What a Boy Needs (15 page)

"
Umm
,
excuse me. I was on the phone and my friend accidentally ordered a Pepsi for my other friend
,
but he likes Cherry Pepsi. Is it too late to change that?
"

I start to step around the corner to tell her it
'
s not a big deal. I like Cherry Pepsi better
,
but I can drink anything. But
it kind of is a big deal. Which
,
yeah
,
I know. It
'
s lame. Who cares what kind of soda it is
,
but that
'
s not the point. What matters is she knows what I prefer. That she left the table to talk to the waitress so I would have the kind of freaking soda I want. Not because she had to or because I asked for a specific kind or any of the other billion reasons someone can do something their obligated for. She just did it
...
for me.
Just because she wants me to have what I like.

Yeah
.
To
me
,
that totally is a big deal.

So I stay ducked around the corner and let her finish talking to the waitress and then I watch her head back over to the table and sit down before I head that way
,
too. Plopping down beside her in the booth
,
I look around the table and say
,
"
Please tell me one of you were smart enough to get me a Cherry Pepsi.
"

"
Umm
,
yeah.
I did.
"
Priscilla almost looks embarrassed.

Me? I feel good
,
because even though I didn
'
t come out and say it
,
I found a way to thank her for thinking of me. Sometimes it
'
s easier to say things when you don
'
t really have to say them at all.

***

Honestly? We don
'
t really have a ton of stuff planned in Salt Lake. There are two things we really want to do. Sebastian is determined to go rafting down the Provo River. He thinks it will earn him man points or something—not that the rapids are too huge or anything
,
but we
'
ve heard it
'
s a good time.

The other thing is we
'
re supposed to eat at this place called Café Rio. Priscilla and her family eat there when they come to stay at the place they keep here for when they coming skiing in the winter. Yep
,
she has a place in Salt Lake. Which
,
in the grand scheme of things
,
isn
'
t that big a deal
,
but also
,
she has a second house in Salt Lake. And we
'
re staying there. Should be a good time
,
right?

Back to the Café.
According to her
,
they make their own tortillas on a stone or something. Sounds strange to me
,
but she says it
'
s the best place to eat Mexican food while you
'
re here.

Once we get into town we head to the house first. It
'
s seriously huge.
Probably three of my houses.
It
'
s never really bothered me because she
'
s not one of those girls who
flaunts
it. Priscilla couldn
'
t honestly give a shit about her parents
'
money
,
but since I
'
ve been on a poor-me-kick lately
,
i
t kind of sucks. I keep thinking about how her dad looked at me at the police station all beat up and pierced and then the fact that they obviously didn
'
t want me at her graduation party and suddenly Mike
'
s words start trying to push their way into my head again. Into our trip when I don
'
t want that bastard anywhere
near
us.

Not that I
'
m not a bastard too.

The elbow that
'
s holding my head
up
gets pushed out from under me
,
snapping me out of it. I turn and Priscilla is sitting by me. She starts mumbling stuff in Spanish.

"
Why do you do that when you know I have no clue what you
'
re saying?
"
I sound
pissy
now even though I know I shouldn
'
t.

She
and I are in the kitchen and I
'
m not sure where the
others
snuck away to. I
'
m pretty sure they
'
re locked in a room and we won
'
t want to bother them
,
though.

"
I do it because I don
'
t want you to know what I
'
m saying.
Or when you make me mad.
"
She shrugs.
"
Or as it typically goes
,
both at the same time.
"

She
'
s wearing this little tank-top thing that shows a whole lot of skin. I
'
m not sure if I want to thank God or pry my eyes out
because
it sucks to be able to see and not touch.

"
What did I do?
"

"
Dios
,"
she sounds frustrated now. Priscilla leans over the counter that separates us. Her head is in her hands
,
her elbows on the counter the way I just was.
"
Because you
'
re getting upset
,
or thinking about something you don
'
t like. Or something that bothers you
,
that you
'
ll pretend isn
'
t a big deal and never tell us
,
because why would Jaden need his friends?
"

For a second
,
I
'
m stunned. I want to tell her I
'
m not like that
,
but we both know I am. Then I want to find out if she
'
s freaking psychic
,
because how else would she know what I was thinking
?
And
,
third
,
let
'
s get back to the stunned part because Priscilla has never really been one to keep things in
,
but first her admission last night and now this? She
'
s usually not
quite
so open. I
'
m not sure what to think of it.

"
I need you guys
,”
is
what comes out of my mouth.
I need you guys?
Could I sound any more like a douche?

"
Okay.
"
She shrugs and then grabs a glass out of the cabinet
,
before filling it with water.

Leave it alone
,
Jay. She
'
s letting you off the hook.
Instead
,
my word vomit continues when I ask
,
"
What do you mean
,
okay? That means you don
'
t believe me.
"
Holy shit
,
do I sound like a girl right now. What
'
s wrong with me?

She sighs and I want to do the same thing. I have no idea how we got on this road anymore and I
'
m definitely not sure if I want to keep traveling it or get the hell off.

"
What were you thinking about
,
Jaden?
"

How my dad isn
'
t my dad. That he
'
s told me all my life I
'
m a piece of shit. Oh
,
and you
'
re the opposite of that.
"
Nothing.
"

She shakes her head.
"
Point proven.
One for me
,
zero for you.
I know you need us
,
but I also know you
'
ll never let me be there for you. You
'
ll never admit anything to me—I
mean
,
us. I
'
m tired of pretending otherwise.
"

I groan
,
really not in the mood to do this.
"
Can we let it go? You never showed me what room I
'
m staying in.
"

Another head shake.
And
,
yeah
,
another point for her.

***

I
'
m lying in Pris
'
s bed.
Alone
.
Which
totally sucks
,
but whatever.
She
'
s staying in her parents
'
room while the newlyweds take the spare room. I
'
m sure they
'
re enjoying the alone time.

I play with my cell phone
,
letting it roll around in my hand.
To call or not to call?
Okay
,
that was lame and
,
yeah
,
of course I
'
m going to call because I
'
m obviously a glutton for punishment. I mean
,
Mom
pretty much made it clear she didn
'
t care when she kicked me out
,
but the head and the heart? They don
'
t always use the same frequency. I think mine has a particularly bad connection.

There
'
s a part of me
that
doesn
'
t want to talk to her
,
or wants to think I don
'
t. I
'
m not sure which
,
but she told me to go and I went
,
ready to walk away
,
but
,
yeah
,
totally not as easy as I thought.

A few more minutes pass as I wait for it to ring. I don
'
t know why. It won
'
t. Not unless it
'
s Sebastian from the other room being lazy or his mom checking in. But for some stupid
,
lame
,
annoying reason I will it to ring. Just this once
,
wanting her to think of me the way Pris did with the Cherry Pepsi.

It doesn
'
t happen so I decide to stop moping and dial the damn phone. Mom picks up after the fourth ring.

"
Hello?
"

My first thought is she sounds the same
,
which is a stupid freaking thought because why would she sound different? It
'
s not like I
'
ve been away for years or something.
"
Hey
,
Mom.
It
'
s me
,
Jaden
.
"

And the winner of the most idiotic sayings in a row goes to Jaden Sinclair.
Of course
me
is Jaden. Who else would it be?