Pop - Ch.9

                It had been a month since my birthday – the end of the summer. I always hated endings, whether they were in the form of a book, the end of a candy cane, and my least favorite which was always when summer ended. It’s always pretty, and I think that’s what makes it hard. You start to notice that a slight winter chill is trying to filter its way in, yet you pretend that nothing’s happening. Because the moment you realize and take in the reality that you only have a few days left, that’s when autumn settles in. No more skin-tingling warmth. No more swimming in the sun. Summer is the chance for the world to have a break, but no break was meant to last forever.

                Not even mine.

                “What are you thinking about?” asked Niv as he approached me after washing the dishes from the breakfast he attempted to make. I was standing at the window, looking out at the ocean that wasn’t so approachable anymore. My whole world had changed. From my birthday on everything was entirely different. For instance, Niv making breakfast this morning.

                But not just that. I mean, I could go down to the ocean if I wanted to. It was right there – just a quick run and I’d be there, testing the warm waters with my bare feet. Niv and Alekk could even come if they wanted to. But it would never be the same. It would never be just me, Niv, and Alekk down by the beach and the few vacationers. We wouldn’t be able to swim by ourselves without interruption. Because now it would be me, Niv, Alekk… and the paparazzi. Oh, and our bodyguards. Suddenly everyone knew where we lived. I looked back at Niv.

                “I’m sorry.”

                “What for?”

                “It’s my fault,” I answered, “I mean, I know you want to swim so badly. Now none of us can go because of me.”

                Alekk, as usual, appeared out of nowhere.

                “Well of course we can go,” jutted Alekk with a smirk.

                “But the cameras…,”I looked back outside. You could literally see the paparazzi surrounding the house. I don’t know if they were trying to hide, but they were doing a really horrible job. I could see speakers, baseball caps, and cameras peaking behind various columns and walls. Some random guy obviously thought hiding behind a small flower plant was a good idea. I really didn’t get his logic. I could see everything, from his balding head to his bright orange shorts. Man, those things were really short. Talk about being stuck in the 80’s.

                “Max, those cameras came AFTER your birthday. If you really think about it, the focus has been on you. Plus by “we” I meant my accomplice here, Niv, and myself.”

                I must have had a face of complete confusion, because BOTH Niv and Alekk laughed. The last time they laughed this much was when I first saw Alekk parading about the house in his underwear, and immediately ran to my room so no one would see me blush.

                “Max, you know we love you and all,” said Alekk between laughs, “but that doesn’t mean you have to be EVERYWHERE with us. Niv and I need some man-bonding time, anyways. And no one is going to stop us from going to the beach!!”

                It was my turn to laugh now as Alekk and Niv gave a salutatory high-five to each other. Niv then paused and gave me a look as though it was asking for my permission.

                “Fine. Go,” I tried to sigh dramatically.

                Without a word more, Alekk and bolted out the door, making a straight shot towards the beach. The paparazzi had obviously given up their useless hiding spots, trying to run with all of their equipment after the two crazy boys I had fallen in love with. I smiled as Alekk and Niv ran faster, making the paparazzi look like newcomers who were experiencing their first boot camp workout. They continued to run away from the cameras, before the waves lapped at their feet. Without a second more, Niv and Alekk dove into the water and swam until everyone else just gave up. Some people even got back into their cars - which hadn’t been driven in over a week – and practically drove home.

                I walked into the kitchen and finished the dishes that Niv hadn’t done yet. That’s when I heard a beeping sound come from Alekk’s cell phone. I walked over to it.

                No, don’t look at it – what are you doing? I had never even glanced at the contents of Alekk’s phone. It just wasn’t right. You don’t look through your boyfriend’s phone unless they invited you. I mean, he never gave me permission to look at his phone before, but I had never asked. We’ve never had the need to look through each other’s things. At least I don’t think so. We trusted each other now.

                I noted how little my conscious was worth as I unlocked the password with the keypad. A new text message. I selected it and about dropped Alekk’s cell phone on the floor. I scrambled to make sure it was firmly in my grasp before I continued to read.

 

 

                Before my mind had time to react, much less think, I had already deleted the text. Realizing what I had just done, I set Alekk’s phone back on the counter, letting myself sink to the floor.

                I knew this, me pretending to be Alekk’s scholarship student Alyssa, wasn’t going to last forever. I knew that at the beginning of this summer I’d only have about two months to relish in the glory of being in Alekk Weston’s vacation home. How did time go so quickly?

                But then there was the fact that Alyssa and Alekk somehow knew each other. How was that possible? I thought back into the days when Alekk was just a singer that I had a crush on – when I was madly obsessed with every detail People magazine could dish out. Alyssa… suddenly a picture formed in my mind. Revisited anger scorched my brain as I remembered Alekk’s face plastered on every magazine as my Aunt Karen and I stood in line at the grocery store. But it wasn’t just his face. It was his face connected to another girl’s face – Alyssa’s.

