Chapter 5
SKYLAR
Angie sat on my bed cleaning her camera lens. “I can’t believe it doesn’t bother you that Mitch dates other girls.”
A lump formed in my throat. “He’s not my boyfriend, so why should it matter?
Angie took my picture. “Uh-huh.”
“What was that for?” I snapped.
“I want you to see what your face looks like when you’re lying through your teeth.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s like a brother to me, Ang.”
“Then, that’s just gross because he clearly wants you. I don’t understand why you’re not together.”
“Who says Mitch wants me?”
“Have you seen the way he looks at you? I have about a hundred pictures to prove it.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
I knew exactly what she meant.
Over the past six months since he moved here, Mitch and I had not only picked up where we left off as kids, but we grew closer. We saw each other almost every weekday after school, hung out in our rooms, did homework together and ate dinner at each other’s houses. My mother, Tish, and his mother, Janis, also became close and even hung out without us once in a while. Sometimes, the four of us ate together or watched a movie.
To someone looking in from the outside, it would have looked like Mitch and I were brother and sister, part of one big happy family with two lesbian moms. The reality was, the moms were lonely ex-wives of men who abandoned them. And brother and sister secretly wanted to have sex with each other. I would say that’s the epitome of dysfunctional.
While Mitch and I were inseparable during the week, on weekends, he would sometimes go out with girls from his school. He was gorgeous with a great body and therefore popular. Despite my pretending not to care, the reality was, his dating hurt like a motherf*cker.
He would always tell me where he was going and even who he was going with, but there was a silent understanding that we never talked details, and that was fine with me.
Everyone who knew me would agree that I spoke my mind. If my mother asked me if a dress made her look fat, I’d tell her it did. When Angie said she overheard someone saying her boyfriend, Cody, sounded like a girl, she asked for my opinion. I told her I thought he sounded like Mickey Mouse on helium, but that she shouldn’t give a crap what anybody said because she was crazy about that dude.
So, for the most part, I didn’t mince words and was an open book—except when it came to my true feelings for Mitch. That was my one sore spot. But I was sick of lying to Angie. I needed to let it out, or I was going to explode.
I plopped down on the bed. “Okay. You’re right. It does bother me when he goes out with other girls.”
“I knew it! How could it not?”
I took a deep breath because it was the first time I would admit this out loud. “I have feelings for him, okay? But see…I know Mitch better than anyone. We talk a lot. His parents’ divorce really screwed him up. He’s worried he’s going to turn out like his father, and he’s seen his mother really hurt by things his father did.”
“But what does that have to do with you?”
“We’re only fifteen and sixteen. I know he cares about me and wants us to always be in each other’s lives. He’s afraid to screw it up, and honestly, I kind of am, too. I can sense that he’s sexually attracted to me, but I don’t think he’ll ever cross the line. The problem is…sometimes I wish he would.” I exhaled.
“So, you both want each other, care about each other but won’t ever find out whether that could lead to more? Meanwhile, he just dates a bunch of bimbos, and where does that leave you?”
I gave the only honest answer. “Screwed.”
***
Mitch worked three days a week at the gourmet coffee shop in the mall food court to help his mother pay the bills. He had to attend this intensive training so that he could learn how to operate the fancy equipment. He was now an expert milk frother and made my vanilla latte exactly the way I liked it: extra hot and foamy.
One Thursday afternoon, Angie, Cody and I decided to pay Mitch a visit at work. While my friends usually took their drinks to go and walked around the mall, I loved to stay and watch him in action in his red apron as he juggled the different orders, flipping cups, pushing buttons, steaming milk.
Strands of his wavy brown hair curled under the red cap he wore. Mitch had the shiniest, thickest, chestnut hair with a hint of copper when the sun hit it. Part of his uniform was a fitted, black polo shirt that hugged his toned chest. I loved the focused expression on his face as he drizzled the caramel just right or carefully poured hot milk into a cup. His tongue always moved slowly across his bottom lip when he was concentrating.
When he placed drinks on the counter, he’d look customers in the eye and flash his gorgeous smile. It was no wonder why the lines were always endless. Girls lined up in droves to visit the brawny, blue-eyed barista. Watching Mitch was a downright turn on.
The thing I loved the most, though, was the moment when he’d first notice me. The genuine smile reserved for me was warmer than the one he’d give the customers, and his eyes always lingered on mine like they were telling me a secret. Then, he’d go back to doing his work, stealing glances at me. He’d smile whenever he caught me watching him.
If he saw me get in line for a drink, he’d gesture for me to sit back down. He’d always make mine before the rest and whistle over to me when it was ready on the counter. The cup would usually have something special written on it in black marker. Sometimes, it was a goofy face or random word like “ass” to make me laugh, and other times, it was a message. Today, he wrote, Wait for me. I nodded to indicate that I would hang around until he got off work, and he winked at me.
He would make me as many lattes as I wanted, and I would do homework or read my kindle amidst the constant steaming sound of the milk frother.
At exactly 7:00, Mitch came from behind the counter with his coat on. “Thanks for sticking around. I like it when you’re here. It makes work go by faster.”
Every time he said something nice to me lately, my heart would pitter-patter.
He grabbed my backpack. “Let’s go. I have a surprise for you.”
Mitch led me down a side corridor of the mall and stopped in front of the pet store with a big grin on his face. “Guess who’s back?”
I gasped and ran to the back of the store. “Seamus!”
Mitch laughed at my reaction. “I heard him on my way into work earlier and couldn’t wait to tell you.”
Seamus was a blue-fronted amazon parrot I had fallen in love with over the past few months. I’d visit him every time we went to the mall. Besides his bright-colored feathers and beautiful, black beak, I loved his attitude. Apparently, the pet store had been trying to get him to mimic common human phrases like some of the other birds. Seamus wasn’t having it. The only thing he said was “Holy Toledo!” He must have picked it up from a previous owner.
A few weeks ago, when I had come in to visit him, he was gone. The salesperson told us someone had finally bought him, and it had been heartbreaking to see his cage empty.
“Why is he back?” I asked Mitch.
“They told me the person returned him.”
“Strange.” I turned to the woman at the counter. “Do you know why he was returned?”
“They just didn’t want him anymore. We have a thirty-day policy.”
I pouted my lip. “How could anyone not want you?”
I broke into laughter as he flapped his wings. “Holy Toledo!”
Mitch put his hand on my head and playfully messed up my hair. “You’re so cute. The simplest things make you happy.”
There was the pitter-pattering again.
Mitch didn’t touch me a lot, but when he did, even for a second, my body responded.
After fifteen minutes of getting reacquainted with Seamus, we left the store. Mitch waited on a bench for me while I used the mall bathroom.
I was in the stall when I heard two girls talking as they washed their hands.
“Did you see Mitch Nichols out there?”
“Yeah. He’s so damn hot. His eyes are insane.”
“His body, too. I heard he asked Amber out.”
“She’s such a bitch. Wait…I thought he was dating Brielle?”
“No, they just hooked up once.”
“Oh. Well, I wouldn’t mind being next.”
“Get in line.”
I actually blocked my ears, so I couldn’t hear anymore and sat on the toilet frozen until I heard the door slam. My heart was pounding, and I could feel the adrenaline rush as jealousy hit me like a ton of bricks. I breathed in and out slowly until I composed myself enough to get up and wash my hands.
Sure, Mitch cared about me, and I was pretty sure I had at least a piece of his heart, but that wasn’t enough for me anymore. I wanted all of him. As I looked in the mirror, I decided it was time to give my friend some of his own medicine.