Chapter 6:

I ran all the way through to the living room, where José and Mom were sitting next to one another brainstorming ideas.  I came to a halt in the archway, breathing heavily, and catching their attention.  They looked up with questioning glances.

“Follow me,” I said.  They stood and followed me out the front door and around the side of the house.  Once they figured out where we were headed I began hearing complaints from José.

“Oh, please, not in there, hun!  New Italian boots that just can’t be ruined.”

I smiled and led them into the barn, of which José made sure not to touch.  My mom matched my enthusiastic grin and José seemed to be changing his mind about the barn.

“Now, this is what I’m talking about,” he said.  “I can see it!  White drapes everywhere, dim lights, music pounding.  Who knew this little gem was here?”

I know someone, I thought to myself, my grin faltering.  My train of thought was interrupted again by José and my mom leaving the stable discussing the new set of decorations.  I clicked off the lights and silently closed the heavy door.

«««

I sat in my fur covered chair in sweatpants and a tank top after everyone had rushed to bed, anticipating the next day’s activities.  I looked at my phone, again, to see that I still had no messages.  I gazed out my balcony at the dark night lit by the millions of stars.  I found quickly that my new home was easily more beautiful than New York at night.  The night sky there was lit by street lights and taxi cabs.  There were no stars.  However, New York was busy.  There was never a dull moment, and I missed that.

Staring at the sky, I made up my mind.  I found Travis’s name in my contacts.

Great news! Party is officially in full swing, and guess where it’s happening? The barn! :)

I hit send, and hoped I would get a response.  What is wrong with me?, I thought to myself.  I shouldn’t be like this, what would Evan say?  I looked down at my phone screen, which was wallpapered with a picture of Evan and me.  I was smiling up at myself as Evan kissed my cheek lovingly.  I remembered when it had been taken: only a few hours before the announcement of our move.  I felt my gut rip in two, the same feeling I had when I heard those fateful words spoken by Evan’s smooth, deep voice, “It just wasn’t meant to be.”  I remembered pleading to him to reconsider, crawling on my hands and knees.  But it didn’t matter, he had made up his mind.

I stood, aggravated that I had let myself recount that memory.  I had sworn after crying for hours that I would put it away and never relive it.  I tore back my covers and curled underneath them, trying to shield myself from my thoughts.  At precisely the moment I started thinking about Evan’s long, urgent kisses that I longed for, my phone buzzed.  I immediately grabbed it, thankful for the distraction.  I opened the text message that said it was from Travis.

GR8

Fuming, I threw my phone at my fluffy chair and turned over to try to find solace in my dreams, which I figured would feature Evan, again.

«««

I woke with a start when I heard my phone buzzing uncontrollably.  I glanced at the iHome on my bed stand: 9:36.  I groaned, knowing I wouldn’t be able to turn over and fall back asleep at this point.  I grabbed my phone to see that Malcom was calling.  I weighed my options, I could answer and listen to the drawl of his voice  or let it go to voicemail and enjoy the few moments of silence I had.  I opted for the latter and hit “ignore”.

After showering and changing into a pair of Rock and Republic denim shorts and a simple white tee, I walked down the stairs to already hear José and my mom planning.

“Still?” I asked when I reached the kitchen to see them sitting at the island, looking over the notebook scribbled with ideas.

“Well, we have to make this good,”  José said.  I rolled my eyes at his dramatic tone as I grabbed an ice tea from the fridge.

“What are you up to today, dear?” my mom asked.

“Oh, uh.  Nothing really,” I said, trying to escape the situation.

“Why don’t you call Travis?” she said.  Of course, this brought on a whole round of questions from José asking who he was, what he looked like, if we were dating.  All of which I ignored by walking out the back door and around the house only to be met my dad, beaming like a child, and pulling up in an electric blue Jeep.  He turned it off and hopped out.

“What is that?” I asked, disgusted.

“That is our new car!  It’s a 2010 Jeep Wrangler, what do you think?  Flashy, right?” he said excitedly.

“That’s not what I would have called it,” I said.  “What happened with buying two sensible cars?  Ones I actually won’t look ridiculous in.”

“Oh please, you won’t look ridiculous in this!  Besides, it was much more cost effective to buy one than to buy two that we don’t need.”  I stared at his unusual logic.

“When have you ever been cost effective?” I said.

“Well, I figured now would be a good time to start, Jessica,” he said before turning to walk into the house.

