The Girl Who Cried Wolf
When the elevator door slid open, the guys immediately piled into it. It was after school, and we had all decided to hang out at Germ’s place. There were prolly about seven of us in all - my so-called 'pack'.
I started to step into the elevator after them but the guys were loud in their objections, claiming it was already too crowded. There were just five of them in the elevator; nobody was overweight, and, in fact, two were underweight.
Take the stairs, they collectively insisted, WJ knows the way and the apartment number. Then the elevator door closed, leaving WJ and me stranded at the void-deck.
Maybe I had been pissed off, or maybe I had been bemused – maybe both; in any case, WJ and I decided to take the stairs instead of waiting for the next elevator.
WJ wasn’t actually really sure of the way; he wasn’t sure which level Germ lived on, only that the apartment was a corner unit to one side of the staircase, and he didn't remember which set of staircase it was next to. Still, we ventured on, checking the corner units on most levels. For a moment there, I wondered if we were lost – and those were the old days without cell-phones.
Finally, when I was hot and prissy, we found the right apartment – it was the one with the most pairs of filthy white school shoes lying by the front door. Standing outside the flat, I could hear the guys playing video games in there.
I think I got really, really mad then. They were enjoying themselves without a thought for WJ and me, who could’ve been hopelessly lost in the maze of stair-wells and apartments! So before WJ could step into Germ’s place, I pulled him back to the stair-well and told him we should pretend to be lost - to weed out the bastards from the buddies.
WJ must've been pissed too, because he readily agreed, eschewing the cool comfort of Germ's flat for a hot and dusty stair-well. We sat there and chatted. I think I knew this silly stunt the guys pulled on us was to “encourage” WJ and I to spend some time alone with each other. Really, these guys had all the subtlety of a herd of charging rhinos.
After awhile, somebody actually did come looking for us; two, in fact – Germ and Pumpkin. Germ came, I suppose, because it was 'his' place; Pumpkin came because ...
Well, I supposed he wasn't into video games.
“Where were you?” he asked me, a little agitatedly, and then immediately turned to WJ, saying, “I thought you knew the place!”
Satisfied in managing to pull one back on them (okay, really just two of them, but no need to be pedantic), I stuck my nose up at Pumpkin and announced that it was my idea that WJ and I should pretend to be lost - serves you right for playing that stupid trick on us - and stalked off towards Germ’s house.
The boys barely glanced up when I stepped in. Kevin, his eyes glued to the TV screen, mumbled, “Where were you? I almost went out to look for you!” And Jordan, whom I had the biggest and longest crush on then, said, “Dar,” – that was his nickname for me, short for darling - “I thought you got lost”, his eyes glued to the TV screen too.
I think I was so disappointed that my crush didn’t care enough to think about me that I didn’t think about the ones who did; especially the one whom I didn't think have any reason to ...
No, wait - he had no interest in video games. No better reason.
Besides, I don’t want to think I’d walked away from the only person who’d ever came looking for me.
Not when I am really lost now.
I started to step into the elevator after them but the guys were loud in their objections, claiming it was already too crowded. There were just five of them in the elevator; nobody was overweight, and, in fact, two were underweight.
Take the stairs, they collectively insisted, WJ knows the way and the apartment number. Then the elevator door closed, leaving WJ and me stranded at the void-deck.
Maybe I had been pissed off, or maybe I had been bemused – maybe both; in any case, WJ and I decided to take the stairs instead of waiting for the next elevator.
WJ wasn’t actually really sure of the way; he wasn’t sure which level Germ lived on, only that the apartment was a corner unit to one side of the staircase, and he didn't remember which set of staircase it was next to. Still, we ventured on, checking the corner units on most levels. For a moment there, I wondered if we were lost – and those were the old days without cell-phones.
Finally, when I was hot and prissy, we found the right apartment – it was the one with the most pairs of filthy white school shoes lying by the front door. Standing outside the flat, I could hear the guys playing video games in there.
I think I got really, really mad then. They were enjoying themselves without a thought for WJ and me, who could’ve been hopelessly lost in the maze of stair-wells and apartments! So before WJ could step into Germ’s place, I pulled him back to the stair-well and told him we should pretend to be lost - to weed out the bastards from the buddies.
WJ must've been pissed too, because he readily agreed, eschewing the cool comfort of Germ's flat for a hot and dusty stair-well. We sat there and chatted. I think I knew this silly stunt the guys pulled on us was to “encourage” WJ and I to spend some time alone with each other. Really, these guys had all the subtlety of a herd of charging rhinos.
After awhile, somebody actually did come looking for us; two, in fact – Germ and Pumpkin. Germ came, I suppose, because it was 'his' place; Pumpkin came because ...
Well, I supposed he wasn't into video games.
“Where were you?” he asked me, a little agitatedly, and then immediately turned to WJ, saying, “I thought you knew the place!”
Satisfied in managing to pull one back on them (okay, really just two of them, but no need to be pedantic), I stuck my nose up at Pumpkin and announced that it was my idea that WJ and I should pretend to be lost - serves you right for playing that stupid trick on us - and stalked off towards Germ’s house.
The boys barely glanced up when I stepped in. Kevin, his eyes glued to the TV screen, mumbled, “Where were you? I almost went out to look for you!” And Jordan, whom I had the biggest and longest crush on then, said, “Dar,” – that was his nickname for me, short for darling - “I thought you got lost”, his eyes glued to the TV screen too.
I think I was so disappointed that my crush didn’t care enough to think about me that I didn’t think about the ones who did; especially the one whom I didn't think have any reason to ...
No, wait - he had no interest in video games. No better reason.
Besides, I don’t want to think I’d walked away from the only person who’d ever came looking for me.
Not when I am really lost now.
posted by s at 21:11
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