayanne had a lot to do with my withdrawal. For some reason her betrayal had led me to shy away from my friends, ironically not Jordan. By no fault of theirs, I had lost faith in my other friendships- with Sharon, Rickie and even Brian. I mean sure, I still talked to them. But I held back from really hanging out with them and getting more attached than I already am.
It was then that I realized how much I missed them. I loved Jordan but our relationship lacked some of the comfort and security of my other friendships. Things like watching movies and yelling the whole way through it, or obsessing over guys, or making complete fools of ourselves in front of other people.
Memories suddenly flooded my mind. Of Rayanne singing Sesame Street, Halloween at school, not being able to get into Let's Bolt. The Weekend from Hell, that was actually pretty funny looking back on it. It had only been a few weeks, but it felt like a lifetime since I had done those things.
"Why are you on our bus anyways Sharon? You live on the other side of town." Brian's question jolted me back to the present.
"Angela's going to a party. I'm helping her get ready." Sharon told him shortly.
"Oh." Brian said and shot a glance at me. "Like, with Jordan?"
"Uh, duh." Sharon raised her eyebrows mockingly and he nodded quickly, shrugging casually.
Her tone and attitude irritated me, and despite my intentions of apologizing I found myself saying in a similar tone, "I don't know if I can do the review. I'll think about it."
Then I looked back out the window for the rest of the ride.
When we reached home I sent Sharon up to my room and went to find my Dad in the kitchen. He was sitting at one of the stools, scribbling in a red cookbook with his forehead creased in thought. I smiled to myself and went to hug him from behind, "Hey Dad."
"Oh hey sweetie…how was school?" He asked, glancing at me momentarily before his attention was drawn back to the cookbook.
"It was good." I rummaged through the kitchen, eventually coming up with a couple bags of chips. "Actually, Sharon came home with me for the afternoon."
"That's nice." His voice was distracted and I plunged ahead.
"Yeah, so I was wondering. There's this thing tonight…kinda like a-like a party. And Jordan asked me to go with him so I just wanted to make sure it was okay with you." I held my breath.
Dad glanced up at me, "A party? Have you asked your mom about this?"
"Oh, well no. I only just got home." I could tell he was about to send me to ask her so I quickly rushed on. "Yeah but, you know she likes Jordan and all, so I don't think she'll have a problem with it."
The phone rang and he reached over and picked it up, "Hello? Oh, Hallie. Hi. No, I'm not…Yes, I know the opening is next week." He rubbed his forehead, stress evident in every line of his face.
"Dad?" I whispered, waving a hand in an attempt to catch his eye. "Can I go?"
He frowned at me then nodded abruptly. He immediately started talking to Hallie again and I smiled as I left the kitchen. Mission accomplished.
I opened my bedroom door and tossed a bag of the chips at Sharon. She grinned, "Food!"
I crawled onto the bed beside her and we began greedily devouring the chips.
"So…what do you have to wear?" Sharon asked around a mouthful of chips.
I shrugged helplessly, "Clothes?"
Several hours later we had settled on a dark purple v-neck shirt over a black skirt. The sleeves were long enough to cover my hands and I fiddled with the extra fabric as Sharon braided the front of my hair into two little braids and pinned them together at the back of my head. (AN: picture the way it was at the end of The Zit)
She kept opening her mouth and closing it again with a sigh, and I worried she was going to ask about the review again. Finally she bent down with a concerned look in her eyes. "Look Chase-face, this could be a really bad idea."
Now I hadn't expected that. "What? What do you mean?"
She let go of my hair and sat on the edge of my bed, running her fingers over the blankets. "I mean, you don't really know Jordan's friends. It might be really awkward, you know?"
It was one thing to admit my fears to Rickie, but to Sharon… "It'll be alright. I'll be with Jordan the whole time."
That didn't seem to reassure her. "Well, what if he gets drunk or something? How are you going to get home?"
I ran my tongue over my teeth, growing irritated with the way Sharon was acting like my mom. "Sharon, I'll be fine. Jordan's not going to just ditch me."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I know him Sharon!" I cried out, slamming my brush onto my nightstand. "Gosh. Don't you think that after all this time I know what he's like? What do you have so against him anyways?"
We stared at each other, battling it out silently. Sharon threw her hands up and looked away. "Nothing. I'm sorry for bringing it up."
It was silent in the room and I was relieved to hear a car horn. I ran to my window and looked down at Jordan's red car. I glanced back at Sharon feeling guilty for snapping at her. "I gotta go. Thanks for helping me this afternoon."
She nodded and gathered her stuff together and together we left the room.
My mom was just exiting her room and when she saw my clothes, she stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Where do you think you're going?"
Sharon gave me a silent wave and slipped out unnoticed while I was left to face my mom. From experience, I knew it was best to escape quickly and deal with the consequences later. I turned to walk down the stairs. "I'm going to a party with Jordan."
She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "And who exactly said you could go?"
"Dad did." I told her with a wave and opened the door. "Bye Mom!"
She frowned, "Ang-"
I left the house and shut the door behind me, turning and smiling at Jordan who was beckoning impatiently at me from the car. He had a blue long sleeved shirt on and my breath caught at how good it looked on him. Briefly I wondered once again how we ended up together. I ran down the steps and slipped in beside him.
I had barely shut the car door when he leaned over and kissed me eagerly. When we pulled back he was grinning, "I'm in."
"What?" I asked, smiling confusedly.
"I'm the new lead singer of Residue." He repeated proudly, his eyes shining.
"Oh my gosh, Jordan that's great!" And it was. Jordan rarely showed his emotions but one look at him testified to his excitement.
He nodded, his smile never fading. "Yeah, ya know it was really easy. I just suggested it and they had me sing one of our songs to make it seem like an official try-out or whatever, but they were all for it from the beginning."
Impulsively I leaned over and hugged him, but his arms quickly went around me to keep me from pulling back. He buried his face in my hair and I could hear him chuckling quietly. "I can't wait, ya know? Before I always had to put up with all the guys' crap, but now I have more say in it or whatever. And I've written all these songs I want to do."
I leaned back and smiled expectantly up at him, "So can I come to your first official rehearsal as the lead singer?"
"Oh I don't know…" Jordan said slowly, frowning. "I mean, all my other girls will want to be there too-"
I shoved his shoulder and he laughed, bending his head to kiss me again. His good mood was contagious, and we joked around the rest of the way to the party. My fears and troubles with friends and family were left behind as we drove away.
Author's Note- Argh! My life is so crazy right now! We just finished moving and now we're on vacation in Colorado, and the place that was supposed to have internet, doesn't! So yeah, that's why it's taken so long to get this out. If I have another chance in the next few days I'll definitely post the next chapter, cuz that one is completely done, as opposed to this one which had a couple parts I still had to fiddle with.
So what'd you all think? Like, dislike? Yet another chapter of development. yawn But I LOVE the next two chapters. Haha Remember to review!
Thanks to Ingrid Prado, gabster07 and guardqueen22 for reviewing! My time at the internet café is about to run out so I can't do individual responses. But thankyou sooooooo much!
