“Come on Matt, we're gonna be late!"
"I can't find my T-shirt!" Matt walked out of the bedroom with a puzzled frown on his face. Deb smiled, "Why don't you just go without it? I think you look great!" He did, he had a skinny frame, but still looked totally sexy without anything covering his upper body. Matt was definitely one in a million. A barely there goatee was always on his chin, and it went perfectly with his sideburns. He had such light hair that you couldn't see his facial hair from far away, but Deb was usually close enough to see, and she refused to let him shave.
"I know you want me to go without my shirt, but I can't, the other guys won't let me, you know that." Suddenly Matt's eyes lit up, he walked over to the corner of the living room and picked up a rumpled rag. "Here it is!!" Deb laughed and grabbed Matt's hand. They sped to the club were Matt's band, Cyan, had a regular Saturday night gig.
They walked into the Temple and Deb took a deep breath, she was used to the stale smell of the club's air, a mixture of cigarettes and beer. She glanced over at Matt and grinned to herself, she knew how much he loved the thrill of being on stage, performing in front of people. And seeing him happy made her life even better. She loved him more than anything or anyone in the world. And she knew the feeling was mutual. They were still young, her 17 and him 19, but they were very serious. They had a very open straight-forward relationship, they talked all the time, and about everything. Deb knew all about Matt's array of terrible girlfriends and Matt knew all about Deb's unluckiness in love, but all that changed when they found one another. They had something many married couples didn't even have, love, passion, and friendship all rolled into a thrilling whirl of events they called life. Deb still being in high school just added to the confusion.
Deb was snapped away from her thoughts by the feeling of Matt's stubble on her cheek,"I gotta go babe, it's time for the sound check, I'll see you later." He kissed her and stalked off. Deb stared after him and finally turned around after he was out of sight. She stifled a scream as she found herself faced with Andrea. "Oh my God. How long have you been there?" Completely ignoring her friend's question, Andrea cracked up laughing. Deb knew she was laughing because of the way she always stared as Matt walked away, she couldn't help it. Andrea's boyfriend Marcus was Cyan's drummer, and they were both juniors at the high school where Deb was a senior. Andrea and Deb had been close friends since Deb's freshman year, before Matt. That seemed like so long ago, but it really wasn't. Andrea and Deb walked toward the stage, as they were used to the sound check routine by now, people wouldn't start arriving at the club for at least another hour.
Andrea and Deb sat down on the floor and talked for a while, they always had things to talk about, tonight they were reminiscing about the time when both of them were crushing on the guys they were currently seeing. Deb reminded her friend about the phone conversations they used to have, with Andrea replying to everything Deb said with the word Marcus. Andrea started to tease Deb about her rumored "love-affair" with her American History teacher, but stopped when she saw a shadow of fury cross her friends hazel eyes. She started to inquire about what was wrong but as Deb began to twirl a long piece of her straight brown hair around her finger, Andrea knew what was up. Kelly.
Andrea glanced up to the stage and to her dismay saw Kelly hanging all over Matt. Kelly was your typical groupie, the wanna-be always flirting with the guys, usually the ones with girlfriends. But there was more to Deb's hatred than just that. Kelly was the name of Matt's ex-girlfriend, the one that Deb always hated and Matt loved for a long time. The fact that this girl slightly resembled Matt's ex was not exactly helpful. Of course, Matt could sense Deb's uneasiness and re-assured her daily. She knew he loved her, but what if he did start to like Kelly? What if he got mad at her and had to seek revenge? What if he got bored with her and moved on to Kelly? What if....Andrea's frantic tapping and calling of her name brought Deb back to the world of the living. "I know exactly what is going through your mind, Deb. Stop thinking it. You know he thinks she is annoying and shallow, and he would never leave you for her." Deb had heard it so many times before, it was almost part of the sound check ritual. Deb glanced up to the stage and was glad to notice that Kelly had mysteriously disappeared from the scene.
