Chapter 6-Almost Doesn’t Count ‘Almost made you love me Almost made you cry Almost made you happy, baby Didn't I didn't I You almost had me thinkin' You were turned around But everybody knows Almost doesn't count’ -Brandy ‘Almost Doesn’t Count’
.::2 weeks later::.
.:*10:00*:.
" This better be good cause whoever it is, is interrupting MY movie." I mumbled under my breath as I went to answer the door. I opened the door and was shocked to see Shelli on the other side. I took a double-take as she stormed past me in the house like she owned the place. I closed the door, my head swimming with confusion, and followed her into the living room.
" What are YOU doing here?" I questioned her, as I walked into the living room.
"Do I have to have a reason to come visit you? I mean why can’t I just come visit my boyfriend without there being a reason?" She replied in a sickeningly innocent voice, while plying with the collar of my shirt.
"Well, why are you here? I know for a fact that you didn’t just up and hop on a five hour plane ride and come 3,000 miles to see me without a reason. So what is it? Why are you here?"
"Do we have to spoil my time here with that reason now? Couldn’t we just watch the rest of whatever movie you’re watching and talk about it later?" She pleaded, still looking down at the ground. I was really starting to get fed up with the innocent act. She was here to start trouble and I wanted to know why. Well, I knew why, or at least I thought I did. I was pretty much sure that she was here because Manda being here had finally driven her to the brink of insanity and she had to be here to make sure I didn’t do anything.
" Fine, but THE.VERY.SECOND the movie is over. We’re talking about why you’re here."
" Ok!" she said in that overly perky voice of hers that I had grown to ignore. She dragged me, by the arm, over to the couch were she plopped down and curled up in my arms the second I was on the couch.
I raised my arms above my head to stretch. The movie had just ended and I was set on finding out why Shelli was here.
" So why are you really here Shelli?" I asked after I had turned the TV off.
"I...uhh...I erm..."
" You’re here because you don’t trust me aren’t you."
"I trust you! It’s that skanky whore you call a best friend that I don’t trust." I was just about to defend Manda, however, she is known for her impeccable timing, and chose that moment to come home and stumble into the living room.
" What is she doing here?" I asked walking/ stumbling into the living room. We’d just walked in the door when I heard shouting coming from the living room. Being the nosy person that I am, I had to go see who it was.
" I’m here to make sure you keep your skanky hands off MY boyfriend."
" Why the fuck would my hands be on your boyfriend?!?!?!? I have my own boyfriend to put my fucking hands on!"
" I don’t know you tell me you’re the whore. I mean weren’t you the one that slept with the entire football team at Jason’s party in 10th grade?"
"Oh-h-h no! That’s fucking it!" I yelled, running towards Shelli. I slapped her across the face.
" You fucking Bitch! I can’t believe that you would even dare to bring that into this! That was a fucking rumor and you fucking know it!" tears started to blur my vision as I was reminded of the hurtful rumor. However, I was not going to give her the satisfaction of letting them fall. She looked up at me with anger in her eyes. Up until this point the guys had just stood on the sides shocked at what was unfolding in front of them. She then leapt forward at me and grabbed fistfuls of my hair. Being more so on the drunk side rather than the sober side, I grabbed her hair too. Pulling at it as hard as I could.
" LET. GO. OF. MY. FUCKING. HAIR. BITCH!!" I screamed.
" Not until you let go of mine." She whined.
" FINE!!" we both let go and I just stared at her with a venomous look on my face. I stared at her until I couldn’t take it anymore. I balled my fist up and punched her square in the jaw.
" Don’t EVER and I mean EVER fucking talk about me like that again." Satisfied that that would be it and I could go upstairs to get some sleep, I turned on my heel and started walking towards the stairs. I took two steps when I was suddenly knocked over. I turned over and saw Shelli. She was about to punch me when someone lifted her up, her kicking and struggling the entire way.
I got up and was about to go smack her one more time when I felt two arms go around my waist. Ashley was holding Shelli back and Jacob was attempting to keep me from beating Shelli into the ground about six feet under.
"Just leave her alone Manda. Let’s go up stairs and go to bed ok?" Jacob whispered in my ear, trying to calm me down.
" Please? I’ll do that thing that you like." I giggled to myself just thinking about it. That was all the convincing I needed. I grabbed his hand and ran upstairs to my room.
Shelli was now sobbing in my arms. Not like I really wanted her there or anything. I was really getting tired of her bullshit. She’d never liked Manda and they’d never gotten along well, but nothing like this had ever happened.
" Listen, Shelli, we gotta talk."
" What do we need to talk about Ash?" she asked sniffling.
"I can’t go out with you anymore. It’s over between us."
