Not Another High School Love Story

15. Bridges Burned

School's back in session, and I couldn't be any less excited to go. Thanksgiving break went more or less the way I thought it would, but it wasn't all bad. Sure, I was grounded the whole time, and I had to suffer through an extremely awkward turkey dinner with my dad, but there were parts of it I enjoyed. I was relieved when Ms. Montgomery hadn't shown up for Thanksgiving, but I'm pretty sure the only reason she didn't is because of the last fight we all had. So that's one good thing that happened. And then of course there was Brent, the blonde haired devil.

Despite the fact that my dad had banished me to my room, it hadn't stopped me from sneaking out to see him every night. We talked about the same stupid shit we had before, plus way more. At this point I definitely feel like I know him better than anyone else, and not a second goes by that I look at him without seeing that effulgent light shining in his eyes. He's special, and even though the rest of the break was crap, I wish it could've lasted a little bit longer so I'd have more nights to sneak out and meet him. We'll do it again, that's for sure, but for right now life has gotten back in the way.

I've been texting him all morning, ever since my dad gave me back my phone, and he tells me to look in my locker. I find another note waiting, and I unfold the paper to see a familiar message scribbled on it. Brent thinks he's being cute, but I guess this is our thing now, and honestly I kind of like it. He wants to meet under the bleachers after football practice again, which must be another tradition we're starting, and I can't wait to go. Already my mind threatens to lose itself in a daydream, while the time I spend staring at the note leaves me exposed.

"Hey, what happened to you? Why haven't you been returning my texts?" Grace wears a playful expression of distressed fury as she comes up, and I'm relieved when she hardly seems to notice how I fumble Brent's note in an attempt to hide it. Eventually I manage to get it crammed into one of my books, which solves one dilemma, but I still have to face my best friend.

"Oh, sorry, I've been grounded." The answer is mild at best.

"For the whole break? What the hell, didn't you just get ungrounded? Why weren't you on the bus?" A host of new questions sprout while she tries to catch up. She's like me, she probably didn't like being cut off for that long either, and I can only imagine what all this must look like to her.

"Whoa, hey, what's with the third degree?" I wrest control on the conversation back with a chuckle. "It's no big deal, my dad's going to be dropping me off for a while until he trusts me again. His words."

"Jesus, Jonah, what did you do?" No doubt her imagination's getting the better of her, and her eyes widen as she considers the infinite possibilities.

"It's a long fucking story. My dad finally came clean about Ms. Montgomery, and they tried talking to me about it, which was super uncomfortable, and, I don't know, we've just been fighting a lot about stupid stuff. You know? Then he caught me sneaking out to see Brent, which really pissed him off." It's just the beginning of a varied tale that I plan to bore her with, but she hones in right away and interrupts me before I can say anything else.

"You're still hanging out with Brent?" Her expression contorts even further, and it takes me a second to realize she's confused. No, more than that, the disapproving tone in her voice is unmistakable.

"Yeah," I test the waters, trying to feel her out. She waits like she expects more from me, but when she doesn't receive it she shakes her head.

"Why?" Apparently the idea's absurd to her, and I swear she almost sounds repulsed by it.

"He's cool." This time I tread more carefully.