Leila didn’t seem to be uncomfortable sitting next to me, but I wasn’t nearly that relaxed. The thought crossed my mind that she might be lying about the car trouble just to have an excuse to talk to AJ, but I guess she probably wouldn’t have asked me for a ride if that was the case.
From the corner of my eye, I could see that she was staring which made me turn toward her. Her eyes were vacant; she didn’t even blink. Kind of like the lights were on, but no one was home.
“So, are you and AJ really together, or just hanging out?” She asked, startling me when she spoke.
I was reluctant to respond. “Yeah, we’re together.”
“Hmm……What’d he tell you about us?”
Her forthrightness came as a shock. “He said you two were together for a while, but it didn’t work out.”
“Is that all he told you?” She asked implying that there was much more to tell.
“Basically,” I replied.
There was a devilish grin on her face. “How nice of him to spare your feelings. It must’ve been hard for him not to confess all the juicy details. Well, you’ll have to ask him to show you the pictures someday. I’m sure he still has his copies.”
I felt my palms start to sweat. My head was pounding and all I could think about was tearing her head from her body and rolling it down the street as I sped toward it in my car to run it over. Leila had no idea how close I was to letting the life out of her. It took every shred of control in my body to restrain me from losing it.
I took a deep breath and tried to keep my cool. “Look, in case you haven’t noticed, AJ doesn’t want you; hasn’t for a long time. And if you’re wondering, I’m a lot crazier than I look.”
She laughed. “Don’t get all ghetto on me. I’m just making sure he’s being upfront with you. It seems like he’s being pretty honest so far.” She paused and turned to look out the window.
“So, what, you’ve been with him for like a week or something?”
I didn’t respond.
“Not before homecoming, I’m sure,” she added.
“Why you all in our business?” I asked harshly.
Leila smiled again, obviously pleased with my irritation. “Just checking.” She paused momentarily.
“Checking what?” I asked flatly.
“You know….making sure he wasn’t trying to string us both along.” I had the nagging feeling that she was about to say something that I wasn’t ready to hear. “I screwed him that night,” she confessed. “He couldn’t stay like he usually does cause my dad’s shift was ending early, but we had enough time to do what needed to do.” She bit down on her lip while gazing out the window as if the memory was still fresh in her mind.
I nearly ripped the steering wheel off and slapped her with it. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, so I see he did decide to keep one secret from you after all.” She laughed again.
She had to be lying, but either way she had to go. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Get out.”
Her laughter became sinister. “Awww…..Did I hit a nerve? Well, look at it this way: at least you found out early. He’s never gonna get over me. I was his first.”
I felt myself getting ready to boil over with every emotion possible. Lucky for her, she took heed and climbed out of my car. I don’t even know how far we were from her house, but I didn’t care.
I drove home in shock. Was she telling the truth? Was he with her that night? Truthfully, he could’ve gone to see Leila in the hours that passed between the dance ending and when he decided to text me. Granted, he and I weren’t together at that point, but if this were true that meant that he lied. According to him, they hadn’t been physical since two years ago when he was sixteen, but it wouldn’t be the first time a guy lied about such a thing.
I needed to talk to him…right away. This wasn’t a call that could wait, so I sat there in my driveway and dialed his number. After two rings I remembered that he was at practice. There wasn’t much time for me to get frustrated, because not even five seconds later it rang in my hand. I answered and didn’t bother with courteous greetings. “Did you sleep with her after Homecoming?”