That Boy (10 page)

“Um JJ I have a quick question for you it's about Phillip well I'm sure you guessed that and I mean I know you guys are neighbors and good friends and well I really need you to tell me something because I really like Phillip and I don't want to be stupid and not believe him but I also don't want to be stupid and be like cheated on.”

God, she talks fast!

“Allison, Phillip is
not
cheating on you!” He wouldn't! He's not that kind of guy. I mean
granted
, he'll be dumping her soon, but it will be because her clinginess is driving him mad. As in she is always complaining he spends too much time with me. But that's beside the point. “What would ever make you think that?”

“Well I just called him and he answered the phone in this sweet sexy voice and he
never
talks to me like that,” she pouts.

“What did he say?” This should be good. Did he call her another girl's name?

“He said,
Hey Princess
,” she says, imitating his velvety smooth voice.

Oh shit.

Double shit.

Surely he didn't. He would never tell.

I'd kill him!

I glance over to his house and see his bedroom light flickering off and on, on and off.

I'm assuming that is some form of SOS.

I hear the IM tone from my computer, and I'm sure it's a message from him. I've got to stall this girl. “Um, Allison, did you ask him who this
Princess
is?” I ask as I run over to my computer.

“Yeah I did.”

“Well, what'd he tell you?”

There is an IM from
Receiver
(Phillip). It's just one half of a word.
ASH
.

I send him back an IM from
Cess
. Everyone thinks it stands for Excess, which I tend to do everything to, but Phillip set up my instant messenger account, so it's really short for Princess. I write:
U OWE ME, USE CALLER ID NXT TIME STUPID!

“Um JJ you know who it is don't you so could you please tell me first so I know if he's lying to me?"

“Sure Allison,” I say bored. “Phillip's sister, Ashley's nickname is Princess,” I lie.

Totally lie
.

Her Royal Queeness, possibly.

Her Royal Highness, Ruler of the World, perhaps, but NEVER a lowly princess.

“Oh thank goodness,” she gushes.

She's all happy now and rambles on, “I mean I wanted to believe him but I just didn't know what to think and I mean his voice sounded all sweet and gentle and I guess it would make sense that he'd talk to his sister that way.”

Not.

They fight like crazy.

He really loves her, but he says that it's his job to annoy her. And he does.

But I'm not really listening to Allison ramble. I'm lost in thought. I never realized it before, but Phillip does have a special voice he uses when he speaks just to me. It's one of the reasons I love talking to him before I go to sleep. It's sort of soothing.

I don't think I would've ever qualified it as
sexy.

Pul-eezzee. That's just silly.

But when I talk to him, it's kind of like I do a brain dump, tell him about my day, the good, the bad and the ugly, and then he tells me what I should do. Of course, I usually don't do it, but talking to him is kind of like getting a mental massage.

Allison says, “Thanks JJ see you at school.”

I hang up and call Phillip, while I type
ITS ME PICK UP
on the IM.

He answers, “Hey Princess.”

Okay, so it is kind of dreamy.

“You owe me,” I tell him.

“No, you owe me. I could've just told her the truth.”

“Yeah well then I would've had to kick your ass, and I'm afraid that might be damaging to our friendship and your reputation.”

He laughs at me.

Quite possibly because my chances of kicking his buff ass are very slim indeed. But since I could do it when we were young, I cling to idea that I still could.

He finds this humorous and told me recently that he would love nothing more than for me to try. Of course then Danny piped in with the kind of nasty comment only a boy can make, so I let it slide.

“Enough of your girl problems. Mark called me tonight and wants to hang out Saturday.”

Mark was a hot coworker of mine at my short-lived attempt at waitressing. He's 19, in college, and totally hot. Did I mention that? Thick wavy blonde hair, big muscles, great body, hot car. He's what Lisa would call a Trifecta.

Hot guy. Hot bod. Hot car.
Trifecta, baby.

Unfortunately, he only seems to see me as his cute little work friend.

Yeah, it blows.

But I'm totally infatuated with the guy. I can't help it.

Whenever he calls, I drop everything and change all my plans in order to go hang out with him.

Last time, I even ditched my new boyfriend, Dillon. And Danny gave me all sorts of shit about that. He was like
Dillon is my friend, you can't just be doing that
. But honestly, I didn't think it was that big of a deal because Mark and I always just sort of hung out together. And Dillon told me as long as it's just a friend thing, he was cool with it.

