The Gods of Song and Poetry

Chapter 7 - Where Are You Going To Punch Me?

Chapter 7 - Where Are You Going To Punch Me?

When I went to bed that night, it took a long time to get to sleep. I was angry. I blamed Kelly for that, but I was mad at myself, too. I was disappointed that I let myself get so worked up over her in the first place. Sure, I was angry that she was telling Timmy she could go out with him this weekend, but I was also angry at myself for blowing up at my friends over it. Why am I sticking up for her? If she wants to find a new 'special friend' every weekend, then why was I putting my friendships through stress to defend her?

Eventually my anger burned itself out and I got about four hours of sleep. Not my usual. I suffered through my work shift, then went home and napped until taking Kristy to open gym.

"Ani?" Kristy knocked on my door, waking me up. "Are you going to take me to volleyball?"

I raised my head and looked at the clock.

"Yeah, of course." I dragged myself out of bed.

On the way to the school, Kristy kept looking at me with her eyes narrowed slightly and a little pout on her face.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"That's what I was wondering. You've been acting kind of, depressed, or angry, or something since last weekend. I was wondering why?"

I considered the look on her face.

"You already know something, don't you?"

"I keep telling you not to underestimate Pixie. She's smarter than she seems. I know you and Kelly were kissing, but that doesn't tell me why you're upset about it."

I didn't want to tell her that her friend basically used me and moved on to a friend of mine. I wasn't going to be the type of person to turn girls against each other just because I had my feelings hurt.

"It doesn't matter. I shouldn't have been making out with your friend in the first place."

"So it was 'making out,' huh?" She smirked. When she saw that I wasn't impressed, her smile quickly dropped. "Seriously, I don't care about that. It's not like you forced yourself on her, right?"

"Of course not! But, that doesn't matter. If I heard about some guy making out with his younger sister's friends during a sleepover, I would think he was a total scuzzball. Why should I get special treatment? I'm sorry it happened, Kristy. I should have known better. We've never talked about it before, but I promise you, your friends are off limits from now on."

"I don't want you to make that promise. Kelly is perfectly capable of making her own decisions. You're an amazing person. If she likes girls, why shouldn't she be attracted to you?"

"Thanks, Kristy, but it still feels like I shouldn't be...'targeting' the friends of my little sister. I accept full responsibility."

"Just because a girl makes out with an older...person, doesn't mean they're being taken advantage of." When I didn't say anything, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued. "Remember Darian?"

"DJ's cousin from Milwaukee? What about him?" I narrowed my eyes, taking them off the road for a second to look at her.

"Remember when he came up for a couple weeks earlier this summer?"

"Yes," I said slowly, not liking where this was going.

"Remember when I slept over DJ's house while he was-"

"Kristy! What did he do to you? I'll kill him!"

"Wow, live in a glass house, much? We didn't do everything, but I'm guessing a little more than you and Kelly did. I knew he wasn't going to be here more than another week, and I knew it wasn't going to be a relationship. He was a nice guy, we were having fun...and stuff happened. I chose to do it. He called the next day to make sure I was cool with everything. He was actually really sweet about it. We still talk."