Chapter One
Chapter one
I woke up this morning thinking that it would be a normal Saturday December morning in New York. I started watching tv. Then I was getting bored. I picked up my phone and went through my contacts, to see who would want to hang out today. I came across Aly’s number.
“Hello?” she said. “Hi! Are you doing anything today?” I said. “Uh, no I’m not. Why?”
“Because I think we should go to the park. Ridge Way park.” I said excitedly. “Yeah, that sounds fun. Can I invite a few people?” “Yeah sure. Invite whoever. I’ll see you in like an hour.” “Okay, see you then.”
I looked in the mirror for one second. I was wearing my purple v-neck that was just a little wrinkled; my pants were black skinnies that were a little bit big on me so the ends were just a little wrinkled, and I had on my snow boots which were just a little slippery at the bottom. My hair… ugh my hair. I was never happy with my hair. It’s stupid wild and curly hair. I grabbed the straighter and started going through my hair. Finally I was content with what I saw. I got my iPod, turned up the volume and started walking up to the park. I’m early, so I thought I would just have some time alone and just go on the swings just for a little while.
Once I was at the park, I saw that it was crowded and there were kids running around everywhere. I really don’t know how kids could run around and just have so much energy in this kind of weather.
I felt my phone ringing, and saw that it was Aly calling. “Yeah?” I said answering. “Yo, dude, uh I invited JG and Erik and some other guy are coming along,” she said. “Okay cool. When will you be here?” I asked. “Around noon. And the guys will be there at one.” “Okay. See you then.”
I just had to wonder who the mystery guy was that she was talking about. I thought it would be so funny if I actually knew him.
It wasn’t long until Aly finally showed up. “So, the guys won’t be here for another hour. What do you wanna do?” I asked. “Lets just walk around. Ok?” she said.
“Can I tell you something?” Aly turned to me. “Yeah, go ahead.” “I kind of like JG.” She looked a little embarrassed to tell me that. I already knew that she likes him, and I think that they would be a nice couple.
“So what are you gonna do?” I asked. She just looked at the ground and did a little smile. “Well I don’t know, do you think he likes me?” I had to think for a moment. This guy was just the type that just wants to be in a relationship so he could love someone, or just to be in a relationship. “I think so. But you have to be careful about him. Because he just moves so fast when it comes to a relationship.” “Yeah I guess you’re right,” she said staring at the ground. She wasn’t listening to me. She never does.
One rolled around kind of quick and I was a little excited to see Erik again. He was such a funny guy. I expected us to just go on and goof around, since that’s what we usually do. We met up at the sign of the park. There they were. JG, and Erik, and the mystery guy. I kept looking at the mystery guy, he was actually kind of cute. He was wearing a nice blue short sleeved shirt, and a long black sleeved shirt under it, his pants were a little bit sagged but it wasn’t so sagged that they looked like they were going to fall off or anything. Unlike what the teenage boys wear nowadays. JG and Erik gave me and Aly a hug. “This is Kale,” JG said pointing to the mystery guy. He seemed really quiet and uncomfortable to be here with us. I ignored it. “So, was there anywhere where you guys wanted to go?” I asked. “Uh, I need to get my girlfriend a Christmas present, but hmm, I don’t know what to get her,” stated Kale. Of course. A gorgeous guy like that had a girlfriend. I knew it. “Well, I kind of want to look at CDs… so how about we go to Target?” I said. “Yeah, uh, we don’t care where you guys go,” said JG. I just shrugged it off and had Aly go to Target with me. The guys followed us but they were really behind us, and they were just talking to each other. I kept looking back at them because I was afraid that they were plotting something. “Uh I have a question. Why are we going to Target?” JG asked. I opened my mouth to answer but then mystery guy responded before I could. “BECAUSE THE BLACK GIRL SAID SO!”
At that moment everyone just broke down laughing. Since he didn’t know my name I guess I was just the black girl to him. I really didn’t care who I was to him, I mean I was just going to see this guy once. Right? He had a girlfriend already and they were probably so happy with each other. Me, I was happy being single. I had all I needed; friends.
