What A Boy Wants Part 2

Hook-up Doctor.

Are you sure you dont want to ride in the trunk? Aspen laughed from the drivers seat of her car. It had been a week since what I liked to refer to as, the incident but she still wasnt letting it go.

Ha, ha. Im still mad you and Pris thought it would be fun to drive around town for ten hours before letting us out. I closed the door behind me and clicked my seatbelt in.

Aspen flipped her hair over her shoulder. It looked all shiny and flowy, which was pretty strange since she usually wore it up. Youre such a baby. It was like, thirty minutes not ten hours.

Humph. Try being in that small of a s.p.a.ce with Jaden and tell me it doesnt feel like a lifetime. Im still having nightmares about it.

That was karmas way of telling you to steer clear of Alex the tramp. G.o.d, I cant believe you even went over there. And then you wanted to go meet someone else at the park! You didnt say it, but dont think we didnt know thats what you wanted. Youre such a perv. Aspen kept her eyes on the road as she drove.

I decided to ignore the park comment. I wasnt in the mood to go there again. No, Im a guy and shes a hot chick. Any guy would have done the same thing for you.

As soon as the words left my mouth Aspens head whirled around to look at me, and I realized what I just said. Did I just call Aspen, my friend since I was like"I dont know, an embryo or something, a hot chick? Wow I didnt mean that how it sounded. When her face got all squished up, I realized Id just screwed up again. Not that I dont think youre hot, I just dont think youre hot. You know, youre like friend hot, not lets make-out hot.

What? Her voice was tight and I realized I kept digging myself deeper and deeper, but I couldnt seem to stop.

Come on, Woodstock. You know what I mean. Youre the friend. Theres nothing wrong with being in the friend territory. I felt like jumping out of the car and letting her run me over. Id just used Alexs words on her. What was wrong with me? I didnt want to insult the girl.

She shook her head. Whatever, Bastian. Youre lucky Im such a good friend.

I was, because apparently, I sucked at the friendship thing today.

I nudged her arm, trying to change the subject. Thanks for taking me job hunting today. Pretty soon Ill get a job, then Ill have wheels and you wont ever have to worry about lugging me around in your trunk again. See? I could make fun of myself when it counted.

She laughed and I knew I was off the hook. You know Id do anything for you, Sebastian. I dont know why, but I would.

Her reply made me say, Thats because were BFFs. Jaden told me that last week.

Aspen tucked a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear. Its because I know youre a good guy. Buried deep"deep under that teenage boy exterior, you, Sebastian Hawkins, are a sweetheart. I know its hard to believe, but I wouldnt be such good friends with you otherwise.

I gulped, almost swallowing my tongue. Aspens words were eerily familiar. It was like shed copied them out of PAs email. h.e.l.l, from what she said, not only could she be PA, but I could be the chump! It couldnt be, could it? No. Aspen was not the kind of girl to email someone about hooking up with a guy and I sure wasnt a chump.

Did I mention its really, really under the surface? Like practically microscopic?

I laughed, wiping out all the thoughts from before. This was my friend, thats all and we both knew it. Please. I like, exude sweetness.

She patted my leg and then put her hand back on the wheel. Relaxed, I dropped my head against the seat to take a little nap before I had to fill out my first application.

A-spen. We filled out like a million applications today, plus the ones I did online. Everyone looked at me like they were going to toss them in the trash when I walked out. Im done. This is lame. Lets go do something fun. I put my feet up on the dashboard of her car. One narrow-eyed look from Aspen later, I put them back on the floor.

Youre never going to get a job with that att.i.tude. Do you want to be stuck in the beatermobile for the rest of your life?

Jadens beater es my beater. I shook my head. Or something like that. I suck at Spanish. This wasnt how I wanted to spend the beginning of my summer. I needed a job. I needed money, but wed been at it for hours and I was done. My hand was practically cramped closed and I doubt Aspen wanted to spend her day doing this either.

You know, Im not even the one who needs a job and Ive wasted my whole day out here with you and you dont hear me complaining, she said.

I was totally a mind reader, but she was right. I was whining. It was pretty cool of her to do this for me, but I was still done. You're the best. We all know that, Woodstock. Im not giving up. Just done for today.

Whatever. Your loss. I need to run by the restaurant and get my schedule though.

Ugh. How could I have forgotten she had a job too? Probably because she didnt work much during the school year, but now it made me feel like an even bigger loser.

My stomach growled, which trumped my whining. Will they give us free pizza?

Her only response was to roll her eyes at me. A few minutes later we walked into the dive she worked in. Hey! Look who it is. Its our Rocky Mountain Girl! Some guy yelled from behind the counter. There was another dude and two girls back there that looked up smiling and said hi to Aspen. A strange pinch twinged inside me. Rocky Mountain girl? Who were these people and when had they gotten a nickname for my friend? Couldnt they get any more creative than that?

Hey guys! Aspen smiled and walked behind the counter, leaving me. It felt weird being on the opposite side as her. We were always together. A group. A package deal, or whatever.

I watched as she hugged the girls, gave one guy a high five, then turned to the last guy and smiled at him.

