Him (Chapter 4) Pt2

Over the weekend, I decided it was going to be wise of me to pretend that I had broken my arm!  There was some material at home which looked like it could have been someone’s sling so I took it upon myself to use it as a prop!  What would be more of a talking point in person then a broken arm? He wasn’t going to know it was a fake and I was clearly somewhat of an attention seeker or very worried that we may have nothing left to talk about.  Tuesday rolled around after a very quick weekend.  I could be a bit of a drama queen so it most definitely hadn’t been enough time to fully prepare for the first proper meeting with him.  I hadn’t actually told Megan yet that The Boy didn’t fancy her, so her tagging along was an issue I hadn’t even toyed with.  I had arranged for myself and a few friends to meet up with The Boy and a few of his friends.  Megan, Tina, Leila and I were going to meet at the park and wait for the guys to come.  It wasn’t so much of a mutual decision, more so I had told the girls we were going to meet boys and they didn’t object! Luckily back in those days it was fun to meet up with boys so I didn’t have to explain who we were going to see just as long as they didn’t have vaginas everything was fine! We approached the park and from a distance we could make out four boy shapes coming towards us.  I knew which one was The Boy immediately as he was by far the tallest figure.  As they got nearer, Megan then realised it was The Boy and began to get excited, maybe that was my opportunity to tell her that she should kerb her excitement because it was me he liked, but I didn’t. I didn’t feel bad about it either.  When push came to shove all I cared about was me and him. I shyly slinked towards him, fake broken arm in its sling and obviously unable to contain my smiles I squeaked out a hello and the rest was history.  We stood talking for ages.  It was getting late and all of us should have been home by now so we started walking in the direction of my house.  Tina lived nearest to me so our journey would end on my road.  Megan and Leila however lived near the park we were in so they departed rather quickly, to the dismay of Megan.  She hadn’t been very happy at this little rendezvous, usually she was quite a perky person but that day she had been very subdued, especially towards me.  I put it to the back of my mind.

Tina, myself, The Boy and three of his friends then made our way down the road towards my house.  We all walked and talked, messing around like you do.  Me a little less then the others, as I was nursing a broken arm! We then became separated.  The Boy and I distanced ourselves from the others.  We let Tina and the others walk in front whilst The Boy and I strolled behind talking.  We loved talking.  I remember so clearly, even now, how happy he made me feel without doing a single thing.  Being with him I was carefree, it really was like talking to a best friend.  He found me funny, I found him hilarious.  It just felt right.  I honestly don’t remember ever feeling as happy as I felt when The Boy and I were in each other’s company.  Anything else important in life didn’t seem so important when he was around, not even my boyfriend.  When we all reached where Tina would finally turn off and continue on her own, we stood and talked for a little longer, it then came to light that one of The Boys friends lived near Tina so in the end he and she walked off to together.  In a jovial mood I continued talking to The Boy and decided I didn’t want to go home.  So the rest of us walked back in the same exact direction we had just come from!  What else could we do? It was early evening, when the sky was turning from bright to dingy grey/dark blue, just as the street lights would start flickering on one by one and none of us wanted to go home. Walking together his friends flirted with me a little, which was of no interest to me.  The only thing I could think about was getting his number.  I wasn’t rude or stuck up, so I joined in with the banter.  As we continued along the street I sparked up a conversation about how I was going to contact him in future.

“So, if at some point I wanted to call you instead of you calling me, how would I go about that?” I asked
“I guess you’d have to call me” he replied somewhat abruptly
“But I don’t have your phone number”
I then looked up at him with a slight smirk on my face to make it perfectly clear that that was the nearest he was going to get to me actually asking him.
“Oh yeah, of course I should’ve probably realised what you were saying really shouldn’t I!?” We both laughed
“Yes! You should”

He proceeded in giving me his phone number and the deed was finally done.  The next hurdle I would have to overcome was actually plucking up the courage to ring him, I hadn’t thought about the fact that being so pushy to get the number meant I would actually have to use it! I couldn’t have the number and not ring him.  Figured I’d cross that bridge when I got to it.  We had nearly got to the end of the long road we had been walking down and his friends began joking around about the fact that I had just taken his number, each asking me if I was going to be talking to them tonight.   Somewhat jarring as I felt like they were trying to issue some kind of status over me to The Boy as I knew them all a long time before I knew him.  I couldn’t let that happen, I didn’t want The Boy to think I was some kind of slut, or the local pass around girl.  That wouldn’t exactly be good, it was going to be bad enough trying to explain at a later date that I had a boyfriend and how in all the evenings we spoke, being everyday, I missed that somewhat piece of vital information.  Lets be serious, we weren’t talking everyday to really stay ‘best friends’.  So I should have let him know that I was taken.  I didn’t feel taken anymore, not by my partner anyway.

