{Chloe}
I slowly apply mascara to each eye, blinking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror a few times after I...
"Chloe!"
When I hear my name, it momentarily breaks my concentration away from applying my make up. I drop the black eyeliner I had just picked up and let out a small groan. Justin, who by the way, yes, was the one to just call my name, seriously has got a knack for whining out loudly when he wants to. His voice booms at me all the way from down the hallway, confirming that he's definitely on his way to pester and whine at me right now; and just because I'm running a few minutes late while getting ready for us to go out tonight.
Geez.
He only called my name once, so I know that he's given up until he can regulate with me face-to-face.
Yup—here he comes, y'all. In 5—4—3—2—
"What in God's name is taking you so damn long, woman?" Justin suddenly demands, at once.
Smacking my lips at the mirror, my eyes involuntarily roll inside my head, as I quickly turn to look at the spot he's now occupying, casually leaning against my bathroom door. "Hi Justin," I greet him, happily.
He rolls his own eyes, his face contorting in exasperation. "We're gonna be late to the movie if we don't leave right now."
"I know, I know," I relent, guiltily. In a much too sappy, sugar coated tone, I sweetly add, "And I promise I'll be done in less than five minutes, okay sweetheart?"
Justin sighs, lightly banging his forehead against the door frame a few times. "Females," he whines, at last. "Completely impossible to deal with... I swear."
I snort at that one, turning back to watch my reflection again. Amused, I comment, "Funny that you say that when we all know it's really the other way around."
"You've got to be kidding!" he suddenly exclaims with fervor.
I laugh again, dismissing his comment off with a wave of my hand. "Okay-kay-kay, sweetie. Go start the car and I'll be down in like two seconds," I say, cleverly changing the subject.
I mean, there's really no point in arguing it out, right? Because I think we all know where this conversation would go if it continued on. Yeah. I'd end up being right, 'cause let's just face it; women are just a tad bit more clever when it comes to comparing their brains with that of the male species. And since this is a fact in my own humble opinion, then I'm also guessing that poor Justin would either end up a) in denial or b) in shambles when we finally finished with our little, mini battle-of-the-sexes convo that I'm nipping in the ass right now.
Tuning into his words again, I hear him asking me, "No more than five minutes then? And what all do you have left to do? "
"Yes, yes," I answer, dropping my eyeliner. "I just gotta put on my shoes and get my coat now," I explain. I walk pass Justin and he turns to watch me move around the room, as I quickly remember, "Oh yeah, and print out the directions."
"Directions?!" he shouts. Damn. In a blink of just a freakin' eye, he's already back to 'I'm-Justin-and-I'm-a freakin'-big-ass-drama-queen' status again. Seriously. The boy even threw his hands up in the air for emphasis and shit when he said that one simple word.
Okay, so I guess I should have just kept that little detail on the down low, huh? Oh well, too late now. I shrug my coat on and give him a disapproving look. "Yes directions, Justin," I confirm, sensibly. "It's not like we frequent the Cascade drive-in-movies or anything, so I think it's best if we know how to get there before we actually go, don't you?"
"Please, woman," Justin scoffs, at once. Pulling his keys outta his pockets, he smugly continues, "I know exactly where it's at."
How much do you want to bet me that that wasn't complete and utter bullshit? Oh wait, I know; you wouldn't bet against me, right? Yeah, I guess you're too smart for that 'cause you and I both know that what he just said was a bunch of crap, indeed.
"Oh really?" I finally ask him, though I already know the answer to my own question anyways. I'll just amuse him, if you will...
"Yes, it's right over by Darnell's cousin house," Justin answers me, arrogantly. "And I've been there a dozen times before, so don't you fret my pet—"
I roll my eyes, giving him a disgusted look when he says that last part.
Justin stops speaking and chuckles at me for a second. Then he smiles that crooked grin of his, confidently continuing on, "So as I was saying--I'm pretty sure we'll make it there--and pretty damn easily if I do say so myself."
"Right, okay," I snort, smartly.
"Sooo," Justin says, ignoring me and emphasizing the word 'so' as if just to prove how little he cares about my obvious suspicions. Extending his arms in my direction, he finishes, "I'm going to start up the car now, so just get your shoes on and then hurry that fine ass out to join me a.s.a.p. You got it?"
"But..."
He claps his hands. "Chop-chop, woman!" he interrupts me, joyfully.
I open my mouth again to protest, but he quickly holds his hand up and starts trotting his smug ass towards the exit before I can even utter another syllable. "Chop-chop!" he repeats himself again, amusedly disappearing through the doorway.