I stared at the shining vehicle that already had dirt and grime splashed across it.  I cringed at the thought of driving that around town.  I was drawn out of my stupor by a motorcycle zooming by along the dirty road, reminding me of Travis’s four wheeler.  I left behind my rule of never being the first to call a guy to find his number in my phone.  It rang loudly several times before I heard his familiar voice say, “Hello?”

“Travis?”  I said.

“Uh, yeah,” he said.

“Oh, sorry.  Um, what are you up to?” I said, regretting this idea already.

“Just about to go to the farmer’s market.”

“Oh, really?  What’s that exactly?”

There was silence on his end, then he said skeptically, “You don’t know what a farmer’s market is?”

“Uh, no.”  Before I knew it, he was laughing.  “Hey, not cool!”

“Alright, alright.  Let me show ya, then,” he said in between laughs.  “When can I pick ya up?”

I smiled and realized that all was good between us now.  “Now, if you want.”

“Hm, no waitin’ for a hour before you’re all done up?  Is Hawesville turnin’ you into a country chick?” he asked as I heard his loud truck jump to life in the background.

“Nah, not yet.  See you in a bit,” I said, smiling and hanging up the phone.

Only ten minutes later, Travis pulled up in the familiar, faded red truck.I smiled and waved as I ran to the passenger side door, which he opened for me from the inside.

“Hey,” I said, buckling my seatbelt.

“Hello there, ready to experience the one and only farmer’s market?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“I still can’t believe you have never been to one.”

“Oh, drop it and drive,” I said.  We drove the rest of the short ride to the downtown square in silence.  We parked at the edge of the square, which was packed with white tents and stands that hosted various fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and meats.

“Basically, the farms from all around Hawesville come here every Saturday to sell their inventories.  You can’t get anything much better than fresh fruits and vegetables,” he said, holding up a stem of broccoli.  I nodded in response.  We continued to walk around to the different vendors, looking at their products.  Most of it consisted of vegetables, but every once and a while there would be someone who had woven baskets or handmade soaps.

I was looking at a large display of home-made jerky when Travis said, “Jessica, I wanna apologize for leavin’ you at the party.”

I looked up, surprised.  I couldn’t fake it, I was still a little angry with him, “Then why did you do it?”

He seemed to consider this, then looked a little pained at what he admitted, “I don’t know.  I just got angry when I saw you and Malcolm together.  It was my first reaction to it.”

I couldn’t believe it.  Other than our first couple of meetings, Malcolm had been gentlemanly, sweet, and adorable.  “What is your issue with Malcolm anyway?The real reason.”

We walked past another vendor selling jugs of milk and dozens of eggs as he thought about his answer.  “It’s kind of a long story,” he finally said.

“I’ve got plenty of time, Travis,” I said, annoyed.

He sighed then continued, “Last year, I was dating this girl, Samantha.  It was serious.  I mean, we weren’t dating for long, but it was just different with her, ya know?”

I nodded, thinking of Evan.

“I thought, without a doubt, that it would’ve lasted.  Well, believe it or not, Malcolm was my best friend.”

I stared at him, unbelievingly.  I urged him to continue with a look.

“Well, I went to visit her one day after school, and I pulled up in her driveway behind Malcolm’s car.  I had no problem with it, they were partners for a project for some class.  I rang the doorbell and her mom told me that she was round back.  I walk back there, ready to greet my girlfriend and my best friend, but I was first greeted with a sight of Malcolm laying on top of her, his mouth on her neck.  Safe to say, I wasn’t very happy.  After I made some sort of noise, I don’t really remember, they sat me down and Sammy explained that they had been seeing each other for a while.  I had been dating her for three months at that point.  How long was a while?  Anyway, I haven’t talked to him since then.”

He sat down on the sidewalk, hunched over, his head in his hands.  I knelt down beside him and placed my hand on his arm.  He looked up at me, his eyes searching my face for a reaction.

“Hey, it’s okay.  I would’ve done the same thing if it happened with--well, if it had happened.”  He smiled with relief that I understood.  With that, we stood and gathered the few things we bought to walk back towards the car.  An awkward silence had fallen over us, unsure of what to say.

When he pulled into my driveway he said, “Well, thanks for comin’ with.”

I smiled, “Thanks for bringing me.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” he said as I opened the door.

“Will you?”

He smiled, understanding what I meant.  “I will.”

