Chapter Six: I'm Coming Up to Pull You Under

A month and a half later…

"Not that you would like care or anything but … I think I'm in love." Angela admitted to Brian because he was the one that was there, in front of her.

"With Jordan?"

"Of course. Who else?" Angela walked down the hallway dreamily. "I think I might tell him … should I or would that just ruin it?"

"Like …Whatever." Brian licked his lips eagerly. If one good thing had come from Angela and Jordan being together, it was that she needed someone to confide in, and who did she trust, Brian.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked, treating him like a normal person.

"I'm not." He looked at her intensely to see if Angela would even feel the heat of passion that burned inside of him. He just wanted Angela to see… "So, did you ever find that ring?"

"No, I guess I sort of forgot about it … I could always go and find it today." She suggested. It was about that time to skip class again. She could run outside and find the ring quickly and then maybe she'd run into Jordan.

Angela really wanted to feel his fingertips against her skin. It was like electricity … magic … no, it was like … amazing.

"Well, I'm going to go to class." Brian mumbled.

"Hey, wait … Thanks Brian." Angela hugged him suddenly. "You've been the best friend I've had since last year's disaster. And if it wasn't for you and that guitar, I would've never run into Jordan. Thanks."

That one touch was all it took for Brian's mood to completely change. Angela was going to skip class again. He knew what he had to do and today, he was ready for it.

Mr. Dummier hadn't grown any the wiser to Angela's plans. She used the period excuse again and he let her go, but this time it was the beginning of the period. Angela hadn't been able to get a hold of Jordan to plan to meet up, but he was never in class.

He just wondered and drifted from class to class, from place to place. She was the only constant in his life. She sighed to herself. This had to be what love felt like. It was beyond the infatuation that she'd had before.

It was mutual. Jordan told her things … he like said things to her and it made complete sense. It made her want to do things with Jordan, things other girls had already done …

As she walked down the hallway, she snuck back outside to see what the gym class was up to. It was soccer again and once again Angela found herself amazed by the one blonde kid. When he went to sit on the bench, she was disappointed.

She really liked watching the movement and twist of his body as she maneuvered the ball around everyone else so easily. Angela admired that. She wished that she was good at something, anything but she was the average run-of-the-mill middle classed girl.

Nothing could change that. It was the thing she hated most about herself and it seemed to be what Jordan liked the most.

Angela's disillusionment with blonde-soccer-guy-sitting-down was replaced with a renewed sense of awe. He had taken off his shirt, and even though it glistened with sweat, the defined lines on his stomach caught her attention.

Then, she saw something she'd never expect from a talented jock like him. He pulled out a book, and not some wimpy required reading book, but something that looked heavier than her mom's Bible. This is Wonderkid.

The search for her ring took a backseat as Angela continued to watch him, inches from the spot where she and Jordan skipped class to see each other.

"You're here…" He breathed as all the guys surrounding him scurried off. Angela was too inside her own head to notice what a crowd of guys had been doing under the bleachers or even the smell of ripe marijuana in the air.

She had become accustomed to it.

"Hey…" She smiled brightly, looking down. Jordan could still make her feel so young and insecure and scared. She just had these butterflies … no, more like … wild cats battling it out in her stomach. Being with him was always an adventure. She never knew what to expect.

"You look hot." Jordan whispered, drawing her into him.

"I thought you were going to class today." She accused.

"I did." Jordan began. "I got bored so … I just like left."

The pair stared at each other for a while until Jordan took Angela's hand and kissed it, gingerly. She had never seen that side of him before and it made her blush.

She also blushed when he started playing around with her stomach, then her waist, and then the button on her pants.

"Jordan…" Angela breathed as he kept kissing her. "No," she said weakly.

"I know … I'm sorry." He backed off a little, but continued to kiss her. The pair were so into each other that they didn't notice a very athletic, blonde soccer player drop off a little mood ring that Angela had been missing for over a month.

"But I'm not." Jordan answered.

"Come on." She pushed him away, feeling like a jerk for doing so. Angela loved Jordan. She loved this guy. So why couldn't she just woman up and do it?

"I'm really sick of this shit." He muttered angrily. He wasn't angry at Angela, but he felt rejected. Again and again. The principal had told him today that he'd be repeating his sophomore year. Again. He was almost eighteen and going to be a year behind his sixteen-year-old girlfriend.

"Jordan … I'm sorry." Angela started pacing, not knowing what to do next. "It's just that we're at school…" She tried to hug him, but he moved away.

They stood apart, Angela staring at Jordan and Jordan glaring at the ground. She didn't know what was going on, but desperately wished that he would just tell her already.

"I'm going."

"Please, don't Jordan." Her words halted him as he looked down to see the ring.

