Don't You Remember (5 page)

"Let me walk you there,” he stated rather than asked.

"OK, what's your first class? I said, forgetting he had already told me he was meeting Samantha before class.

"Maths and it's a double, it’s with Samantha."

We reached my classroom in no time. I said goodbye, smiled sweetly and gave his arm a small squeeze for encouragement.

CHAPTER SIX

Johnny entered his maths classroom and saw Samantha sitting on the windowsill above the radiator. As soon as she saw him, she gently smiled and slowly tucked her long blonde hair behind her ears, one side at a time, as if a master of seduction.

“Sam,” he said looking at her directly in the eye. “I need to talk with you.”

“Yes, you said that on the phone this morning. Is everything all right?” she asked unconcerned, while pulling her cherry chap stick from her jean pocket and applying over her lips.

“Everything’s all right,” he said. “Can we step outside for a moment?

“OK.” Samantha jumped off the windowsill without a second thought and followed Johnny to the classroom door. They stepped outside and stood in the hallway by a large corridor window.

“Sam, I’m not going to beat around the bush and make up some story as to why I’m ending things with you, but I am ending it, I’m sorry. I never intended to hurt you.”

“What?” she said confused by his announcement. “Why? What have I done? What did I do? Did I do something wrong?” she asked desperately.

“No, Sam, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me not you.”

“But, why? I don’t understand.”

“I don’t have those feelings for you anymore and I don’t think it’s right to string you along. You’re a great girl and we had some good times that’s for sure, but I don’t see us going anywhere. I don’t see a future for us.”

“I do. I did. I feel like this has come from nowhere, Johnny”.

“It hasn’t come from nowhere, we’re just too different. I like to spend hours with my music and you don’t. You’re not even interested in my music. You were in the beginning but now this relationship is all about you. That’s fine, don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for that, but I can’t keep going on as things are.”

“I’ll change,” she said as a last resort, tears beginning to roll down her face.

“I don’t want you to change. You are who you are. If you change for me then you’re not being yourself. Sam, you’re a great girl and I want to be friends, but it’s not going to be more than that,” he said firmly.

Samantha’s tears turned into a sob. Johnny put his arms around her and squeezed her tight. “It will be all right, Sam, you’ll see. I’m always here for you. You can rely on me as a friend.”

“We were going to be the most popular couple at the prom, I know it.”

“You will still be part of the most popular couple at the prom, no matter who you go with. There’s Michael Sampson and Jordan Black – both have been keen on you for a long time. Before we dated, they both asked me how to approach you and if they had a chance. They’re pretty cool guys. Michael is popular, great at sport and Jordan has a band you like to go and see. Remember we went to see them at Jesco’s on the A51? That band is going places,” he said giving her a hug.

“Johnny, Sam, can you join the rest of the class, please?” Mr Fornoff, the maths teacher, asked lifting his eyebrows and folding his arms across his body as if to acknowledge how hard life must be when you’re a teenager in love.

As Johnny began to tear himself away from Samantha, Mr Fornoff realized she was crying. “Samantha is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, sir,” she snuffled, wiping her eyes.

“OK. Go and get yourself into the girls’ bathroom and sort yourself out before you come back to class,” Mr Fornoff announced pointing in the direction to the girls’ toilets. “Right, Johnny, inside,” he finished, having no time for their teenage drama.

“Yes, sir,” Johnny replied, walking back into the classroom.

Tongues wagged for the rest of the day, everyone talking about the “big split”; the popular couple had ended their relationship. I saw Johnny in the corridor just before lunchtime and told him I was going to the library. I thought it best that I steer clear of him for the time being, at least at school. Johnny reluctantly agreed to my terms and we organized to see each other straight after school. I couldn’t wait and kept looking at my watch throughout the rest of the school day.

The last bell eventually sounded, indicating the end of the school day and a reminder that I would see Johnny shortly. I hurried through the corridors in the direction of the front doors leading directly to the car park, as if I were in a race to get there before anyone else.

“Jen, Jen Redman? Wait up,” came a familiar voice. It was Samantha, running towards where I was standing; close to the front doors of the school, and so close to the car park where Johnny would be waiting for me. “Jen, did you know Johnny and I had broken up?”

“I do, Sam. I hope you are all right.”

“Do you know why? It feels like it’s come out of the blue.”

“It’s between you and Johnny, Sam. I can’t comment.”

“Someone told me they saw you two together this morning, hand in hand.”

“Well, you know what we’re like, we’re close, right?”

“Yeah you are. I thought you might know what’s going on with him that’s all. Never mind. I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Sam,” I said as I turned and walked to Johnny’s car where he was sitting, fiddling with the radio. “Hey, Jen.”

I opened the car door and met his eyes. “Hi.”

Johnny lent over to kiss me but I put my hand up. “Not here, not now. Wait until we get out of the car park.”

“OK,” he said revving up the car and leaving the school grounds. The sight of Johnny and me in a car together was a common occurrence, everyone knew we were tight, they just didn’t know how tight.

