Georgianna
“Pass the potatoes,” my mother requested.
“Here you go,” I said cheerily, handing her the dish. She took it with a tight smile and our dinner went back to its state of silence. I attempted to smile at my dad across the table but he avoided looking at me, watching the TV over the half-wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. “How was your day, Dad?”
He shrugged. “A day.” I waited for more but that was it. For a week it had been like this - my parents acknowledging my existence only when necessary. It was getting wearing but it was my own fault. They’d come to grips with it eventually, even if they never liked it. I had wanted to make many a sarcastic remark that week, but I had held back...and was pretty damn proud of myself.
Soon (but not soon enough), dinner ended. The three of us usually hung out for a bit and watched Jeopardy together (a family tradition’s a family tradition), but I had learned the hard way a few days ago that that was really uncomfortable. I decided instead to take a bike ride. It was a cool, clear night and I paid little attention to where I was headed. As miserable as things were with my parents, I had few regrets about my decision. The interview I’d had at Central Florida the day before had gone really well - it looked like there’d be no problem getting in for fall, even though it was so late. It was a good school and I hoped that eventually I’d feel as at home there as I had at Ball State.
Before I knew it I was at the 7-Eleven. A Slurpee sounded great so I parked the bike and headed in. As I walked toward the back of the store I felt a jab in my arm and turned to see Gregg, one of my friends from high school. I’d heard he was staying out in Pennsylvania (where he was attending Penn State), for the summer so it was a shock to see him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as we hugged.
“Hanging out at 7-Eleven hoping you’d show up on your bike.”
I gave him a look. “Thank you. I thought you were staying in PA this summer?”
“Home for a week to visit.”
“Cool. So we’re gonna get together, right?”
He nodded. “Of course. I saw Howie yesterday, actually. I mentioned something about it then. You still talk to him, I’m assuming?”
I felt my face start to redden, as always. “Yeah, we talk.”
“Georgianna...” Gregg cocked an eyebrow. “What don’t I know?”
“I don’t know, what don’t you know?” I was sure I was blushing now.
He grinned. “Well I’ll be...and here I was thinking he was back with Jessica,” he mused. I frowned. Why on earth would he even mention Jessica?
“Why would you think that?”
“That’s who I saw him with yesterday, at the mall.”
“With Jessica?” I repeated. “I didn’t even know she was home.”
“Maybe he just ran into her there, I don’t know.” He held up the small bag of purchases. “I gotta get back, Mom needs these for a late dinner. Talk to you later?”
I smiled. “For sure, call me.”
“Or you me.” He ruffled my hair as he passed. I got my Slurpee and paid, all the while thinking about what Gregg had said. Jessica? Why hadn’t he mentioned Jessica to me? Maybe it was just like Gregg said, he had just run into her. He had always talked to me about her when they were together. It didn’t seem very likely that he wouldn’t mention her now. I hadn’t talked to him yet that day so I decided to bike over to his house. Only one car was in the driveway but it was his, so I headed for the front door and knocked.
Howie
The night couldn’t have gone better had I planned it...more. Everyone in my family was gone for the night. The dinner I made for Jessica turned out perfectly. I was in a wonderful mood and so was she. We had rented Wayne’s World and so after dinner we settled in on the couch and popped it in. It was a good movie and all but Jessie was looking gorgeous, so as she lay against me on the couch I kept touching her lightly. She ignored me until about halfway through the film, when she finally flipped over and grinned at me.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Maybe.”
“Only maybe?” She started to turn back over but I held her there, dropping a quick kiss on her lips.
“Quite possibly?” I offered. She looked skeptical.
“It’s either yes or no, sweetheart,” she told me. I pondered it.
“Well then yes, I suppose,” I replied and kissed her again, longer this time. She scooted upwards some so that we were face to face and I took her face in my hands. Soon enough my hands drifted lower, as did hers, and it wasn’t long until we were both shirtless. She had her hands on my belt when we heard a knock at the door. She pulled away from lips but I pulled her back to me. She granted me another tiny kiss then looked at me.
“Howard, someone’s at the door.”
“I know,” I murmured, running my hands down her arms and kissing her neck.
“Honey, you should probably get that.”
“Why?” I almost whined, frowning at her. She kissed me.
“Because then whoever it is will stop knocking and then we won’t be interrupted again.” She gave me a hopeful smile and I sighed, knowing she was right. Grabbing my shirt and throwing it on I headed for the door. Throwing it open I nearly had a heart attack.
“Hi!” Georgie greeted cheerily. I quickly stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked casually.
“Not much, just avoiding the parents and taking a bike ride. What are you up to?”
I shrugged. “Just resting,” I lied, throwing in a fake stretch for good measure. She nodded.
“Getting ready for tomorrow?” she guessed, referring to my meeting with Mr. Pearlman.
‘Exactly, thank you!’ I thought. “Yeah, I decided to just relax tonight and get a good night’s sleep.”
“Ah, OK, I’ll leave you alone then. Oh, hey, I saw Gregg just now at 7-Eleven.”
“Oh yeah?” I had completely forgotten about it, but as soon as she said his name I remembered that Gregg had seen me with Jessica the day before. ‘Shit, shit, shit...’ my mind muttered.
“Yeah...he mentioned he saw you at the mall yesterday with Jessica. I didn’t know she was back.”
“Yeah, it was weird, I just sort of ran into her,” I lied again, although it was true...about a month or so ago. George smiled.
“How is she?”
“Um, she seemed OK.”
Georgie nodded. “Good. Well, I’ll let you get back to resting.” She put her arms around me. “Good luck tomorrow. Call me and tell me how it goes!”
I squeezed her back. “I will.” We parted and just stood there momentarily. I kissed her quickly for good measure, which made her smile, and I waved as she rode away. This was getting ridiculous. I felt my guilt knot building in my stomach as I headed back in the house. Jessie was still on the couch, a blanket tucked around her. She smiled when she saw me.
“Who was it?”
“George. She was on a bike ride and stopped by to say hi.” I laid down again next to her and put my arms around her, no longer really in the mood to do anything. She cuddled closer but when she realized I wasn’t exactly responding she gave me a curious glance.
“You all right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, putting on a smile. She smiled back cautiously, not believing me but not wanting to argue. I averted my gaze to the TV and soon she did too. This was getting complicated, something I never counted on. Jessie was my girlfriend, Georgie was staying here, everything was supposed to be cut and dry. I was supposed to be happy.
So why wasn’t I?
Chapter 11