"Isn't this like … yours?" He walked to Angela, cupped her hand in his and placed the mood ring inside."

"Yeah. Thank you, so much." She breathed a sigh of relief, hugging him and holding onto the nape of his neck. "I promise, I'll do it with you … just not here. Not here."

"Okay." Jordan's mood changed completely as he picked her up and spun Angela around. "I want you to come over and here another song … pick one. Anyone you want."

"Of course."

Brian Krakow didn't know to think about what he saw. He'd gone to see Jordan's show. He wanted to know what all the hoopla was about. Boy with a guitar. Whoopie. Well, Brian could like … play the guitar too. And the piano.

He was smart. He could play soccer, but no one got it. He sighed thinking about this afternoon. Seeing Angela with Jordan like that hurt worse than he could've ever imagined.

"This song's for a girl I'd like to call red. It's her favorite and it's called 'Colorblind.'"

Brian looked around the crowd to see Angela come in just as the song began. He watched her more than he watched Jordan. The lyrics droned on in his mind, making Brian feel sick:

'I am color...blind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am

Brian couldn't fathom how someone as stupid as Jordan could ever come up with something like this. The lyrics were incomplete, just like everything Jordan Catalano said.

taffy stuck, tongue tied
Stuttered shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am...fine

Angela seemed to be getting it. She smiled lovingly as Brian's heart broke. How could he get through to her? How could he make her see…

I am covered in skin
No one gets to come in
Pull me out from inside
I am folded, and unfolded, and unfolding
I am
colorblind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside

By this time, Angela had made her way up to the stage. She was just a few steps from being on stage with Jordan and his eyes were locked on her. It was sick.

I am ready
I am ready
I am ready

Brian was ready to leave. To leave this agony, but first he had to find out Jordan's secret. He wasn't even playing the guitar in this song for Pete's sake but still… There she was and there Brian was in the backdrop of her life.

I am...fine
I am.... fine
I am fine'

The crowd exploded into applause as Brian remained as lukewarm as before. When the set was over, he looked to see a missing Angela. In his quest to find out where she had disappeared to, Brian instead ran into the man he hated the most.

Jordan Catalano. Signing autographs, half-smiling.

Brian was moments from confronting him as the group dispersed. A middle-aged woman beat him to it. She seemed harmless at first until Brian witnessed their exchange.

The woman slipped Jordan a few dollars before kissing him forcefully. Jordan seemed neither surprised or disgusted, but only half-present. He allowed the woman to do things to him that should only be done in private as Brian observed from afar.

If Angela knew … Angela … He turned around suddenly, to see her approaching the outside area of the club.

"Hey, Angela…" Brian tried to stall. He could so easily let her see what a monster Jordan was, but not like this. This would rip her to shreds.

"What are you doing here brainiac?" She greeted him happily with that elusive, half-smile that showed that she was much more than a naïve little teeny bopper.

"You found your mood ring!" He almost yelled even though she hadn't mentioned it to him.

"Yeah, wait how'd you know?"

"There's a ring band line on your finger." Brian took her hand in his to show her. It took everything he had not to lose focus. "Hey, do you need a ride home?"

"No. Jordan's taking be back to his place."

"How much do you like know about Jordan?"

"What?" Angela asked stunned. Brian paused for a moment until he saw the cougar woman leave. It was clear.

"Nothing. Go find Jordan."

"Thanks …" Angela half-skipped outside where she found Jordan, smoking.

"Why are you smoking? You were so awesome out there." She complimented, moving the cigarette out of the way.

"Yeah, it was so nerve-wracking … with you being there and all…" His voice trailed off.

"Are you ready to take me to your house so I can do what I promised? I think you deserve it…" Angela offered, not knowing what she was about to get herself into.

"I have to like … raincheck for tonight." Jordan looked down, not wanting his eyes to reveal anything. He had a deal, a thing going on with that lady. She paid and he had to put up.

"Raincheck … on the girl who loves you." She blurted out on accident. Angela stared at Jordan to see if he had noticed.

"Damn … I wish I could but … I have like … shit to do." Jordan reiterated as Angela pressed her lips together.

"Well, good luck doing whatever you have to do." She gave him a half hug and a short kiss.

"Hey, wait." Jordan reached in to kiss her. All she could taste was the reality of his cigarette smoke and not his intoxicating scents like before. "You got a ride home?"

"I'll figure it out." That was Angela's code for Brian. He drove her back, graciously and on the ride home he could've sworn that he saw wet tears covering her face, but Angela didn't want to talk about it. Maybe he should've just let her see Jordan with that woman after all.

(A/N: Good? Bad? I'm trying to decide whether Angela should end up with Jordan or someone else or by herself? This whole thing is based off of the idea of dreams being so hard to come by so … idk. Review and let me know what you think ---NL)