They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking in Circles. 

Chapter 3

After I stormed away, Jasmine suddenly remembered that I still owed her an explanation over the whole trespassing and milk theft ordeal from the night before. Our trip to the mall was cut short, and I found myself sulking, sitting on my pink comforter as Jasmine started interrogating me, with backup from Ceci (thanks a lot, kid). "What on earth were you thinking?"

I shrugged. "Which time are we talking about, again?"

Truthfully, there were so many occasions that I could possibly be being interrogated for, that I felt I had the need to ask. I didn't want to accidentally blurt out a confession for a crime I was in the clear for, after all.

"Oh, gee, I dunno. Maybe it was the one where you rang the doorbell of my hot neighbors, while we were dressed in our Halloween costumes trick or treating like a bunch of five-year-olds, after we told you not to, greeting the hottest one of all with 'Whassup, yo?', laughing at me when I flirted, making it obvious that I was into him-not in the good way, either-laughing so hysterically that you couldn't talk, or when you did talk, it sounded ridiculous, so you stormed into his house, stole his milk, chugged half of it, and when he stared at you, wanting an explanation for your erratic behavior, you asked him if he had any Nesquik, then left, leaving the three of us to explain your erratic behavior."

That last part I didn't know about. "You guys had to stay and explain?" I laughed. "How'd that go?"

Jasmine, Maddie and Ceci scowled at me. Jasmine continued. "It went lousy! He looked like he either wanted to run out of the room and turn you into the police, or crack up and keep you as his personal entertainer. He just stood there, waiting for an explanation, and we had to give one to him. We told him that you were hyped up on candy, when you hadn't had a single piece that night. We weren't about to tell him that that was your normal behavior, after all. So we said that you weren't responsible for your actions, because when you were hyper, you acted like you were drunk, and had no self-control. And yes, I know that's not true, but it was better than the truth, yeah, I was really gonna say, 'That? Oh, that's nothing. That's just everyday Shay for you. You should see her during the summer.' That would have been, like, a death penalty for us all."

Jasmine is a bit of a drama queen. "It would not have been a death penalty."

"Alright, maybe not that bad," Jasmine said after a moment of hesitation. "But it still would've been really embarrassing. Way more embarrassing than it already was." She looked mad, and it made me wonder. "How come you guys are the ones who are embarrassed, huh?"

"Because you humiliated us with your insane behavior?" Ceci questioned.

"If I remember correctly," I said, growing a bit angry, "you guys weren't the ones who barged into a cute guy's house, stole his milk, asked for Nesquik, and then barged out, all on impulse. You guys weren't the ones who had to face up to him the next day, meeting him in a chance encounter at the mall where he recognized you, thanks to SOMEONE, actually, because he was kinda stupid, and wouldn't have figured it out, but he did, because of SOMEONE. You guys weren't the ones who reached out behind him, touched his BUTT while grabbing his wallet out of his back pocket, stole his money and a Band-Aid, put said Band-Aid on, and walked away, leaving him wanting another explanation, both times during that same twenty-four hours, now were you?"

What is their problem, anyways? Okay, I know I'm not the most appealing friend, because I don't try to be the It-Girl, like so many other girls do. I'm perfectly fine with being plain-old Shay, or, That-Weird-and-Crazy-But-Funny-Girl-with-the-Short-Brown-Hair. But this is more of my problem than theirs, and I actually don't even consider it a problem.

"What is your problem, Shay?" Jasmine said incredulously. "Why are you so mad?"

"Because you guys keep yelling at me for this thing that happened, that truthfully, is MY problem! I'm the one who he's gonna remember, because I was the one who stole his milk, money and Band-Aids! Not you, Jasmine! I don't get why you're the one who's so pissed, when he probably won't remember to mortify you, because you didn't mortify yourself impulsively like I did! And I never once complained about it, until now, that I had to!"

Jasmine glared at me, and I could tell she was mad.

"Alright, how about we just break it up and-" Ceci began, but was cut off by Jasmine. "No, let her finish."

"Um, I was finished. I just wanted you to quit getting so mad at me for something that isn't gonna affect you, but me, and I'm not even embarrassed by it."

"I'm sorry, Jas, but she's got a point," Maddie added. It was the first time she had spoken. She's just sat there, on my spinning-chair, watching in awe. "You slipped up, and yeah, so did Shay by laughing at your attempt to flirt. Why don't you just both apologize and-"

Jasmine cut off Maddie this time. "No way! I have a right to be mad. How about we talk when you're less impossible, Shay?"

Translation: Until you forget about your leader-type personality, and see things my way, we won't talk. When you're ready to apologize, we'll talk.

"How about not?" I huffed. I wasn't about to let anyone step on me, even if she was my best friend.

She glared at me, huffed as well, and exited my room and my house, slamming all doors that got in her way.

My older brother, Damien, walked in. "What was that all about?"

I sighed. "She's mad at me. I'm mad at her."

"Oh, God, Shay, don't tell me this is about a boy," he warned.

I actually didn't know. Was it about Forrest? I didn't think so, because she herself said that she still liked Damien, not Forrest. But he definitely had something to do with it. "I'm not sure. A guy might be involved, but it's actually not what you think."

