Page 16 of Trading Paint
I’d never seen Sway kiss someone else other than her dad and it was also something I never wanted to see again.
Months passed and the school year progressed.
Sway never talked about Dylan with me and I never spoke about Chelsea. I guess you could say she was my girlfriend to the outside eye but I hardly admitted it to Sway or myself. Chelsea and I continued to go on dates, mess around and then I took her home. It wasn’t love; it wasn’t even lust. It was filling a crack I knew was there but also refused to look to see how the crack originated in the first place.
Chelsea was all right, but she lacked a personality. Get her talking for more than a few minutes and you quickly realized the dye she used in her blonde hair had killed one too many brain cells.
I don’t know if I need to point this out, but I hated high school, absolutely hated it. The high school experience alone is an emotional rollercoaster. Hell, our teenage years themselves were enough and then you add the pressures of co-existing together with a bunch of other crazy teens...stupid.
All the hype around school was discussions of who was going to junior prom and with whom. I had no desire whatsoever to go to a high school dance. But no, my mom was forcing me to go. Something about needing to be a normal teenager and I was only partially paying attention to her.
Sway and I had originally planned on going together when she backed out and said she couldn’t. I knew it wasn’t that she couldn’t but that she didn’t want to. We equally hated high school.
Knowing my mom wouldn’t let me back out, I was forced to go with Chelsea.
The night of junior prom, I was pouting in my room while dressing in my tuxedo. The fact that I had to wear a monkey suit to the event was yet another bullshit tradition I was not so happy with.
I decided to call Sway to let her know how upset I was with her backing out. It went straight to voicemail so I expressed my concerns with: “I hate you. Come rescue me.”
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting in my room sulking and wondering if I could make myself appear sick when I heard a tap at the window. I turned to see Sway standing there, balancing herself on a ladder.
My first concern should have been how in the hell Sway made it to my second story window but it wasn’t; it was relief. I had no intention of going to that goddamn school dance nor did I want my pictures taken as a reminder that I was forced to attend in the first place.
“What are you doing?”
“You said you needed to be rescued. Are you coming or not?” Sway asked breathlessly. “The food is getting cold.”
“You brought food?”
“Well yeah, I was hungry.”
“I haven’t climbed out my window in years.” I admitted climbing out nonetheless. After falling about five feet, I landed on my ass with Sway standing over me laughing.
“Smooth Riley, real smooth,”
I glared at her brushing grass and dirt from my tux. Why I was still wearing it should have concerned me. “I should have changed.”
Swayglancedmy direction.
“Nah, you look good. Keep it on.” She winked.
I finally looked at her appearance. While she looked beautiful as always, I had to laugh at her attire. She had on a black tutu over her jeans. “What’s with the tutu?”
“It’sprom isn’t it?” Her brow furrowed like I was stupid for asking. “This is my dress.”
I shook my head. This is what Sway did, never what you expected her to do.
A few minutes later, we were sitting inside Emma’s tree house eating Chinese food. I could always count on Sway to bail me out of situations like this. I laughed to myself at the thought of Chelsea looking for me at the dance but I was almost certain she’d find someone to dance with. There were times were I felt badly for the way I treated Chelsea but I was also well aware of the guys she flirted with and did god knows what with when I was out of town. I wasn’t stupid. She was using me as I used her.
We watched as Tommy picked up Emma for the dance. They were going as friends but that didn’t stop me from threatening to cut off his balls if he tried anything.
Mom fussed endlessly over her dress while we laughed. I knew damn well I’d catch hell from mom over this but like always, I didn’t care.
As I took a bite of my egg roll, I noticed Sway gazing at mom and Emma talking.
Unbuttoning the top buttons of my undershirt, I attempted to get more comfortable.
“Do you miss her?” I asked softly leaning into her shoulder.
