by Ema Bancroft
"Uh... hello..." I said, I'm not sure what to do. My mind ran over the lies that Mabel and I had agreed to. We were supposed to know each other, but not very well... but now Elijah had said she was my girlfriend.
Shit! I glanced around a nearby table, reconsidering my proposal to crawl into a ball. Would anyone notice? Where was there a fire alarm when you needed it?
My eyes flashed at the candles on the table, wondering how one could strike nearly twenty feet of velvet curtains at the entrance to the roof room.
Okay. There's probably no indifferent way to do that.
So instead, I turned my frightened eyes to Mabel, praying that she would play along.
"Are you Tim's girlfriend? " Jill asked, her eyes looking at Mabel's form with appreciation.
Mabel had just taken a sip of her martini and had choked on Jill's words. Elijah interrupted, drawing attention to himself. "We told Jill,"he said. "She knows we need to keep your relationship undercover."
"Wrap"? Mabel repeated, still choking on her drink.
Raul folded his arms across his face, his gaze measured as he slid from Mabel to me. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"Who is whose girlfriend? "Of course, Roland chose that moment to join the group... because he didn't have enough to deal with."
"Mabel is Tim's girlfriend,"Ethan told him. Roland�s eyes widened, but Ethan simply shrugged his shoulders and turned to watch the show.
I couldn't read Raul's expression. Or he was angry because I hadn't mentioned that Mabel was my girlfriend, and confused that I had introduced Mabel to him in the first place...
or thought I wanted a threesome. His eyes turned to Mabel, running over her body, and he bit his lip as if thinking about it.
God, what a mess.
But I didn't see any way out. The most immediate problem was getting rid of Jill Cox. I stretched out and threw my arm casually over Mabel's shoulders, avoiding Raul's scrutiny.
"Okay... honey,"I said with a nod. "Jill's cool. You won't tell anyone, will you? "I asked Jill precisely."
Jill's eyes narrowed, then a small smile lifted her lips. She turned to Elijah. "Well, maybe I need some incentive to keep quiet,"she said provocatively, putting a finger in his chest.
Elijah stiffened, so just looking my way through, he frowned disinterestedly at Jill.
"Well," he said,"maybe if you stay quiet, no one will find out about that extra little thing you don't want anyone to know.
"His eyes turned to her chest for a moment. I had no idea what he was talking about, but Jill's mouth opened when her face blushed.
"You wouldn't! " she snarled. I was vaguely aware of the eyes around me snapping from side to side as if they were watching a tennis game.
Elijah bowed, raising an arrogant eyebrow. "Try me."
They glanced at each other for a few moments, until the revealing click of a camera phone made them straighten up and smile on their faces.
"Better not,"hissed Jill in a tight gag.
"I have no reason to... as long as you keep your mouth shut,"Elijah replied with a fake smile.
Jill inhaled heavily a few times, her eye moving slightly, but her mouth still curled upward for the cameras.
"Good,"she finally snorted. She looked around the group once more before slipping away, her head held high. I saw her approaching J. J. Jones, taking his attention away from Terri's friend. His eyes widened as she slid her arm through his.
The poor guy didn't stand a chance.
I turned around to find every eye of our small group looking at me expectantly.
"What? " I shrugged my shoulders, pulling my arm out of Mabel's shoulder. I stared at Raul, whose eyes had taken a glassy look. "Friend. I know what you're thinking. Sooo's not gonna happen."
Raul came out of it, raising an eyebrow. "Well, what was that all about, then? " he asked before turning to Mabel. "And why do you come up to me when you already have a boyfriend?"
Mabel grabbed his arm. "I don't have a boyfriend,"she said quickly. I elbowed her and she said,"I mean, we used to... go out... but... we split up? "She said it more as a question than a statement, lifting her shoulders nervously."
"Tim's still hanging on to her,"Elijah offered her help.
I fought to keep my eyes from turning. Was it really... very difficult?
"That's right! "Mabel came in. "Tim's not ready to let me go. "She turned to me, painting with an understanding look. What we had... was unbelievable... but it's over, Tim. You have to get on with your life.
