A Bundle of misfortune

It’s Saturday morning and I have no interest in staying home so I call up Ivory. “You wanna hang? Sure we could go to this new ice cream place downtown, can pick you up in thirty minutes?” After solidifying our plans I thank him and start gathering any trash around me. I walk into Silver’s room, I can hear his calm rhythmic breathing as he sleeps on his stomach with his black hair unruly and messy. I gently run my hands through his hair, it feels a bit greasy. I empty his trash and leave a sticky note on his door saying -take a shower, wash your sheets and feed Anna at six-; then I left after hearing a car honk.

“Feel like having ice cream and walking through town with me?” Ivory sits with his window down waving at me.

“I'm thinking orange sherbet” I reply before getting in his car and driving off.

Downtown is always busy on the weekend; finding a parking spot was near impossible. So twenty minutes after parking we're finally at the ice cream joint; as expected it's even colder inside. The interior is decorated in bright blues and neon yellow. We perused our options, Ivory chose double chocolate brownie and I chose orange sherbet. When I reached in my pocket Ivory quickly cut in front of me and paid. “You just love making me owe you don’t you.?” His response was a cheeky grin. Afterwards we walked through town; joking and laughing together and Max and I competing in who could tell the cheesiest jokes.

At midday we stopped in a small restaurant we both ordered appetizers but Max also ordered ribs claiming a guy like him needed to eat a lot of meat to bulk up; he also mentioned that Kim ate a lot of meat. “I think it's a lot more about body type and exercise than how much meat you eat. But you better let me eat some.”

The Saturday ended with both of us having slightly sticky fingers and full stomachs. “I’ll see you at school.” He said before driving off.

When I came inside I noticed a fresh can of cat food out and there was leftover food in the fridge that also had a note -Thanks Sis-; “Love you too” I said to no one in particular.

A few day later I ran into Sapphire at a nearby convenience store..She was dressed more conservatively in a tight green sweater with jeans. Her black plastic basket held toiletries and some snacks but what really drew my attention was the pregnancy test hidden underneath a bag of chips. She quickly explained that she just wanted to make sure, since she hadn’t been feeling well, however, I could see it in her face that she was worried. She fumbled for an explanation, but in there is no other reason to buy a pregnancy test other than if you think you might be pregnant. “Don't mention it to anyone, I've been running late this month. I don't want anyone to know until i'm completely certain.” After we went our separate ways all I could think was would she keep it? Did she know who the father is... is it Terence’s?

On Monday, we had our grammar test, it was as difficult as I expected even more so with my thought being preoccupied by Sapphire. Onyx came up to me after class and thanked me for helping him study and invited me to see a movie. I was a bit worried that he may be hitting on me, he's not ugly but I don't know him that well. It got colder with flurries coming down often, though none of it stuck. After the week ended, Onyx and I went to see a movie. I wore a knee-length black skirt with thick tights and a cream sweater. My hair was put up into a high bun. Onyx was wearing a horizontally striped shirt with light blue jeans, his hair was smoothed on one side and he had an endearing half smile when he greeted me I smiled back. In my mind I was praying he wouldn't try to make a move on me; I had Rose on call in case I needed to leave fast. I really enjoyed the movie; there were several scenes where I had to stifle my laughter.

However, Onyx had been gradually moving closer to me and took all opportunities to touch me. When we were leaving the theater, he pulled me over to a small burger joint. We got burgers with french fries; the night was enjoyable but just as we left the shop he reached for my hand and pulled me towards him and then he kissed me. I stared blankly at him and wiped my lips with my sleeves. “I don't like you in that way, I don't dislike you so i'll forget this happened. We should head back now.” The car ride back was super awkward with his radio being the only noise.

When we got to my apartment he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck searching for the right words “Sorry about tonight, I'm glad we're still cool… Night”.

I didn't see him again until Monday, during fourth period. I was very surprised when I saw he had a bruise near his eye. During lunch I never saw Ivory, my first idea was to ask reigning gossip queen Rose. Her face immediately turned guilty, Scarlet rolled his eyes at her “She told Ivory that Onyx forcibly kissed you.” He said matter of fact.

“What! How could you; I told you to keep it to yourself. Did Ivory… punch him?”

Once again Scarlet replied first “Yea but it was a pretty small fight, only a couple people saw it. Ivory just went up to him, punched him then walked away.”

I felt the corners of my mouth rise imagining gentle nerdy Ivory fighting someone “He really did that? For me?”

I finally ran into Max a few days later when I caught him walking to his car. “Are you avoiding me? Cause if you are I'm going to need you to stop.” He glanced away and sighed loudly

“I guess I have been avoiding you, huh? I just… when if heard from Rose that Onyx kissed you I felt so angry; I surprised myself honestly.” I stared at his face seeing the confusion and underlying anger in them.

“I think you got so angry because you like me.”