I walked towards Lyric while he was playing his guitar and singing in the lunchroom. Everyone was staring, but for once, I didn’t care. His voice dropped away as I got closer, and by the time I was standing in front of him, the strumming sounds of his guitar were gone, too. The cafeteria was silent, but as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, whispers broke out everywhere. Being the self-conscious jerk he is, Lyric tried to grab my arm and drag me somewhere where no one could hear us talking. He didn’t want the whole school to witness whatever scene I was about to make. I slapped his hand away, and a new round of whispers started up. I knew what kind of lies he would spread if I didn’t let anyone else hear what I was saying to him. I was sick of all of it, and it was about time everyone knew my opinion.
With a sigh that no one else heard, he said, “All right, Carlene, what do you want?”
I went over the words I wanted to say in my head one last time. “We never officially broke up, so I wanted to make sure you know we’re done. I’m done listening to your ‘love’ songs, I’m done pretending to believe your lies, and I’m done keeping your secrets.”
I watched his face carefully, and knew I struck several nerves. No one had ever talked to Lyric Flatt that way, and certainly not a geek like me. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any secrets, and I don’t lie.” What a liar. It wasn’t my job to convince him to tell the truth, or convince others of the truth. I just needed to say what I wanted, then leave.
“Listen,” I hear myself say, “You and I both know the truth, so I don’t care if anyone else knows. What I do care about is you going around and trashing my reputation, because it makes me have no chance of hanging out with the people I want to hang out with. What you need to do is stop badmouthing me, and I won’t tell the whole school everything I know. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to listen if you decide it’s not a deal.”
Lyric’s face was deathly pale as he saw how serious I was. Gone is the joking, flirtatious girl I used to be, replaced by the cold and harsh truth of reality. Lyric’s reputation at school was all he had; other than his songwriting, he basically had nothing. If I told the school about where he really found his inspiration, then he’d no longer be the cool, popular hot guy at school. He’d be the jerk who pretended he was all that, and could write songs to please the world, when he’s really nothing. The only talents Lyric had were his voice and his ability to convince people of obvious untruths.
“Alright,” he conceded in a surprisingly shaky voice. “I’ll just stop talking about you completely. I promise. If anyone asks me about you ever again, I’ll change the subject. And if they’re really pressing about it, I’ll only say good things. Just please, don’t tell anyone anything about my music.” His voice was so desperate; it made me wonder just how much his reputation meant to him. Other people had parts of their lives that meant something to them, outside of school. Other people had actual lives. Lyric only had “his” music, and he used it to get him places that gave him a life. In my hands was the secret to his ultimate demise, which is what I had wished to have for a while. Now that I had it, though, I didn’t feel the need to use it. He was just too vulnerable for there to be any satisfaction in destroying him.
I nodded and smiled at him, giving him my consent that it was a deal, then turned on my heel and walked off the stage. As I continued on into the hall, I heard his strumming pick up where it had left off and his now unstable and off key voice followed, slowly regaining the strength and continuity it had before I went up there.
I walked past the front office and out of the door came a brown-haired beauty I had never seen before, followed by what I assumed to be his mom, as she had the same mahogany-colored hair, only slightly grayer. He also had her eyes, which were a hazel color that almost made my heart melt from the icy state it had turned into because of Lyric. I sent a warm smile in his direction, and he responded with a smile of his own, one that lit up his entire face, as if I had made his day simply by smiling at him. I tuned into what the principal had been telling them just in time to hear her say that I would make an excellent guide around the school if they wanted someone to show Dustin around, and introduce him to people. So the brunette’s name was Dustin. Dustin’s mom agreed that it would be a good idea, so Dustin walked down the hall with me, while his mom talked with the principal.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Iva,” I responded. “I’m assuming yours is Dustin, seeing as that’s what they were calling you.” I had decided being sassy was the way to get guys interested, and it seemed to work with Dustin.
“You guess correctly, Iva.” I loved the way my name rolled off of his tongue, like a waterfall of me. He smiled at me again, and the resumed talking. “What do you think of maybe showing me a nice place to get dinner tomorrow night? I just got my car fixed, so we can go anywhere you want that’s in the state. I understand it’s not in your showing the new kid around job requirement, but it might just be fun.”
I laughed, then replied, “Maybe you should get through the day before you try making a move on me. If you’re still going to school here in the morning, I promise to go on a date with you tomorrow night.”
