The Gang: Part 3

Jenny, Jeff, and I all plowed into their Jeep. Jeff looked shocked; Jenny looked thrilled. I was thrilled, too, but I love little kids.

Sitting in the front seat beside Jeff, I decided to get his input. After two non-responses and a burly grunt, I gave up trying. Jenny gave me a sympathetic glance in the rearview mirror.

Upon arriving at school, Jeff screeched into a parking space and turned off the ignition. He turned to me. "You know, I'm beginning to believe Mark was right about the gang." Then he left in a huff.

All over the parking lot and quad of George Washington High School conversation had stopped. Seeing level-headed Jeff Davis causing his car to screech, let alone cut off another driver was a never-before-seen novelty. People stared. I started to cry, fueling the gossip mill, partly because what Jeff said and partly the way he said it.

Jenny and I got out of the Jeep and headed to our first class, Creative Writing. She tried to start up a conversation in her usual way. "What was Jeff talking about?"

I wiped the tears away with my hand. "I don't know; he's your brother."

Jenny looked at me critically. "But you're his best friend."

"Not anymore, I'm not."

Jenny ran to catch up with my long strides. Then she had to catch her breath. "What Jeff was saying about Mark. What did he mean?"

I burst into tears again. "Mark told me last night when he called that he thought the gang would be splitting up by the end of the year. Before he asked me to the dance."

"Congratulations! Mark's a great guy," said Laura Mason. She's a cheerleader.

Jenny just gave me one of her famous ironic glares as we took our seats. The bell rang.

* * * * * * * * * *

At lunch break I was ready to just sit down and enjoy a free half hour. Jenny and I, having the same schedule, walked to the gang's lunch table outside together. When we arrived, there was no one there. It gave us time to catch up. Jenny, never the one for introductions, started with "Kate, you're crazy."

"Huh?" This was too obscure, even for her.

"I mean, you've got one guy not only panting for you, but genuinely in love with you, and you turn him down for a good-for-nothing jock."

"Jenny, you're making even less sense than usual. No one's," here I stopped to blush, "in love with me."

"Maybe no one's told you so, but there is someone."

"Anyone I know?"

I turned around to see Mark standing there. He bent his head down and kissed me lightly. With tongue. "Hi, gorgeous," he said, presenting me with a paper flower.

"Oh, Mark! That's so sweet! Thank you," I responded.

"What a sweet trinket, Mark. I didn't know you made flowers, or I'd have had you make my lady one," came Jeff's voice. I turned around and....

Hurt, betrayal, anger. Jeff, my supposedly understanding best friend was embracing (and that's the kindest word for it) Cara Astley, the cruelest, snobbiest girl in the whole school. Then he kissed her, and I felt my heart break.

From that moment until the end of the week, things went downhill. Jeff was always with Cara, and she hinted that one night they went all the way. Mark came over everyday and gave me his ring to wear. I was miserable. Everyone else was thrilled. Jeff asked Cara to go to the dance with him. I don't know why I hated the idea of Jeff and Cara together, except that Cara is known as a loose slut, and I know Jeff will only get hurt.

* * * * * * * * * *

Friday, I spent the night with Jenny. It was particularly unomfortable because Jeff and I weren't speaking to each other. And the next day was the dance.

Jenny and I had just raided the refrigerator for the third time when we decided to play the age-old, sophomoric sleepover game, Truth or Dare.

I decided to ask first. "Jenny, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," she said lazily without looking up from manicuring my nails.

"I don't know if this is a legal question to ask, but...do you think Jeff and Cara went all the way?"

Jenny looked up. "Is that what's bothering you? No, they didn't go all the way; he's not interested in her . Now it's my turn: Truth or Dare?"

I decided I might as well go ahead and go for broke. "Dare."

"Damn! I was hoping you would choose 'truth.' Oh well. I dare you to go to Jeff's room and eavesdrop on Cara and him. And if you don't," she continued, seeing I was about to protest, "I will ask you a truth question I know you don't want to answer."

So, I was stuck. I crept down to Jeff's room and stopped by the door. I heard his voice, so I turned the door knob and quietly eased it open. He was all alone in there, talking to an eight-by-ten picture.

