“I dont understand him sometimes Howie,” I said, wiping away a tear.
“I know, come here,” he said and pulled me into his arms. I hated high school. Everyday I came and listened to my stuck up boyfriend rant and rave about something dumb and embarrass me in front of everyone as he yells at me for something. Howie was a good friend of mine. We had a class together and we usually talked. It’s the only class that I didnt have with one of Josh’s friends who would run off and tell Josh I was talking to another guy. Something he gets very upset about. Howie was such a sweetheart too. He always listened to me, about everything. Whether I was complaining about Josh or telling him about a cool movie I saw over the weekend. He was always so intent with listening and it made me feel important. Josh had just totally blew me off for some girl in the hall and I was upset. I sometimes didn’t understand why I was with Josh, but, I could never break up with him. I dont have any other friends, Josh was practically my life.
“Well, just think, at least tonight you can go home and just go on a shopping spree to help you feel better,” Howie joked. I smiled and looked up at him.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Would you like to go with me?” I asked, referring to the shopping spree.
“Id love to,” Howie nodded.
“Great, um, here, I’ll give you my phone number and we can meet up there or something,” I said smiling.
“Ok,” he nodded. I pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down my phone number.
“Here you go,” I said handing it to him.
“Ok, I’ll call you around 4, is that cool?” he asked.
“Perfect,” I nodded. Just then the bell rang to go to the next period and I waved to Howie and walked out of the classroom. I adjusted my khaki pants and my white shirt that matched the pants.
“Casey,” I heard from behind me and then an arm drape over my shoulder. I looked up and saw Josh walking confidently at my side. I sighed and kept walking. Unfortunately, we had the next class together and I hated it, most of the time. Every time I went to say something I was interrupted for something more ‘important’.
“Why’d you storm off earlier?” Josh asked as we walked up to our locker.
“You were flirting with that girl, right in front of me. I didnt want to sit there and watch,” I snapped.
“Casey, dont be dumb,” he rolled his eyes.
“And what if I was to flirt with a guy right in front of you?” I asked.
“I wouldnt care, it’s just flirting,” he shrugged.
“Ok,” I nodded, I grabbed my book and walked off. I walked into my next class and took my seat. Who could I flirt with?
“Why’d you walk off like that?” Josh asked walking into the class.
“Oh, you noticed,” I asked.
“Casey!” he yelled at me. I jumped and looked up at him as he set his books down on the desk next to mine.
“What?” I asked.
“Come outside,” he ordered me.
I mumbled something and followed him outside. I looked at someone, I think he was a friend of Howie’s. He frowned at me and looked away.
“What?” I asked when Josh and I got outside.
“I want to go talk to Chad,” he told me.
“Ok, so what?” I asked.
“Come with me,” he ordered. I sighed and Josh put his arm around me and we walked to go find Chad.
“Hey Chad,” Josh said, slapping hands with Chad. Josh was arrogant and stuck-up. He thought because he was a football player he was great, the same with all his friends. Chad’s girlfriend, Rachel was standing there, clinging to Chad’s arm for dear life.
“Hey Rachel,” I said, trying to be nice. I knew Rachel didn’t like me. None of the other girls liked me, or each other for that matter.
“Hello Casey,” she said to me.
“Josh, Im going to class,” I told him.
Chad and Josh were too busy talking about something to even notice that I had walked off. I went into class and looked at Howie’s friend. He shook his head at me and looked down at a paper on his desk and began writing.
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
“Chris,” he told me.
“Hey Chris, Im Casey,” I said smiling.
“I know,” he said.
I raised my eyebrow at him and walked to my seat and sat down. The class was now more full, since the bell was bound to ring any second.
“Casey!” Josh yelled, storming into the classroom. Just then the bell rang and the teacher stood in front of the class.
“Why the hell did you walk off again?!” Josh snapped, standing in front of the teacher, grabbing all the attention in the class.
“Oh, you did notice, wow that's twice in a day,” I growled.
“Casey, we need to talk, now. Outside,” he ordered.
“Mr. Jones, please, take a seat,” the teacher scolded.
“CASEY!” Josh yelled.
“Im not going anywhere Josh. Sit down,” I replied.
“Casey, maybe you and Mr. Jones should step outside to resolve your differences,” Mr. Lewis ordered.
I mumbled something and stood up and walked outside, Josh hot on my heels.
“What is your problem lately?” he asked as soon as we stepped outside.
“What’s my problem?! Josh, Im always being left felt like Im inferior to you and I dont like that. You make everyone feel like less of a person when they’re around you and Im tired of it,” I said looking up at him.
“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked.
“No, but I am asking that you start treating me with more respect. There are other people with more interesting things to talk about then football and porn,” I said.
“Casey, Im sorry,” he said.
“Let’s go to class,” I sighed and walked towards the door and I felt Josh grab my arm.
“What Josh?” I asked, turning to look at him.
“Casey, Im sorry,” he repeated.
“I know Josh, ok?” I asked.
“Come here,” he said pulling me to him and held me close. He kissed the top of my head and after a moment or two, we walked back into class.
“Everything resolved?” the teacher asked.