“Yes, first day here, and I already have promises for dinner with a beautiful girl! And I didn’t think it could be done.” Dustin’s overdone excitement made me laugh even more, as we continued down the hallway. Soon, the bell would be ringing to signify the end of lunch, and bringing me back to the reality where I was a geeky girl who had recently dumped the most popular guy at school, but until then, I basked in the moment, enjoying having a guy interested in me, and thinking, that maybe, life would go on.
With a sigh that no one else heard, he said, “All right, Carlene, what do you want?”
I went over the words I wanted to say in my head one last time. “We never officially broke up, so I wanted to make sure you know we’re done. I’m done listening to your ‘love’ songs, I’m done pretending to believe your lies, and I’m done keeping your secrets.”
I watched his face carefully, and knew I struck several nerves. No one had ever talked to Lyric Flatt that way, and certainly not a geek like me. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any secrets, and I don’t lie.” What a liar. It wasn’t my job to convince him to tell the truth, or convince others of the truth. I just needed to say what I wanted, then leave.
“Listen,” I hear myself say, “You and I both know the truth, so I don’t care if anyone else knows. What I do care about is you going around and trashing my reputation, because it makes me have no chance of hanging out with the people I want to hang out with. What you need to do is stop badmouthing me, and I won’t tell the whole school everything I know. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to listen if you decide it’s not a deal.”
Lyric’s face was deathly pale as he saw how serious I was. Gone is the joking, flirtatious girl I used to be, replaced by the cold and harsh truth of reality. Lyric’s reputation at school was all he had; other than his songwriting, he basically had nothing. If I told the school about where he really found his inspiration, then he’d no longer be the cool, popular hot guy at school. He’d be the jerk who pretended he was all that, and could write songs to please the world, when he’s really nothing. The only talents Lyric had were his voice and his ability to convince people of obvious untruths.
“Alright,” he conceded in a surprisingly shaky voice. “I’ll just stop talking about you completely. I promise. If anyone asks me about you ever again, I’ll change the subject. And if they’re really pressing about it, I’ll only say good things. Just please, don’t tell anyone anything about my music.” His voice was so desperate; it made me wonder just how much his reputation meant to him. Other people had parts of their lives that meant something to them, outside of school. Other people had actual lives. Lyric only had “his” music, and he used it to get him places that gave him a life. In my hands was the secret to his ultimate demise, which is what I had wished to have for a while. Now that I had it, though, I didn’t feel the need to use it. He was just too vulnerable for there to be any satisfaction in destroying him.
I nodded and smiled at him, giving him my consent that it was a deal, then turned on my heel and walked off the stage. As I continued on into the hall, I heard his strumming pick up where it had left off and his now unstable and off key voice followed, slowly regaining the strength and continuity it had before I went up there.
I walked past the front office and out of the door came a brown-haired beauty I had never seen before, followed by what I assumed to be his mom, as she had the same mahogany-colored hair, only slightly grayer. He also had her eyes, which were a hazel color that almost made my heart melt from the icy state it had turned into because of Lyric. I sent a warm smile in his direction, and he responded with a smile of his own, one that lit up his entire face, as if I had made his day simply by smiling at him. I tuned into what the principal had been telling them just in time to hear her say that I would make an excellent guide around the school if they wanted someone to show Dustin around, and introduce him to people. So the brunette’s name was Dustin. Dustin’s mom agreed that it would be a good idea, so Dustin walked down the hall with me, while his mom talked with the principal.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Iva,” I responded. “I’m assuming yours is Dustin, seeing as that’s what they were calling you.” I had decided being sassy was the way to get guys interested, and it seemed to work with Dustin.
“You guess correctly, Iva.” I loved the way my name rolled off of his tongue, like a waterfall of me. He smiled at me again, and the resumed talking. “What do you think of maybe showing me a nice place to get dinner tomorrow night? I just got my car fixed, so we can go anywhere you want that’s in the state. I understand it’s not in your showing the new kid around job requirement, but it might just be fun.”
I laughed, then replied, “Maybe you should get through the day before you try making a move on me. If you’re still going to school here in the morning, I promise to go on a date with you tomorrow night.”
“Yes, first day here, and I already have promises for dinner with a beautiful girl! And I didn’t think it could be done.” Dustin’s overdone excitement made me laugh even more, as we continued down the hallway. Soon, the bell would be ringing to signify the end of lunch, and bringing me back to the reality where I was a geeky girl who had recently dumped the most popular guy at school, but until then, I basked in the moment, enjoying having a guy interested in me, and thinking, that maybe, life would go on.
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