Andrea and Deb continued to chat until people slowly began to filter through the doors of the club. The show went smoothly, as usual, and even though Deb and Andrea were both enjoying themselves, they were grateful when the band began the song they always closed the show with. Deb loved the song but she was ready to leave the place. As the song ended and the band left the stage, Deb and Andrea both made their way to the stage door, more out of habit than duty. The guard recognized them by now and smiled as the girls ducked into the small hallway with dirty white walls and florescent lights. They were silent as they followed the familiar path to the small room the guys went to when they weren't on stage. Deb reached the door first and without hesitating, she turned the doorknob and entered the room. Almost instantly, she was in Matt's embrace. He was sweaty from the performance but she didn't mind, she loved the feeling of just being near him. She made her way towards the couch she normally sat on but Matt stopped her, "Where are you going?" He asked with a small grin forming on his lips. She didn't even notice, "I was just going to go sit down......" He shook his head, smiling, "Oh no you're not! How long has it been since we've spent some time alone?" He didn't even pause for her to answer. "We are going back to my house to be together." Her face radiated happiness as she hugged Andrea goodbye and told her she'd be in touch. Matt led the way into the cool Saturday night air and Deb felt better almost instantly as the night enveloped her.
The short ride back to Matt's house was totally peaceful other than the faint sound of the radio playing. Matt was tired from an exhausting performance and Deb's head was swimming with thoughts about Kelly and Matt and just life in general. She was so caught up in them that she didn't even notice Matt pulling into the driveway and turning the car engine off. He turned and looked at her for a second and then reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She jolted back to reality. She looked at him and smiled a weak smile. He just shook his head and said, "What's with you, you seem out of it tonight. Are you alright?" She nodded and muttered an unconvincing, "Yeah." He said, "Come on we can't sit out here all night, no one else is here." Deb looked confused, "Where are your parents?" Matt looked shocked, "They went to that family reunion, remember? I didn't go because of the show tonight." It was all coming back to her now. She nodded and opened her car door.
Deb walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light-switch, his house was a second home to her. She started to go toward the refrigerator to grab a can of Dr.Pepper for herself while Matt went to take a shower, just like every other Saturday night. It was another one of those things she had begun doing out of routine, she didn't even realize she was doing most of this stuff. Especially tonight, for some reason she couldn't get thoughts about Kelly and Matt out of her mind. She was reaching for the refrigerator door as she felt a hand grip her shoulder. She pivoted around and before she knew it Matt's lips were on hers. He backed her up and began to kiss her deeply but between her thoughts and the surprise he had given her, she was only responding half-heartedly. This did not please him and he took the coldness of her response to him as something she had meant to do. He pulled away from her and the look of sadness on his face was almost too much for her to bear. But suddenly the sadness transformed into rage as he recognized the look in her eyes. It was the look she always had when she was pondering thoughts about him and Kelly. Matt struggled to speak, "Why.......What do you think....Why are you worried about this? Deb, I love you. God...why can't you just trust me?" His eyes burned into hers. "Matt.....I...I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I think this way, it just happens." But he had turned his back on her. He rushed out of the room and she heard a door slam. She stood frozen in the same spot she had been in when he had tried to kiss her. She heard water begin to run in the bathroom and she slumped to the floor. She wanted to cry but she just sat there, her back resting against the refrigerator door, her head lying on her folded arms, her knees against her chest. She just sat, and thought about what she had done, what Matt had done, and what was going to come out of this. She wished she could go home, it would be much easier for her to think about this in her own room. She wanted to go light some vanilla inscence and turn on her favorite CD. But she was stuck there. Not only because she had to stay, she hadn't driven over, but also because something else was forcing her to remain. So she sat-and waited.
The water stopped running and a few minutes later Matt entered the kitchen, he saw Deb balled up on the floor and just stood there gaping for a moment. Tears rose to his eyes as he murmured "what have I done?" He went over to Deb and wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair and soothingly whispered apologies in her ear as she collapsed into sobs. They just sat on the floor and she cried onto his bare shoulder. She didn't see the tears silently rolling down his cheeks until she looked up at him. She brushed them away and stood up, he rose to his feet and pulled her close. She said "I'm sorry" in a barely audible voice. He pulled away from her and said, "We need to talk. Now." He began to walk toward his bedroom and she followed right behind him.