"Ugh," I mutter to myself.
You see that? Men are the ones who are impossible to deal with! Well, almost impossible, anyways. Luckily enough, us women are clever enough to find loopholes that come in aid when dealing with their impossible asses...
Yup. You heard me right.
No more whining and bitching and complaining about our relationship and how wrong it's going already so far. I've had all night to think about it, and Justin's little gestures reminded me of three very, very important things:
1) Firstly, I was being way too much of an overly sensitive girl about us this week. So basically, I decided that I really need to stop acting like an overemotional cow and just see how good it can be with us without me freaking out all the time. Because clearly, I'm entirely too smart for all that, and even more clearly, there are way more productive ways for me to be exerting my precious energy instead.
2) Secondly, I really was being overly sensitive because in all honestly, Justin isn't all that bad anymore. He's really changed a whole lot, and the boy has got lots of 'great-boyfriend-potential' if you ask me. He just needs a little guidance to help his slow ass along the way sometimes because for God's sake, it's Justin we're talking about here.
3) And finally, if anyone is going to push Justin to shape his ass up even more, then I'm just the girl to do it. After all, he did say I make him wanna be a better person and all. Heh. Not that I'm bragging about it or anything, though...
****
About ten minutes later, I stand in front of Justin's black truck, reaching out to open the door. I come prepared and ready for our evening out, directions off MapQuest.com brilliantly tucked inside my black purse. Ahem, don't look at me like that! It's not like I printed them out because I doubted his word when he said he knew where he was going; it's just more like I printed them out, since I know from experience, that it never hurts to have Plan B ready in case Plan A fails for some tragic reason or another. (And it especially can't hurt to have a back up plan when the brains behind Plan A happen to be coming from a male brain, if-ya-know-what-I'm-sayin' and stuff. But let's pretend we didn't just share that with each other, okay?)
Slamming the door shut, I crawl into my seat and smile at my boyfriend once I'm situated. "Let's roll out, baby..."
Justin immediately starts to reverse, reprimanding me as he does so, "Chloe Marin, look at the damn clock! You took exactly 13 minutes to..."
"Aww!" I exclaim, reaching over and grabbing the single-stemmed red rose that lies on Justin's lap. I finger the bow tied in red ribbon around it, as I excitedly coo out, "You got me a flower! That's so cute! And that's cool, because I have a present for you, too..."
We stop at a red light, and Justin smiles, forgetting to bitch at me for being late as he playfully comments, "Yeah, I did get you a flower--and luckily you made it to the car before it wilted away and died."
Okay, so he didn't quite forget to bitch about the whole me being late thing. I smack at his shoulder, letting out a small giggle. "Very funny," I say to him. "No less hilarious when you consider just who's saying it and all."
"Excuses, excuses," Justin chides me. "But then again, I guess it really isn't me who should be upset that we're gonna be fifteen minutes late to our movie. It's not like it'll be a huge disappointment to me if we miss the first part of Dirty Dancing," he states, sarcastically. "Much more like a blessing than a let down."
"Ha!" I say, reaching out to change the radio station. "You must be crazy, boy." I press another button, deciding that I'll just go ahead and find a good song to listen to instead of acknowledging Justin's little confession. Grinning when Jojo's 'Leave, (Get Out)' reaches my ears, I joyfully say, "Oh—I love this song! The girl who sings it is so cute. I saw her on MTV the other day. And plus, it's such a great message for those girls who need to just dump their deadbeat men and move on, ya know?"
"Oh no," Justin whines, at once. "Not this shit, please...I mean, can't we listen to rap or rock or just something--anything else--but this?"
"Um..." I pause, pretending to think about it for a second. Finally, I let out a loud sigh, dramatically slouching against the seat. "Fine, I guess so," I reply, reluctantly.
His eager hand immediately reaches out for the stereo, more than ready to change the station. Before he can halt Jojo's voice though, I quickly add the rest of what I was waiting to tell him when I agreed to listen to something else. "But if you wanna get laid again anytime soon, then you'd probably just stick with this song and use your wandering hand to turn the volume up instead of changing the station."
Heh—and that's all it takes, ladies.
Just as quickly as he had stuck his hand out, he pulls it away, landing it right back on the steering wheel where it belongs. Then he huffs, pouting his lip out in surrender. "You ain't right, girl," he whines, at last. His voice is gloomy, as he again mutters, "You know, you just ain't right..."
