I'll Be Here

meet.”
    I automatically smile and nudge his arm.  “Good for you.  See all those sprints that I forced you to do at the beach last summer paid off.”
    Dustin reluctantly grins, flashing a bit of his dimple.  “I guess they did.  I should be grateful.  Shin splints and all.” 
    “You’re damn right.”    
    I’m just forming the thought that this isn’t so weird and that maybe Dustin, Taylor and I really can all exist in the same universe when I realize that he’s staring at me and it’s not so much that he’s staring, it’s the way that he’s staring.  I feel myself blushing and my heart starts pounding.  He looks away.
    “Soooo…”  The word stretches out into the air between us…  “Sorry about the party.  I thought about coming but it’s not like I’ve been popular recently and I didn’t think that your girlfriend would exactly jump for joy if she saw me there.” 
    Lie.  Lie.  Lie.  I did not think about going.  Not even close.  But Dustin doesn’t need to be privy to that information. 
    Dustin winces.  “Willow, I’m sorry about all the crap that you’ve been putting up with.  I told Taylor to back off and you know that Allison and those other girls are just being bitchy because that’s what they do best.  You didn’t deserve that shit and I’m sorry that I let it happen.” 
    He inhales deeply.  “I was serious about what I said in my note.  I’m sorry about a lot of things.  You were a good girlfriend and I didn’t appreciate that and Taylor is… Well, she’s not you.” 
    Ack!  My head is groaning trying to figure out what he means.  I really need a translator to accompany me during these encounters.
    I open my mouth to speak, but before sound makes it out of my mouth, Taylor is standing in front of us.  She clears her throat and gazes down at me with daggers in her brown eyes. 
    “ What am I babe?”  She manages to squish onto the bench between us which is not incredibly awkward or anything.
    Dustin’s eyes get wide.  “Wh-what?” 
    Taylor’s annoyance reaches a new level.  I picture her head exploding as her lips move.  “You were talking about me?”
    “Uh…  I—umm...”  Dustin glances down at her hand on his arm and back at me.  He looks like a child who just got caught with a piece of candy that he was not supposed to be eating.
    I scoot forward on the bench.  “Dustin was asking me about that quiz that we’re supposed to have in calculus.  We used to study together and he was telling me that he didn’t like to bother you with it.” 
    Wow.  I am impressed with how self-assured and normal I sound.  No one would know that my stomach is churning like the paddlewheel on an old-fashioned steamboat.
    She doesn’t acknowledge me but gives Dustin a feminine pouty face.  “You should have told me baby .  I could have helped you study for that last test.  I don’t think you have to be a genius to help in calculus.”
    No.  But you have to have a basic understanding of mathematic principals and if I remember correctly you baked your way out of a failing grade in Algebra by chairing the bake sale that was Mrs. Vaughn’s pet project.
    Okay.  I don’t say this.  Not really.  Only in my head.  And for now that is satisfying enough.
    Taylor pecks Dustin on the cheek and he smiles weakly.  I stand up and shove my notes into my backpack because I don’t need to subject myself to this crap anymore.  Sure, Dustin’s giving me a guilty look, but that doesn’t mean that I have to give him a free pass to flaunt his new relationship in front of me.    
    “The Hooch.  This Saturday night.”  He says this to my back and I lift my hand so that he knows that I heard him but I don’t turn around.  I don’t want to see the look on Taylor’s face.
    Laney’s standing at the archway in front of the building texting on her phone. 
    “What was that about?”  She asks, gesturing to the bench where our odd threesome had been sitting. 
    I close my eyes.  “Nothing important.” 
    As we round the corner, I turn back to see Taylor nestling her head on Dustin’s shoulder.  “We were talking.  He wanted me to go to some party or something.  Taylor interrupted us.”
    Laney’s eyes widen.  “You still have feelings for him, huh?”
    I sigh through my nose but I don’t answer.
    She tilts her head.  “Do you love him?” 
    I don’t know how to answer that.  I guess my heart still hurts when I think