He walked into his room and sauntered over to his stereo. She went to his bed and laid down on it. He put a CD on and sat next to her on the bed. They began talking, reluctantly at first, but they quickly regained the trust they had lost moments before. Deb got the feeling it was going to be a long night so she decided to not get herself into too much trouble. First she called Andrea's house and asked if she could cover for her if her mom called. Upon hearing the tears still present in Deb's voice, Andrea readily agreed, and told Deb she better be ready to tell her what happened the next day. Then Deb called her mother. She explained that the band was going to do an extra set and she planned on just staying over at Andrea's house. Her mother believed her and was too tired to question her daughter. She had always trusted Deb, because she had no reason not to. After all that was set, she and Matt went back to their conversation. Deb explained to Matt that she couldn't help how she was feeling and she was really sorry that this had to happen. Then Matt told Deb that he had some very important things to share with her. He wanted to tell her some things that he had never told anyone. And he wanted to make sure no one else would find out this stuff, at least not until he was prepared to tell them.
He began to tell her about the band. He was thinking about getting rid of Marcus. Deb knew why right away. The rest of the guys were all planning on going to college together, beginning next year. They had all gotten accepted into colleges near Deb's, about 150 miles to the South of where they lived now. They couldn't afford to wait any longer to go to college, it took a lot for Matt to convince them to wait this long. Matt had waited two years along with the bass player and the other guitarist had graduated last year. Matt had somehow gotten them to wait for Deb, probably because he planned on waiting for her no matter what. Deb knew that another year would be too much. Matt looked down as he explained this to Deb, "Marcus is great, he's by far the best drummer we have ever had, but another year is like suicide. I just can't think of any other answer to this problem."
Deb consoled him and assured him that she would be behind him one hundred percent no matter what happened. He looked at her and made her promise him she wouldn't tell Andrea, or Marcus. She promised him and they got off of that subject. They spoke about the Kelly situation a little more and Deb began to feel a lot better about it. She totally regretted what had happened earlier but it was in a way a blessing because she and Matt were having the long talks she had always loved about their relationship. After another hour or so of talking, Deb was beginning to drift off. Matt told her he loved her again and kissed her good-night. He turned off his bedroom light and they held each other as they both fell into a peaceful sleep.
Deb was the first one to awaken the next morning and she carefully removed her body from Matt's warm grasp. She wandered into the bathroom and washed her face. She then called Andrea's house and asked if her mom had called. Andrea told her yes and that her mom was expecting her home in an hour. Deb thanked Andrea and promised to call her later. She hung up the phone debating about whether or not she should wake up Matt. She decided it was the least she could do and went back into his bedroom. Looking at Matt, laying there completely quiet and she realized what she had nearly lost the night before. She was not only in love with him, but she felt like he was the other half of her. She wanted to lay back down and feel the safety of his loving grip again, but she couldn't. She kneeled down beside him and leaned over him on the bed and gently kissed his cheek. His eyelids fluttered and when he focused on what had waked him he smiled a smile of genuine ecstasy. He yawned and said, "Well good morning beautiful." and she said, "Same to you." He put his hand under her chin and leaned up and kissed her sweetly. When they finally separated she said, "I have to go, my mom is expecting me home." He pretended to pout but got totally out of the bed and hugged her again. "I loved being here with you last night, I'm going to have trouble getting to sleep tonight without you beside me." Matt squeezed her as he said these words and she just smiled, even though he couldn't see her face, he knew what she was doing. He always knew. After a while of just standing with one another, they relocated to the kitchen to get some breakfast. By the time they finished cooking and eating, it was nearly time for Deb to be home.
Matt went back into his bedroom and returned only a few seconds later. Deb was relieved to notice that he had gotten dressed, she didn't want to have to answer any more than she had to and she knew her mother would bombard her with questions the second she walked in the door. Why did Matt bring you home? How late where you up last night? When is that boy going to learn how to shave? It was the same thing every time she got back from spending time with him. They got into Matt's car and within a few minutes he was in her driveway. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and told him she'd call him if she got a chance. She was about to close the door when he called her name. She peeked back in the car and he said, "I love you." She said, "I love you too." and shut the door as he blew her a kiss. She unlocked the door and stepped into the house. It was unusually quiet. But the silence was shattered when Deb's cat ran into the living room and meowed loudly. She reached down to pet the cat as she called for her mother. There was no answer and she breathed a sigh of relief as she checked the kitchen counter. There was a note saying she had gone to church and out to lunch with a friend and she'd be home later. Deb was very relieved. She decided to take a quick shower before phoning Andrea.
