Ch. 31: Lana's Take

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

Watching what was mine get hurt and be taken care of by some other male was driving me crazy. But I had been in crow form when I saw her walk into the pole and couldn't just shift right there in this public park. Instead, I had to watch as a crowd gathered, a crowd full of males - worse yet, male mutts. One in particular had picked her up and stayed far too close to her for far too long. I sat perched at the top of a tree across the street at the park. I didn't want to get closer and risk hearing something that would make me more upset. I wouldn't risk losing my cool. Something felt off about the way she had lost focus and walked into that pole, and I spent a few minutes looking down at the group gathering around her.

I was now able to hold this form for hours and was getting stronger. Just being around her, and better yet, touching her, gave me a small surge in my abilities. Like hot weather helping you stretch your muscles, I too stretched my abilities more smoothly after being around her.

If it wasn't enough already with that redheaded faeling, weaseling his way into her life. Pushing to be around her after class, Break, lunch, or after school. Waltzing her around the school. It had taken all of my patience to not cast something at that twit. I would win her regardless. I had already made my first move and she would soon be mine.

I had needed a little assistance to warm up her friend to me, and so I sent Joey on a mission to earn her trust. They would date for a while giving the needy girl some attention, and planting ideas here and there so she would start to prep Rachel without her even knowing. I needed every advantage I could get. Joey was a bit of a blabber mouth but a good lackey, the best lackey blackmail could afford.

I'd taken to watching her closely at night, something I would continue again tonight. It reassured me to see her safe. And away from males. But, mostly that she was safe. I couldn't see who she was texting but when she spoke on the phone it always seemed to be Ally, who would soon be on my side without realizing it.

A few weeks went by like this. Me watching her, interacting with her as much as I could get away with, watching her in the evenings. Trying to see as much of her on the weekends. The longer I did this the harder it was getting to pinpoint when and how to show myself to her. I couldn't risk scaring her off, and as the holidays approached I didn't want to give her easy excuses to leave me out of her life. I finally decided to wait until the new year. I would be a little stronger then and I had a special spell I could cast that would be perfect for when I explained everything to her.

A few weeks had gone by in this new rhythm. Hanging out with Ally, Maxine and Marsha at break, spending lunch and some after school minutes with Sean. I would meet up with Kyle now and again. I still don't know what he said or did to Vance but he stayed away. Yes, he still looked at me occasionally but it was way, way toned down. Sean's swim practices started to pick up and we tried to squeeze in a date or two as we could. Meg and I spent a weekend at our dad's where I tried to not touch anything for as long as humanly possible since everything was absolutely filthy in his house ever since the separation.

Sean and I were really in sync and with this going so well, I decided that I would tell my mom about him finally. I'm not sure if I was ready for them to meet but this was a start. Telling my dad was way, way down the line. Maybe never. I was still not even sure I could trust him to remember we were his responsibility on certain days. There had been more than once where he left for over 24 hours without any notice leaving us with nothing to eat. Meaning I had to scrunge through his coin bin to get enough quarters together to order a small pizza for Meg and I to share. The kicker was we were only with him every other weekend, that's like 2.5 days and you forget you have kids at home for more than half of that time. These were things I couldn't tell my mom though. She may have come to the realization that it was too unsafe for us to visit, and she could bring this up at court, meaning our dad's visitation rights could get taken away. I couldn't do that to Meg. She still saw her dad as her hero, and I couldn't break her heart like that. If I had to cover for our dad and pick up some slack, well, it wasn't anything foreign to me. I'd been picking up our parents' slack for years.

Today was the last City Concert and I was excited to go. Ally and Lana would be meeting me here beforehand so we could all walk over together. That was something else that had gotten into sync, in the strangest way - Jake and I. We seemed to have navigated our odd heated relationship to a solid friendship, and were co-captains in a sense of our little group who gathered at the skatepark during the concerts. It was really nice, and reminded me so much of our old repertoire. We joked around, made small choices about where we were all going to walk, and started group conversations. It was just really great. I really loved being with him like this. He seemed more relaxed again and it was like time hadn't passed. Maybe because I was with Sean and the pressure for anything more was off? I didn't know. But I really valued it.

