I Want Her Badly

Growing Up

ALEX POV

I am riding my bike to Jarvis house on this fine Saturday morning. Since the cafeteria meal with Diana, he has been avoiding me like a plague. I don’t care about his childish tantrums, but I have a project to complete. He didn’t come for the Thursday meeting at Xander’s place, and I just let it go. Although I have been homeschooled before, I don’t like leaving assignments uncompleted.

Today is Diana’s birthday, and I have to be home by 5 p.m. because the party starts at 7 p.m. I texted Jarvis that I would be coming, so he should be prepared. The thing I dreaded would be the awkward meeting, but I will just do the project meeting and get out of there. Xander didn’t come back home last night, and I am presuming everything went well with Josie (with crossed fingers). I smiled happily at that thought. I reached the gate, and the security guard recognized me and let me in.

I reached the familiar house, parked my bike and knocked on the door. I heard someone rushing down the stairs and open the door. Little Bianca opened the door and was smiling brightly at me. Before I could say anything, she hugged me. I smiled, hugging her back. She ended the hug and let me in. I heard someone calling her from the kitchen.

“Mom”, she said, leading me to the kitchen. I was stunned, as I wasn’t expecting his mom to be around. As we entered the kitchen, I saw a very beautiful woman. Age was showing on her face, but it just added to her beauty. She saw us and smiled. She signaled us to come closer. She handed us some plates of cookies as I greeted her. She led us to the living room and told us to sit down and to start eating.

“Jarvis thought you weren’t coming today, but I had a feeling that you might come. With what he had told me about you, I just knew you would still come today”, she said as we continued to eat the cookies.

“This is very good, ma. I also just came to work on the project”, I said, hoping my choice of words didn’t offend her.

“I hope you will forgive my son for his behavior. This is his first heartbreak, and it happened in that manner”, she replied, and I didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t have anything against him. His character is questionable but that is not my business to meddle in. I just hope he won’t hold this project back”, I said while giving Bianca my plate of cookies. I don’t know how she finished her plate.

“Speak of the devil”, she said, and I looked back to see Jarvis coming towards us.

JARVIS POV

The strong sunshine on my face woke me up. I looked at the time on my phone and saw it was 1pm. I groaned and tried to sit up. I felt a splitting headache and couldn’t help but regret my actions last night. I didn’t feel good yesterday as it was the anniversary of the worst day of my life. After school, I went to a gaming cafe with the guys and stayed there till around midnight. I called an uber and it drove me home and sneaked to my room. I was tired but I wasn’t able to fall asleep.

After tossing and turning for a while, I got a beer pack from the fridge and spent the night drinking while watching rom-com movies that Diana and I used to watch. I knew I wasn’t helping matters but I continued. I am pretty sure the sky was bright before I fell asleep.

I saw a message from Alex and I opened it. Immediately I saw the content of the message, I stood up hurriedly while thinking in shock. I didn’t expect her to come after all I didn’t go for the Thursday meeting. I tidied up my room and took a bath. While wearing my clothes, I heard the doorbell ring and I knew she had arrived. I knew Bianca was around but I didn’t know who else was at home.

I dressed up and got my project things and followed the voices I was hearing to the living room. I heard the whole conversation from when Alex had complimented my mom on the cookies. The anger I had been feeling this last few days just rushed to the surface.

I calmed myself down, and when they noticed me, I greeted them. I am sure they could see my icy face. I started to lead the way to the library, and as Alex was about to follow me, I heard my mom telling her to carry a plate of cookies. I didn’t wait for her and just went to the library and started arranging my things. She came in a minute later, looking at me with an expressionless face. She dropped the cookies and brought her stuff out.

The atmosphere was very awkward, so she just said we should continue our research from our last meeting. We spent the next 20 minutes in silence, other than the sound of us typing on our laptops and eating cookies.

“My character is questionable?”, I asked, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense. She murmured under her breath and closed her laptop.

I continued, “You didn’t even hear my side of the story and assumed I was wrong”.

She looked at me and sighed. She took out her phone and played a recording. It was the recording of Diana explaining her side of the story. We kept quiet until the recording was finished.

She then said, “Someone posted this on our school forum. I assume you haven’t listened to it. Maybe I was wrong not asking for your side of the story but I have a feeling all Diana said is true”.

We were in silence before I spoke, “Did you consider how I felt all this time?”

“You were hurt; I understand that. You liked Diana very much. Diana was wrong in not telling you how she felt but both of you were not mature enough. You were just unlucky that her time to explode was in public. But treating her like that for almost a year is not nice at all. In addition, avoiding me after just talking to her in the cafeteria is just plain childish”, she said and stood up and started packing her things.

“All of us are still growing up. It’s part of life. But we should learn how to move forward and grow up. Treating her like that for a year means that you have not moved forward or grown up for a year. If you will excuse me?”, she took her things and left.

I just sat there, thinking about what she and Diana had said. I don’t know how long I was there, but then my mom came in with a glass of juice, waking me up from my stupor.

“It looks as if she taught you a lesson. Get up and prepare for the party”, she said, and I looked at her puzzled.

“Did you think because of a teenage breakup, we are going to stop attending our family friend’s birthday party”, she said, dropped the juice and left. I placed my face in my head and sighed thinking of the disaster about to follow.