• tab “Somebody looks like they had fun last night.”
    tab It was morning and Dahlia had had to literally pull Jenna out of bed. Now as Jenna watched Dahlia pull a bowl for from the cabinet and milk from the fridge, she couldn’t help but think about the night before.
    tab It had been so long since she had gone out on a date, the last one being on Valentines Day with her then boyfriend Matt. Then again, it hadn’t been much of a date. Matt spent most of the time on his cell phone or watching the sports channel at the bar he took her for dinner. And when they got back to his house, he had merely given her a kiss on her cheek before closing the door right in her face, not even bothering to offer her a ride home. Of course, this was typical Matt behavior. Two second kisses, rushed dates, and missed phone calls. From their very first meeting, he had been very clear that he was only interested a light relationship. At the time, Jenna had been in too much shock to even register what he was saying to her. Matt was the all-star player on her school’s hockey team and was well liked by all the students in her school. When he had broken up with his pervious girlfriend, she had been speechless when he suddenly texted her out of the blue asking of she wanted to go out with him. After they got together, they became the talk of the school. Everywhere they went, people would always stop and stare just to get a good look at the so-called ‘perfect couple’.
    tab Ultimately she should have known that Matt would abandon her when she truly needed him the most, just like she should have known that he was cheating on her with her friend Jess. Why she had believed that Matt would actually help her was beyond her, perhaps because she just wanted to believe that there was actually someone out there that loved her. And yet, when he accused her of wanting Jason to sleep with her before walking out on her, it had hurt. When she saw him again a week later with his tongue stuffed down Jess’s throat, it had made her heart split in two.
    tab But Nate was nothing like Matt. Sure he was stubborn, and tough to get to know, but at least he didn’t care about how his relationship with her affected his reputation. Once Matt had made her go home during one of their few dates and change her outfit because it clashed with his. Not once while they had been going out, had he ever asked her about her problems, not like Nate did.
    tab “I guess you could say that,” she responded as she poured herself some orange juice.
    tab Dahlia sat down and unfolded the newspaper, “That’s good to hear. Lately you’ve seemed so down that I was beginning to wonder if that boy had done something to make you upset.”
    tab She didn’t even want to imagine what Dahlia might have done to Nate if she found out about him rejecting her a week ago. Knowing Dahlia, she probably would have finally put those kickboxing lessons to good use.
    tab “So what’s on the agenda today?”
    tab Truthfully, Jenna didn’t have anything planned. Nate had work from ten to three; Cassidy was spending the day with her family, and Theo…well something told Jenna that she was the last person that he wanted to spend time with.
    tab “I haven’t really decided yet. I’m probably just going to walk around,” she said at last.
    tab Sinking her fork into the stack of pancakes in the middle of the table, Dahlia turned the page of the newspaper, “Well you can always join me at the yoga center in town, very relaxing place.”
    In the end, Jenna said she’d consider it, unsure if she wanted to spend her day chilling with the retired veterans’ crowd.
    tab Once she was done with her breakfast, Jenna returned to her room and pulled out her cell phone. After leaving a message, telling Ashley to give her a call, she pulled on a pair of black shorts and a red tank top. Since it was a nice day, she had figured she might as well spend her alone time walking along the boardwalk.
    tab Twenty minutes later, she was regretting her decision. Having underestimated its length, the boardwalk felt like the Great Wall of China to her and her aching feet. Noticing an out door café, Jenna decided to give her feet a break and walked over before grabbing a seat with a view of the ocean.
    tab After ordering a soda, Jenna pulled out her book and started to read. She had only gotten through a page before hearing a familiar cackle of laughter that sounded like a wild hyena.
    tab Glancing up from her book, Jenna caught sight of the three blonde girls sitting a few tables away from her. Quickly she reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, as if they would hide her identity, and pulled them on. Trying to focus on her book, Jenna gave up trying to block out the sounds of their gossip the moment she heard Nate’s name mentioned.
    tab “…As I was saying,” Lena said, completely cutting off one of the other blondes, “rumors going around that Porter has a new girlfriend. Do any of you guys know if there’s any truth to this?”