" It’s because of her isn’t it? It’s because of that fucking whore isn’t it? You’re still in love with her aren’t you?"
" God damnit Shelli! Will you stop talking about Manda like that. She’s not a whore and yes I’m still in love with her, but that has nothing to do with us breaking up. It’s just taken me a hell of a lot longer than everyone else to realize what a bitch you are. That’s why we’re breaking up. Go home. Go back to California and leave me and my friends alone!"
" Ashley you don’t mean that! I need you and you need me."
" Need you my ass. I need you like a fucking hole in the head. I don’t want you, I don’t need you, and I want you out of my fricken life!"
" But ASHLEY !" she whined and started to follow me upstairs.
" No! Shelli! It’s over! O-V-E-R! OVER! Now go! Get out and don’t ever come back!"
" Hmph! Fine! See if I tack you back now!"
" Oh my god! My life is over! The bitch of the millennium won’t take me back!" I replied sarcastically.
"Fuck you Ashley!"
" Hell NO! Now will you kindly get the hell out of my house?"
" ARGH! You WILL regret this Ashley!" She screamed as she finally left. After she slammed the door I went up to my room to get some sleep.
I got up the next day around noon. The only other people up were Trevor and Erik. We were all in the kitchen sitting on bar stools eating cereal.
" So what happened to Shelli?" Erik asked.
" I broke up with her." I said as if it were an every day occurrence.
" You broke up with her?" Trevor asked looking at me like I’d grown another head.
"uh huh." I replied taking another bite of my cereal.
" There is a God! There is a God!" Erik said. That comment made both Trevor and me laugh.
"So how’d she take it."
" She screamed at me and said that she wouldn’t take me back now and something out me regretting it... Regret it my ass! That was probably the smartest thing I’ve done since I got here." They both laughed at my comment as Dan walked into the room.
" Hey guys." He mumbled getting out the cereal.
" Morning." We replied in unison.
"It is way to early to be that happy." He mumbled while pouring his cereal.
"Early? Dude it’s noon?"
" Exactly. Early. SO what happened that made the three of you so slap happy?"
" Ashley FINALLY broke up with Shelli."
" THANK GOD! I was seriously afraid of WWIII breaking out in our living room last night. So is the bitch still here or did she leave?"
" I sent her home last night."
" Good, because I don’t think I could take even one more nano second of her whining. "
.::5:00pm::.
"Are you ok?" Ashley asked breaking the silence and my thoughts.
" Yes. No. I don’t know. I’m not sure."
"I’m sorry about what Shelli said."
" Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault Ash."
"I know. But somehow I still feel like it was, because I was dating her."
" Listen, Ash it was her who said it not you. It’s not your fault so don’t tear yourself up over it."
"How’d that rumor even get started anyways?"
"Honestly?" he nodded so I went ahead. " Shelli. We both went to the same party. You know the one Jason had while you were sick and I wasn’t gonna go but you made me."
" Yeah I remember. It was the one time that I had a cold and you didn’t."
"Uh-huh. Well, anyways, I went to the party and had gotten a bit tipsy and I was flirting with Josh-"
"The quarterback?"
" uh-huh. So anyways, as I was saying, I was flirting with him and he asked me if I wanted to go up stairs and make-out. We’d decided to take a break the week before, the worst week of my life. Ok well not really but comes in second. Any-"
" What was the worst?" Ashley asked interrupting me again.
" The three months after we broke up."
"oh."
" Yeah, so uhmm, anyways, he asked and I said ok., so we went upstairs. All we did was make-out but is that what he said? NOOO! He told all his little football buddies that he’d gotten lucky. Well, Shelli, being the nosy whore that she is, overheard what he said and changed it so that it would be the entire football team."
" Ouch."
" No kidding." I said yawning.
"Jacob wear you out last night?" Ashley said with a knowing grin. The same grin appeared on my face as I playfully smacked his arm.
"Perv."
"Hey you’re the one who had sex last night."
" Shut up! Ugh! YAWN! Do you wanna go pop some popcorn and watch a movie?"
" Sure. What movie do you wanna watch?"
" I don’t care. You pick. I’m gonna go make the popcorn."
"Ok."
" I came back 5 minutes later with the popcorn in a bowl and two cokes.
" So, what movie did you pick?"
" ‘ House On Haunted Hill’"
"OooooOO! I LOOOVe that movie!"
" Good. Hey! Share the popcorn." He said when I sat down in a chair five feet away.
" Ugh fine! The things I do for you." I said laughing as I went over to sit down next to him. Aside from the whole Shelli incident last night, life was very good right now. I had an amazing best friend and a wonderful boyfriend. I sighed and rested my head on Ashley’s shoulder. Life was very good right now.