|| CHARLOTTE ||
|| Friday, September 6th ||
When I arrived home, I felt different. Unlocking the apartment door, I walked inside and went straight to the kitchen. I took out the wine from my cabinet and a glass. I walked over to the couch, sat down, and poured myself glasses and glasses of wine as I watched late-night television. This was not how I wanted tonight to turn out.
I probably shouldn't have said all that stuff to her right then and there. Things were great, and I had to screw it up by telling her my feelings. Once I downed the last amount that I could, I placed the bottle away and washed the wine glass. I walked to the restroom, and my face looked too flustered in the mirror, so I splashed it with cold water.
I went to my bedroom and turned on the lights, my work stuff is sitting by the desk, and I realized I have to continue lesson planning and grading before Monday. Groaning, I undid the teal button-up and got out of my blue jeans. I placed my heels in my closet and laid down on the bed. My phone buzzed, and it was a text from the family.
Mom: Hey honey, how was the first week?
Me: It's all right. I'm enjoying it right now.
Mom: That's great. Your father and I thought we'd check and hear how you're doing. It's pretty late right now, we can call tomorrow.
Me: Yeah, that'd be nice. Well, I'm pretty tired. I'm going to head to bed. Goodnight.
Mom: Goodnight, sweetie.
I placed my phone on the nightstand again as I didn't care about wearing any pajamas, getting under the sheets and shut the lamp off, drifting to sleep. I hope Monday won't be as awkward.
~~~<>~~~<>~~~<>~~~
|| JACKIE ||
|| Monday, September 9th ||
I anxiously sat at the bench by the library at 7:45 AM. My legs shook as I waited for Shay to appear.
Shay: Hey, just got here. Where are you?
Me: On the bench by the library.
I watched as she came over and smiled. She sat down next to me, "So, what's up?"
"I've thought about it, and I've concluded that this might not work out."
She didn't have any change of expression, "Jay," she said.
"How would you prove to me that you aren't going to cheat on me again. What do you want out of this thing that we have going on right now? Do you want a relationship? Or is it just sex? If you don't want a relationship and loyalty, then I don't want to get involved," I said.
She sighed, "Jay, our relationship was more than that, and you know it."
"If it was more than just sex, then where was your loyalty?" I asked.
"It was there for the first six months," she said.
I let out a bitter laugh, "Then what happened after those six months passed?" We heard the five-minute bell ring. She was hesitant to answer. I laughed bitterly for the second time and stood up. "I'll see you around."
"Jay, wait," I heard as she grabbed my hand, "Can we please talk more about this at lunch? After that, if you still don't want to, then I'll leave you alone."
I sighed, looking around as the halls started to get empty, "Fine. I'll meet you on this bench when lunch comes." She nodded, and we both walked our separate ways.
~~~<>~~~<>~~~<>~~~
When my fourth period ended, I came over to the bench. Amber messaged me, saying she won't be at lunch and needed to go into a classroom to finish an assignment. As I sat here waiting anxiously again, I saw Shay come by.
We both sat by the library. "Maybe we can go somewhere more quiet to talk," I mentioned.
"I mean, there's always our spot by the theatre that we always sat," Shay said, and I nodded.
We walked to the area and sat down, and the place was a lot quieter than I imagined. I haven't been to this area since the spring semester.
"Please, please consider giving me a second chance," she said.
"A second chance? More like the fourth."
"I still care about you."
"Oh, how you've said it so many times before," I said with a sarcastic tone.
"Jackie, do you miss it? Us?" Shay asked.
"I do, sometimes. Then other times, it's harder. Gosh, every time I look at you, I keep picturing her, you on top of her, and kissing her instead of me. Friday night was the first time in a while where I felt genuinely okay when you were around. Well... after I dropped the glass cup," I said.
She nodded and ran a hand through the wrap that's still on my left hand. I looked down and then back up at her.
"Gosh, I miss us," I sighed, leaning my head against the wall.
"Then let me try again, to make it right, please," she begged.
I don't know what to say. I let Shay's hand run up my chin. Her lips came closer to mine, and her eyes were looking at me.
Before I could do anything, we heard the administrative footsteps and voices getting closer. Technically, we shouldn't be sitting in this area because of the administration's purposes. I never knew why, but we didn't care. So, we've always considered it our spot while we were together.
"Shit," Shay whispered and pulled me up as we grabbed our bags and moved to hide further in the area.
The place was dark, and there were barely any lights. My back was against the wall, and Shay was close to me. We both stayed quiet as the administration got closer and closer. We continued to hide until the door that leads out to the side of the school opened. When it closed, the area went silent again.
"Oh my gosh," I sighed, "That was close."
"Yeah, it was," Shay said, peeking her head out to see if anyone else was around, "Coast is clear."
She turned to me, and we were extremely close. Her hands were on either side of me as our backpacks trapped our legs. My back was to the wall, and I wasn't able to move without bumping into Shay. Our eyes met before mine fell to her lips. She probably did the same, and the next thing you know, our lips were connected, and I was pushed further up against the wall. My hands slid up her body, along her jaw, and into her wavy hair.
We pulled apart for air, and we're both heavily breathing. My breath hitched as her lips went to my neck.
"We need to stop before we get caught," I said.
"You're right," she sighed, stepping back as we moved back to our spots.
The bell startled us as it rang. "Well, this conversation took another turn," I breathed, and Shay only nodded. "Since we didn't finish, we should talk about the rest of this later."