                Every girl in the country was distraught. Who gave this perfectly gorgeous, perfectly rich Alyssa person permission to date OUR Alekk? For an entire year they were everywhere and for an entire year our hearts were broken. They looked good together – too good. There they were walking on the beach or eating ice cream at the mall or looking at adorable puppies.

                And she was going to be here tomorrow.

                I panicked. That meant I had to leave. And before tomorrow. The idea just sounded horrible. Regarding this point in time earlier this summer, my train of thought would have been, “shucks, Max. Looks like summer is over.” But now I had two main reasons for wanting to stay. And I couldn’t stay. Not like this. Not like some huge lying basket-case. I was Maxine, I wasn’t Alyssa.

                I got up from the floor and looked out of the dining room towards the ocean. Niv and Alekk had never looked happier. I took a mental photograph. Maybe it was better that I was leaving this point in their lives. They had a pretty great summer. It’d be better to remember them like this anyways. Tomorrow would be filled with disaster – that I knew for sure.

                I glanced down at the paparazzi. Just five minutes ago I hadn’t thought much of them other than their hiding places. But now I realized that we weren’t that different. We all want our shot at glory, our second of fame. Some would get that. Some would get more, like Alekk. And some would get less. My name had been handed to many movie directors, but they would never see me. Starting tomorrow I’d be working hard at a mediocre job just like Wes. And I guess that was what I was meant to do all along.

                The sun was shining brightly as I turned to go run up the stairs and pack my bags.

 

                I was slightly pensive later that night as Niv, Alekk, and I watched TV, full from the hamburgers we just ate. Niv and Alekk were still in their light-hearted mood, and I was glad about that. But at the same time, hours went by like seconds and it ached me that my time with them was dwindling.

                There Alekk was, with his messy blonde hair and a face that had softened over the past weeks. He looked completely at ease, not hinting even at the slightest of what was to happen between now and in the morning. His eyes were fixed on the television screen. For once, I was glad that they weren’t focused on me. It was nice just to observe, like the first time I had seen him play guitar right in front of me. No smirk to cover up his emotions, no words to cover up his thoughts. Just Alekk.

And Niv. I looked over at him to notice that he had been watching me too. We both kind of looked at each other in silence – him smiling at me and me returning the favor. His blue eyes were so calm, like the ocean sometimes when we used to swim in the mornings. I couldn’t keep smiling, however. I tried to look elsewhere, but it was too late. Niv unsurprisingly noticed.

                “Are you okay, Max?” he asked. Alekk immediately looked over in my direction when he heard my name being said.

                “Yea,” I replied, “I just wanted to thank you for being so nice – letting me into your home this summer and everything.”

                “Max, of course we’re glad to have you here. You’ve changed our lives.” Alekk nodded in agreement, however slightly confused. I think it was due to how I sounded so distant.

                “Come on guys. You all are too depressing right now and we haven’t even watched The Notebook. So I propose we have some good, old-fashioned fun. Like dancing,” smiled Alekk. His smirk and attitude were back in their full effect.

                We grabbed all of our old favorite CD’s and played every single one of them. No brandy, no random people, just us. We danced around the living room, ran and slid on the hardwood floors, jumped on the couches, and remembered dance moves we hadn’t used in many many years. Niv and Alekk synchronized to a song from Alekk’s boy band days, still knowing every step perfectly.

                It was fun, letting go for a while. I was so lucky these last couple of months. We danced until our limbs couldn’t take the strain anymore. The hours kept ticking, but it took the sun starting to rise for me to notice just how many had gone. A strong, single thud came from my heart as if it were a warning that it was about to beat as quickly as it could unless I got away. I stopped dancing, and looked to Alekk and Niv, who were dancing their way to exhaustion.

                “I have to go,” I said before I realized, then said, “to sleep.”

                “Wait, why?” asked Niv, as he drew in enough air to fill up the house.

                “It’s late!” I exclaimed, “I’m never up this late!”

                “Well as you can tell, we are,” said Alekk, giving a quick glance at Niv, “but go right ahead, sunshine. We’ll make chocolate chip pancakes for you when you wake up.”

                A classic smirk from Alekk and a tired smile from Niv I realized were going to be the last looks I’d get from them. “Sad, but at least they’re happy,” I thought. I ran up to my room and shut the door, noting that Alekk wouldn’t be making breakfast for me this morning, but for Alyssa.

                I tip-toed around my sort-of room as quietly as I could, waiting for Wes’ voicemail system to come through. I knew already that he wouldn’t be up at this time, but I had to leave him some sort of warning before I showed up at his doorstep as a surprise. For once in this moment time moved too slowly for my liking, seconds seeming like hours. Finally I heard a robotic voice. I sighed.

                “Hey Wes,” I whispered, “please tell me you’re going to be at your house in about an hour.”