I comfortingly pat his shoulder. "You speak the truth. I ain't right," I sympathetically agree with his analysis. My sympathy quickly leaves though, as I cheerfully share an even better analysis of my own, "But at the same time, at least I get my way just for being wrong, wouldn't you say?"
****
"I still can't believe you printed out the directions," Justin mumbles, forty-five-minutes into the movie. Oh and we've only, actually, truly watched a good damn ten minutes out of these said forty-five-minutes, mind you.
"Oh my gosh!" I snap. "Would it have been better if I didn't point out you were going the wrong way? You missed the exit! I was only being helpful when I pointed it out to you," I defend myself, yet once again. You'd think after the first five times he complained about it, he'd get sick of doing so. Wrong. "And besides, I wasn't even going to look at the directions until you started whispering curse words under your breath. It made me nervous. I can't help that..."
"Curse words? Under my breath?! Did not."
"You did too."
"Did not."
"The longer you bring this up, the more and more of the movie we're missing."
"Fine," he says. "I won't talk to you anymore."
"Thank you."
He gives me a dirty look, but doesn't speak. Praise Jesus! I think he's finally getting the hint. So I smile at him. Then I kiss his cheek and lean my head against his shoulder, attempting for a second time tonight to get into this freakin' movie...
Ahh, shit. Wait a second. Before I try again, I better boost his ego up a little bit. (Not 'cause I feel sorry for him or anything, but just to ensure that he really stops complaining and finally shuts up about the whole direction thing once and for all, of course.)
"Don't worry, baby--even though you got us lost, I'll still let you talk to me when the movie ends," I assure him, sweetly breaking our short lived silence.
Justin grunts, not entirely impressed.
"Besides, I'm sure you knew exactly where we were going the whole time," I continue. "And I'm sure the only reason you missed the exit is 'cause you must have lost your head from listening to all my really good music that you don't like, right?"
He's quiet for a few seconds. Come on, Justin. I know you want to answer me. Answer me...
"The music was a bit distracting," Justin finally agrees, nodding his head at last.
Yes, I knew he'd fall for it...
I lean up and place a small peck onto his lips. As I pull away, he thoughtfully adds, "And it's sort of stressful trying to drive and listen to all that—err—sort of good--but just mostly crap music that you played. No offense or anything."
"Uhuh," I agree with him, half-heartedly.
My ass I agree with him! But hell, I wanna watch my movie in peace, so why not? Sometimes you gotta sacrifice things in order to get what you really want, ya know?
"It was mostly all my fault that we missed so much of the movie," I fib, easily. "So, I'm sorry; I know how much you were looking forward to seeing Dirty Dancing in its full length and all, but will you forgive me?"
"Of course," Justin immediately says. He squeezes his arm that's draped around me. "You know I can't stay mad at you, cupcake. You're too sweet..."
He really does say wise shit sometimes, don't he? Hopefully he shuts up now that he's redeemed himself with that line, though.
"Very true," I smirk, expecting my golden silence to finally come now that we got that shit over with.
Unfortunately, Justin has to fuck it all up with, "Yeah, and I was--"
"Shh," I hiss at him, suddenly losing a little of my patience when my plan doesn't seem to be working quite yet.
"Okay, okay," he relents, at once. He pauses for a second. "Just one last thing before I shut up though."
"What?" I groan.
"Most of the time, you are too sweet," he repeats. "And the only times you aren't, you're letting that Cruella side get the best of you. Which is okay, 'cause we all have our bad days—"
"Yeah, um, okay, right." I hold my hand over his mouth. "It's definitely about that time for you to shut up again."
****
{Justin}
"Hey, Justin?"
My eyes drift away from the windshield where I have full viewing of the silver screen, landing on Chloe with curiosity. I was finally just starting to get into the movie and now she wants to go against that whole shut-the-hell-up-and-watch-the-damn-movie rule she made up a little while ago?
Unbelievable. "What?"
Pointing to a car up ahead, she says, "That guy just brought back some snacks to his car."
I look in the direction she's pointing in, as I wait for her to finish. A few seconds pass, and I'm still waiting...
"Um. That's nice?" I finally provide, nonchalantly bringing my attention back to the movie.
This part is probably a little more interesting...
"Justin."
Ugh. "Yes, honey?" I ask, mustering up the strength to sound somewhat sweet.
"I guess that means you want me to go get something from the snack bar myself, right?"
I have no clue what the hell this girl is talking about right now! Do you?
"Um, what?"
