Black Hole

Fake Happy

When I woke up the next morning, everything that happened the previous night rushed back to me. First all of the good with Callan and then all of the bad with Leo. It made me scared and angry all over again. 

I had never seen him like that. Sure, Leo had a temper, but he never got physical with me. Was he that desperate to keep me? Even he had been shocked by what he had done. I could tell he hadn’t meant to act like that. And I definitely egged him on.

I ran my fingers lightly over the bruises on my arm from when Leo had grabbed me so tightly. They hurt a little, but not as much as my back did from him shoving me so hard against the wall. I had made him much too angry. I couldn’t do that again. I had to be more careful.

After getting ready, I headed downstairs. On the dining room table, there’s a bouquet of roses.

“Who are these for?” I asked Mother.

She grinned widely. “You, dear. They’re from Leo. He’s apologizing for last night. Isn’t that sweet?”

I grabbed the note that went along with the flowers.

“Jay, I know I was a huge jerk last night, so I’m sorry. I said things I didn’t mean, and I never meant for things to be taken so far. You were right. I don’t own you and shouldn’t act like I do. I hope you forgive me. And I hope your favorite flowers brighten up your day.”

They weren’t my favorite color of roses, but at least he tried. As much as I didn’t particularly like it, I needed things to work out with Leo for the time being. It would keep my mother off my back, and at this point I was scared to leave him. I needed to keep things simple until I knew whether or not I was getting into Columbia. Or really anywhere else. I just refused to go to Washington State.

Which meant Leo and I would be done by February. But until then I had to play nice and keep Leo happy. I could easily do that. 

When I entered school, I spotted Leo, Carmen and Alan standing together in the middle of everyone else like they always did. I took a deep breath and walked over to Leo and kissed him hard and passionately. He responded quickly. I heard a couple people whistle and cheer. I finally pulled away breathlessly.

“I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to upset you.” I said. “I want this. I want you.” I said with such fervor, I even believed myself.

“No, I’m sorry. I was stupid. You were right to get angry, and I shouldn’t have gotten out of control like that. It will never happen again. Forgive me?”

“Of course.” I kissed him again. “But don’t tell me what to do anymore.” I joked.

Once again we were caught up in a kiss. I couldn’t remember the last time we kissed so much. As we pulled away, I saw Callan staring at us. He looked sad.

I gave him a tiny shrug as if to say ‘this is what I have to do’. He nodded slightly. I knew he understood.

Carmen was glaring at us. Alan looked just as sad as Callan did.

“Everything okay, Carmen?” I asked innocently.

“Everything’s fine,” She muttered. It obviously wasn’t.

“Good,” I hugged Leo tightly.

After playing happy girlfriend with Leo a few more minutes, I said I had to get to class early. I went to Callan’s locker instead.

“I have a surprise for you,” I grinned. I pulled his coat out of my bag.

He smiled. “Thanks, Jay. It was cool of you to get that back for me.”

“It’s no problem,”

“So things are better with Leo, then?”

“Um,” I leaned in closely. “I’m just playing nice.”  I whispered. “Do what I gotta do to keep things simple.”

“I see.” He smiled slightly. “Hey what happened there?” He touched my arm where the bruise was. I hope he didn’t remember whether or not the bruises were there yesterday. I didn’t think they were that noticeable. 

“Uh, cheer, I guess. It’s rougher than it looks.” I lied.

“I see.” He repeated. It was strange. I had this overwhelming feeling of pride, knowing that I had successfully lied to him. Of course I could never tell him about Leo’s rage. “You still coming tonight?”

“Of course I am!” I exclaimed. “I’m so excited. When should I get there and what should I wear?”

“You should get there around seven. And I have no clue what you should wear; I think you always look perfect.”

“Thanks Callan,” I smiled. The first bell rang.

“I should get going. See you in Astronomy.” Callan said before walking off.

^^^

It was quite strange the way acting happy made me actually feel happy. 

“You seem incredibly happy today,” Carmen pointed out during lunch. The boys hadn’t arrived yet and no one else at the table was paying attention to us.

“I am happy today,” I said.

“So…do you think things between you and Leo are really going to work out? Like you’re gonna get married and all that?”

I wanted to answer honestly, but I knew if I said no, she’d tell Leo and we’d fight again and I didn’t want that. 

“Um, honestly, I’m not sure. Who’s to say they know what will happen?” I asked.

“Leo,” She answered. “He’s like one hundred percent sure it will work out.”

“He’s just saying that cause we’ve been together for so long and his parents approve and want it to work out.”

“So they really support you two getting married?” Carmen asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. His mom wants me to take over her business when I graduate college,”

“Of course she does,” 

“Is something wrong, Carmen?”

“Why would it be?”

Before I could answer, the boys sat down and joined us.

“What’s going on?” Leo asked before kissing my cheek.

“Just girl talk.” I smiled, looking over at Carmen who was still scowling. Suddenly she smiled.

“Hey, Travis,” She started. Travis Crawl was also on the football team and among the top hottest guys at school.

He had the longest hair on the team. His golden locks fell over his bright blue eyes. Though he looked like a serious guy he was a total goofball with a heart of gold. He'd been crushing on Carmen forever.

“What’s up?” Travis asked.

“Why aren’t you and I dating?” Carmen asked him. Everyone was caught off guard, especially Travis.

“Um…cause I asked you out and you said no?”

“That was stupid of me. I think you should ask me again.”

“Uh, really?  Do you wanna be my girlfriend?” Travis said, still shocked, but extremely happy. 

