Chapter Fifteen

With exception to the guesthouse window, I had more than one reason to claim that the paint party was the absolute best day of my life, but it was followed by a pair of long, grueling days that were definitely two of the worst.

Given the nature of the party, the destructive way it had ended and my responsibility to help Faith return everything to its original state, I hadn't a moment to stop and reflect on everything wonderful that had happened. Even if I did, it wasn't like I could've been happy about it in front of her. No one was allowed to mention the paint party.

It was taboo, gone, erased from memory. If anyone asked what we were spending tireless hours cleaning up, the answer was mysterious alien goo. The truth was too triggering.

Holding Blake accountable for the window was a non-starter since a police report couldn't have been filed, given all the illegal and/or underage activities that had also taken place. Replacing the window was going to cost several thousands of dollars that Faith's parents were going to notice missing, but probably wouldn't lose sleep over. I felt terrible, but there was nothing I could've done for her, not unless she wanted help trying to glue all the pieces back together. A service I would've gladly offered, had I wanted my balls kicked back up into their original homes in my abdomen.

There was one good thing that came from Blake's rampage: it had given me a legitimate reason to call-in to work and avoid vetting Martha's boyfriend for a couple more days. Once I sent her a picture of the broken guesthouse window with a construction barricade laying on the floor inside, she was eager to accommodate. I thought it would've convinced her that I didn't have the power to stop bad things from happening, but if anything, she seemed more convinced than ever that my superpower was the real deal. During our short conversation, she had convinced herself that my mojo was the only reason there hadn't been any fatalities. This newfound enthusiasm wasn't going to make coming clean to her about my power any easier, but Martha was a problem for later.

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On Sunday night, after we'd finished cleaning, Faith treated Saylor and me to pizza at my place. She was still too traumatized to stay at hers. We couldn't be sure she was safe in that big house all by herself while her parents were still away. Mom agreed that she'd stay at our place, at least until the new window was installed. Out of hospitality, Mom cleared space in the guest room and set up an air mattress, but it was pointless. Faith would be sleeping in the same place she had always slept whenever she stayed over: in my bed. Despite her small size, she was an amazing big spoon. She was a furnace.

At some point, while I was shamelessly devouring my spinach and artichoke pizza on my bed, Saylor finally asked the question I'd wanted to, but hadn't dared. His epic take down had earned him a freebie, but apparently, stopping Faith from impaling a doofus hadn't. "So, Kristen?" he asked in between folded slices. It was fun to see him eat them, but pizza sandwiches weren't my thing. "That's worth discussing, right?"

I closed my pizza box and sat earnestly. If Faith reacted positively, I'd have the perfect opening to spill the Juice. It'd been killing me to keep my first non-familial-like kiss a secret from my best friends. Sadly, I had to make the distinction. There was this family gathering back when I was ten years old where I kissed one of my cousin's close friends to console her. Stupidly, I bragged to Faith and Saylor, who then decided the friend had to have been related or unreasonably close to the family to have been invited to my great grandfather's funeral, let alone to have cried over his death. I'd never claimed she was crying over his death, but Saylor gave me an out with 'familial-like' and I took it. I knew I'd lost. There was also the whole thing about kissing at a funeral that I didn't want to get into.

Faith took a huge bite of her disgusting, olive laden slice of pizza while we stared at her, but she gave nothing away. We'd been with her every moment since the party and the two hadn't talked, so Faith couldn't have known her future with Kristen, if they had one. That wasn't what he was asking though. We were her best friends. We wanted her to spill her guts about what she hoped the future held. A slight grin crept up on her face, then she took another bite. We were stuck in one of those moments when she'd try to maintain suspense for as long as possible. I knew a way out.

"At least tell us how it happened or... we can talk about the night I had," I said, yawning and batting my eyelashes. She threw her crust at me, but I deflected it back at her with a karate chop. It nailed her on the forehead. It was a total fluke. I was the same guy who couldn't catch a foam football. "So, Juice was c—."

"Okay, okay, I'll talk!" Faith shouted. She held up a finger as she finished chewing. "Un momento, por favor." She was flustered. It was clear she hadn't thought about what she was going to say, proof that she had intended on dragging this out until we begged. "So, you remember. We were friends before any of the crap with Blake went down?" Saylor and I nodded. They were in art, student council and debate together, so it took a herculean effort for them to avoid each other after they had fallen out. They weren't in the exciting back and forth style of debate where they could lash out at each other. They were in student congress, better known as 'how to become a corrupt politician 101'. "Well, after shots, drinks, bongs and a mysterious pill—don't hate me—we ended up playing truth or dare."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You don't have to make excuses for your sexual deviancy. You're in good company" —I snapped my fingers at her— "Spit it out!"

She hopped up on my bed with me and Frisbee'd my pizza box across the room. She was lucky it didn't open and spill everywhere. I was still borderline hangry. She started telling us every extraneous detail about the game of truth or dare until we hurried her along to the good part. "....I was sure she was going to be gunning for me, but I chose dare anyway because you know I never choose truth," she said. She stopped to check her phone and answer a few texts. She knew what she was doing. Saylor stole her phone while she was holding it away from me. She pouted, then she rambled on for awhile and digressed. Honestly, she could've been one hell of a writer for suspense. "...Then she dared me to hash things out with her." Saylor and I both gave her the 'are you serious' look at the same time. "I know right? How is that even a dare? Okay, but she ending up telling me that she only went after Blake because she had a crush on me, in front of Blake!" She screamed and hid her face in her hands. Saylor and I waited much longer than we should've had to for her to collect herself. She was enjoying this. "Then, he dared her to prove it, mistake on his part. She kissed so much better than he ever has." She rolled her eyes in ecstasy.