"My throat is kinda dry and I really want some popcorn, so I'll be right back, okay?" Chloe asks me instead of explaining herself, quickly pulling away from our embrace and all.
Ahh—hell. I get it. Of course she couldn't just ask me straight up to go for her, she has to play those evil little mind games that you women like to play with us men and shit. "No, no," I say. "I'll go get you something. What did you want again?"
"Aww--are you sure you don't mind?" she asks me, innocently.
She's not that innocent though, trust me. "Of course not." After all, it's not like we're going to be having dinner soon anyways, and it's not like I haven't already missed half the damn movie as it is, right? Right. "Just remind me what you wanted again."
"Coke and popcorn, please."
I nod, as I hastily start to open my door. Hopefully there isn't a line or something...
"Oh, wait."
"Hmmm?"
"Can you please get me some sour patch kids, too?" she requests. "Those sound really good right now."
"No problem." I climb outta the car and shut the door behind me. An afterthought quickly comes to mind though. So I turn around and tap on the window, waiting for her to roll it down. She comes into clear view again, leaning over and staring at me with curiosity on her face, as she has just rolled down the window for me.
"What's up?"
"Whatever you do, do not," I pause for dramatics, "I repeat, do not unlock the car doors until I'm back." She immediately pulls a face at me, one which says for me to 'shut the hell up' again. Of course, I continue on anyways. "I mean it, Chloe. They stay locked until I'm back. No matter what."
In another afterthought, I quickly correct myself, "Well, unless you're like dying or something and you desperately need help. But I doubt that would happen, so..."
Again, she flashes the 'shut the hell up' look, stopping me from further exaggerating that statement. "Anyways, if some fucker tries to get you to open the door, or unroll the window, or something sick and twisted like that--then just call my cell and stay put, aight? Or you can call the cops if absolutely necess—"
"Justin!" she says, forcefully. "I'm sure nobody is going to—"
"But if they do," I insist, admonishing her with a stern voice. "All I'm sayin' is I don't want any psycho asses havin' access—"
"Yes, I know, dad, I know!" she huffs, interrupting me at last. "I get the point--loud and clear--okay?"
A smile immediately breaks out onto my face. I give her a thumbs up and nod my head. "Good," I say with a wink. "And I didn't really think you would actually open the door for a stranger anyways, 'cause I know you're way too damn smart for that, but I was just makin' sure in..."
I'm a little surprised—okay a lot surprised-- as I notice that the window is suddenly being rolled up. It's completely cutting me off, and right in the middle of me telling her my explanation!
And damn...I can't believe she's just locking me out of my own car like this...
Well—okay fine; maybe I can.
Before I know it, my vision of her is fully blurred by tinted glass, as the window is now entirely shut again. I can't help but chuckle to myself as I finally turn to head for the snack bar in resignation. I start to walk, shoving my hands in my jean pockets as I do so. "Yup, that's my girl..." I mumble to nobody in particular.
****
"Thanks," Chloe says, as I hand her over another pile of red sour patch candies. She hates all the other colors, (very picky, I tell you), so I've been taking out all the red ones for her while I eat the others colors that she doesn't like. I'm nice; I know.
Thankfully enough, the movie is almost over by now. This is great for me, because I'm really hungry and I wanna eat dinner already. A few minutes later, and Chloe lets out a small yawn, interrupting whatever small fraction of attention I had been devoting towards watching the movie right then. "You're not gonna fall asleep on me before we eat, are ya?"
She shakes her head against my shoulder, mumbling something along the lines of 'not uhh' under her breath. I smile, bringing my lips down to softly kiss her forehead. "Good."
Although I do try to focus my attention back onto the movie after this, it really doesn't work. Unlike me, Chloe's actually paying attention to the film, which leaves no room for her to entertain me as well. So I just start to keep myself busy by toying with her fingers in the dark instead. I glance down at her profile after a while, lazily watching her watch the movie.
"You look really pretty tonight," I mumble my thoughts, at last. I was going to be quiet, but boredom got the best of me, and besides it's the truth. "You're all beautiful under the moonlight."
Chloe gazes up and smiles at me, kissing my lips and rubbing her nose against my own a few times. She pulls away and sighs out, "I love you..."
****
{Chloe}
"You know what we should do this summer?" Justin asks me.
I finish taking the sip of my iced tea before I shrug my shoulders at him from across the table. We're sitting inside a dim little Italian restaurant, enjoying our dinner and just talking about whatever comes to mind. So far it's been fun. "What's that?" I reply, interestedly.