Fifteen minutes later Deb was in her bedroom, calling Andrea's house. Andrea answered breathlessly on the third ring and explained that no one was home and she had just finished washing the car. "Well, bring that sparkling thing over here so we can talk." Andrea pulled into Deb's driveway and ran up to the door within minutes. Deb told Andrea all about the misunderstanding between her and Matt and all about falling asleep in his arms. As it turns out, Deb told Andrea everything but what she had promised Matt she wouldn't tell. Andrea was sad that all this had to happen to her friend but also happy that she had gotten such a great opportunity to bond with Matt. But Andrea sensed Deb was keeping something from her. When she questioned about it, Deb denied keeping anything from her friend. Andrea could really tell then, she knew Deb too well and she noticed all the little things she did while lying, like scratching her nose involuntarily and looking past her instead of at her while speaking. Andrea began to ask all kinds of things, everything from "Did you sleep with him?" to "Did he propose to you?" to "Did he tell you that he's gay?" Deb tried to act indifferent to all the questions but Andrea would not let it go. Then the trouble started.
Andrea began to ask Deb things like "Did he decide not to go to college?" By picking up on Deb's little signals she knew she was on the right track. When she finally asked,"Did he decide not to wait for college anymore?" Deb looked down and Andrea knew. She leaned over and hugged Deb, thinking Matt was going to move south in time to start the new semester, but then Andrea let go and leaned back. She looked coldly at Deb, "Does this have anything to do with Marcus?" Deb remained mute and Andrea went crazy. "You mean they aren't going to wait for Marcus? They HAVE to, he's their drummer, what will they do without him? I can't believe you were going to keep that from me. I thought I was your best friend!" Andrea ran out of the room and before Deb could run after her she heard the front door slam and the car peel out of the driveway. Deb started crying hysterically and couldn't stop. She hadn't even told her. How had she known? She felt terrible, not only because Andrea was furious at her but also because she felt she had broken Matt's trust in her. As soon as she calmed herself down enough to speak, she dialed Matt's phone number. He answered and before she could even begin her story he said, "The band is here for practice, Andrea is on her way here with Marcus, why don't you come over?" She lied and said,"Uh, I can't, I have to help my mom in a few minutes." He could hear something in her voice but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. He asked if she was alright and she told him yeah and to call her later. They exchanged I love you's and as soon as she hung up the phone she burst into tears again.
She cried so much that she eventually fell asleep. She was still sleeping when her mother got home, but instead of waking her up to interrogate her, she just covered her up and let her sleep. When she woke, she heard the phone ringing. She picked it up and said "Hello?" while yawning. "Deb?" It was Matt. "Yes sweetie?" "How could you do this to me?" She started to ask what but Matt kept going. "I asked you not to tell her. But you didn't listen you went and told her and she told Marcus. Now I'm screwed. He's mad at me, the other guys are mad at me and it's all because of your big mouth. i thought I could trust you, but I guess I was wrong. I can't be in a relationship this intense with a person who I can't confide in. Good-bye Debra." she started to tell him to wait but stopped when she was deafened by the dail tone. She laid the phone down and once again began crying. It was her only defense. Her mother came in and hugged her until the sobs began to ease. She said,"Do you want to talk about it?" Deb shook her head and her mother nodded, "Well if you change your mind I'm here to listen." She squeezed Deb again and got up and left the room.
Deb felt helpless, one of her best freinds was mad at her, her boyfriend had just broken up with her. She didn't know what to do. She decided to try to call Andrea's house. Her mom told Deb that she was at the mall with some Kelly girl. Deb's heart sunk. Kelly. She never thought Andrea would sink so low. She thought she knew her better than that. But she was happy that at least it wasn't Matt that was out with her.
She decided to try her luck at talking to Matt. She dialed his phone number with shaking hands and mixed emotions. Half of her wanted him to answer and half wanted to get the machine. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. A male voice answered in a monotonous tone. She said, "Matt?" in a quivering voice and he asked who it was. She almost started crying because he didn't recognize her voice but when she heard the phone drop to a hard surface she realized it was his dad who had answered. Matt picked up the phone in his bedroom and as the other phone was returned to its cradle Deb heard "their song" playing in the background. Matt finally said, "Is anyone there?" and Deb's voice broke as she said, "Matt, it's me." He drew in a breath sharply and almost tried to hang up but he could tell it would be better if he actually listened.