    tab Gina, who was wearing a bright green tube top reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Since she was sitting too far away, Jenna assumed that she was looking over her texts messages.
    tab “Yeah,” she finally said, “but does it really matter? Anyway, weren’t you the last girl that Porter went out with?”
    tab Lena took a sip of her drink before pulling out a stick of lip-gloss, “Don’t remind me,” she groaned, “that was like, the biggest mistake of my entire life. Breaking up with that loser was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
    tab Rena, wearing an orange tank top that nearly blended in with her super tan skin, made a face, “Uh Lena, didn’t Nate break up with you?”
    tab Lena shot her a look before slapping her hand, “What type of crap is that suppose to mean? I mean come on; everybody knows that I dumped Nate’s pathetic a** right after he got the swim team in trouble. Besides, he was beneath me anyway,” she declared loudly to the whole café.
    tab Sensing that now would be a good time to leave, Jenna quickly gathered her stuff together. She had just left her table when she heard herself being mentioned in the blondes’ conversation.
    tab “Speaking of Nate, did you hear how his girlfriend totally tried to get inside Lance’s pants during the dance?”
    tab Jenna walked out before she could hear anymore. She knew what they’d say anyway, that she had tried to seduce Lance and asked him to kiss her. That’s what her friends had told the rest of the school after the whole Jason ordeal. The rumors that they had started had spread through the school like wild fire. By the end of the day, the whole school was gossiping behind her back.
    tab Jenna didn’t stop walking until the café was out of sight. Closing her eyes, Jenna sank down onto a bench and sighed. She was grateful that she had left before hearing the rest of Lena and her friend’s conversation. Even if she knew what they were going to say, she still didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to be reminded of her pervious public humiliation. It wasn’t fair, it didn’t matter if she was over three hundred miles away; the rumors of her being a slut still haunted her.
    tab “What are you doing here?”
    tab The cold voice was all too familiar for her to be mistaken. “Theo?”
    tab Opening her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to see Theo standing a few feet away from her; in both hands he was trying to juggle three boxes full of food. He was staring her at her awkwardly, as if he couldn’t believe that she was sitting in front of him.
    tab “You never answered my question,” he had placed the boxes onto the ground and pulled out a bottle of water, “what are you doing here?”
    tab “I’m just walking around,” she gestured to the boardwalk, “taking in the sights.”
    tab Smirking, Theo wiped the sweat from his forehead. “What sights? Once you see the ocean, there isn’t much else to look at.”
    tab “Does it really matter what I’m doing here?” Theo had almost always ignored her, so why did he decide now to talk to her?
    tab Theo shrugged his shoulders, “You’re right, it doesn’t matter,” bending down, he started to gather the boxes, “but you look upset though.”
    tab Looking away, Jenna felt her face grow red with embarrassment, “Thanks for caring.”
    tab “Whatever,” he said it so simply that Jenna knew that he hadn’t even needed to think about his answer, “you’re my best friend’s girlfriend, whether I like it or not. And I know for a fact that he’s gonna bother me about it later.”
    tab Gee, the way he put it, Nate liking her was the worst possible thing that could have happened.
    tab “Anyway, I got to go, I have a delivery to make,” he started walking away, still trying to juggle all three boxes.
    tab Suddenly Jenna was up from he seat on the bench and following right behind Theo. She knew he hated her, but he hardly knew her. Let him make assumptions about her after they spent some one on one time together.
    tab “Hey, let me give you a hand,” she ran in front of him.
    tab “Forget it.”
    tab Ignoring his annoyed tone, Jenna reached out and grabbed a box that was about to fall out of his hands, “Just tell me where to go.”
    tab He shot her a look, his blue eyes piercing. After a few long minutes, Theo let out a sigh of surrender, “Follow me. Don’t drop anything”
    tab At first they walked I silence. This wasn’t she wanted, Jenna had hoped that Theo would finally open up to her but clearly, that was the last thing on his mind. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Jenna picked up her pace until she was walking besides him, “So,” she said, trying to sound casual, “where are we going”
    tab “I work part time at a drugstore as an errand boy, “he gestured to the boxes, “these are my errands.”
