Young Annabelle Series: Young Annabelle, the Truth About James, What My Heart Wants (19 page)

I hope not!

“Oh yeah, how?” Jenna asked.

“That’s my little secret,” Donna replied coyly. The sound of her bubbly princess-style giggles were enough to make me want to throw up
. Thank God I was trapped in a stall with a perfectly working toilet.

Jenna laughed like she got it – only I could tell it was fake.

“Okay, whatever you say, girl,” she replied, replicating the crew’s enthusiasm. “So, when did you guys find out about this party?”

“Peter told everyone at lunch,” Latisha responded.

Peter was sitting across from James! James knew about this party before our library session! I was getting too hot.

“James said he was going right?” Jenna asked, faking concern.

I didn’t know how much more of this I could take!

I wiped sweat off my forehead.

“Yeah! He and the guys were like so excited when Peter announced it,” Donna exclaimed joyously.

“That’s good, at least you know he’s going to be there like for sure!” Jenna replied.

A bubbling feeling began to cause me discomfort as I waited for Donna to answer. A large gurgled noise rose out of my stomach, loud enough for everyone in the washroom to hear.

“What was that?” Sydney burst out laughing.

“Ew!” Donna muttered.

“Yeah,” Jenna agreed, matching their tones.

“Let’s go before whoever it is stinks up the entire bathroom,” Donna said.

I heard their shoes click against the hard ground and the door open.

“Jenna, you coming?” Latisha asked.

“I’ve got to use the
bathroom, you guys go ahead,” She explained, marching up to one of the stalls.

“Okay, later girl!” Latisha shouted as she exited.

“Bye!” Jenna called as she went into the stall.

The door closed and the washroom went completely silent for a few seconds. It was so quiet I could hear my own breathing

“Anna?” Jenna whispered from inside her stall. I heard her walk out of her stall and over to mine.

“Coast is clear,” she said to the door.

I unlocked the door and opened it. I blinked at the sight of Jenna’s worried face as she scanned me from head to toe. I walked stoically to the closest sink and turned on the tap. I washed my hands in silence as I checked my reflection. My cheeks were slightly flushed, but other than that I looked better than the nervous wreck I was inside.

Donna and James!
The thought was replaying over and over in my mind. I imagined them in tight embrace at Peter’s party, hidden away in one of the bedrooms.

“Anna, your hands are shaking!” Jenna was suddenly beside me.
How’d she get there?
I didn’t even hear her footsteps.

I was
out of it!

I turned off the tap and dried my hands with a paper towel.

All in silence.

Jenna grabbed me by the shoulders as I threw the paper towel in the garbage.

“Dude, you need to calm down,” She ordered, her voice soothing. “Deep breaths.”

Deep breath
s.

I obeyed.

“I’m okay,” I muttered to her.

“Did he tell you in the library?” Jenna interrogated. So much for calm and soothing, she was in drill sergeant mode now. “Did he tell you about the party at Peter’s tonight?”

I stared wide-eyed at her and shook my head. Her eyes narrowed at my response as her lips tightened.

She’s pissed!

“So he tells you he likes you, follows you like a little puppy dog to the library, then makes out with you whilst you were on his lap, and he didn’t tell you about the party?!”

“No,” I mumbled depressingly. I felt wetness at the corner of my eyes as a lump grew in the base of my throat.

Don’t you cry!
I ordered myself as I tried to choke back the tears. I was a joke, a stupid naïve little girl who let herself be played like a fiddle. Even after he’d ignored me for two weeks after kissing me in his bed, it had not taken him long to get me right back in that position.

I had no backbone. I was weak, a failure, a pathetic groupie who thought she had a shot when, in fact, she was just a matter of convenience for him.

“No!” Jenna ordered, seeing my eyes well up.

My lip clenched but the ripples were too strong for me to contain. A small whimper escaped as a tear rolled down my face.

“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot!” I exploded as a puddle of tears slid down my face, racing to my chin.

Jenna pulled me into a tight hug.