“I just saw Sam in the corridor. She was asking questions about you, like why you ended it and something about someone seeing the two of us together this morning.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her she must know we are tight. She agreed with that, but I didn’t deny anything. I think we should keep things quiet at school, at least for now, just until she gets used to it.”

“All right,” Johnny agreed as he drove down Russell Street.

When we got home, Johnny stopped the car, parked up and walked around to my side of the vehicle, opening the door for me and taking my hand as I stepped out. “My Lady,” he said jokingly.

I curtseyed and said, “Why thank you,” then smiled and tried to find the right words to finish the sentence “Ah… sir?”

We held hands at the passenger side of the car and glanced at each other, grinning. He kissed my lips. “Well, I think it’s safe now,” he said, giving me a cheeky wink.

“It sure is,’ I announced dropping my bag and throwing my arms around his neck, kissing him right back. Walking away, I caught Johnny standing still watching me as if mesmerized. “Come on then,” I shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

Johnny ran up casually to me and slapped his arm around my shoulder, just like he had done with Samantha that day when I first saw them together.

“Are you working today?” I asked, knowing that his work roster changed every week.

“Yeah, I’ll drive down in about an hour. I’ll get something to eat first. Do you want to come over?”

“Maybe,” I said cheekily as I walked up the front steps on my porch, still holding Johnny’s hand and then yanking him up to come inside.

I noticed the front door was locked which meant my parents were out, probably at Johnny’s house with his mum and her boyfriend or perhaps somewhere else, maybe at the pub having a social drink or two or three or much more. I found my keys with one hand, still holding onto Johnny’s hand with the other, and unlocked the door. I walked inside pulling Johnny inside with me. I closed the door, locked it and pushed him to the wall gently kissing his lips. My hands glided up towards the back of his neck where I loosely rested them for a moment. I couldn’t resist touching his face with my lips and began to kiss him intently and passionately. I could feel him getting hard. He grabbed me around the waist with one arm and pulled me toward him. “Jen Redman, you’re in trouble now,” he said smirking and putting his other arm around my waist, picking me up and carrying me off to my bedroom. My heart pulsated, enthused with eagerness. He threw me on my bed and I laughed out loud, grinning and wondering what was in store for me, what kind of trouble was I in? What was he going to do to me? I didn’t care what it was; I just wanted him to do it.

He lifted my shirt and tank t-shirt and began kissing me on my navel. I loved it, giggling with excitement. Johnny looked up at me and smiled back, I took this opportunity to kiss him again, placing my hands on his face and bringing him to me. Next I felt down his body by moving my hands down to his jeans. I undid his button and opened his zip placing my hand on his boxers and touched his bulge feeling his hardness. I liked it, I liked it a lot.

He moaned, “My God, you drive me crazy,” then he kissed me. “But not now, not this way, not when I’ve got to go to work in under an hour,” he said pushing himself up and off my bed and checked his watch.

“Damn it,” I smirked playfully. “Come on. Let me make you something. There’s probably not much food in the house, but let me see what we’ve got.”

“You don’t have to cook for me.”

“Cook? I hope you use the term cook loosely, because I don’t really cook. I mean yeah, I can make pasta, beans on toast, that kind of thing.”

“You don’t have to make anything.”

“Come on,” I said raising my eyebrows to show him that making him something to eat was no big deal. We walked from my bedroom, through the small hallway and into the kitchen. I rummaged through the cupboards and looked in the fridge. I wasn’t very inventive when it came to cooking. My palette was fairly bland, given I didn’t have much food to choose from.

With the cupboard doors opened I suggested tuna pasta. “I’ll make a tomato-based sauce with tuna and a bit of cream cheese mixed in. I’ll whip up some pasta and ‘voila’, it’s done. I have to make something for myself anyway.”

“All right, Jen. Only if it’s no trouble.”

“It’s no trouble.”

The front door opened and my parents walked in, evident that they had been drinking. “Hi, sweetheart,” my mother said looking right through me, eyes glazed.

“Jen, what are you doing?” my father asked, not really interested in the answer. He light-heartedly punched Johnny’s fit arm. “Johnny old lad, how are you? We’ve just been to the pub with your mum. She should be at home now.”

“That’s good, Will,” Johnny replied, addressing my father by his first name, like he always does. “Did you have a good time?”

“We did.” My father stumbled towards the hallway on the way to the bathroom.

“Mum, do you want something to eat?” I asked.

“No, you make yourself something. Your father and I will eat later,” she slurred, heading towards her bedroom. I followed behind to check if she was all right. My mother kicked off her shoes and fell on her bed, needing to sleep off some of the drink.

I busied myself in the kitchen and eventually served up the meal and carried two plates to the small round kitchen table. “I hope it tastes better than it looks?” I laughed.

“It’s really good,” Johnny said, shovelling a load in his mouth.

“You’re just saying that to be nice. You haven’t even swallowed it,” I defended.