"Oh, sure," he sneered, angry at me. He's kind of over-protective. This probably hasn't helped the whole no-boyfriend thing. Oh, right. I sort of have one now. "Then what is it?"

"I'm gonna go grab a donut," Ceci quickly muttered and ran out of the room. Yeah, thanks a lot, Ceci, way to stick up for me.

"Oh, trust me," I told him serenely. "It's a long story, and you don't wanna know."

Damien sat down on the edge of my bed and said, "Yes, I do, unless you want me to get Maddie to tell me, and she might mess it up."

"Hey!" Maddie interjected. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a special kid," Damien explained. "And that you're so special, you don't have to try to tell the right story."

Maddie seemed surprisingly satisfied with this answer, so I sighed and gave in. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you. It started off with the four of us trick or treating, but then we stopped at the last house in Jasmine's neighborhood. Jasmine was all excited at first, because she said that this hot guy and his friends lived there. Apparently, they weren't planning on ringing the doorbell, but I didn't know that, and I rang it. I wanted candy. So he opened it, and I said, 'Whassup, yo?' and apparently this wasn't the response I was supposed to have given, but whatever. Jasmine starts flirting with the guy, and it was so funny that I burst out laughing, and I couldn't stop. So I barged into his house, stole his milk, asked for Nesquik, and when he said he didn't have any, I left."

Damien shook his head at me, laughing. "My God, Shay, you are either truly insane, or truly fearless. I think it's a mixture of both. You are the only person I know of that would even consider doing that."

"I didn't consider it," I pointed out.

"Right, you did it."

"No, I didn't consider it," I repeated. "I... well, I did it on impulse."

He laughed again. "And that is why I love you, Sis. Is that all that happened?"

"Oh, I wish." I shook my head. "So the next day, we went to the mall, and a few things happened, and we ran into Milk-Guy. We were so surprised, we couldn't stop staring, but they saw us staring, and thought we were into them, but I cleared that up, and I started walking away, and I thought I was safe, but then he told me to stop, and I stopped and acted dumb when he said that he thought he'd seen me before. I tried to drift to another subject, but he just ignored me, trying to figure out who I was. But the idiot couldn't figure it out, and I was just thinking, THANK GOD! Until Jasmine decided to play dirty, and when I said I was leaving, she called out, 'Don't forget your milk!' So I stepped on her, and then she choked out, 'And your Nesquik!' So then he recognized me, and things went bad, and I ended up reaching around and touching his butt while grabbing his wallet and stealing his money and Band-Aid."

I had to stop because Damien was laughing again. I didn't appreciate it very much. "Okay, okay, I'll stop laughing," he said when I poked him in the gut. "So that was what triggered the fight, but what was the actual fight?"

"She threw all of this in my face, saying that I embarrassed her and Ceci and Maddie, and Maddie didn't even complain, and Ceci is always embarrassed by me, so she didn't care. So I got all mad, because if someone should have been embarrassed after all that chizz, it would have been me, because I was the one who may or may not have made a complete and total fool of herself, but she was the one who was all pissed off. So I told her that this was my problem and that I was the one who he'd remember to mortify about this, not her, and that I didn't get why she was so pissed off and worried. So she got all mad and told me that we would talk when I was being less impossible."

"Well, I say you just give her a little time to cool off, and take some time to cool off yourself. You guys obviously had this fight coming for a while now, and you both just exploded over this. Just give it a bit of time, and you'll be fine."

"But Jasmine wanted to pick out your outfit for your date, tomorrow, Shay," Maddie pointed out. "Won't she be upset?"

I tried to make signals at her to tell her to keep her pie-hole shut, but her transmitter is obviously rigged, because she didn't catch on.

"Date?" Damien's nostrils flared. "And you didn't tell me, Shay?"

Damien and I are close. Our parents aren't home that much, so he's like a dad to me. And he sure does act like one. He's a senior at Haven High, and he thinks he's so mature, and so smart, and blah, blah, blah. Oh, just bite me, Damien.

"Well, it's really not a big deal," I said, and while it sounded like a fib, it wasn't. It truly wasn't a big deal.

Luckily, Damien's phone rang, and I figured it must have been Bianca-his girlfriend-because he looked up, answered the phone and whispered, "We'll talk about this later."

Oh, joy. I grabbed my own cell and called my mom. After four rings, she answered. "Hello, darling!" she greeted.

"Hey, Mom, I was just wondering if I could spend the night at Maddie's tonight." I didn't want to feel my brother's wrath when he got home, or hear his fatherly lecture. Or worse-God forbid he do this-The Talk. I shuddered at the thought.

"Of course, dear," she answered. "Oh, Shay, I have to go! I'll see you tomorrow!"

My mother was the debutante type of mother. She liked to have tea with her book club, and gossip about whichever member had to miss that week's session. There wasn't much reading involved, unless it was some evidence of one of the member's dirty deeds or something.