“Does this answer your question?” Carmen grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him hard.  I guess that’s a yes.

Although I knew it was merely an attempt to make Leo jealous, I was going to pretend to support it.

 I clapped my hands. “Yay! This is amazing!”

Carmen finally pulled away from Travis. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He said grinning.

“Oh we can double date now!” I said. 

“That sounds like fun. Don't you think, Leo?” She glanced over at Leo. I looked at him too. He seemed truly unfazed by what had happened.

He grinned. “For sure! I knew this was gonna happen eventually. Finally!” He chuckled.

Carmen’s fake happiness faltered only for a moment and then plastered the smile back on her face. Looks like I wasn’t the only one pretending to be happy.

^^^

I had found the perfect outfit for tonight! I studied my reflection in the mirror, smiling. I had on a silky purple top, tucked into a black flare skirt and my favorite pair of knee high black boots. I hoped Callan would think I looked perfect.

I looked at the time and realized I was running late. I quickly grabbed my bag and hurried down the stairs.

“Did you and Leo make up?” Mother asked as I darted around, looking for my keys.

“Yep. He apologized, I apologized, it was quite a lovely affair. Have you seen my keys?” I asked.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“Out.” I replied. “Yes!” I finally found my keys.

“With Leo?” She asked hopefully.

“Nope, he’s busy tonight. Okay, I’m going. See you later. Bye!” I rushed out of the house.

I was driving to the pub when my phone rang. I turned on the Bluetooth without checking who it was.

“Hello?”

“Hey girl!” Carmen’s voice said.

“Oh hey! What’s up?” I asked.

“Travis and I were thinking we could have a double date tonight.”

“Sorry, I’ve already got plans.” I said.

“Doing what?”

“I’m seeing a band.”

“What band?” She asked.

“That’s a good question.” I said. “I’m about to drive through a tunnel. I’ll talk to you later, bye!”

I arrived at the bar at 7:07. I hoped I hadn’t missed anything. I stood on my tiptoes looking for Callan, and then I finally spotted him. I moved towards him through the crowd.

“Callan!” I called. He looked up hopefully and smiled when he saw me. I pushed past people to reach him.

“Jay! I thought you weren’t coming for a moment there.”

“Why didn’t you assume I got lost on the way?” I asked, in an amused tone.

“You’re a smart girl, no way you’d ever get lost.” He grinned. “The rest of the band is this way.” He grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd. I tried to ignore the electricity surging between our hands, but it was impossible. There was no denying our spark.

“Hey, guys, she’s here.” He said when we reached the rest of the band. I recognized all of them from school, but I’d be lying if I said I knew all their names.

I noticed Howie was among them, which made me feel relieved. He was a tan boy with dark red hair, but oddly enough not a freckle in sight. He reminded me of Daryl Sabara from  Spy Kids all grown up. “Hi  Howie.” I said smiling.

He looked surprised. “Oh hey, Jay. You, um, know my name.”

“Yeah, we have English together,” I laughed.

“Yeah, we do.” He turned almost as red as his hair as he smiled at me.

“Hey I’m Adam.” A very tall brown skinny boy said quietly. His dark hair fell over his dark, almost black eyes and made him seem very mysterious.

“Lucy.” A girl with dark hair that had green streaks in it and angry brown eyes said. She was looking at me like I had done something awful to her, which can’t be the case because I haven’t spoken to her since Freshman Year.

“And  as you know, I’m Josh.” A boy said grabbing my hand and kissing it. 

I’ve always thought Josh was quite attractive. He had sandy blonde hair, was in great shape and piercing grey eyes. The way his arms looked made me think he probably played guitar. I remember in eighth grade he used to hang out with us, but for some odd reason stopped. I was always jealous of him for getting away.

“Yes, I remember,” I said, trying not to burst out laughing.

“We’re all glad to see you.” Adam said, tossing his hair out of his face casually. It made him seem very aloof and cool. “When Callan told us you were coming to see us play, we definitely didn’t believe him. I mean, you’re Jay Moore!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Why thank you. Callan has more game than you think, just so you know.” I winked at Callan.

“I've tried to tell them.” Callan chuckled.

“So Callan what do you play?” I asked.

“Guitar and I also sing some of the songs.” He said shyly. That explains why he looks so good with his shirt off.

“Like tonight!” Josh said, giving him a pat on the back. “You’ll be very impressed with him, Jay.”

“What do the rest of you play?”

“Drums.” Adam said, waving his sticks.

“I play Bass.” Howie answered.

“Piano.” Lucy basically snapped.

“Vocals and violin.” Josh said proudly.

“Violin?” And that explains his arms. “That’s a cool instrument to have in a band.” I said.

 “Callan’s idea.” Adam grinned.

“Awesome. Okay, what’s your band name?”

“Jupiter’s Moons.” Howie answered.

“I love that.” I gushed. “Who thought of it?”

“Callan.” They chorused.

“Nerd.” I muttered at him. He laughed loudly. I am thoroughly pleased that I have made him laugh. Lucy is not.

“Anything else I need to know to become your biggest fan?”

“We only sing songs that have something to do with space in the title.” Howie informed me.

“Explain please?” I asked, slightly confused.

“Tonight’s set list is Here Comes the Sun, Blue Moon, Across the Universe and Drops of Jupiter.” Josh explained.

“Oooh. I get it and I love it! It’s crazy brilliant, actually.”

“Now please welcome to the stage, your favorite local band! Jupiter’s Moons!” A voice announced.