Forever Altered

by D. J. Pierson

  “No biggie. Nice place you girls have here,” I tell her.

  “Are you making fun of us?” she asks raising her eye brows.

  “No,” I laugh and stand up walking to meet her in the kitchen. “It’s actually nice in here. Kind of like home.”

  “That’s what we were going for.” She reaches in the refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water. “Want one?” I shake my head but thank her anyway. “I cannot take the credit though. It was all, Leah. She’s the creative one. She just tells everyone what to do and where to put stuff. I told her someday, she’s going to have to decorate my house. Anyway, I’m sure you have stuff to do. Want to get started?”

  “I have nothing to do tonight,” I feel the need to tell her. “But, sure.”

  “My laptop is set up in my room, do you mind?” She gestures toward the door to the left of the living room.

  I shake my head and follow her as we walk in the bedroom. It’s just as nice as the living room. They have matching comforters, still in the blue and purple theme, and the throw pillows on both beds even match. These are probably the only two beds made in the entire building. Different pictures hang on their walls, but they used the same black frames they used in the living room. Even their dressers are neatly placed together under the window and decorated as if it were one piece of furniture.

  “Wow. Good thing I came here. You might freak out if you saw our messy place.”

  She laughs and says, “No I wouldn’t. We just wanted a place we could feel comfortable and love since we have to be here most of the time. I will admit that we are a little OCD with keeping stuff neat and clean. You should see Julia and Erin’s room. They keep the door closed because Leah will go in and clean it if she sees how messy it is. I haven’t even been in their bathroom. I’m afraid something will eat me if I go in there. Those two are the biggest slobs ever!” I really enjoy listening to the sound of her laugh. I’m going to have to get her to do that more often. “I’m going to grab you a chair from the kitchen.”

  “So, why purple and blue?” I call as she is already returning with the chair.

  “Purple is Leah’s favorite color and blue is mine.” She sets the chair down in front of the wooden desk next to hers. “Good thing they go together.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” she says. Her cell phone rings from where she put it down in the living room. She goes to get it, but declines the call before she walks back into the room. She puts her phone face down on the desk and sits in front of the computer. “The least I can do is type this up,” she tells me. She opens her lab workbook to the page we were on yesterday. “You dictate and I shall type.”

  “Do you need to answer that?” I’m curious to know who was calling her. I’ve tried to look at the pictures. There is no sign of a boyfriend. The other girls have their boyfriends in a couple of the pictures, but I don’t see anyone with her.

  “No,” is the only answer I get. She starts typing on the keyboard. “Okay, Mr. Matthews, The purpose of this experiment is to…”

  For the next half hour, all we talk about is Cell Bio. The smell of her hair is so amazing, it’s a little distracting. It’s a mixture of some kind of shampoo and her. I’m getting a little nervous we have finally made it to the conclusion of the write-up. I don’t want to leave. I need to think of a reason to prolong this visit.

  As she types the last word, I hear the front door open and immediately recognize Julia’s voice, but I don’t know who the guy is that is with her. It definitely is not Tommy.

  “Thanks again for letting me in.”

  Alyssa immediately tenses up next to me and she whispers “Shit!”

  “No problem,” Julia says. “It’s good to see you again, Jeff. Good luck.”

  Good luck with what? Who is this guy that she let in? Just as I start to ask Alyssa who it is, he walks in and is staring at her. He’s probably just as tall as me. Maybe an inch or two shorter. He’s definitely thinner than me. I don’t remember him in any of the pictures that are around, so he isn’t Leah’s boyfriend. At least I’m assuming the guy Leah’s with in the pictures is her boyfriend.

  “Hey.” He’s hesitating almost like he feels as nervous as I do talking to her. “I’ve been calling you. Didn’t you get my voicemails?” He’s standing in the doorway, looking around then right at Alyssa. “How come your stuff isn’t packed?”

  “No. I haven’t listened to any of the voicemails you’ve left for the last couple of weeks. What the hell are you doing here?” Alyssa didn’t introduce me to him, so it’s probably not someone she wants me to know. Since she turned towards him, I can only see the back of her head. It would be nice if I could at least see her face.

  “If you would have listened to your messages, you would have known I was coming to get you. Mike is going home for the weekend. I figured you could come stay with me for a few days. We need to get our shit figured out before we go home next weekend for Lori’s engagement party,” he explains.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m obviously busy here.” She holds her hands out to the laptop in front of her.

  “What are you doing?” He glances at me briefly, but then looks back at her.

  “A lab.”

  “Do it when you get back.”

  “It’s due tomorrow.” She’s lying. It’s not due until the beginning of the next lab on Wednesday. This guy is starting to piss me off. She doesn’t want anything to do with him and he isn’t getting the hint.

  “I’ll wait,” he informs her slumping his side against the doorway.