He said, "I now wish I had told you. But it's too late. There's no chance for us to ever be together now. I've ruined it; nothing I say will ever change the way you feel about me. Not even the fact that I love you."

Ohmigod, I thought irrationally. He really does love Cara, after all. I turned around to go back to Jenny's room. Under my foot, a board squeaked. Jeff's head flew up from the picture, placing it between the mattresses. "Jenny, is that you? You were right. I do like her; I love her." As he started to get up, I fled.

I paused when I heard his intake of breath. Knowing now that I truly loved him, it hurt so bad to know he loved someone else. "Kate," he said, his face ashen.

He slowly walked toward me. Until he had to bow his head to look me in the face. Until we were touching. I tilted my head back to gaze into his eyes, stormy in the darkness.

Then he gently cupped my chin in his hand and tilted my head back. He bowed his head further down until his lips were lightly touching mine. How long we continued in that sweet, perfect kiss I couldn't tell you. Harsh, bitter reality set in when his mom answered the ringing doorbell and said, "Jeff, honey! Your girlfriend, Cara, is here!"

Breaking the kiss and my heart, I turned and raced back to Jenny's room in time to see Jeff embrace Cara with a welcoming kiss. Jenny's expression was even more shattered than mine was, I'm sure. "I'm sorry," she said hoarsely. "I was just kidding him the other day about you and him. But I thought, maybe...but I was wrong. I'm so sorry."

I somehow swallowed my tears, my hurt, and my pain enough to answer briskly, "For what? My cheating on Mark? My being as low as Cara Astley by kissing her boyfriend? I'm the one who should apologize to the whole world. You have no reason to."

Not much was said after that. I guess we were both too tired to talk anymore. Again I cried myself to sleep after pondering how everything went so wrong, so fast.

I love Jeff and he loves Cara. Mark likes me but I don't like Mark. Jeff kissed me, and I kissed him back with all my heart and soul. Then he turned around a few seconds later and kissed Cara even more passionately than he had kissed me. Unrequited love hurts more than anything else in the world.

* * * * * * * * * *

I woke up the next morning with the intentions of leaving immediately without waking anyone up. Wouldn't you know, I was too late. Mrs. Davis was already up and going strong. When she saw me, she poured me a cup of peppermint tea and sat down next to me at their kitchen table.

"Thanks," I said gratefully. Mrs. Davis makes her own peppermint tea from her own organically-grown peppermint leaves.

Jenny gets her oratorical style from her mother. "So, what do you think of Jeff's floozy?" Mrs. Davis asked.

I gulped my mouthful of tea. Then I told her the truth. "I don't like her too much."

Satisfied she had an ally, she replied, "Neither do I. She actually calls him Jeffy." She laughed, then said, "So you and Mark are going to the dance together tonight?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She gave me one of her shrewd, I-know-something's-up looks. "And how do you feel about that?"

I took my time before answering. "I don't know. I thought, cool, a boy actually likes me. At the beginning. But I'm beginning to think that it is destroying the gang. Jeff's not talking to me or Mark, Jenny's stuck in the middle, and Amy and Chris look like their going to pair off. Jeff's dating the school slut. I'm miserable. Jenny's miserable. And Jeff...." I trailed off.

Mrs. Davis waited a few moments for me to finish. "And Jeff?"

"And Jeff's playing games," I answered quietly.

Now Mrs. Davis looked confused. "Playing games?"

"Doing very un-Jeff-like things. Like," I paused, afraid to reveal my true feelings. Then I got angry. Jeff was playing a sick, twisted game with Cara's and my emotions. "Like last night. Jenny and I decided to regress, and we played Truth or Dare. She chose Truth, and I asked her if she thought Jeff and Cara had slept toghether because Cara said they had. And she said that she knew they didn't because he's not really interested in her. And then she dared me to go and eavesdrop on them except Cara wasn't there yet. And Jeff was talking to a picture of someone saying how much he loved the person in the picture. And then I turned to leave and he heard me and he kissed me, really kissed me. Then the doorbell rang, you said it was Cara,a nd I ran back to Jenny's room. The last thing I saw before I shut the door of her room was them kissing."

I was crying now. Mutely, Mrs. Davis handed me a tissue before asking me, "Do you still love him?"

I shook my head yes and fled from the Davis house.


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