"Yeah, how about after my seventh period?" Shay asked.
"All right. Text me when you get out, and I'll tell you where I am."
"Okay, I'll see you later then."
She kissed my cheek before walking to her class. I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair, heading to my fifth period.
~~~<>~~~<>~~~<>~~~
As the bell rang at the end of our sixth period, everyone began making their way out wishing for their seventh to be over. I packed my things and started to walk towards the door, too. I'm probably going to head to the library to do some homework.
"Jackie," I heard. My head turned before I got to the door.
"Yeah?" I asked, giving her my full attention as I took out my earbuds.
"What happened to your hand?" Charlotte asked.
"I cut my hand with broken glass. Nothing big," I partially lied, and she nodded.
"Hey, I'm sorry, again, about Friday night. It probably would have been better to text you," she said.
I shook my head, "It's all right. I'm sorry Shay appeared out of nowhere and tried threatening you."
"I mean, she's your girlfriend. She technically can show up when she wants?" Charlotte shrugged.
I watched her give me a weird look, "What?" I asked.
"You did that thing," Charlotte said, waving her hand around.
"What thing?"
"You flinched," she said.
"Oh, I'm just chilly," I said, looking around the ceiling, actually feeling shivers.
"Yes, the non-existing AC is cold," Charlotte said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be salty about what happened on Friday."
"Don't be," I said, "I'm going to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
I felt her eyes on me as I walked out of the classroom. I sat at the library, starting my English homework.
I couldn't stop thinking about what happened Friday. With Shay and with Charlotte.
I sit here, low-key struggling to focus and plan out my essay. I hadn't realized the time passed until the bell rang. My phone vibrated a few seconds later.
Shay: Hey, I'm out. I just need to head to my locker. Where are you?
Me: I'm sitting inside the library. Meet me there, and then we can go somewhere to talk off the campus.
Shay: Okay.
I stared at my essay for another second, and an idea came into my head. Damn it, why didn't this idea come sooner? I began scribbling down the topic and the information I wanted to use for this paper. I heard footsteps come in.
"Hey, there you are," Shay said, and I held a hand up to her.
"Give me a second, when a good idea comes in your head last minute, trying to write it down before I forget," I quickly said, which probably sounded like gibberish.
"Okay, take your time," she said as she pulled out the chair across the table to sit.
A few minutes later, I managed to get my brainstorming onto the sheet of paper. I sighed as my hand started to cramp.
"You good?" Shay chuckled, looking amused.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said as I finally packed up all my items.
"All right, where do you want to go?"
"The coffee shop. You know which one I'm talking about," I said.
She smiled, "That place, hopefully, the waitress doesn't spill ice coffee on you this time."
I laughed, "That was a day."
We walked out and to our separate cars, "I'll see you there in a bit," she smiled as she continued walking down the parking lot as I got to my car.
Getting in, I placed my things in the back before driving to the coffee shop. I walked inside and got a greeting from a certain waitress.
"Hey, girl! Long-time no see," Chelsea smiled.
"Hey, Chelsea, how's it going?" I asked.
"Good, working like usual. Nothing odd. How about you? What brings you here a century later," she smiled.
"Meeting Shay," I said.
"Ahh, the first girl," she smiled right as Shay walked in.
"Hey, Chelsea," Shay said.
"Shay, what's up?"
"The usual," she said.
"Well, are you guys paying separately? Can I get you anything?" Chelsea asked.
Shay took out her wallet, "It's on me."
As we sat down and waited for our drinks, Shay looked at me for a bit before turning away.
"So what? Am I not good enough?"
"Gosh, Shay, can we start something off without having it be so negative?" I asked.
"Sorry, I just don't understand why you don't want to give me another chance," she said.
Chelsea walked over, "Here you two go, anything else?"
"I think we're all right, thank you, Chelsea," I smiled.
"Yeah, take your time. It's nice having the regulars in here after a while," Chelsea smiled and walked back to her working area.
"Did you not like our time together? Was I not good enough for you?"
"Shay," I said, grabbing her hands and holding them, "I enjoyed the time that we spent, and I know cheating has a factor in this. I should have ended things the first time you cheated on me. Though I couldn't because I enjoyed the time I spent with you, I was blinded until I caught you. I disregarded what my friends said because I cared so much for you. In the end, I hurt myself for not believing them."
"I can do better. I will promise to be by your side, and be honest to you," Shay said, "This time, I want to make things right."
"Why couldn't you have done it the other times too? It makes it hard to trust you now, knowing what you've done to me in the past," I said.
"Which is why you should give me another chance. I will prove to you that I'm not the same girl I was during those times. Please."
I felt her hand run up my arm and then grazed my cheek. I took her hand and moved it back down to where it was, "I don't want to get myself back into a relationship that was already damaged. Destroyed."
"Then what happened on Friday?"
"I was vulnerable. I was already frustrated with my friend. Then you showed up, and you accused me of cheating, even though we aren't together. Before I could say anything to my friend, you kissed me right in front of her to prove that I'm yours. Then you're begging me for another chance, and I got mad, that's when the broken glass situation happened. At that moment, when you were helping me, it looked like you genuinely cared about me. I don't want to be someone that you are going to use only to relieve your sex drive. I want a committed relationship."
"Then let me show you. I can show you that I'm that same girl during the time I was wrapping your injury," she said.
"I know that girl is inside of you somewhere, but I don't want to risk it," I said, retracting my hands.
"All right, can we at least be friends?" Shay asked.
"Sure."