Forever Changed

She was gone by the time I made it to the parking lot. “Mother f,” I said, pounding a fist against the roof of my car.

“Real slick, Maddon, why don’t you just tell her you sneak into her house at night and watch her sleep,” I muttered to myself, sliding the key into the door lock.

“Talking to yourself at such a young age can’t be a good thing,” a voice dripping with honey said from behind me.

I turned around to face the one person I had been trying to avoid for weeks. “Hey, Miranda, how’s it going,” I said, leaning against the car.

“Fine. If you consider hooking up with some guy at a gig and never hearing from him again, fine,” she said, all the sweetness gone from her voice.

I sighed. “Look Miranda, I thought you understood when we hooked up. It was just a one-night thing,” I said, hating that I even needed to explain this. I had been very careful not to make any promises the night we had been together.

“Yeah, but I thought we shared a connection,” she said, sticking her lower lip out in a pout that just a couple months ago I would have considered sexy.

“Really?” I asked her, pointing out how awkward it was afterward when we had nothing to talk about.

“Well, it was good during wasn't it?” she asked, grasping at straws.

“Of course it was,” I said, not wanting to be a dick. “I’m just not ready to settle down.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun once in a while,” she added, stepping close to me so she could run her hand up my arm. Her perfume swirled around, but it no longer appealed to my senses.

“Look, now’s just not the best time for me,” I said, stepping to the side to break the contact.

“You sure? You seem upset. Maybe I can help,” she said with the honey back in her voice as she placed her hand on the back of my neck so she could drag my lips to hers.

I broke the connection before our lips could meet. “Look, I didn’t want to hurt you, but there’s kind of someone else,” I finally admitted.

“That’s okay, she wouldn’t have to know,” she said brazenly as she pressed her body against mine.

“Come on, Miranda, I said no.”

“Fine, your loss,” she said, backing away in a huff. “Don’t think I’ll be this generous when you come crawling back.”

“Not likely,” I muttered to myself as I climbed into my car. I had to laugh at the irony of the situation. One girl was throwing herself at me while the other was running from me. Now, if I could get them to flip-flop…

“Last day,” I said to myself as I headed to detention. I could do this. One more day and both he and I could resume our separate lives. For some reason, I felt oddly sad about it, but I shook it off. “There’s nothing to be sad about,” I tried to convince myself as I claimed my regular seat in the auditorium.

“Hey,” Maddon said, coming in right after me.

“Hey,” I answered, smiling slightly. “Last day for you, huh?”

“Yep. Freedom is within my grasp.”

“Lucky you,” I said, trying for sarcasm. “I’ll probably be all by myself the next two days,” I said, indicating the empty room. “Looks like I’m the only person dumb enough to get in trouble the week before winter break.”

“I could keep you company,” he said, lightly tapping the back of the seat with his drumsticks.

“What? No, that’d be insane,” I said. “Who’d come to detention if they didn’t have to?”

“Well, I didn’t mean I’d keep you company here,” he said smiling.

“Very funny, you’re a regular old comedian,” I said, making a grab for one of his drumsticks. “Why do you carry these around all the time?” I asked. “Are you trying to look cool or do you really play?”

“Baby, I’m cool regardless, but I do play,” he said in a husky voice.

I wasn't usually a fan of being called “baby,” but something about the way he said it didn’t seem as bad. It was actually kind of hot.

“Ha, whatever helps you sleep at night junior,” I said, trying to sound normal.