I didn't even have to ask Maddie if I could spend the night, and Maddie didn't even have to ask her mom if I could. Firstly, Maddie knew that this was coming when Damien said we would talk about this later. And secondly, Maddie's mom and my mom are basically attached to the hip. Where do you think Maddie's mom is at? If you guessed their book/gossip club, you're right.

"Oh, hey, I gotta go quickly run and errand, but I'll meet up with you at my house. Ceci can come with, if she wants."

I nodded, and said, "Alright, don't take too long, though, or else Damien might find me."

"I won't." Maddie shook her head. "This'll be quick."

She left the room and I went to go check my computer, just as Ceci walked in. "Oh, thank God, I thought he was gonna give you one of his lectures. I just got one last week about bullying."

I rolled my eyes. "He was gonna, but then Bianca called. Thank God for Bianca. Sometimes, I don't know what I would do without that girl."

"I think he's close to giving us The Talk."

"I don't get why nobody's tried to give me The Talk," I said. "I mean, I'm nearly sixteen. My birthday's in a month. How old do they think I'm gonna be before I Lose It?"

Ceci snorted. "Oh, please. You just got asked out for basically the first time, ever, today, and you're already thinking about that?"

I was appalled. "Aw, hell no!" I gagged. "With that guy? No way. I don't even like him."

"Then why'd you say yes?"

"Because I'm desperate!" I frowned.

"So?" she asked. "You should've waited, anyways."

"I know, but again, I acted on impulse."

"Actually, you haven't even gone out with him yet," Ceci added after a moment. "Maybe he'll grow on you."

"God, I hope so." I let out a sigh. "Because at this rate, I'm gonna be the next Forty-Year-Old Virgin."

"You're only fifteen, Shay," Ceci pointed out.

"But I'm about to be sixteen, and I should be dating by now, anyways! Maybe not having sex, but I should be dating!"

"I think I wanna wait a bit before I start. I mean, you see girls like Serena Magnus, who started going out with guys around my age, and look at her now. Sixteen and she's rumored to have slept with the whole football team, wrestling team, basketball team, baseball team, and the soccer team."

"Those are just rumors, Ceci," I said. "She'd be pregnant by now if she had done the whole athletic-male-population."

"I guess so," Ceci agreed.

Maddie was back a lot sooner than I thought she would be. But she didn't come alone. "Forrest?" I asked incredulously. "Why'd you bring Milk-Guy?"

"Is that really how I'm known around here?" he grinned. "Milk-Guy?"

"Oh, can it, Milk-Guy!" I snapped. "Maddie, can I talk to you in private?"

"No?"

"Okay, fine then. Why'd you bring HIM here?"

"Because he's gonna help me."

I was confused, and then I heard screaming from the stairs. "Let. Go. Of. Me. You. Turd!" It was Jasmine, of course. She was dragged into the room, and she looked just as angry and bewildered as I was.

"Dude, what the heck?" I asked.

"Yeah, Maddie, what's this all about?" Jasmine growled.

"It's about the fact that I don't like it when my best friends are fighting over stinking Milk Guy!"

Forrest looked like a little kid with candy. "Yeah, man! You guys were fighting over me?"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," I told him sourly. "It ain't like that."

"Then how is it?" he asked.

"We're fighting because of what you caused," Jasmine told him.

"Which is...?"

"Embarrassment, for both of us!" She looked at me pointedly when she said this.

"How did I embarrass you guys?" he asked incredulously.

"Because when Shay did what she did, you both embarrassed both of us!"

"God, I'm confused," he muttered.

"So am I," I agreed.

"Actually," Jasmine said, "so am I."

"Then why on earth are you guys still mad at each other?" Forrest asked.

Jasmine and I looked at each other and burst into squeaky sobs. "We don't know!" we chorused, before moving to hug each other.

"God, I'm sorry I was such a bitch," Jasmine apologized.

Hah! She was first to apologize! I won! Okay, I'm done.

"I'm sorry I was such an embarrassing butt-wipe."

"I am, too." She laughed.

We hugged again, and then turned to Forrest. "What are you still doing here?" Jasmine asked.

"Oh, so this is the thanks I get for making you guys make up?"

"How did you help?" I asked.

He frowned. Okay, so he did help. I rolled my eyes. "If I say you helped, will you go away?"

"If you thank me, too, then okay."

"Thank you," Jasmine and I chorused.

"Now leave," I ordered. "Seriously."

He turned to leave, but I stopped him by grabbing his wrist. I think he expected me to reach up and kiss him, but that's not what I did. I grabbed his wrist, inspected it, and took off the blue rubber bracelet with the Indianapolis Colts logo on it, sliding it on my own wrist. He laughed. "Okay, now you can go," I told him.

He laughed again, and left. I could still hear him laughing as he left down the stairs, and out of the house. Again, I don't know why I stole his bracelet and put it on myself. Why do I seem to be so much more impulsive around him than I usually am? I don't NORMALLY steal people's stuff every time I see them, like I do with Forrest.

Maybe I inadvertently sniffed something the night I met him. Those damned Ridgeway Falcons! I always knew they were lousy sons of- witches.

Oh, but if they think I'm not gonna remember this the next time we Hornets play them during this basketball season, they've got another thing coming'.

Damn Falcons.