“Don’t cry, Anna. Don’t!” she ordered, her voice clearly upset. “Don’t cry over that D-bag, he’s a piece of crap liar!”

I rested my head on to her shoulder as she took a step back to look me in the eyes.

But I couldn’t look at her.

CHAPTER 13

Food!

I salivated in front of a row of chips as my sweaty body basked in the air-conditioned bliss of a 7-eleven.

An hour at Jenna’s hadn’t helped nearly as much as she’d hoped.

One, I was starving and I hadn’t eaten anything there.

Two, and most importantly, I was a zombie that refused to indulge in feelings that were safely locked away and hidden – I’d open that safe later, in the privacy of my room, hoping my tears wouldn’t ruin what was left of my psyche.

But, for now, I was a zombie on a mission. While stupid James and his slut-slave Donna danced away at Peter’s party tonight, I would indulge in the most massive junk food binge of my life.

Operation junk food: Commence!

I had grabbed a basket from the front before trailing towards the junk food aisle of the store. I planned to fill it up. My hands automatically answered the call of junk food and grabbed a few bags of chips along with some candy bars. The next stop, possibly the most important, was the sliding fridge. I grabbed four cans of
regular
pop and neatly lined them in the basket so that they wouldn’t trample the candy bars and chips.

The calorie-count in all of this was going to be in the thousands – I didn’t care. I was eating all of it. Tonight. I wanted there to be smudges of chocolate all over my mouth as I slept. I wanted to sleep on smashed pieces of chips that failed to make it into my mouth. I wanted to wake up tomorrow morning with a toothache so painful it’d make me forget about today.

I could only hope.

I made my way to the counter to pay, and along the way my hand grabbed a small bag of kettle popcorn that was on sale and a small bag of Cracker Jacks.

I decided I needed those too.

I brought my overflowing basket to the cashier and handed over some money. I placed everything into my backpack with care, placing the heavier items on the bottom. Since the first day back this year had fallen on a Friday, there was no homework so my bag was practically empty except for my doodle notebook.

The automatic sliding doors opened as new customers walked in. I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulders, preparing to make the trip home a quick one because it was especially hot today and I needed to get home before my chocolates melted and my drinks got warm. I hated warm pop. I couldn’t drink them at that temperature and, if that happened, it would be very bad.

With how things had been going so far, one more disappointment would be the tipping poin
t in my psychological meltdown. I made a safe bet when I placed all my happiness cards in the instant satisfaction of cheap junk food.

The sliding doors opened for me and I speed walked home, careful not to shake my bag too much so the cans of pop wouldn’t explode when I opened them. I wanted to drink it, not bathe in it.

I quietly opened the front door as I slid out my key from the lock, careful not to make noise. I wanted one thing and that was to make it to my room as fast as possible.

“Annabelle? Is that you?” Mom called from the basement.

I let out a sigh at my failure and closed the door behind me. The floorboards rumbled as I kicked off my shoes. I tightened my hold on the straps of my backpack. My treasure was safe in there as long as I kept it close to my body; as long as my bag was on my back, she couldn’t unzip it and explore.

That would be rude.

“Annabelle? Why didn’t you answer?” Mom asked from the hallway.

I looked up as she entered the foyer. “I’m just tired,” I responded exhaustedly.

“How was your first day? Senior year!”

“It was fine. Nothing special.” I shrugged and turned to the stairs, “I’m going to my room.”

“Wait! Annabelle, darling, about the shirt.” Mom narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s a lovely color but the way it’s fallen over your sweaty frame…it looks like it’s been painted on. Darling…no.”

“No problem, Mom. Next time I’ll wear something not as tight.”

“Thank you dear.”

Without another word I jogged up the stairs to my room. I shut my door and collapsed against it with a sigh of relief.

I dumped my bag on my bed. Tonight was the night to wallow in despair over the terrible mistakes I’d made this past month. I planned to inhale every ounce of food in that backpack and enjoy the sweet and salty goodness because tomorrow and Sunday I had to snap back and figure out a way to save face.