"Dude, that's tough,"Ethan whispered to Roland. I thought I heard Elijah drown a little bit.
No. Ojo. Rolling.
I grit my teeth. "But... baby,"I replied, trying a tone of plea,"You can't say that."
"You know it doesn't work between us,"Mabel continued, warming up her role as she put one hand on my shoulder. "It's time to move on."
"How long were you together? " Roland asked, his arms folded across his chest as his narrow eyes focused on me.
"A year,"I answered quickly.
"Six months,"said Mabel at the same time.
Shit!
"Well, actually, we were together for about six months,"I clarified.
Mabel nodded. "Because there was a time in Vegas..."
I swallowed it, feeling myself sliding down a deep, slimy pit of despair. Whoever told lies tended to underestimate things. It was under a fucking avalanche.
"Yes," I added,"so if you count that once - and the time we broke up last summer..."?
"Besides that thing at my sister's wedding..."
"... and we split up a couple of times and got back together..."?
"... and after the last time, we didn't sleep together for a while..." I couldn't keep the shocked expression on my face when Mabel added that little thing.
Elijah drowned again. Ass
"So,"I said with a deep breath,"yeah... I guess Mabel's right. Technically, it was about six months.
No one spoke for a moment. The silence grew bigger and I felt confident that at any moment someone would call us for our incredibly ridiculous lies.
Instead, Elijah approached me and clapped his shoulder. "Friend. No girl is worth this. Come on, come on, let's go. I'll buy you a drink."
"That's right,"agreed Raul, coming to my other side. "We'll get drunk and you'll forget about her."
"Shots fired everywhere,"Ethan called the waiter. Even Roland nodded sympathetically.
"But... but..." Mabel muttered. I turned around to look at her pleading face and turned Raul away from my sight.
"Rocket,"I said,"if you want to go out with Mabel, it's okay."
"No way, man,"he protested. " Brothers before you whore... I would never do that to you"?
I looked over his shoulder. Mabel changed her weight on foot as if she was about to cry. After everything she'd done for me, I had to help her.
"Seriously,"I said, staring him in the eye. "Mabel is amazing and she really likes you. She and I... we're done. I just want her to be happy.
Raul glanced waveringly over his shoulder. Mabel smiled weakly. "Are you sure, buddy?"
I nodded firmly. "Yeah. Seriously. We're good. Just... just treat her right, okay?"
Raul examined me carefully, obviously weighing my words. Finally, he nodded once, slapping my shoulder. "Thank you, my friend. It's pretty cool."
"Yes, it is,"I agreed. "Go on. " I pushed him gently and he came up to Mabel, bending over to say something in her ear. She smiled at him and he put an arm on her shoulders before they walked away. Mabel looked back, shouting a "thank you,"and I smiled and nodded in reply.
"You all right, buddy? " Ethan asked, giving me a chance.
"Yes. It's okay,"I said with a snort, lifting the glass to take a sip. He burned my mouth and I struggled not to spit it out. I turned around, leaning on the bar next to the other guys. Elijah raised a forehead against me before lifting his shot glass.
"Fuck women! " he exclaimed, his lips shaking.
I didn't kick him. I thought I
should get points for that.
Instead, I lifted my cup, echoing the sentiment of others before swallowing the burning liquid in an agonizing swallow.
E. C.
"So, what was all that Jill crap? " Ethan asked once we took the pictures. I winked at the burn before I answered.
"What do you mean?"
"What you said about the little extra she doesn't want anyone to know."
"Oh, that,"I laughed, feeling Daisy's eyes on me. "I really shouldn't say anything."
"Oh, come on,"Roland said. "You can't say something like that and not tell us."
"I don't know,"I covered myself. "If she finds out I told you, it could cause us a lot of trouble."
"Dude," said Ethan with reproach,"you know we won't say anything."
I asked the waiter to bring me a beer, waiting until I had climbed to the top and had a drink before answering.
"Okay, look,"I said, leaning toward them and lowering my voice,"You have to swear it doesn't go beyond this. " I waited for everyone to nod before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "It's her boobs. " I huddled a little, saying the word in front of Daisy, but I couldn't really call them otherwise. The boys would have thought I'd lost my mind if I called them breasts.