You going to introduce me to your friends, Woodstock? I leaned over the counter.

This is Matt, she pointed to the smiley guy in the back, the one who shed grinned at, and I felt the strange urge to punch him in the face. Bradley, Liz, and Sara. After giving me all their names, she pointed at me. This is my friend, Sebastian.

Best friend, I blurted out and then wanted to punch myself in the face for sounding so dumb. At this rate, Id be painting nails with her any day now. Thank G.o.d, Jaden wasnt here.

Aspens eyes squished up as she looked at me. Um, yeah. My best friend. She leaned against the counter from the other side. Hows it been today? she asked them.

They started blabbing about how busy it had been, but the place looked pretty dead to me. I stood back watching her talk to them and wondered why I hadnt realized she had this whole other life outside of me. Not like I thought I was her life or anything, but it was always me, Woodstock, Jaden and Pris. We hung out together, partied together. Now there was a group of people who thought Woodstock was their little, Rocky Mountain Girl, and it kind of annoyed me. Which made me sound like an a.s.s, but it was just because I cared about her. Them. I cared about them. Id be the same way if it was Pris. They were my girls, and I just wanted to make sure no one would mess with them. As long as I knew these guys were cool, Id be cool.

See? Arent I a good friend?

c.r.a.p! DJs here. Get on the other side of the counter. You dont have your uniform on. One of her new friends rushed her away.

I felt my lips curl up into a smile as Aspen ran back around the counter and stood next to me. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders with my chin resting on top of her head. It wasnt unusual. I touched her like this a lot, but I felt her squirm a little bit, but then she leaned back into me and I relaxed, figuring I imagined it.

Hi, Rocky. Some guy, I a.s.sumed it was DJ, said as he came inside. What the h.e.l.l was it with the nickname? They acted like theyd known Aspen her whole life instead of a few weeks.

Hey, DJ. I just came in to check my schedule. She stepped away from me.

The red headed guy handed her a piece of paper. Here, I have a copy right here. Ive been busting my a.s.s trying to fill in the holes. Trish quit with no notice, so we need to get someone else hired pretty quick.

The homing beacon inside me I usually used to find girls started beeping. I stepped forward and held out my hand. Hi. Im Aspens friend, Sebastian. Id love to fill out an application.

Thirty minutes later I had my app filled out and had pretty much been promised the job. A pizza place definitely wasnt my dream job, but it paid and Aspen worked there, so it couldnt be that bad. We were almost to my house where she was going to get dressed and then head back to DJs. The c.o.c.ky-smile guy had mentioned something about needing the evening off and Aspen had jumped at the opportunity to work for him.

When she pulled into her driveway, I turned to her. So. The people you work with? Theyre cool? I felt all proud of myself for wanting to protect my friend.

Yep. Youll like them. Bradleys a shift leader. Hes pretty kick back. Liz is a delivery driver, so shes in and out a lot. Matt started about the same time as I did. Youll like him. He reminds me of you, actually. Ive gotten to know him pretty well.

I tried not to roll my eyes. Pfft. He looked like a loser to me. All smiley, Mcsmilerson. I think you need to watch your back around him. I got a funny feeling about him.

What? You talked to him for like two seconds. Hes a good guy. Real funny. She poked me in the side. Much like you, Bastian. With that, she climbed out of the car. I pushed the door open and jogged over to her.

Wanna hang out Friday night? We can see what Pris and Jaden are up to. The words tumbled out of my mouth without a thought.

Aspen shrugged. Sure. I get off at six, so we can do something after that. I gotta go though. I need to get into work.

Before she walked away, I grabbed her and hugged her, the whole time thinking I was being pretty d.a.m.n cheesy right now. It wasnt like we never hugged, but usually she was doing the hugging, and I was doing the hugging back. Aspen must have noticed because she laughed against me. Bastian, youre being weird. Is everything okay?

When our hug ended, I ruffled her hair because I was being weird and it started to freak me out. Im cool.

Hows your mom? She still seeing that guy? Her mouth turned down and her eyes got all soft.

I sure didnt want to talk about that, even with Aspen. She was the only one who knew how much my moms boyfriends p.i.s.sed me off, but still, I wasnt one to sit around and harp on it. My shoulders lifted into a shrug. Beats me. I playfully pushed her toward the door. Now get in there and get ready for work before youre late. I dont want it to look bad on me, now that youre my reference and all.

Aspen laughed. Bye, Bastian.

Bye. As she walked away, I found myself watching her. Jaden was right. While we werent looking, Aspen did get a nice b.u.t.t.

And I needed to get myself an appointment with my moms shrink, because there was definitely something wrong with me.

Chapter Four.

PA,.

Hey. Hope you got a chance to see lover boy and give him some quality time ;). Im going to go ahead and give you your next step now. If you havent had a chance to do the first one, get on it girl. What are you waiting for? Dream Man wont be around forever. Gotta be proactive and all that c.r.a.p.

So, now that you were all nice and helpful to him, its time to take a step back. A few actually. I know its hard, but you have to pretty much ignore him. Dont be b.i.t.c.hy, because thats going to make him run for the hills, but show him you have a life without him. Go out. Have fun. Talk about it so he hears you"or better yet, let him see you out.