"Ya think?" I asked facetiously. "You've seen those crusty lips, right? He's got that 'I walked straight out of a desert look'." I laughed too hard at my own joke, so I rolled off the bed and went after my pizza box.

"So, do you like her back or was it spur of the moment?" Saylor asked. Faith started to answer, but he put up a hand to stop her. "Or was it to make him jealous?" I abandoned my pizza box mission and turned around, giving Faith my full attention.

She opened her mouth to speak several times, but stopped each time without saying anything. Then, her expression hardened. "It doesn't matter. We're done with all of them. Kristen is still shady, so is Blake, Juice, Marcus, all of them. We're done!" She wiped her hands clean and stood up. She raised her hand and nodded toward Saylor, invoking the friend vote.

I leapt across the room to interrupt them. "No! Juice didn't do anything. He's changed!"

Faith cast a look of pity. "This is for your own good. You've been obsessing over him for three long years that have been hard on all of us. He's beaten you, made fun of you a—."

"And he kissed me at the party!" I shouted. If they were going to have a friend vote, I was going to make damn sure they had the facts. "A real kiss, with tongue and t—."

"Stop!" Faith shouted, "He treats you like shit and you eat up whatever crumbs he throws your way. It's not healthy! We want better for you!" She waved her hand high in the air again and gestured toward Saylor to do the same. He raised a fist, so nothing was official yet.

My eyes were burning with tears. I couldn't deny what she was saying, but I knew things had changed. Juice and I had a breakthrough. I was certain of it. After investing three years, I was finally getting somewhere. "Go ahead, raise your hand and I'll do it." I turned toward Saylor as he started to unclench his fist. "But know, I won't ever forget this." I started full-on ugly crying on the floor. Saylor started to move toward me, but after trading looks with Faith, he stopped himself.

"I can't, not like this," Saylor said to her. He stood up and left my room. I didn't hear the hollowed knocks of shoes hitting stair steps, so I knew he hadn't left. He took a beat to let us figure it out among ourselves.

"Rudes... I know you're serious" —she paused to crawl over to me— "I'm not sure he is though and if you find out he's toying with you, it'll destroy you." She took my hands into hers and gently caressed the tops with her thumbs. "If you go through with this, I can't stick around. I couldn't take it, no mi corazon." She placed a fist on her heart and stared at me tearfully.

She looked way more serious than I could stand. I appreciated her concern, but I couldn't believe she had given me an ultimatum. It was the first time she'd ever threatened our friendship. It hurt as much as it scared me, and I was scared witless. Saylor and Faith were good on their own, but I needed them, both of them. Their friendship was the only thing I had going for me and she knew it. They were the only people who ever mattered to me, besides my parents and I had already been abandoned by one. I couldn't lose anyone else.

It wasn't fair.

I forgave her. I convinced myself she wasn't in her right mind. How could she be? Because of the timing, I couldn't help thinking this had more to do with Blake and less to do with Juice. I figured she still needed time to cool down, to be rational. "Give me time, please," I said. She shook her head. "But why? Why now, after he's finally kissed me?" My heart hurt. My voice sounded high, scratchy and pathetic. My eyes hadn't stopped watering my cheeks. I didn't care about either. She hadn't stopped for one second to let me enjoy the night I had.

"It's because he kissed you. Don't you see?" She shrugged her hands at me like I was too stupid to understand basic gummy bear math. "You've been living off this uncertainty, grasping... If Juice acts like nothing happened tomorrow, where does that leave you, chico?"

I hadn't thought about that. I started to, while I sniffed to collect myself. I wasn't expecting to find balloons taped to my locker or anything like that, but I was hoping, at some point, we'd finish what we had started in the barn and carry on from there. "He won't be different at school. I don't have room to talk. It's not like I could bring him around here, not as..." I crossed my fingers and kissed them. She knew what I meant.

"See? You don't even have space for him in your life. He has even less for you. He'll still treat you like shit in public. You've already made excuses for him. Is this really what you want?" Faith asked. She was on a roll and she was right. I needed to make space for Juice. "When you come out to Theresa, if Juice is still interested, you'll have my blessing." She ran her hands up my arms and shook my shoulders, her way of demanding verbal confirmation.

"Fine, Mom first, then Juice," I said halfheartedly, refusing eye contact.

"No, you can't talk to Juice until you come out to mamacita." She put her hands over my mouth. I had already opened it in protest. She shook her head repeatedly. "If he can't wait that long, then you're better off without him." The fact that I had never won a single argument against her was definitely the thing I hated most about Faith. I was smart enough to understand that she had gotten her way entirely. Our group was officially shunning Juice's crew, at least until I could find the nerve to come out to Mom. Faith certainly liked the odds of that never happening.

I'd show her.