Entrelacen by Dani Morales Page B

Maybe it’s
because we saw something in each other that we
couldn’t see in ourselves. Those eyes he had always
got me. There was something about them that just
spoke to me. It was like he saw me.
    My family is big on birthdays, and it was
Jay’s
birthday. I took him out to eat and to the movies. Then
we went back to his place. I always said I was going
to wait until marriage to have sex, but I gave ‘it’ up to
him. Everything in my life was always drastically
changing, and nothing felt permanent, so waiting just
didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. In a way it
brought us closer, at least I thought it did.
    Its been two months since the biggest chance
of my life, and a few days before my brother was to
be released, Jay asked me to come over to have a talk.
    “What’s up Jay?”
“So I’ve been thinking.”
Right then, I knew he was going to say
something I didn’t like, so I put my big girl panties
and my poker face on. “Oh yeah? What about?”
    “I
think we should just be friends. Before you
get mad and start yelling, hear me out.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? What do you mean, okay? You’re too
calm to be okay.”
“Jay just say what you want to say, so I can get
home. I have an eight o’clock class and work
tomorrow.”
“Umm… so I think we should just be friends. I
mean you’re great, but you’re in college and I’m still
in high school.”
Translation: Your brother gets out of rehab in a
couple of days and I don’t want him to kick my ass.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah Jay, okay. I don’t know why you got the
idea that we were more than friends. I mean we had
sex, but that’s it. It’s seriously not a big deal.”
I turned to walk away. My heart was literally
breaking, and I was on the verge of tears. I had to
leave because I couldn’t let him see that.
“April, wait.”
Damn it. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?
What could he possibly say now?
“Yeah?”
“Is it going to be awkward with Anthony? I
know he’s your brother, and ya’ll are close. We’re
going to see each other a lot since you’re the one with
the car.”
“It’s fine. Things will be like they’ve always
been, minus the sex we have been having recently.”
I walked out before he could say anything
else. Talk about feeling used. It seemed like I saw Jay
more after my brother got out, than when we were
together, and it got old quickly.
One night, my brother wanted me to pick up
Jay and his friend Randy, so we did. Feeling
outnumbered by guys, I also picked up my friend
Angelica. After driving around, the boys got this
stupid idea to go egging. Don’t ever go egging; it’s
totally not worth it. My brother hit a car, and the car
flipped around to chase us. Adrenaline was pumping
as I cut down a street in the middle of a neighborhood
I didn’t know. I cut the lights.
“What are you doing? It’s too dark down here
for no lights.”
“Chill Anthony. If they can’t see our lights,
they can’t find us.”
Boy, was I wrong. Next thing I knew, there
was a fist coming at my window. Apparently I ran a
stop sign and hit another car. I was trapped in my car
until Jay pulled me out from the back seat. For such a
smart girl, I seemed to be making monumental
mistakes. I was taken to the hospital because of the
severe burns on my neck and right arm. X-rays were
also being taken of my knee. I finally got sent home
with a concussion and ugly burns. Butterfly was
totaled. My freedom was boxed up and shipped to the
junk yard.
Not too long after that, my brother and Jay
stopped hanging out so much. I never knew what
happened between them, but I always figured my
brother knew what happened between Jay and me. I
felt bad at first, thinking maybe I broke up their
friendship up, but I like to think it was too hard on Jay
to be around me because he still had feelings for me
that hecouldn’t act on anymore. Ignorance is bliss.
With everything that’s been going on, it seems like
time speeds up. It felt