He just-sat there and said, "I'm listening." she took a deep breath and began. She tried to sound like she had it all together instead of the mess that she actually was, but as she sat there, trying to think of what to say, Matt got a terrible thought. He imagined her sitting on her bed, mascara trails down her cheeks, while shaking. She was about to speak when he blurted, "Can I come over?" She kind of whimpered, "Uh-huh." and he said, "I'll be there in five minutes." She walked out to the kitchen where her mother was making dinner and announced in a small voice, "Matt's on his way over." Her mother started to scold her for inviting him over without asking but when she turned and saw the look of hurt on her daughter's face she decided to let it go. Matt got there and her mom didn't even object when Deb led him to her bedroom and closed the door. For some reason her mother knew they were just going to be talking.
He sat across from her and tried to look into her eyes, but she was looking down to her hands. She began with a trembling voice, but it gained strength after she got started. She hoped he would hear her out. She said, "Matt, I know you think you can't trust me anymore, but you need to understand something. I didn't say a word to Andrea about Marcus being out of the band. She came over and we talked, but I didn't tell her anything about that. I swear." She looked up at him, silently pleading he'd believe her. He quietly asked, "Well then, how did she know?" She was getting somewhere with him."She asked if I was keeping something from her. Of course I told her I wasn't, because I knew I had promised you I wouldn't tell her about that. But she could see right through me, you know as well as I do that I suck at lying to people especially one's that I know well. She guessed it all. I didn't even tell her if she was right. She just assumed that she was and she got up and ran to her car. I haven't talked to her since. Matt, I love you. I can't lose you." She looked up at him and for what seemed like the hundredth time that day she had tears on her cheeks. He wanted to reach out to her, to hold her and tell her it was okay, that he loved her and he couldn't bear to lose he either. But something was stopping him. He realized what it was. She was begging him without speaking, asking for forgiveness. But he knew what he had to do. "Deb, I said some horrible things earlier. I'm so sorry I said them, I can't even put it into words. I didn't mean them, I was just furious, not only at you, at everything and everyone. Are you sure you can forgive me?" She almost laughed. She wanted to yell at him she wanted to say, 'Matt, I love you for God's sake, of course I can forgive you. What are you some kind of an idiot?' But she opted for a gentler approach, "Matt, I love you, more than I've ever loved anyone, possibly more than I ever will love anyone. If I didn't want you back, I never would have called you." He smiled happily. He leaned over and hugged her tightly. They just sat there, both wishing what had happened earlier never had. And both hoping that it would never happen again.
Deb decided to tell him about Andrea. She just put it bluntly. "Andrea is at the mall with Kelly." She said, but her words were muffled by his chest. He pulled away from her and with a confused expression on his face he said, "Did you just tell me Andrea and Kelly are at the mall together?" She nodded stiffly and he said, "Why would Andrea do something like that to you, if she is mad about Marcus shouldn't she be mad at me?" But Deb shook her head and quickly explained, "She got mad at me for keeping this from her." "Ohhhh.." He nodded. He understood. He kissed her forehead softly and then the tip of her nose. Then he put his mouth on hers and gave her a kiss that tingled all the way to her toes. She kissed him back and then pulled away, "As much as I hate to do this, I have to stop you, but only because my mother is in the kitchen and if she walks in here and sees us kissing, I'm pretty much grounded." He smiled sympathetically and teasingly leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Then let's go back to my house, no one is home there and even if they walked in on us they wouldn't care." But he knew her answer to that before she even began to speak. "Actually, I'd love to but I need to try to work this out between me and Andrea. But I'll take a rain check, how's that sound?" Amazed he said, "Great, but I'll hold you to that!" He grabbed her hands and squeezed them gently "I love you so much Deb." He released her hands and kissed the top of her head before leaving the room. She heard him tell her mom good„bye and she picked up the phone and dialed Andrea's number. She let it ring five times and she was about to hang up when Andrea answered. Deb couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Andrea's normally smooth confident voice was breaking and the tears in her voice were not being hid well at all. Deb forgot all their problems and simply said, "What's up?" Andrea croaked, "He broke up with me." Deb's heart hit the floor. This was a terrible day for any type of relationship. Her next question was "why?" Andrea's reply was "Because I'm an insensitive witch that's why. He was practically in tears because of what I
told him and I was so worried about you hating me that I said something totally mean like
'Get over it, it's just a band, I'm losing my best friend here.' and he got mad, I regret
even telling him now. Not only because of that but I know I ruined you and Matt's relationship too." Deb was glad to be able to give her some good news, "Well Matt and I got it all worked out. He left a little bit ago, don't worry about us. Let's work on you and
Marcus here. What exactly did he say to you?" Andrea started slowly,"He said, 'If you can't
respect my feelings, and obviously you can't, I can't be with you anymore.' then he hung up on me. I haven't talked to him since then and that was about forty five minutes ago."