Ally and Lana came over and I finished getting ready. On our walk I voiced some of my worries to them about what things would be like after the weekly concerts were over, and we talked about it a bit. I decided it would be a good idea to talk with Jake and set up a few Fridays or Saturdays that we could all still meet at the skatepark, at least until it got colder and wetter as late fall and early winter approached. I decided to text Jake about it as we continued walking.

<< From Rachel to Jake >>: What do you think about all of us still meeting up at the park every once in a while over the next few weeks?? >>

<< From Jake to Rachel >>: I was going to talk to you about the same thing. This has been great, we should keep it up right? We've got some games coming up, maybe we could plan around those? Or we could meet on Sundays? We can talk to everyone when they get here? >>

<< From Rachel to Jake >>: Sounds good. See you then

<< From Rachel to Jake >>: Wait - here? Are you at the skatepark already?

<< From Jake to Rachel >>: Oh, yeah. Evan, Nick and I just felt like coming early today. We're just screwing around at the basketball court.

<< From Rachel to Jake >>: lol, alright. We'll see you soon. I'm with Ally and Lana, we're like halfway there, just going to stop at Donna's. Do you guys want anything?

<< From Jake to Rachel >>: Nah that's okay, thank you. See you soon then

"I know you probably don't want to hear this Rach," Lana said, eyes boring into me as I looked up from my phone, "but I wouldn't be the friend you love if I didn't say anything at all." She opened her eyes in silent communication to Ally then continued speaking to me again, "I know you're with Sean and stuff, but you've got to realize that you totally light up with Jake. Your whole face changes when you talk to him, when we mention him, when you text him..."

"I don't-" I started.

Lana held up her hand, "Look. I'm just telling you what I see. Sean gets you smiling too, I know. But it's not even close to the way you, like, float on your feet with Jake. You know I'm not a neat-around-the-bush type. I just felt I should tell you. You can do what you like. I'm on your side no matter what."

"I really don't think it's like that - I mean, I just feel like Jake and I have moved on, we've just gotten comfortable as friends.." I responded.

Lana didn't say anything, just looked at Ally pointedly.

I turned to see Ally opening and closing her mouth.

"What is it? You too?" I asked her.

Ally shook her head and explained, "I mean, Lana's not wrong. But I think there's a place in everyone's life for great friends that make you feel great, and that doesn't mean you've got to date the person. I mean - like me and Simon, right? We're great friends. We just vibe. But I'm dating Joey. Sure Joey and I aren't on 'cloud 9' all the time, what couple would be? Besides, Sean is super great. Sweet, romantic, a little territorial, and good looking - hard to beat!" She finished in a strangled sound.

The sound made me turn to her, face contorting in confusion, what was that about? I glanced over at Lana who seemed just as confused as me.

"You both do as you like. Like I said, I support you both, and will always have your backs. I just have to share what I'm seeing. If that's not what's going on, then I believe you," Lana finished, conviction in her voice.

We had just made it to Donna's and stepped inside to grab a few things. I saw a Snickers and felt compelled to take it for Jake, knowing it was his favorite, but glancing at Lana - I decided not to. We paid for our things and continued to the skate park. Next to the skate park a few blocks out we spotted the guys playing what appeared to be 'horse.' Nick just made this crazy shot, when Evan's head whipped over to where we were standing. He raised his hand way above his head waving vigorously.

Ally laughed, "God seeing a giant like that wave like a kid - sight to behold."

She wasn't wrong. It was silly, he was like an energized toddler or an excited overgrown puppy or something.

We caught up to them and Nick and Jake waved at us as they finished their game. It seemed like their last shots weren't as impressive.

"What was that?" I asked them, "Did Nick ruin it for you guys with that impressive shot?"

"Oh that was nothing," Evan said assuredly.

"Uh-huh." I responded, unconvinced.

"I could shoot-" he started and got cut off by Jake clearing his throat loudly.

"He's just sh*t-talking," he finished for Evan, grinning at me. "What'd you guys get at Donna's? Did they get your oreo ice cream bars back in stock?"