"You should come with me somewhere," he says. "I mean, like we could go on a trip together for a while or something."
"Where would we go?"
"I dunno. My uncle who lives in New York is gonna be leaving the house to my cousin for a few weeks when him and my aunt go on some vacation they've been planning. So we could stay there for a while and then--I don't know--we could maybe take a road trip when we get back."
I smile, excited at the idea. "Yeah, okay. That sounds like fun."
"Really?" Justin raises an eyebrow, his own face breaking out into a smile as well. "You're agreeing to it that easily?"
I laugh, shrugging my shoulders. "Yeah, why not? It'll be fun spending the summer with you."
My cell phone suddenly starts to jingle in my purse. I quickly hold up my finger, pulling it out. I bite my lip when I notice that it's Elise calling me again. I feel bad that I'm not going to answer it again, but I really can't talk to her right now when I'm out with Justin. And as horrible as this is, I've been avoiding her ever since we got together anyways, because I just don't know how I'm going to explain myself to her. I know I need to face stuff sooner or later, but there's this little part of me that likes to think the right time will come for all that and I'll just know it. So far, I haven't felt like the right time has hit. So yeah...
"Who was that?"
I place the phone down onto the table with a sigh. "Elise."
"Oh," Justin says. "Why didn't you answer?" he adds, curiously.
If I didn't know any better, I'd think he looked a little uncomfortable or something all of the sudden. Maybe it's just awkward for him, since he used to date her and all. That and I'm pretty sure that he doesn't like her all that much. I don't really know what he has against her or anything, but who knows? I don't really care all that much right now, either. "Because," I say, at last. I reach my hand and grab a hold of his from across the table's surface, giving him a small smile. "I only wanna talk to you right now."
Justin licks his lips, a cocky grin in place. "Yeah, I guess I can't blame you for that," he says. "If I were you I'd only wanna talk to me right now, too."
I giggle at him, rolling my eyes dramatically. "Yeah, yeah, whateva," I say. "So do you wanna open up the gift I got you today?" I add, changing the subject again.
"What'd you get me?"
"Hang on." I pull out a little brown package with a white bow tied around it from my purse, sliding it over to his side of the table. "Okay, open it."
A low chuckle escapes his mouth when he's done unwrapping the gift. "You got me a black daily planner?" he asks me. Teasingly, he asks, "What are you tryin' to say, that I'm not organized enough for you or something?"
"Of course not," I drawl out, amusedly. "What on earth could ever make me wanna say all that? I just got it because I figured you could start striving to be a little more like me, even if school is almost out for the year and all. And besides, I also left you some laundry detergent and fabric softener on your bed as an extra bonus since you really need to do your laundry and all."
"Such thoughtful gifts," Justin says, sweetly. He flashes his white teeth at me in a perfect smile before quickly lifting his hand up to blow me a kiss. "Thank you so much, baby."
I lightly kick his leg under the table, tilting my head to the side as I watch him. "It's okay; you don't have to pretend that you love my gifts. But trust me, you'll appreciate them in the long run, when all your clothes are clean again and you have all your shit together and organized into a nice little schedule..."
"Well when you put it that way," he jokes, lightly interrupting me. "How can I not just love them to death already?"
"I don't know," I laugh. "But since you've impressed me with your pretending to love them just for my sake and all, I think I'll go ahead and just let you know that—"
Justin raises an eyebrow at me when I trail off, licking his lips in anticipation for me to continue. "Let me know that what?" he pries, curiously.
"Well," I pause. "I'm kinda hoping that you'll like your last surprise a little better than all the rest, 'cause if you don't then I'll be worried."
"Explain."
"Um--let's just say that I also bought a little somethin' somethin' to wear for you tonight when we get home."
He widens his eyes at my words, staring at me in surprise. A grin slowly breaks out on his face, his eyes frantically starting to dart around the dim restaurant all of the sudden. "Oh shit—oh my god—where's our waiter at?" he blurts out, all at once.
I scrunch my nose up, a little confused as to why he's worried about our waiter right now. "Why? You wanna get dessert or something before we go?" I ask him, perplexed.
He quickly glances at me again, his face now just as perplexed as I probably just sounded a second ago. "No, of course not," he exclaims, slowly. "Why, do you?" he adds, worriedly.
"Uh, no, not really..."
Justin lets out a breath of relief at that. "Good 'cause I'm tryna get the check and get you the hell home, so I can worship your body in all kinds of special ways..."
"Yeah, um so," I say, glancing around the room as well now. "Where the hell is our waiter when we need him?"
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