Deb knew what she had to do. She said, "Let me call you back." and hung up before Andrea could argue.
Deb looked up Marcus' number and dialed slowly. She was pretty sure as soon as Marcus heard the situation he would understand, at least about Andrea, the scar of finding out he might possibly be out of the band would take longer to heal. As soon as Marcus got on the phone she explained everything. When she was finished there was a pause and then Marcus spoke, "Did Andrea put you up to this?" Deb thought for a moment and then said, "I did it for her, but not because she asked me to." There was another short pause. Marcus spoke reluctantly, "Andrea and I need some time apart, I don't think she realizes this, but some space will help us." Deb saddened. She knew how much Andrea liked Marcus. And how much this would hurt her. But Deb also knew it was probably for the best. Suddenly, Deb's thoughts were broken by Marcus' soft voice, "Are you still there Deb?" Deb nodded, but then realized he couldn't see her, "Yeah, I'm here, have you decided when you're going to tell her?" He answered quickly, almost too quickly, "Yeah, I'm gonna call her in a little bit." Deb was stunned, "You're going to tell her over the phone?" Marcus seemed startled, "Uh, Yeah, what else would I do?" "What else would you do? What do you mean what else would you do?!? You need to tell her this in person. God where is your compassion?" Deb's voice was shrill with emotion, she was used to protecting Andrea by now. Marcus wasn't affected by Deb's concern, "I can't do it in person. Are you crazy? She'll freak out on me, that is the last thing I need right now." Deb muttered, 'selfish jerk' under her breath before saying, "What-ever Marcus, look I gotta go. Try to be nice to Andrea, she's a bit worked up right now." Marcus mumbled bye and hung up the phone.
Deb didn't know wheter to tell her about Marcus' call or not. She knew if she called her and tried to act as if everything was fine that it would backfire on her, Andrea could always tell when something was up with Deb. Deb decided not to call her and to go find something to eat. She went out into the kitchen and asked her mother what she could eat. Her mom said that dinner would be ready soon, so Deb decided just to get something to drink. She knew her mother would want details, but Deb still didn't feel like talking. She started back to her room but her mother stopped her. "Debra, I want you to tell me what's wrong with you." Deb just looked at her and didn't say a word. Then her mother startled her with the bluntness of her questioning, "Honey, are you pregnant?" Deb was appalled, "Mother! How dare you ask me such a question." Her mother was quick to apologize. Deb promised her that she would talk to her about her problem when she felt the time was right and then she went back into her bedroom.
She sat in her room until her mother called her out to dinner. They stayed away from the subject they had spoken about in the kitchen earlier. Deb pleasantly surprised her mother by offering to do the dishes. Deb's mom gladly accepted the offer and disappeared into the basement.