“Yes,” we replied. I looked over at Chris and saw him looking at us. I looked away and Josh and I sat down.
“Hey Josh, look man...” a friend of Josh’s said, showing Josh a picture.
“Hey Casey, look,” Josh said laughing. I looked down at the picture and it was a picture of Josh on top of me as we were having sex.
“WHO TOOK THAT?!” I yelled.
“Heh, I think Franklin did,” Richard replied.
“Will Franklin?” I asked, pissed.
“Yeah, I think so. He gave me this to show you two,” he said. I grabbed the picture and stood up and walked over to the garbage can and ripped it into tiny pieces, sending the shredded picture into the garbage. Everyone was looking at me in the classroom and I felt so embarrassed and violated.
“Casey, what’s your problem?” Josh asked.
“Did you see that picture?” I asked, glaring at him.
“Yeah, and I thought it was cool,” Josh laughed. I sat down and felt the tears swell into my eyes.
“Are you ok?” Mr. Lewis asked coming up to my desk.
“Im fine,” I replied and wiped away a tear that had fallen. Twice in one day. Thats nice.
*After School*
“Josh, I want to go home,” I said, not feeling well. We were standing in the student parking lot, Josh talking to his friends.
“Hey Casey, what’s the rush?” Richard asked.
“I want to go home,” I shrugged. Josh had a nice car, a 2000 Toyota Celica, silver with a sunroof and black tinted windows. He was proud of his car and so was all of his friends and everyone else in the school.
I sighed, I had a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, and only drove it sometimes when Josh and I were in an argument or something. I liked my car too, it was a snow white with black tinted windows and I loved letting the top down.
“Ok, man, I’ll see you in an hour for practice,” Josh said and opened his door. I opened the passenger door and got in and impatiently waited for him.
I looked at a car as we were leaving and saw Howie getting into it. It wasn’t anything fancy, it looked to be around the early 90s Corolla.
I smiled when I remembered he would be calling me in... 45 minutes so we could go to the mall. Howie was a really nice guy and any girl to go out with him must be lucky. Come to think of it, he hasn’t mentioned a girlfriend to me. I wonder if he has one.
“Do you want something from McDonalds?” Josh asked.
“No, I just want to go home. I dont feel well,” I sighed.
“Ok, I’ll go after I drop you off then,” Josh said as he pulled into my subdivision.
I looked at him and smiled. He wasn’t as bad when he wasn’t around his friends. He was actually a lot nicer.
“Well, here you go,” Josh said as he pulled into my driveway.
“Do you want to come in for a little bit?” I asked.
“Im hungry baby,” he whined.
“Well, I’ll make you something,” I told him.
“Ok, but I have to leave at 4 for practice,” he told me.
“Ok,” I said. We got out of his car and we walked into my house.
“Hey honey. Hello Josh,” my mother greeted us.
“Hey Mom,” I said.
“Hello,” Josh said smiling.
“What do you want?” I asked Josh as we walked into the kitchen.
“I dont know, what do you have?” he asked.
“Josh, just what do you want?” I asked.
“Do you have mozzarella sticks?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said and opened the freezer and got out the cheese sticks and put them in the oven to bake.
“How long?” Josh asked.
“Ten minutes, you’ll have time, dont worry,” I said heating up some sauce for him.
“Ok,” he sighed. I just stood there, looking around as Josh devoured his food.
“I gotta go,” Josh said handing me the plate. I sighed and threw the dish in the sink and walked Josh outside to his car.
“Are you doing anything this afternoon?” Josh asked as he opened his car door.
“No, but I might go over to the mall,” I said.
“With who?” he asked.
“I dont know, why?” I asked.
“Just wondering. I’ll call you when practice is over, ok?” he asked.
“Ok, cool,” I smiled.
“Bye,” he said leaning in and kissing me.
“Bye,” I said and walked back inside.
“Oh, Howie, here she is honey,” I heard my mother say. I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother on the telephone. I smiled as I started to get excited. I took the phone from my mother and brought it to my ear.
“Hello?” I asked, sweetly.
“Hey, Casey,” Howie said.
“Hey Howie. You still want to go to the mall with me?” I asked.
“Yeah, would you like me to pick you up or did you want to meet me up there or something?” he asked.
“Um, which do you live closer to, me or the mall?” I asked.
“I dont know, where do you live?” he asked, laughing.
“Oh, um Swanson Lakes,” I replied.
“Oh, you,” he replied.
“Well, if you want we could just ride over together,” I said.
“Ok, thats fine,” he said.
“Um, where do you live?” I asked.
“Swanson Lakes,” he laughed.
“Really?! How come I never see you around?” I asked.
“I dont know. I never see you either,” he replied.
“Oh, well... I live on Washington St. The house number is 1400, pretty easy to remember,” I said.
“Yeah, how about I pick you up in about fifteen minutes,” he suggested.
“Ok, cool, see you in a few,” I said and we hung up with each other. I ran upstairs to my bedroom and reapplied my makeup and made sure I looked good. I changed out of my khakis and white shirt into a pair of blue Gap jean shorts and a red, figure fitting Gap tee shirt. I slipped on my white Adidas sneakers with red stripes. I brushed my brown hair and made sure it fit perfectly around my face. I smiled to myself in the mirror then sprayed a little perfume on my neck and heard the doorbell ring throughout the house.