Ethan looked at her. "What about them? They look pretty perfect to me.
"They are,"I said boastfully, taking another sip of my beer,"at least two of them are.
In unison, Ethan, Roland, and Daisy looked over Jill's shoulders, staring blankly at their faces as they tried to decipher my words. It was Daisy who found out first.
"No way,"she said.
I smiled and had another drink.
"What? " Ethan asked, still confused. "I don't understand."
Daisy looked at Jill before she whispered,"Does she have an extra boob?".
"What? " Roland and Ethan shouted at the same time. Daisy and I silenced them quickly.
"Not a whole titty,"I explained. "Just a nipple."
"Eeewwwwwwwwww..." Roland moaned. Ethan nodded his head and ordered another round of shots.
"But where does she hide it? " Daisy asked after a moment. "I mean, she's a model. How do you keep something like that a secret?"
"It's really small,"I explained. "You'd barely notice. Looks like a mole or something. But she's really paranoid about it.
"Where is he? " Ethan asked fascinated. I rolled my eyes at him.
"It's right next to her other nipple."
"Which one?"
"The left,"I said, tired of the conversation. The last thing I wanted to talk to Daisy about was another girl's nipple.
"Did you suck it? " Ethan asked, crouching slightly.
"Gross! " Daisy exclaimed, beating him on the arm.
"What? We were all thinking about it. " He shrugged.
"It wasn't,"admitted Roland.
"I'm not going to talk about whether I sucked it or not,"I hissed.
"Thank God,"answered Daisy.
"I was just curious,"Ethan said defensively. "But you've actually seen it, haven't you?
This is not one of those urban legends."
I turned my eyes. "Yeah, I've seen it... sort of by accident."?
"What do you mean? " Roland asked, curiosity prevailing over his displeasure.
I looked around to make sure no one would listen to me. "Well, like I said, she's paranoid about it. She never takes her bra off in front of other people.
"Well, then how did you do it..." I looked at Ethan, cutting off half the question. "I'm sorry,"he muttered.
She was in the shower and I found her. I was... touching it. I think she liked it,"I said, my nose wrinkling the memory. Daisy mimicked my facial expression without realizing it.
"She totally freaked out,"I told them. "He yelled at me to come out. He started throwing out bottles of shampoo and soap and all that shit. I tried to tell her it wasn't a big deal, but I didn't want to talk about it. She made me swear she would never tell anyone or find me and cut my balls off. Everybody complained about it, and I had another drink of my beer.
"I believe it,"Daisy said thoughtfully. "That's a scary bitch."
"True,"Ethan agreed, firing another shot.
In an hour, Ethan was beaten up. If you didn't notice because of the slowness and swaying, you could definitely by singing. The guy always sang when he was drunk and used to pick the saddest, most depressing songs he could think of. Tonight, it was "I can't let you go. " Not one of our greatest hits, but definitely a favorite of Drunk Ethan.
"I gave you my heart, but you threw it away,"he sang, throwing his head back and squeezing his eyes tightly,"Hey, it didn't matter anyway...".
Ethan had bought us one shot after another, but I threw mine in an encapsulated palm tree at the end of the bar, grabbing Daisy's eye so that we could change the glasses and I could do the same for her. The last thing we needed while trying to maintain this little charade was to get drunk in public. After a few drinks, Ethan didn't even notice we were sober. He just kept singing.
When I saw you with him, I wanted to die.
You said you were mine, but baby... you lied?
Ethan threw his arm over Daisy's shoulders.
"Sing it with me, B-Man,"he said. Daisy shook her head toward him with kindness, but joined in the high harmony.
You destroyed my hopes and dreams
And yet I love you so much
Baby, I let you go... oh yeah.
But I can't let you go.
A slight clap of applause erupted and Ethan turned to greet the crowd, just as Terri seemed to take him home. Ethan smiled at her, telling her over and over again how hot she was. She just rolled her eyes, letting him lean heavily over her shoulder and kiss her carelessly on the neck as they stepped out the door. Roland distracted the pap smears by pressing down on his shoulder with a little redhead laughing over his head a few times.