When we got to Target, the first place we went to was Starbucks because well, we were thirsty. We just asked for some water. The lady that was behind the counter gave us a look, like we were going to cause some trouble or something. Well we got our waters and just started walking toward the CDs. Kale noticed that there was a Santa here, greeting to kids. “You know what I want to do? I want to get on the second floor and then just jump on Santa and scream ‘SANTA!!!’ and just land on his lap.” I almost spit out my water. To think that this guy was the quiet one. Ha, boy was I wrong or what? JG turned to me, “You like this guy don’t you?” he asked. “I LOVE THIS GUY!!” I said laughing. Hey, he was funny.
Once he heard me say that he smiled at me. I was focused on getting a CD. When we were at the CD section that was when the guys just split up. Aly and I didn’t care. I was just looking through the CDs and there was not one good CD that was worth buying. So we left the store and Aly called JG and asked where they were. “I’m not telling you where we are!” JG said. She just hung up on him and we waited outside just for a little while. The guys came running outside laughing. “Whoa whoa! What’s going on?” I asked. Kale showed that he had stole a pair of headphones. “We gotta go! Now!!” Erik said. Everyone started running. Aly and I were just so far behind them.
Finally they stopped running, we caught up with them. We were just standing in the parking lot, panting, just tired from running. “Are you okay?” Kale asked me. I nodded smiling. I was a little curious why he asked if I was okay. I mean didn’t I look okay? “You guys are just a bunch of jackasses!” I said. “We don’t care!” Erik said with a smile.
I was just looking at him and shaking my head. I didn’t notice that Kale had walked away. I turned around and saw him by a car. He was backing up and looking at the car with determination. “Uh… Kale… what are you doing?” I asked. He ignored my question and just started running toward the car. I was thinking to myself, Oh fuck! Finally he jumped on top of the car and just slid right off of it and landing on his side. Then the alarm went off. We all started running and laughing. Which is not easy to do. I was wearing the wrong shoes since the bottoms were just so slippery, I almost fell. The guys were ahead of Aly and I. We didn’t stop running until we were back at the park.
My heart was racing, and my asthma was slightly kicking in. I was just so out of breathe, and so was Aly. Goes to show how much in shape we were.
“What the hell was that?!?!” Erik said out of breathe. “It just seemed like a good idea!” Kale said trying to sound innocent. “How did that look like a good idea?!” I said holding my throat and trying to catch my breath. “I don’t know,” Kale said stupidly. “You have issues,” I told him. He just did a cocky smile. I don’t know what about this guy made me like him, he was just a total jackass. I guess I just have a thing for jackasses.
“I feel like swinging!” I said running toward the swings. Most people left, so the park was pretty much empty, and it was getting dark. Kale was right behind me, and everyone else followed. JG and Erik sat at the bench that was beside the swings, and Aly followed them. Kale was right behind me. I started swinging trying to ignore Kale. Then I started to get a little scared that I was going to hit him. “If you don’t back up I’m gonna hit you,” I said to him. He just shrugged. “I don’t care. If you hit me, then I’ll push you off the swing.” “Well I warned you.” I just started swinging ignoring that he was behind me still. He backed up just a little bit, since I actually almost did hit him. “Watch it!” he said. “I warned you!” I said. “Well I don’t think that you’ll hit a cute guy like me would you?” he asked. I smiled to myself. “You’re cute, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t hit you,” I said swinging higher. He had a smirk on his face. I started getting lower and lower and I was just a little bit afraid that I was actually gonna hit him. But he didn’t move a muscle.
Next thing I knew he was actually pushing me. “I’m sure I can swing by myself. I’m a big girl.” “No… I want to push you,” he said. “I don’t want you to push me off the swing!” I said slightly panicked. I made the swing come to a complete stop. “Why did you stop swinging?!” he said. “Because I know that you were going to push me off!” I exclaimed. “No I’m not!” he lied. “Yes you are you liar!” I said getting off the swing.
I walked over to where JG, Erik and Aly were. I was leaning against the wall that was beside the bench. Kale was behind me. He sat down next to Erik. “So when are your rides showing up?” I asked. “Mine’s with them,” said Kale. I pretended that I didn’t hear him. “Well, maybe around 8 or something,” Erik said.
