“How long do you plan on not speaking to me?” He asked.
I turned my body a little in the opposite direction of him and continued to pay no attention to him. He sighed, leaned back in his seat, and didn’t try to speak to me again for the rest of the hour. At the end of the day I didn’t bother going to my locker. He was outside by the door with Karl and Randy, talking about whatever it is that boys talk about when there are no girls around. He didn’t bother to get my attention because he already knew that I’d just ignore him. I threw my bag in the car and took off, noticing him watching me from the rearview mirror.
Maybe I was being a little immature, but I didn’t quite know how to deal with my hurt. I made up my mind to call him, but I couldn’t be sure when that would be. I paced back and forth across my floor. My thoughts were jumbled and my nerves were rattled. Suddenly I felt a bad case of the munchies coming on and I darted toward the kitchen. Halfway down the stairs, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out expecting to see AJ’s name on the caller ID, but was a little surprised to see that it was Antonio.
“Hey,” I answered “Hey. I was just making sure everything was alight. I saw you sitting alone today at lunch.”
“Yeah, I just needed to clear my head.”
“Somebody must’ve pissed you off. I know how you shut people out when you get mad.” He hesitated before continuing. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
I really didn’t feel comfortable sharing the details of my relationship. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be a good friend or to be nosey. It was more than likely the latter of the two, but he’d always given me sound advice in the past. I exhaled and began, remembering to be as vague as possible. “I’m just starting to feel like I’m putting more in this than he is.”
“Why’s that?” He asked.
I was hesitant to elaborate. “He hasn’t told his parents about me yet and I basically fell out with my dad for a few days because I told him about AJ. There’s more to it than that, but I don’t feel like getting into it.”
Antonio was quiet for a while. “Hello?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m here.” He paused again. “I thought I could do this, but I’m not ready to hear you talk about him yet. Let’s change the subject.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied with relief in my voice.
“So……can I come see you?” He asked.
I froze. What should I say? On the one hand Antonio and I were friends now and it would be perfectly innocent. On the other hand, I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize my relationship with AJ. I thought it over for a moment before finally giving in. “Fine, but I’ll just come over there.” That way I could be sure that AJ wouldn’t stop by and find me here with Antonio.
I hung up the phone and stood there. I couldn’t be sure that this wasn’t a mistake, but I was glad to have Antonio back as a friend, so I didn’t want to risk hurting his feelings by going back on my word.
The drive there was tougher than I thought. I was trying to decide if I should just turn around and go back home. Even as I pulled up in front of his house, I was having second thoughts. After taking a deep breath I opened the door and walked to the porch. I lifted my hand to knock, but Antonio opened it before I had the chance. A big smile crossed his face as he stepped aside to let me in. Slowly, I walked past him, still a little uncomfortable with my decision to show up. He waited for me to take my shoes off and then I followed him over to the couch. I made sure to sit on the opposite end so that I wouldn’t give him any ideas.