Unfortunately, it HAS been just a friend thing.

Until last time, that is.

And this time, he asked me to go out to dinner somewhere kinda nice, which made it sound like an actual date. So I am really excited!

“What should I do, Phillip? I'm kinda supposed to go to a movie with Dillon.”

“Kind of?”

“Okay, we have a date,” I reply curtly.

“So what'd ya tell Mark?”

“Um, that I'd let him know,” I lie.

“You know, I don't know why you always jump
every
time that guy calls, and then when he doesn't call, you get all depressed. What's that line he always says?”

I sigh. “When you least expect it, expect it.”

“Yeah, what the hell does that mean anyway?”

We've been over this many times before, but I reply, “It means just when I'm at the end of my rope waiting to hear from him, and close to believing I'll never hear from him again, that's when he calls.”

And he does. He's got it down to an exact science.

“I'm just saying, that isn't exactly the best way to treat a girl you like.”

“That's the problem, Phillip, we're
just
friends, so it's not like I can complain about it.”

“I thought you kissed him last time you went out,” Phillip says, referring to my
just
friends status.

Uh, yeah. And I've been reliving it every night and during all my classes for the past few weeks. He was such a good kisser. And it was perfect, exactly how I had imagined it. I had thought, this is it. He wants me, we'll be together and it will be amazing.

Then.

One week.

No call.

I told myself that if he didn't call in two more days, I would never speak to him again.

Then.

Two weeks.

Still no call.

By now, I'd given up hope of ever hearing from him again and convinced myself that it was just a dream. I also decided if he did ever call that I might speak to him, but only to make sure he was still alive because I am a concerned citizen. But after that, I was going to give that boy a piece of my mind!

Finally after two weeks and three days, he called and asked me to dinner. I wanted to scream at him,
you freaking jerk
, but I caved and said
that sounds great
.

I'm so dumb.

Hey wait a minute, I know Phillip never forgets
anything
, but I don't recall telling him this juicy piece of information. I haven't even told Lisa. I was keeping it to myself.

Hoarding it.

Plus, I seriously didn't want Danny to find out. Or Dillion, for that matter.

“Uh,” I stammer, unsure how to answer.

“No, you didn't tell me he kissed you,” he says, reading my mind.

I swear he can sometimes.

“I saw him all over you when he dropped you off.”

“Phillip, were you spying on me?”

“Actually, no,” he says in a believable tone. “I was seeing if your light was on.”

Sure.

“Philllippp, what should I do?”

“What you
should
do is tell him you're busy,
for once
. But what you're gonna do is break up with Dillon and go out with him. Right?”

Okay, so the boy has me figured out. And he's right. That is what I'll do, but how can I help it?

Hot guy. Hot bod. Hot car.
Trifecta
.
Triple Threat
.

“So what are you gonna tell him?”

“Well, I already kinda said yes,” I say, telling the truth this time.

“Told you. You're hopeless! Night, Princess.”

“Night, Phillip.”

I go to bed, thinking of Mark and willing myself to have a juicy dream about him. But instead, I have some warped one where Phillip rescues me from Mark's car because Mark has turned into some evil werewolf / vampire creature.

Bizarre.

Oh and my date on Saturday with Mark didn't go so well. I suppose my dream should have been an indication of what was to come. It seemed Mark decided, unbeknownst to me, that he wanted to be
more
than just friends.

A LOT MORE!

He took me parking
before
dinner, I said NO WAY, and he took me straight home. Aren't guys supposed to at least buy you dinner BEFORE they expect that? I was so upset, and of course, Danny is mad at me for breaking up with Dillon, and Dillon is still mad at me for breaking up with him.

Maybe I'll just give up on boys.

Okay, maybe not.

I mean they're just so cute!

Today is the perfect day for laying out in the sun. It's almost 80 degrees, and there is a soft cool breeze. I don't plan on wasting a day like today! So I'm in my room putting on my new swimsuit. I'm really excited about this suit. It's my first
real
bikini. I've always worn a 2-piece, but they were a more athletic cut. This is one of those wonderful, skimpy, stringy things. I've never bought a stringy bikini because I've always looked stupid in them. Let's face it, you've got to have a figure to wear a suit like this. I've never had much of a figure, unless you consider the shape of a board an attractive figure. Yes, I've heard all the sayings.