“Excuse you, but I’ll be talking to HIM tonight!” I proclaimed

The shocked look on their faces was priceless.  The pleased and content look on his face was brilliant and the overwhelming silence that washed over us all made our smiles seem as though they had been shouting out loud.  Now if that wasn’t a move to firmly secure me into his good books, I don’t know what would’ve been! The bus came and we all got on it, as it could drop us off individually at our destinations from a completely different route to the one we had just walked down.  It had got very dark outside by now and I didn’t much fancy walking home for the second time that afternoon alone so getting the bus seemed the best option.  The other boys got off the bus one by one at their bus stops which left The Boy and I alone, completely alone, for the very first time.  I sat close enough to smell him, he smelt like washed clothes and outdoors.  I liked that smell! And imagine, the first time we were alone we never uttered a word to each other! His bus stop was approaching, he fixed himself up, pressed the bell and we both smiled and said bye.  As I watched him cross the road he signalled to me that he was going to call me, you know with the little finger and thumb extended, the fingers in between bent and putting the whole hand up to your ear, that signal! Imagine that, an opportunity to say anything we wanted to the other and we were both too shy.  Homeward bound, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.  Knowing that night was going to be another of counting the minutes down until nine o’clock I decided to do other things in and around my bedroom as not to seem as desperate as I was!  I tidied the bookcase, I picked all of the clothes and books off my bedroom floor I even ironed and prepared my uniform for the next day.  Then my mobile rang.  I was across the other side of the room.  I jumped over the pile of laundry, dived onto my bed, picked up my phone without looking at the screen and answered,

“Hey cutie, miss me already?” I gushed
“Hello!” A stern voice barked back at me

That wasn’t the usual nine o’clock voice.
It was my boyfriend.
It was my boyfriend who I hadn’t seen for about three weeks yet I had just answered the phone asking a question that most definitely didn’t apply to him.  My stomach turned.  More at the fact that if I had looked at the phone before answering it I wouldn’t have answered.  Even more at the fact that this meant The Boy may call and hear the engaged tone. I felt like I had answered the phone to a complete stranger.  What was I going to talk to him about? And how was I going to dig myself out of the hole I had just put myself in? Neither of us spoke for at least a minute and I knew I had to make the first attempt at breaking the frosty atmosphere.  I opened my mouth and no words came out.  Could I explain that I was waiting for another boys call?  Could I tell my boyfriend that I had been walking the streets with other boys all late afternoon, early evening and now I was waiting to flirt with my new found ‘like’ interest? I finally managed to choke out a few words,

“You alright yeah?” I tried to make my voice sound as chirpy as I could
“Are you trying to take the fucking piss?” He barked at me

I could feel the little butterflies in my stomach, not like the ones I had felt on every glimpse of The Boy, but the ones where the butterflies feel like they’re having asthma attacks and convulsing in your stomach! The first thing that came to mind was he knew about The Boy and I just sat nervous trying to string together a sentence that could justify my new friend.  So much for the matchmaking Megan plan, that completely erased itself from my mind! I may not have been appreciating my relationship anymore, but I still cared and had respect for my boyfriend, I didn’t want to lie to him.  If he wanted answers about who The Boy was, I was going to give them to him.  I tried to answer back quickly but I couldn’t.  There was just muffled silence.  Did my guilty reaction tell me that what I was doing was wrong? Or was I most upset at the fact that if my boyfriend and I did have the conversation about The Boy I would possibly have to stop talking to him.  Should I break up with him first, would my answer ‘You’re dumped’ be a sufficient enough reply? The answer to his abrupt and angry question was going to be the seal on my future.

What was I meant to say?