He knows what its like to have you there for him and h.e.l.l miss you all the more when youre not. Let me know how its going.

Hook-up Doctor ***

Sebastian. Time to get up. Were meeting Roger for lunch in an hour. Id originally planned on playing possum, but as soon as she muttered the words Roger and lunch, my eyes shot open to see Mom standing in the doorway of my bedroom. She had on a tight-fitting shirt and a skirt. I recognized it as one of her favorite date outfits. It was one of the ones she wore when she really wanted to impress. s.h.i.t.

Ma, you cant spring something like this on me. Im half asleep. I need to make a good impression when I meet him. My mouth felt all cottony, like I had to pry my lips apart to speak. My heart beat a little too fast for having just woken up.

Mom sighed and her voice came out all soft. You dont want to meet him, do you?

My sh.e.l.l started to crumble. I didnt like hurting my mom. No, I hated hurting her. Shed been hurt enough that she shouldnt have to get it from her own son too. We were all each other had. Ma.

No, no. Its okay. I understand. I really wish youd change your mind though. Hes important to me, but youre more important. I wont make you do something you dont want to do.

She moved to close the door. No! I called out, stopping her. I wanted nothing to do with this guy, but I wasnt willing to hurt my mom over it. Ill go. I just need to call Jaden and cancel my plans. Its not a big deal.

Her face lit up. It was always so easy to make her happy. I wondered if that was the reason so many guys had been the one for her and why it had been so hard for them to keep making her feel that way. She didnt ask for much, but none of them had ever been willing to keep giving it to her.

Are you sure?

h.e.l.l yeah. I havent had the chance to give him the warning speech. He needs to know if he hurts my mom, h.e.l.l have to deal with me.

I pushed out of bed, running a hand through my messy hair. The smile on her face made it worth it.

I love you, kiddo. I dont know how I got so lucky.

She closed the door before I mumbled, I love you, too.

So, Roger pretty much looked like a loser. He was one of those suit and tie guys with a comb-over. Shed never, ever dated a guy with a comb-over before. She usually liked musicians or guys who were in motorcycle clubs. If this guy was in high school, hed be in the math club.

I still didnt like him.

He held my moms hand through most of the meal. If you ask me, that seemed pretty awkward. The whole time I wanted to yell at him, Sometimes it takes two hands to eat, buddy, give her some s.p.a.ce. Plus, it always felt like s...o...b..ating to me, trying to brand a girl as yours. Lame. Id never wanted to brand a girl and I hated that he was doing it to my mom. But of course, I didnt say anything. I was the perfect gentleman, because I knew it would upset Mom if I wasnt.

He talked through most of the meal. He was divorced. An accountant, which made me laugh. Definitely the math club.

He also owned a house. Liked watching my mom dance"too much information for me. Yeah, it wasnt skeezy dancing, but still. He kept going on and on, yada, yada, until I wanted to tape his mouth shut.

Then the conversation turned to me. How do you like school, Sebastian? Roger asked me after he finished his salad. Salad! What kind of guy orders a f.u.c.kin salad for lunch?

Its summer.

Sebastian Mom kind of coughed at me.

Oh! I forgot about that. Well, how do you like school when its in? He gave me a smile.

I didnt feel like talking, but knew I didnt have a choice. Its okay. As cool as school can be, I guess. I started playing with my eyebrow ring, hoping hed stop talking to me, but he didnt.

So, you said summer break then? Youll be a senior next year, right? The loser let go of my moms hand, but started tickling the top of it. It was weird to watch. I couldnt stop focusing on their hands. Id never really seen her like this with someone before.

Yep.

Do you know what you plan to do after?

h.e.l.l, I hated this question. Why was it always the first one people asked? Its like parents thought your whole life depended on this one answer. Made no sense to me, even though I kind of did know the answer to it. Not for sure. My friends and I want to take a road trip next summer. Aspen and Pris are planning on going to college in New York. I think Jay and I are going to tag along.

My mom cut in, reaching across the table to pat my hand. Dont let Sebastian fool you. Hes into music. The boy can pick up almost any instrument and play it. Hes already got pamphlets in his room for some fancy music school out there.

I pulled my hand back and sighed. Ma, I was just looking. I dont even know if I want to go to school right away. I picked up another fry and popped it in my mouth, even though I wasnt really hungry. Its hard as h.e.l.l to get into. They probably wouldnt take me anyway.

Language, Sebastian.

My eyes snapped up to hers. Sorry, I mumbled. I hated it when she tried to make us look like some perfect family. Yeah, I was pretty d.a.m.n good at music. I played guitar and piano (most of my friends didnt know the piano part), but a career in music was pretty much like wanting to be an actor or something. It didnt happen often. Plus, I had time to figure all that out. I sure didnt plan on stressing about it now.

And the language thing. I couldnt remember the last time she gave me a hard time for saying h.e.l.l. But then, I knew she just wanted to make a good impression. She was obviously head over heels for the guy. Why, I didnt know.