                I placed my cell phone back in my bag, slinging it around both of my shoulders as I peered around what was my room one last time. To me, this was my home. Not my room at Aunt Karen’s, nor anywhere else. Time had picked up its pace though, and I knew I had to leave now. I checked around to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.

                Then I went to a window whose screen I had already punched out, and slid down the rope I had already anchored. I began running into a full-out sprint as soon as my feet had hit the ground, making sure Alekk and Niv wouldn’t get the chance to see me go.

                Wes had been waiting for me by the time I had arrived at his house, surprised to see me running towards him with my bag. I had run the entire way. I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t get myself to stop. I set my bag down once I reached the deck, almost knocking Wes over with the momentum that came with my hug.

                “Are you okay, Max?” he asked, smoothing over my hair, which was sweaty from my run. He didn’t seem to care. He just held me, letting my quivering muscles re-adjust. I was thankful that the once thin-as-a-pole Wes was now tall and strong, because I was pretty sure I wasn’t able to stand up by myself without any assistance.

                “No,” I replied, my voice breaking. Oh, I was crying. As if he understood completely, Wes picked me up. As he carried me, he went to also pick up my bag from the ground before bringing us both inside his house. What I remembered next was crying myself to sleep as Wes went to go put my bag upstairs.

                Alekk was just finishing up with the pancakes he made for Max when he heard a knock at the door. He thought about how horrible the timing was, considering there was still an undercooked blob of batter on the pan.

                “Be there in just a second!” He yelled, hoping it was loud enough for the recipient to hear. He wished he had someone to open the door. A butler, maybe. Yea… why didn’t he ever have one of those? He certainly had the money to hire one – heck, he had a maid before Max came. It was always annoying, however, when someone was at the door and he was busy doing something else. Or thinking of other people as he could soon come to find out.

                Finally he set the cooked pancake on the plate, turning off the burner of the stove before walking towards the door. He caught a glimpse of himself in the shiny window on the way to the door. Man, he looked like a zombie. Why did he stay up late last night again? He composed himself and went to open the door.

                “Alyssa,” Alekk gasped. Standing before him was none other than his ex-girlfriend. She still looked the same, though his views on her had changed during the past years. Though she used to be the beholder of all his attention, now he just viewed her as plain annoying. She smiled her perfect smile that Alekk five years ago would have gone crazy over.

                Suddenly Niv barged through the door, shoving past Alyssa as he said a casual “oh, hey Alyssa.” Then he stopped, and did a double-take, realizing what he just said.

                “Hello, Niv,” she winked, knowing from past experience that her appearance alone would make Niv blush and stammer. He completely ignored her though as he apparently had something more important to say to Alekk.

                “Alekk. Max is gone!” Niv was breathing heavily as he held up a piece of rope that he found hanging out of Max’s window. Suddenly his words, and the situation of Alekk and Alyssa seemed to click. Max was gone. Alyssa was here. He remembered his first conversation with Max two months ago – her words constantly streaming through his mind.

                “My real name’s Alyssa, but people call me Max.”

                He didn’t care, but for goodness sake Alekk had to know. He had to know everything.

                I had spent the rest of the day crying, telling Wes everything that had happened as he just listened, and let me cry. Every now and then he would get up to make me some soup, or to put in another movie. Movie marathons were our way of coping with whatever came our way. Whether it was Aunt Karen disappearing on us, or this.

                “I knew the end of the summer was going to suck, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad.”

                “Shh, none of us did,” Wes soothed.

                Alekk and Niv had to be so mad. I had lied to them for two months straight, pretending I was Alyssa just so I could stay in their house. What kind of a person was I? Why didn’t I think that the ramifications were going to be my burden when everything was said and done?

                Wes and I were about to watch the end of The Lion King when my cell phone rang. Nervously I answered the call, pressing the phone up to my sticky tear-stained face.

                “Hello?”

                “Max, she’s gone,” I heard Alekk say. I wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this, so I held onto his every word.

                “All she wanted was money for college so I gave her some money and she’s gone now. Niv told me everything. We’re getting ready to go visit his parents for the week. Come with us.”

                His voice – he really wanted me to come with him and Niv. Niv’s parents. They only made that trip once a year. If I was just his scholarship student, this would have been our deadline. But I wasn’t just his student, no, I had never been his student. But now apparently I was Max, the girl that Alekk liked. The girl that he wanted to take to Niv’s parent’s house.

                “No,” I replied.

                “Why not?” asked Alekk with a sense of yearning. That “no” was so hard to blurt out. Alekk’s voice was like silk, and if he was standing here beside me instead of me having to talk to him through the phone, I might have lost my mind all together.

                “How could you want me to be with you? How would you be able to trust me?”

                “Well, let’s put it this way,” said Alekk smoothly, “you lied so that you could see me, correct? So why would I have to worry about that?”

                We ended the conversation there, my cheeks burning as I sat back down on the couch with Wes, who eyed me suspiciously.

                “So, I take it you’re going to visit Niv’s parents?”

END OF CH.9