    tab Jenna frowned; Theo was talking to her as if she was five. “Ok, but that still doesn’t explain where we’re going.”
    tab He turned so fast his elbow nearly knocked her over. “We’re going to Mill Street, house number five, third on the left. Does that answer your question?”
    tab That kept her quiet for the remainder of their trip. While Theo kept his distance from her, Jenna found herself making faces at his back. She didn’t understand what his problem was. Nate had tried to explain to her that Theo was very sensitive about meeting new people. She thought back to what Nate has said, “It takes him a while to learn to trust people, especially girls.”
    tab Nate went on to talk about how Theo had completely abandoned him when he was dating Lena, of course, Nate didn’t blame him for it.
    tab “Truthfully, I wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with me back then either. I was a poser acting as if I knew the difference between what was cool and what wasn't it. And Theo, Theo took my sudden rise to popularity like a knife in the back. “
    tab She wanted Theo to trust her, to understand that she wasn’t out to destroy Fantasia.
    tab She was just about to ask him something when they suddenly arrived at their destination.
    tab It was a big white house with blue shutters. On the porch sat about three elderly people in rocking chairs or wheelchairs. When the people sitting outside saw Theo, they all shouted a friendly hello before a middle aged woman with black hair streaked with gray appeared at the door.
    tab “Hello stranger,” she called as she opened the storm door and walked down the steps to greet them, “what did you bring us today?”
    tab Theo smiled a slow uncomfortable smile as he put the boxes he was holding onto the pavement before going through them. “We have maple syrup for pancake for Sunday, three boxes of Earl Gray tea for Lynette, a book of crossword puzzles for Eustace, and stationary for Martha.”
    tab Theo stood up and pointed to the box that Jenna was holding. “Dora also put in a bunch of other so-called ‘necessities’ that she’d thought the people here would appreciate.”
    tab The lady gave him a warm smile before embracing him in a tight bear hug. The expression that appeared upon his face looked like he was in pain, “What would we do around here without you,” she let go and pointed to Jenna. “Come over here dear, no need to be shy. I’m Ariel by the way, caretaker for the residences here.”
    tab She took Ariel’s out stretched hand and shook it, “Nice to meet you. I’m Jenna by the way.”
    tab Snapping her fingers, Ariel pointed to the boxes, “Bring those things inside and I’ll treat you to some freshly made lemonade.”
    tab The inside of the house was warm and inviting. A large carpet was laid out across wooden floor and assorted pictures lined the dark walls. In the first room she passed, she saw a fireplace in the back, couches and chairs, and a large piano leaning against the wall.
    tab Following Theo into the kitchen, Jenna glanced around at the large dinning room that they passed by. “Is this some kind of old folks home? She asked as she placed her box on one of the kitchen’s light yellow counters.
    tab He grumbled as if the answer was obvious. “It’s more like a boarding home for the elderly,” Theo replied shoving the glass of lemonade into her hands.
    tab Even in such a warm and friendly atmosphere, Theo still acted rude and hostile towards her. Though the house was warm, standing ext to a brooding Theo was like as standing in the middle of a walk-in freezer.
    tab “Theo here has been bringing us deliveries for years. Occasionally, he’ll bring along a friend or two,” Ariel pondered for a moment. “”Like that girl who can draw such lovely pictures-”
    tab “Cassidy,” Theo supplied as he took a long sip of lemonade.
    tab Ariel corrected herself before adding. “Or that other fellow who always seems to be on another planet but I’ve never seen you before.”
    tab Jenna smiled at the way Ariel described Nate, “I’m spending my summer here with my grandmother.”
    tab “Oh, that’s sweet. Some of the resident’s grandkids do that every now and then. So tell me Jenna, how do you know our mutual friend Theo here?” Ariel was pulling out the contents of the boxes.
    tab Suddenly, Jenna was unsure of what she should say, “I’m...um…I’m…”
    tab “She’s Nate’s girlfriend,” Theo rudely replied as if Jenna was a deadly disease that Nate had contracted.
