Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:39:03 -0700
From: K_V D <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Under My Skin - 19

This is a work of fiction. All the resemblances are completely accidental.
Don't read it if you are not supposed to. You know the drill. My e-mail is
ConcertoInD@Gmail.com if you want to tell me something (insults, praises,
and whatnot). Thanks!



				   - V -



            A week later my face looked somewhat decent. I was relieved that
I didn't look like a Frankenstein when I went back to school. When Sam saw
me that night, a week ago, he laughed so hard that I seriously thought he'd
have a heart attack or something.

"Very impressive", he breathed finally and I shot him a dirty look.

"I am glad you like it", I said evenly. "Hopefully it'll go away soon enough
so I don't scare customers away... Nobody wants to buy a cell phone from a guy
who looks like he robs gas stations for a living..."

   Sam started laughing again.

"Jake", he said finally. "Please tell me that Landon looks even worse..."

   I grinned.

"I broke his nose", I nodded and Sam high-fived me.



   I smiled when I remembered that and parked my car. I took a deep breath
when I was getting out and thought that I will *not* see red the minute I
spot Landon. I knew that he also got suspended for a week, Christy told me.
I grinned and thought that sometimes Hailey's bullheadedness was quite
refreshing. I mean, technically Landon should've been off the hook since I
was the one who started the fight. But I guess the fact that Christy walked
in on him while he was screwing Danetta played in my favor and Hailey
suspended him as well. Female solidarity is a great thing.

   I was impressed with myself when I managed to keep my temper under
control when I saw Landon. He glared at me briefly and then we were ignoring
each other until the end of the day which was more than fine with me. It was
weird how much I changed since September. I mean, back then I would
*never*let myself to feel this way, to hate someone so much that I
wouldn't mind
killing him. But I guess back in September I would never even think that I
will end up making love to a guy and that I would relish every minute of it.
I shrugged. Shit happens, I thought. As long as Landon doesn't come anywhere
near Christy, I'd leave him alone even though it would feel exquisite to
break his neck. I hemmed quietly under my breath, thinking that it was
almost unreal how quick I was able to go from loving him madly to hating him
so much that my blood almost boiled every time I saw his face.

   Everything was somewhat fine until the second week of May. Landon and I
would go to greatest lengths to ignore each other, Christy was doing much
better, and Sam and I were seriously considering about going to
Massachusetts this summer and getting married. The very thought scared the
hell out of me at first but then I realized that I couldn't stop thinking
about it and about how much I wanted to do it.

   When I told Christy about it, her eyes immediately got that dreamy
far-away look that used to make me snort before. Now I was almost positive
that I looked the same way the minute I started talking - or thinking for
that matter - about Sam and the whole marriage thing. She was dragging me to
the mall every chance she got to look at dresses and whatnot. "I will be
your best man, right?" she asked and I started to laugh hysterically.
"Summers", she said dangerously. "I *better *be your best man or else!" I
hugged her and said that yes, she will be my best man if I ever decide to go
through with this idea. "Are you going to tell your parents?" Christy asked
and I cringed. Probably not. My father will kill me on the spot and he'll
think that he is doing a right thing and that he is saving my soul. Christy
sighed when I told her that but she agreed with me.

"Hey", she cheered up almost immediately. "My dad can give you away!!"

I almost groaned.

"Jesus", I muttered. "Bailey just shut up about the whole thing... Plus", I
added. "How come you automatically assume that I am the freaking bride?!"

She looked at me like I just told her Mojave Desert was covered in ice.

"Summers", she sighed. "I know you better than anyone else, okay? And I can
almost see you..."

"La-la-la-la!!!!" I almost screamed. "For the love of everything that is
still sacred, do *not* finish that sentence!!"

   She laughed so hard that I suspected she peed her pants again. I was so
extremely relieved to see her back to normal that sometimes I felt like
crying. After the rape she looked frighteningly indifferent and calm. Her
eyes were so empty that she looked like a zombie in one of those *Resident
Evil *movies. Now she looked alive again and she would laugh a lot. Not as
much as she used to but a hell of a lot more than back in April.

   I decided to be smart this time and I would not let myself think that
this was my redemption or that everything will be great from now on. I knew
that the minute I let myself to relax, I'll be hit in the face by something
really nasty. So I decided to go with the flow and not to think anything. It
worked great. Until the night when God decided that He was bored.