“Got it!” I shouted running down the stairs, but my mother had gotten there first.
“Who’s this?” she asked, turning to me.
“Mom, this is Howie, Howie this is my mother, Sandra. Howie and I are going to the mall, Mom,” I told her.
“Ok, don’t you need a little money though?” she asked.
“Well, since you offered,” I said smiling.
“Well, get some winter clothes honey, it’s going to be getting cold soon. Here, just take my credit card, but don’t spend too much, ok?” she asked.
“Ok, Mom. See you later. I have my cell phone,” I said, grabbing my purse that was sitting next to the front door.
“Ok, honey. Have fun. Nice meeting you Howie,” she said smiling.
“You to, ma’am,” he replied.
“Thanks so much!” I exclaimed.
“Thats a nice car,” Howie said pointing to my Eclipse.
“Thanks, thats mine,” I said.
“How come you dont drive it to school?” he asked.
“Because, Josh takes me. I’ve driven it a few times,” I told him.
“Oh, I see,” he said walking over to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for me.
“Thanks!” I exclaimed. No one ever did that for me, especially not Josh.
Howie chuckled and just walked over to his side of the car and got in. Within ten minutes we were at the mall.
“So, where do you want to go first?” Howie asked, looking at me.
“Gap,” I replied.
“The Gap it is,” he said as we both started walking towards the store. I bought tons of sweaters and pants and a new pair of shoes. All for winter, of course.
“Casey!” I heard from behind me as Howie and I were standing in line to get something to drink in the food court. I turned around and saw Rachel, Chad’s girlfriend. I groaned, knowing she didnt like me, nor I did I like her.
“Hey Rachel,” I smiled, warmly.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking down at all my bags that Howie was also carrying.
“Shopping,” I replied.
“Who’s that?” she asked, referring to Howie.
“This is my friend Howie, Howie this is Rachel,” I said.
“Oh, does Josh know you two are at the mall together?” she asked.
“No, why does he have to know?” I asked, irritated.
“I just figured he wouldn’t want you hanging out with some guy he doesnt know or anything, you know, by yourself,” she said.
“How do you know Josh doesnt know him?” I asked.
“Because, then everyone else would,” she replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Just that. If Josh doesnt know you, not many people know you,” she shrugged.
“That was the most shallow and ignorant thing I’ve ever heard,” I snapped at her.
“Huh?” Rachel asked.
“Why dont you go kiss your boyfriend’s ass and hey, while you’re at it, since Josh is so great, kiss his for me,” I said and turned around.
“You ok?” Howie asked.
“Yeah, I just hate people like that,” I groaned.
“Well, please don’t take offense to this, but, for someone who doesnt like people like that, you sure do hang out with a lot of them,” he said.
I looked over at him and was about to say something, but it was true. I dont even know why I hung out with those people, they were nothing to me. I sighed and shrugged.
“You dont understand,” I said.
“Well, tell me,” he said.
“I dont know Howie,” I turned around to see if Rachel was still there, and she wasn’t, so I continued, “I mean, sometimes, Josh is so nice and he can be so sweet. That’s when he’s not around his friends. When he gets around his friends he’s like, ‘I have to act cool around my friends, which means I can’t give any hint of being pussy-whipped’, which also means he cant treat me with respect.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, speaking honestly. That’s one thing I really liked about Howie, he was always so honest.
“Well...” I began.
“I dont want to hear it. There should never be an excuse to treat a woman with disrespect,” he said.
I looked at him and then looked ahead of me. I ordered my drink and paid and Howie did the same.
“Let’s sit down,” I suggested.
“OK, let’s go to the benches out there,” Howie said pointing outside.
“Ok,” I nodded and we both walked outside and sat down on a bench and sipped our soda.
“So, how come you never talk about yourself?” I asked, looking at Howie.
“I dont know. I enjoy listening to you,” he told me. I smiled and looked away.
“Well, do you have a girlfriend?” I asked.
“Um, no,” he replied.
“No? Well, why not?” I asked, smiling.
“I dont know. There are girls I am interested in, but I know it would never work out,” he said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, interested.
“Well, they just arent my type, although I wish they were,” he said.
“They arent your type? What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, its more like Im not her type,” he said.
“Don’t ever say that,” I told him.
“Why?” he asked, smiling.
“Because, you don’t know that until you ask or talk to her about it,” I told him.
“Nah, she’s got a boyfriend and as much as I want to just be with her, she’s wrapped up in this guy,” he shrugged.
I wonder who he’s talking about.
“Who?” I asked.
He looked up at me and hesitated for a moment.
“What time did you say you had to be home?” he asked.
“I didnt have a specific time, why won’t you tell me who?” I asked.
Just then my cell phone rang from my purse. I groaned and pulled it out and looked at the caller i.d. Damn. It’s Josh.
All I Have To Give Index
Chapter Two
Howie's Intoxication
The Ultimate Intoxication
Backstreet Bar
