My Life with the Rymans

Chapter 2

I get to the school parking lot the same time as Bonnie and before I can get out of my car she jumps in the passenger seat. "What are you doing?" I ask. "I'm hiding from Spencer." She says that like it's something I should know. "Why?"
She rolls her eyes and says matter of factly, "he's going to ask me to prom and I don't want to go with him."

"Why not?", I ask in disbelief. Spencer adores Bonnie and he's been a great boyfriend for the past year. "One, I don't do prom. Two, he's so boring, Liz! He asked me if I liked Depeche Mode the other day," she says as she pretends to gag. I gasp sarcastically and say, "so what?".

Bonnie is such a music snob and judges anyone for being into anything other than grunge or obscure bands nobody's ever even heard of. I'm more into eighties alternative rock and psychedelic rock like Tears for Fears, The Smiths, Pink Floyd, etc. I also like grunge but I'm nothing like Bonnie, she can name any band member and every person they're related to.

"'So what?' That's so lame, Liz! I'm going to dump him, I'm just waiting for the right time. The sex is great, but I heard that Holly Jackson was single and she's always been into me. I might ask her out." I laugh. "This is why I don't need TV. Your life is fascinating enough. Just go easy on Spencer, please. He's a good guy and he loves you. Also I like Depeche Mode too, you jerk." She mumbles something in agreement and exits the car. We walk to class and go our separate ways.

My first class is English Lit. I take my normal seat in the back and Devin is seated to my left. He throws something at me and it makes me yelp. It's a crumbled piece of gum wrapper. I dart a look at him, "What?!", I snap. "I need a pencil, Liz. Pleaseeeeeeee." I angrily shuffle through my bag and throw a pencil at him and it hits the desk with a loud thump. Mrs. Whitted jolts her eyes right at me and gestures for me to come to her desk. The familiar echoes of "ooooooohs" play in the background. I begrudgingly stand up holding back tears of embarrassment. Devin stares straight ahead and doesn't look at me. I walk to her desk and she says without hesitation, "detention. After school. Tomorrow. Go back to your desk." I wonder if I should tell her she has spinach in her teeth. Instead, I do as I'm told seething inside as Devin looks down at his desk.

At lunch I scan the room for Bonnie and Samantha. I find them chatting in the corner at a small table. I sit next to Bonnie. "What are you guys talking about?" Bonnie looks around and says in a hushed tone, "I dumped Spencer." I jerk my head back in shock. "Geez. Already?" She sighs and says, "yeah, I saw him after Spanish. He mentioned prom and I just snapped. I couldn't keep pretending like it was working anymore. I'm sad but he took it well. We're getting pizza tonight to talk." I smirked. "So you're going on a date with the guy you just dumped," I say, dumbfounded. Samantha laughs nervously and looks at Bonnie. Bonnie raises a brow and pauses. "No, not a date. Just pizza. We're friends." I take a bite of my apple, annoyed at her nonchalant attitude. "Whatever,
B. I got detention because of your asshole brother." Bonnie's face fell and she said, "oh shit. I know you don't need that right now. Cathy is gonna freak." I cringed at my mother's name. "I'm not going to tell her. I'll just tell her I'm at your house. Steph will cover for me if she calls." Bonnie nodded. "Where's Jillian?" Bonnie asked Samantha. "Um, I think she's with Brendan. They're back together". Bonnie and I say "yikes" in unison and laugh.

Jillian and Brendan have been off and on for 2 years and broke up the entire fall semester after she got pregnant. She got an abortion and Brendan freaked out for some reason I'm not sure of. I honestly don't care. Jillian is a train wreck but she is fucking hilarious. Samantha is the quiet one, very soft spoken and waif-ish but understatedly beautiful. She's a virgin like me which makes me feel a little bit less like a loser. I came close to losing it last year when I drank more than usual at a party and started making out with this super dumb but hot football player named Tyler. We went into a bedroom and he eventually took off my shirt and pants but was too drunk to get my bra off. It killed the mood so Bonnie took me home.

Bonnie and I kissed once last summer after drinking too many strawberry margaritas in her backyard when her mom was out with friends. We'd had several drinks and ended up laughing on the back porch swing talking about sex and suddenly everything went quiet. She gently cupped my face and said "you're my person, Liz. I hope we stay friends forever." And before I could wrap my head around what was happening her lips were on mine. I kissed her back without hesitating. She tasted like lime and eucalyptus. It felt nice, like it was supposed to happen. It only lasted a minute or two and it wasn't a passionate make out, it was soft and sweet. I've always considered myself to be straight, but it felt great just to be desired by someone if only for a moment. We've talked about it a couple of times and she says she doesn't regret it. I don't either.