I kissed the Golden boy

Chapter 5 - Apologizes

Two days later

I'm standing in a large empty room in East King Valley. Two story brick building with large windows toward the busy street; vines running up the walls. U-hauls are parked behind the house, movers bringing in tables and chairs. I move boxes here and there, showing everyone what needs to be done, where every little thing goes.Wiping sweat off my forehead, I lean against the wooden bar registry and put my hands on the hips. Ok, I did call Lory and turned down the offer but I don't know how she still convinced me to take over.

God, I have no backbone what so ever!

"Where this miss?" A large middle aged man asks me, holding a black leather lounge chair. I point to the far end of the restaurant where a lounging area is supposed to come. The decor here is simple. Black, red and white- half of the walls are painted deep red, opposite walls white. On the walls there are small spotlights, sharing warm white light to the dark space. A local photographer had made some nice stills from the scenery around King Valley and Fortline, these also need to be framed and hung on the walls. We still had a week and a half before opening, leaving plenty of time to finish everything up.

My phone buzzes and it's Jason. I push decline and keep unboxing bar stuff. It has been two days when we last talked, because I have ignored him all this time. Somehow I even managed to stay away from him at home too. I look at the screen and a green box says- twelve missed calls from Jason. Now so finally he wants to talk to me, huh? I was a little disappointed, because I had been the one person who he could talk to if he had some worries. And he shut me off.

Bzz, bzz.

My phone vibrates.

A text message from Jason: Hey, I really need to talk to you. Pick up your phone,plz.

I scroll down my contact list and find Jason's number. For a moment I hesitate to push 'call' but I need to know what had happened. "Hey!" I sit on one of the chairs. "I'm sorry." He only says. After that there is at least a minute of silence.
"So what happened, Jason?" Finally I ask him, fiddling with my scarf on the same time. "I got kicked off the team! That fucking coach of us don't think I am capable to perform on the Championship." He says, voice all small but you could feel all the anger he has inside. "What?" I stand up. "That's what I said. Seems like the crush of yours will be taking over!" I blush. "How to you...?" I can't manage to finish my question when he already intervenes. "Come on! I'm your brother. Brothers know everything." He replies in a soft laughter echoing through his reply. "Since junior year you have all eyes on him every day, this hasn't been unnoticed!" Jason stops for a moment.
"I'm mad because coach won't let me play.... at all. He didn't even bench me." I know how Jason feels about football, it's a part of his soul, life and passion. Even though he graduated a year ago, he still played for the team the following year. Now, studying law in Boston University, he still found enough time to train with the guys and take part in every major game the team had. Jordan was the quarterback and Jason was the captain of the team.

"So why didn't you  talk to me in the car?" I ask him; now standing  in front of the large windows, running my fingers over the cold glass. "He was with you in the diner when I came to pick you up. I was mad when I found out about the team change, but I got pissed off when I saw him." I listen closely. People pass the restaurant and I smile to them. I look like an idiot, phone to my ear, leaning against the glass in a lazy manner.
"So what's going to happen now. Do you still have chance to get back into the game?" "I don't think so. Maybe it's better that I quit playing and concentrate on my studies." He replies, first time I have heard him saying that he puts studying ahead of playing this ruthless game of kicking a ball on the field. "Does mom know?" I ask. "Yeah! You know what she said? Thank god I finally stopped!" Tone of anger penetrates his tone. "She never liked that sport!" I murmur, recalling every time he went to practice, she always sighed in desperation.

An hour passes by and I'm still on the phone with Jason. My ears hurt, phone has gotten pretty warm in my hand, turning my palms sweaty. "I really am sorry about the other night." He didn't need to apologize anymore. I had counted 12 times him saying 'Im sorry'! It was getting annoying already. "No worries bro, I know you. You didn't want to aim your anger at me," I answer for the twelfth time, " but I do have one more question." "Sure!" "You said that my crush for Jordan hasn't been unnoticed. Do you think he knows?" I lean against the restaurants front door, now all dressed and ready to lock up. "I don't know, but if he does, he wont show any interest in you. You know that he is dating Tiffany McCormick. That bitch won't let him go, either way."
I knew that. It had been 2,5 years and I had given up any hope for getting noticed by the Golden boy. I wasn't desperate, least was I begging for Him to see me. A girl always wants to dream, so I did same. I dreamt about him, some nights I even saw him in my sleep.
"I've got to go now. See you at home?" I ask Jason as I lock the door and open my umbrella. It had started raining few minutes ago and seemed that thunder was about to break out. "No. I'm on my way to Boston, but see you on the weekend. We have a party to attend to, remember?" Oh yeah.
Since junior year, Jason had created an event named "Crazy monkeys". It was held in Matt's house annually, in celebration of the teams mascot. King Valley's Monkeys gathered around a round table, Jason would hold a speech; preparing the team for the Championship and everyone got as drunk as possible. 
A typical kids party, drinking and making out, few fights here and there and typically the night would end like this: Matt would call me when Jason extended his drink level, I would pick his sorry ass up and listen to him  babble about how bad he felt about me taking care of him and how mad he was about our dad leaving. In the end, he would fall asleep on the sofa downstairs and get lecture from mom about his drinking and partying.

"Matt agreed to drive us home, so you can also have drink." Jason says as I open Audi's door and slip in the drivers seat. "I don't drink. You know that!" I slip the key into the ignition and start the car. "Alright, but don't just stay for an hour and then leave. It's your final year. Enjoy the party, talk to people. Have fun!" He adds. "Fine!" I breath out.
Matt was a great friend of mine, and like luck would happen, he was Jordan's half-brother. He lived with their mom and Jordan stayed with his dad. They didn't talk much, few words here and there, in school they pretty much ignored each other. Something to do with their parents splitting up and how they both decided to choose sides in the divorce.
Matt's dad passed away when he was four, his mom had a love affair when she was still married to Jordan's dad at the time. Somehow she convinced her husband that she made a mistake, begging for his forgiveness. They stayed together and James Decker raised Matt as his own. But they had a dysfunctional marriage and got divorced just two years back.
We end the phone call with him still arguing about me having a drink at the party and me stating that I had a purpose not to. When he started making fun of me being pregnant, I just hung up. Everyone would be on the party, including Jordan. And even though I didn't like the idea of going, I still took his advice and decided to go anyways.