As if on cue, the phone rang as soon as her mother was out of sight. Deb panicked, she didn't have a clue about what she was going to say to Andrea. She answered the phone and Matt instantly questioned what was wrong. He had detected the troubled tone of her voice and was worried about her. Relieved, Deb said, "I thought you were going to be Andrea." Now Matt was really baffled, "Uh, why wouldn't you want to talk to Andrea? She is your best friend. Is she still mad at you?" As Deb began to wash the dishes, she explained to Matt what had happened between Andrea and Marcus and she told him about the conversation she had with Marcus. When she was done Matt asked, "Didn't you try to warn Andrea about Marcus when he started to act interested in her?" Deb had forgotten about that, "Yeah.....I did. But you know how she is, she thought she could change him. For a while there I thought she did." They got off of that subject and talked for a while more. Deb noticed Matt was being unnaturally quiet. She was going to just let it go, but Matt suddenly said, "Deb, there was something else I was going to tell you last night." Deb had no idea what to expect. Matt took a deep breath before continuing on, "Marcus has been cheating on Andrea with Kelly." That was it. He said nothing else. There was a catch in Deb's throat. She coughed and then whispered, "How long?" Matt sighed. "A couple months at least." Deb almost started crying. Swallowing the tears cluttering her throat, she asked Matt if he thought Andrea needed to know that. Matt was unsure and he and Deb talked about it for a long time. By this time, Deb had long since been finished with the dishes and had relocated to her bedroom. She put on a CD that made her happy and continued to contemplate what to do about Andrea, her other line beeped and she nearly jumped off her bed. She told Matt to hold on and clicked over to find a very un-stable Andrea. Deb told her to hold on and clicked back to Matt. She told him she probably wouldn't be able to call him back so he told her he loved her and to come over after school the next day. She took a deep breath and clicked back to Andrea.
It was pretty obvious that Andrea had spoken to Marcus. Deb just sat there and let her cry for about ten minutes. When the sobs finally subsided, Andrea tried to explain what had happened. Her voice was choppy and she stopped often to cough. She sounded really terrible. She finally got out that Marcus thought they needed some time apart, and that he really didn't care what she thought about any of this. Deb tried to comfort her, but couldn't seem to find the right words to say. At about 11:30 Andrea's mother told her to get off of the phone and go to bed. Deb told her to sleep well and she would pick her up in the morning just like usual. Upon hanging up the phone, Deb began to worry. Andrea wasn't good at dealing with loss, or sadness for that matter. A few years before, she had been suicidal. Deb often worried that she'd get those suicidal tendencies back and there would be no one there to stop her. Deb was so worried that she couldn't get to sleep until 3:30 AM and she was definitely not ready to get up when her alarm began to buzz at 5:45 AM. When she finally drug herself out of bed at six, she was rushing around to get ready for school. She was a bit late to get to Andrea's house but she figured Andrea would rush out the front door before she even stopped the car completely. She was right. Andrea hopped in the car and said cheerily, "You're late!" Deb smiled and said, "I got to sleep later than usual." Andrea looked at her accusingly, "Another late night with Matt?" Deb giggled. "Nooooo......I just couldn't get to sleep." They continued to chat until they pulled into the high school parking lot.
They walked into the school and began the stroll they took through the halls every morning. Deb was praying that Andrea would remain calm and composed. Unfortunately, Deb and Andrea passed Marcus in the hallway. This might not have been so bad if it had been simply Marcus, by himself. But Marcus seemed to waste no time in doing anything so Kelly was attached to Marcus just like a vacuum cleaner attachment. It really sucked for Andrea. The tears welled up in her eyes and it might have been okay, except Kelly had to pick that exact moment to lean over and kiss Marcus. It figures that no teachers were around to get them into trouble. Andrea lost it. She began to scream at him and she tried to run up to him to hit him, but Deb grabbed her and pulled her into the bathroom. Andrea lost all saneness and sobbed uncontrollably. It was utterly terrible. The tardy bell had rung and Andrea was still crying in the bathroom. Deb had absolutely no clue how to handle this. Suddenly the door was pushed open. Deb and Andrea looked up and much to their dismay in walked Kelly. If she would've had any tact at all, she would've turned around and left. But, she didn't have tact so she came in anyway. She looked at Andrea and said, "Still crying like a little baby over Marcus? Aw, that's too bad. I'm really sorry to have done this to you, but I guess he just liked me better." Andrea was speechless. Kelly continued on, "I can't believe you didn't know about us, I mean, we didn't even try to hide our relationship. And, for two and a half months. You must be blind. Well anyway, I just thought I'd apologize. I'll see you later." It was all Deb could do not to stand up and slap her across the face. Even if Andrea didn't know, Deb knew exactly why Marcus wanted Kelly. Andrea had something that Kelly didn't. Morals. It was really sad. Deb finally helped Andrea up and took her into the office. She suggested that they call her mother and have her come get Andrea and take her home. Deb waited in the office until Andrea's mom got there and then told Andrea to go home and get some rest. Before they left, Deb told Andrea's mom a little about what had happened and expressed her concern about Andrea's mentality. Andrea's mother reassured her and thanked her before leaving the school.