    tab Almost instantly, Ariel’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? I never pegged that boy as the romantic type.” After stuffing cans of tomato soup into the cabinets, Ariel turned and walked back over to Theo and ruffled his blonde hair. “Hey sweetheart, can you do me a favor?”
    tab Pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes, Theo followed her back into the room with the piano, “Sure, what is it?”
    tab “Well, I was wondering if you could play something for us, it’s been so long since we heard anything coming out of that hunk of wood.”
    tab Jenna watched some of the tenants wander into the room and taking a seat as Theo sat down on the piano stool. And then he was playing. Suddenly right before her eyes, Jenna watched Theo become a whole other person. His hard face softened as he listened to the music that each key produced as his fingers glided gracefully over them. Just like Nate, who made swimming look effortless, Theo did the same with piano. The music that he made come out of that piano almost brought tears to her eyes as Jenna sat down on a couch and listened to him play. Though she had taken piano lessons for years, she had never been able to make such beautiful music like Theo did.
    tab When it was all over, the whole room erupted onto applause while Theo stood and took a few stiff bows. Although she was sitting on the other side of the room, Jenna could have sworn that she had seen a smile appear briefly upon Theo’s face. Then after a goodbye hug from Ariel, they were off, heading back towards the boardwalk and Dora’s drugstore.
    tab While they walked, Jenna found herself anxious to talk to Theo. Before he had started playing, she had all but given up on ever understanding him. But now she longed for him to look at her with the same kind expression that he had given the piano while he had played.
    tab “Um Theo?” He cast her a side way glance as he picked up his pace a little. “I just wanted to know when you started playing piano.” Jenna braced herself for Theo to insult her, to call her nosey and to stop asking such stupid questions. But instead of yelling at her, Theo sighed as he turned back and stared at her.
    tab “I started when I was five. My mom she…she thought it would be nice if someone in our family had some kind of musical ability.”
    This was the first time that Theo had ever mentioned his mother to her. Cassidy had already told her that Theo avoided almost any subject that brought up his mom.
    tab Sticking his hands into his pockets like Nate always did, Theo gazed off out at the ocean, “Every weekend she’d reserve one hour each day just so she could hear me practice. As I got better, she’d start requesting pieces for me to play.” He tore his eyes away from the water, as if he couldn’t bear to look at it any longer before he started talking again.
    tab “After she got sick, I started memorizing sheet music so I could play her favorite songs. I’d play those songs for her on the days when everything seemed to be going wrong. It was the only thing that could make her smile.”
    tab She would never have known. Cassidy and Nate hardly ever brought up Theo’s mom. Of course she knew what happened not long after his mother had gotten worse. Theo had started working part time jobs just to keep food on the table. She wondered if Dora was the first person to hire Theo.
    tab Catching up besides him, the two walked in silence for the rest if the trip. Not long afterwards, they reached the drugstore.
    tab “Thanks for letting me hang with you,” she held out her hand, unsure if Theo would shake it or slap it away.
    tab At first he just started at for long time. Finally after what felt like forever, he took her hand and shook it gently, “If you ever need something to do,” his voice was uneasy as he spoke to her, “Dora could always use an extra hand.”
    tab Then he was gone, having walked into the store and closing the door in her face.
    tab For a while, Jenna just stood there, trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Though the message wasn’t clear, Jenna was pretty certain that Theo had, in a way, come to terms with her presence in Nate’s and his life. Maybe after today, he’d start treating her nicer, though Jenna wouldn’t bet money on it. If she took one step at a time, than perhaps Theo will learn to accept her by the end of the summer
    tab Smiling at her small, almost invisible, progress with Theo, she stared towards the beach. By the time she got there, Nate was already leaning against the lifeguard’s stand. When she got closer, she saw that he was soaking wet.
    tab “What happened?”
    tab Nate made a face as he walked over to greet her. “A bratty little fat kid pushed me into the water a second before a wave came crashing down upon my head,” he grumbled before giving her a kiss. “What about you? Do anything interesting today?”