I slammed the passenger door and smiled at him through the open window.  “Good.”  I turned and started walking towards the steps, hearing his car slowly reverse out of the driveway.  Unexpectedly, my phone started ringing in my back pocket.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Malcolm,” I said, relief flooding over me that he didn’t call three minutes ago.

“You got it.  When you want me over?”

“Oh, whenever I suppose,” I said, opening the door and hearing voices coming from the kitchen.

“Great, because I’m here.”  I spun around to see him closing his car door.

“Great,” I said unenthusiastically and hung up.  I opened up the large oak front door as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket and grabbed me into a strong hug.

“Uh, hey,” I managed to get out.

“Hey, you.  I’ve got the invite list,” he said, stepping through the door frame and throwing off his shoes.  I smiled and beckoned him to follow me into the kitchen.  We walked through the arch and the sight I saw didn’t surprise me at all.  José and my mom were sitting across from each other, drinking cocktails and going over the official plans for the party.  Both looked up when we came in.

“Mom, this is Malcolm,” I said.  He waved.

“Oh, this is Malcolm.  Nice to meet you,” she said.  At this, a wide smile took over his face.

“Nice to meet you too, ma’am.”

"He has your invite list, José.”

“Oh!  Excellent.  Let me see,” he said, motioning for it with a waving hand.  Malcolm dug into his front pocket and pulled out a crumpled, faded piece of paper and handed it to him.  José took it with disgust and unfolded it.  “Now we need to keep in mind that you actually don’t know any of these people.”

“Well, I know a couple,” I said, defending myself.

“Oh don’t worry.  It don’t matter who throws the party round here, they’ll all come,” Malcolm reassured all of us, causing José to beam with happiness.

“Great!  How about you two sit down and we’ll explain what we want to do.”  Malcolm pulled out a seat for me then sat in his own.  I looked at him surprisingly.  Where was the Malcolm that I knew, the one that Travis hated so much?

We listened to my mom and José excitedly discuss the elaborate plans and decorations for an hour.  Malcolm pretended to be interested, occasionally looking at me when the other two weren’t paying attention, pleading for us to leave.  Finally they finished and we quickly stood up before they could say anything more.

“Sorry about that,” I said sheepishly when we reached the front foyer.

“Hey, it’s no problem.  Oh, I put my address on that list, even though I know you would let me know either way,” he said, winking.

I smiled, “Good, because I wouldn’t have gone out of my way otherwise.”

He laughed, “You would’ve found out that it’s not a party without me.”

“Oh, I’m sure.”  I opened the door, and he pulled me into a tight hug, this time I hugged him back.  “Thanks for your help,” I muffled into his chest.

“No problem, Jessica,” he said before releasing me and turning to go to his car.

I waved at him when he turned to look at me.

“Oh, call me!” he said and ducked into his car.

I bounded up the stairs to change for bed.  I entered my room and saw my Blackberry blinking on my bed.  It was alerting me of a new text message from Malcolm.

I miss you already, beautiful.

I smiled and closed out of the text.  As much as I wanted to hate Malcolm, I couldn’t help but feel giggly around him.  I immediately felt guilty.  Travis would be devastated to hear that I might have feelings for Malcolm, after what he had done.  But I just didn’t see that Malcolm when he was only with me.  The Malcolm I saw tonight was sweet and perfect in almost everyway.  My thoughts were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.  I turned to see my mom leaning against my doorframe.  I smiled.

“So, this Malcolm seems quite nice,” she said.

“Yeah,” was all I could come up with.  He seemed nice now, but what about when I first met him?

“And he’s cute.”

“Yeah.”

“What does Travis think of him?” she asked, picking up dirty clothes off my floor.

“What does that matter?” I said.

“Well, I don’t know.  It just seems like you were getting kind of serious with Travis--”

“I’m not, Mom.  I can’t.”  She looked at me sympathetically.

“Sweetheart, you have to get over Evan at some point.”

“I’m tired,” I said, putting a rest to where the conversation had taken us.

“Okay.  Sweet dreams,” she said, kissing me on the forehead and leaving my room.  She had learned early on to not talk about Evan.  After it happened, I could do nothing but bawl every time his name was spoken.  Since then, we had not spoken of him at all.  My mind wandered back to what she had said.  It just seems like you were getting kind of serious with Travis.  I wouldn’t let it happen, not yet.