I unzipped my bag and took out my first candy bar. Holding it like the treasure it was, I delicately unwrapped it and took my first bite of chocolate.

My safe haven.

CHAPTER 14

Friday September 7
th
2012

Present time…..

James’ tongue tasted like chocolate as he pressed his lips farther into mine.

Yum, chocolate…
I deepened the kiss, kicking away my previous intentions of telling him to go screw himself. How could I tell him to go away when he tasted like chocolate?

I don’t turn away chocolate, not ever!

He lowered me back onto the ground and my shoes crunched against a texture that wasn’t there before. I pulled back slightly; the aroma of chocolate was too much for me to handle without biting him. As I stared into his beautiful green eyes my shoes made crunching noises.

What am I standing on?

I glanced down and blinked in shock. Potato chips covered every inch of the school’s front terrace. I glanced up in confusion.

“What’s all of this?” I asked, incredibly confused.

All of a sudden, James’ mouth was covered in smudges of melted chocolate as he gazed at me lovingly. “Baby, I did it for you!” he exclaimed like he was lovesick.

I gazed at the yellow texture covering the entire terrace then back up to him. “You did this for me?”

He nodded sweetly. “I know you love chips, my love. I did it to prove my devotion to you!”

“I do love chips!” I replied bewildered.

“
And
chocolate!” He purred seductively.

“I love chocolate too!” I gushed, about to swoon.

“Baby, I know!” He growled sexily and grabbed my waist, bending into me to press his chocolate-covered mouth onto mine passionately – letting me taste chocolate like I’d never tasted chocolate before.

Beep! Beep!

The noise rang loudly from the sky. James pulled back and stared deep in my eyes. I blinked a few times; his entire face was covered in chocolate.

“You like what you see, Fireball?” he purred.

My eyes jerked open.

Beep! Beep!

What?

I blinked a few times, taking several moments to realize where I was. I glanced up at my ceiling.

I’m still in bed!

I had dreamt the entire weekend went by in a flash and I met up with James on the terrace before school started.

How could I not know it was a dream?

Idiot!

I took a deep breath and wiped chip crumbs off my shirt. My hands shuffled around my bed until they felt my phone resting beside my pillow. I wiped any grease left on my hands on my sweaty green shirt then tapped on the message.

New message from: Jenna!

Jenna:
So I’ve been thinking……

I read the short, vague message again before I texted back:

Annabelle:
What do u mean you’ve been thinking? That’s usually not a good thing…

I grabbed my nearly finished pop from my side table, it was slightly warm but I downed it anyways. The chocolate and potato chip combination had made me thirsty. I tucked the empty can behind my dresser as I waited for Jenna to explain her cryptic message.

My phone beeped.

Jenna:
What! Between u and I, I’m obviously the brains! Anyways…..I got me an idea!

As I read the message, the doorbell rang.

Who could that be?

In the middle of typing a response to her, three knocks on my door caught me off guard. I flew off my bed, grabbing the half-eaten bag of chips.

“Just a minute!” I yelled frantically as I tucked the bag underneath my bed. Thank goodness the rest of my supply was safe in my bag, which I had stored in the closet. I had no worries about my drinks going warm or my chocolate melting, the air conditioning was always on high – the energy bill must be ridiculous.

Before opening the door, I wiped the edges of my mouth, hoping to eliminate any remnants of evidence. I wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation.

Just make sure to stand at least two meters away if it’s Mom, otherwise she’ll smell it on your breath! I reminded myself before twisting the knob and opening the door.

I blinked in surprise.

Jenna?

“What are you doing here?” I muttered, confused at the sight of my best friend leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

She pushed off the wall and strode into my room.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her bewilderedly as she crossed the doorway.

“Like I said, I’ve been thinking,” she exclaimed stopping in front of my bed, examining it for a second before looking back up at me.

“Thinking about what?” I asked hesitantly.

A smile slowly broke across her face as her eyes narrowed in on me.

“Feel like going to a party?”