Deb went through the rest of the day worrying about Andrea and nearly forgot to go to Matt's house after school. Fortunately, she remembered before she drove all hte way to her own house. She pulled into his driveway relieved to see that no one else but him was home. She walked into the garage and then into the kitchen she could hear him in the basement, playing his guitar. 'He's probably working on a new song' she thought as she tiptoed down the steps. She was sucessful in trying to sneak up on him and when she covered his eyes with her hands he gasped. She said, "Guess who." and he relaxed, "Oh, I don't know.....maybe... Deb??" She removed her hands and he stood up and kissed her softly. She asked, "What are you working on?" and he grinned happily and replied, "A song for you." She begged him to sing it to her, but he was stern in refusing, "Not until I'm done." Deb began pouting, then suddenly, remembering Andrea she dashed to the phone. Before Matt could question her, Deb was saying, "May I please speak to Andrea?" into the phone. Matt sat down as Andrea's mother said, "She just got to sleep Deb, I'll have her call you when she wakes up. Where are you?" Deb said, "Well, I'm at Matt's house now, but I'll just try back when I go home." Her mother agreed and they hung up.
Deb told Matt about Andrea and he was very concerned. Some of his friends had committed suicide and he knew that this would be enough to push anyone over the edge. But he also knew that Andrea was a strong person and he hoped, for everyone's sake, that she would pull through this. Deb was very worried and by the time she was finished telling Matt everything, she was crying. He pulled her close to him and as he held her, he promised her everything would be okay. Deb wasn't so sure, but she was sure that Matt was probably tired of Deb using him as a shoulder to cry on, so she tried to make herself stop crying. eventually, she felt a little better, so she pulled away from him. He winked at her and said, "Feel better?" she smiled at him and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "I'm surprised I'm not out of tears yet, seeing as how much I've cried in the past two days." Matt grinned and reached for his guitar. He began to sing 'Out of tears' by the Rolling Stones. Deb laughed, but only because he was way out of tune, and he sounded like a cowboy. He stopped and said, "Oh no! you're crying again!" This time he wiped the tears from her cheeks and then he kissed her. Remembering her rain check she'd promised him the day before, she didn't stop him. His kisses moved to her neck, but they were interuppted by the phone. Matt got up and answered it then handed it to Deb. It was Andrea, but she couldn't tell until she began to talk about Marcus. Obviously, Matt hadn't realized it was her either, because he went back to kissing Deb's neck. Deb tried to get him to quit but he wouldn't listen. Andrea was calling Deb's name, but Deb was preoccupied with getting Matt to stop. Annoyed, Andrea said, "Do you want to call me back?" Deb pointedly said, "No Andrea." Matt got the point. He settled for kissing the tips of her fingers. Deb tried hard to ignore Matt and listen to Andrea. Andrea seemed to be very angry. Not only at Marcus for cheating on her, and breaking up with her, but also at herself for not listening to Deb when she first tried to warn her about Marcus, and for allowing herself to try to get even with Deb by going to the mall with Kelly. As Andrea babbled about what she would do to Kelly and Marcus if she got her hands on them, Deb made a realization. She needed to be with her best friend. Andrea needed her right now. She cut Andrea off and asked if she was allowed to have people over. Andrea said, "Well, usually I'm not supposed to have people over on school nights, but my mom might understand if you want to spend the night or something. Hold on let me go ask her." Andrea was back within seconds. "She said you can come over whenever you want to." The barely contained bliss in Andrea's voice made Deb feel better instantly. She knew she was doing the right thing. Deb told Andrea she'd be over as soon as she finished talking to Matt and went home to get her stuff. Andrea agreed and they hung up.
it isnt finished yet and im open to suggestions and constructive critisism, just e-mail me.
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