Raul had disappeared with Mabel, which seemed to make Daisy less angry with me. I thought the whole girlfriend thing was a great idea, but Daisy didn't agree.
How was I supposed to know that Mabel wanted to sleep with Raul? Shit, nobody tells me anything.
I had to admit it to the girls. They handled it like professionals. Well, maybe not professional, but I don't think the other kids suspected anything. Except maybe Roland. I kept giving Daisy those weird looks like he was trying to think of something. I pretended not to notice, but I was wondering if I should warn Daisy.
I decided not to. I'd just make her nervous, and then God knows I'd never take my hand off that rubber dick.
So when the three of us got into the limo and went back to the house, I tried to calm down, pulling out my phone to check my messages and play a little bit with Angry Birds. I tried to ignore Roland and Daisy, instead of concentrating on killing as many green piglets as possible.
I had just thrown a yellow bird, destroying a metal and wooden structure, and crushing three of the little green bastards when I heard Roland and Daisy laughing. I looked up to see the two of them looking at me with a smile on my face.
"What? " I asked, irritated because I had been distracted and had to start the level all over again.
"What the hell are you doing? " Roland asked, shaking his head.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm just playing a game."
Daisy smiled at Roland before turning to me. "Do you always talk to your phone while you're playing?"
"What are you talking about? " I didn't talk to my phone. Did I talk to my phone?
"Get up there, you fucking sparrow of shit,"Roland said, mimicking my voice. " Die, pigs, die?"
"What game are you playing, anyway? " Daisy asked. "Sounds really violent."
I picked up the phone so she could see. "Angry Birds.
Daisy laughed. "Angry Birds"? How do you play?"
I shrugged. "You just use a slingshot to throw these birds at these... pigs... uh..." It sounded really stupid when I said it out loud.
"Really? " she said, reaching out her hand. "That sounds great.
Can I try?"
I hesitated. Not that I didn't want Daisy to play my game. It was just that I was on my way to the highest score I'd ever had, and there was no way a rookie could beat that level.
But Daisy sat there with an expectant look on her face, and I found myself placing my phone in her hand.
"Okay, what do I do? " she asked, adding a "friend" after taking a look at Roland.
I moved to sit next to her, looking over her shoulder. "Just use the touchscreen... put the bird on the slingshot... pull back... a little more..." I was distracted by the smell of Daisy's hair. It smelled so good. I fought the urge to bury my face in her neck, remembering in the last second that we were not alone.
"Then what? " Daisy asked, focused on the game. I blinked to clear my head.
"Now aim a little lower. Try hitting right on top of that piece of wood. Daisy adjusted the slingshot.
"Here?"
I nodded, her hair brushing my cheek with movement. I rinsed my throat suddenly tight. "Yes... yes... let him go now. "I was throwing the bird and we were both breathless as it flew across the small screen. He struck the wooden structure in the exact place, knocking down the building and blowing up five pigs in the process...
"Yes! " We both cheered and Daisy turned to me with excitement shining in her eyes. She leaned towards me, and for a second I thought she might kiss me.
Instead, she blinked twice before raising one hand in a five-point crash.
"Well done! " I told her to slap her hand and give me back my phone.
"Nice game,"she said abruptly, adjusting her penis and turning to look out the window. I smiled on my new high score before looking up to see Roland looking at me intently.
"What?"
Roland shrugged. "Nothing man…it's…nothing. "Before I could ask him anything else, he looked out the window. "We're here."
Daisy was quiet when we got out of the limo and went in. Roland said he was tired and went to bed, leaving Daisy and me once more in the kitchen.
"So I guess I should..." she started.
"Maybe we could..." I said at the same time.
We smiled a little bit, before our eyes fell to the ground. I took a step towards her, but she backed down.
"I should probably go to bed,"she said nervously. "We have that flight tomorrow..."
"It's not until one o' clock,"I pointed, moving towards her again. She retreated again, crashing into the kitchen island. We could... I don't know... talk... maybe? "I suggested."