I could see from the corner of my eye that Kale was looking at me. I turned to him and caught him. He tried to look away to make it look like he wasn’t looking at me. “Can I help you?” I snapped. “Uh… no.” He looked at his phone. “Yo, what are you getting your girl for Christmas anyways?” Erik asked Kale. “I don’t know maybe jewelry.” “Well it depends on how much she means to you,” I said looking at him and resting my head on my left hand. “So what are you getting your boyfriend for Christmas?” he said putting his phone away and facing me. “Uh… I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Kale got up and just put on his cocky face and walked over, and put his hand just above my head, and then he started to lean close to my face. “How does a cutie like you not have a boyfriend?” he asked. I could feel his warm breath on my face. “The guys that I like don’t like me, they say I’m the friend type.” He was really close to my face. So close that I thought he was going to kiss me. I was getting butterflies in my stomach and it was driving me nuts. I just wanted to grab his face and have his lips meet mine. I put on my cocky face, and pushed Kale away from me. “I like to have some air please,” I said. He chuckled. JG and Erik started whistling. “Uh, excuse me he has a girlfriend!” I said trying not to choke on my words. “So? I think you two would make a really cute couple!” JG said. “Yeah, well I think you and Aly would make a cute couple!” I said half jokingly. Aly blushed and looked down at her feet. “Why don’t you two have a little talk while Erik, Kale and I just stay here?” I said hinting. JG looked at Aly who was still looking at her feet. He stood up and grabbed her hand and took her toward one of the trees that was just far enough for us not to hear. I smiled at them.
Kale was texting his girlfriend. Erik was just messing around with his phone. “So what school do you even go to?” I asked Kale. “Oh I go to York High School.” I knew exactly where that was. In fact I lived right behind it! “I live like right behind that school.” “Same here,” he said smiling.
I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 7:30. “Well it seems like you guys will be leaving soon. So I guess I’ll just go on home,” I said getting up. “Well it would be pretty cool if you could stay here until our rides got here,” Kale said looking at me. I saw just this little innocent look in his eyes just pleading for me to stay. “Well fine. I’ll be nice just this one time for you,” I said sitting back down. He smiled. I just looked down at my feet. I didn’t know what to say.
I stood up just to stretch for one second. Then I felt arms around my waist. I was pulled down into Kale’s lap. “You’re not gonna get away from me this time!” he said. I giggled and tried to stand up but his arms were like a seat belt. “Let go of me!” I said trying to stand up again. “Uh… nope!” “Erik! Help me!!” I said. Erik just ignored me and went where Aly and JG were. “Well you’re a bunch of help!”
“Bwahahaha! I have you as my prisoner!” Kale said with an evil voice. I finally gave up and just sat there on his lap. “Now tell Santa what you want for Christmas, little girl!” he said trying to make his voice lower. “Well, there’s this really cute guy that I would like, but he’s taken. So can I just have his number?” I said in a little kid voice. He smiled at my hint. “Gimme your phone,” he said holding out his hand. I did as he asked and he put in his number. “Now text me.” I did as he said again. “Bam! Now you have my number. Anything else you want for Christmas?” he asked wrapping his arms around me again. “Nope, I think I’ll take what I have now,” I said putting my phone in my pocket. “Is there anything that you would want for Christmas?” I asked. He did a pause. “Hmmm… Well not that I can think of right now,” he said looking back at me. He was lying. I could see it in his eyes. There was just something that he wanted. I totally wanted to think that he wanted me, but no… no guy would want me.
JG, Aly, and Erik finally came back. “Yo, our ride is here,” JG said. “Well time for me to go. It was nice meeting you,” he said as he stood up. “Bye,” I said hugging him. “Text me,” he whispered in my ear. “Maybe,” I teased. “Well if you don’t then I will!”
Just like that he was gone. Aly walked up to me, and I saw that she had a big smile on her face. “What are you smiling about?” I asked. “JG and I are dating,” Aly said happily. “Aww!!!” I hugged her. She was happy. That was good, since she was usually a downer.
Her ride then showed up. “Do you want a ride home?” she asked. “No it’s okay, I’ll just walk home,” I said. She gave me one last hug and then she was gone.
I plugged in my iPod and turned up the volume. Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson started playing. The whole time I was walking home all I could think about was Kale. My mind was racing about what happened today, and what I wanted to happen. When Kale was close to me I just wanted to kiss him right then. I sighed to myself. Well why didn’t I kiss him? Oh I know why, because he already has a girlfriend. I don’t have a chance with him.
I finally made it home. Kale was still on my mind. I just went up to my room, closed the door and got ready for bed.