  “What the hell, Jeff? I’m not going anywhere with you tonight and I’m certainly not going to your sister’s engagement party. I think I made it pretty clear a few weeks ago that we’re done. Go the hell back to school,” she shouts. That’s why I don’t recognize him. He doesn’t even go here. She’s getting even more upset and I want nothing more than to pull her in my arms and comfort her. If this guy doesn’t get the hell out of here, someone might end up calling the cops on me tonight.

  “I just drove an hour to get you. Come stay with me and we can talk this out, privately,” he snaps back.

  “It’s your fault you drove here without hearing back from me. There is nothing to talk about.”

  “Why not? Are you fucking this guy?” He moves to get in her face and I’m ready to stand up, but Alyssa beats me to it. She stands up so fast the wooden chair flies out from under her, hitting Leah’s desk across the small room.

  “Living room. NOW!” she yells pointing in the direction she wants him to go. He glares at me once more, but then walks out. She follows him without looking back. She pulls the door closed behind her, but it stays open a crack. “How dare you come in here like this? You have no right!”

  “Tell me right now. Are you fucking him?”

  “Not that I ever have to explain anything to you ever again, but no. I’m not fucking anyone. That’s your thing, remember?” It all makes sense now. This stupid asshole had her and cheated on her. This must be why she’s been so upset.

  “God damn it, Alyssa! I apologized a hundred times. If you would have listened to my voicemails or read my fucking texts you would know. I was drunk. She meant absolutely nothing to me. I’ve never done anything like that before and I won’t ever do it again.”

  “You knew I was coming that night. You knew I was going to be walking into your room any minute. You wanted me to see you with her.” The pain in her voice breaks my heart and makes me want to punch something.

  “Baby, just let me…”

  She cuts him off before he can finish. “Don’t you ‘Baby’ me you selfish son of a bitch!” I feel terrible that I am in here practically eavesdropping, but I cannot leave. If he does anything to hurt her, someone needs to be here.

  “What the fuck, Jeff?” Julia screams. “You told me outside you were here to pick her up. You told me that you guys were working it out. You fucking lied to me to let you in? Get out of here, right now. I’m calling Tommy. I’ll
call Public Safety if I have to.”

  “Julia, I got this,” I hear Alyssa saying.

  “Lyss, I’m sorry. I had no idea,” Julia says to her, but I hear her door slam.

  “Just listen to me for one second, please,” Jeff begs. “I was in the middle of telling her how I’m proposing to you at my sister’s engagement party one minute and the next she was coming on to me. Damn it. I was wasted. I’m so sorry. You have to forgive me.”

  “Seriously? You were planning on proposing to me?” Please don’t tell me she is falling for this crap. “You were planning on proposing to me and you slept with some tramp? Get the fuck out of here, right now! I don’t ever want to see you again. Ever.”

  “You’re just upset. You don’t mean that. We aren’t over, Babe. You are going to come home with me next weekend and we’ll go to the party. I’ll give you the ring and this will all go away. Please, Lyss. Please don’t do this.”

  “Good-bye, Jeff,” she says. I can hear the pain in her voice that’s been visible on her face for the last week. She’s suffering right now and nothing can keep me in this room anymore. I walk out, pushing the door against the wall behind it. Standing there staring at him with my arms crossed, it’s obvious he feels defeated. I almost feel bad for him that he lost her. Almost.

  “Fine. I’ll go now. But we are not over. I’ll give you time to cool down and we’ll talk again, okay?”

  Alyssa doesn’t answer him. She just turns away and stares out of the window. He turns and walks out of the door. Within seconds, Julia is out of her room holding her. “Lyss, I am so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault that he is a lying bastard.” She chokes back tears.

  “Oh my God! Leah is going to kill me when she hears that I let him in here.” It’s nice to know someone’s got her back. “I called Tommy. He’s on his way.”

  “I’m here,” I say. “I wasn’t going to let him do anything to her.” Just then someone bangs on the door causing Alyssa to jump. Julia runs over to open it.

  “He’s gone. He left a few seconds ago. I didn’t realize Rocco was here.”

  “You okay, Lyss?” He nods at me quickly and looks back to her, waiting for her to answer. She only tilts her head to acknowledge him. “Rocco, you want to come with me? I just want to make sure he left the building.”

  “I just saw him go down the steps outside the window. He was heading towards the parking lot. I’m sure he’s leaving,” Alyssa tells Tommy.

  “Let’s go make sure,” Tommy says. I follow him out.

  “Guys, please. I don’t want you two to get involved. He’s not worth it. He would never physically hurt me. Just let him go.”

  “We are just going to make sure he left. That’s all. I promise,” I say to her. I touch her forearm lightly, but what I really want to do is scoop her up and hold her for the rest of the night. She doesn’t even flinch when my hand lingers on her arm for a few seconds. As the door starts closing behind me, I add, “Don’t open this door without looking through the peephole first. We’ll be right back.”

  Tommy and I round the corner and sneak out the side door. “What’s this guy’s deal?” I ask him.

  “He’s not all that bad,” Tommy explains. “We used to all hang out. He just fucked up. It happens. Alyssa doesn’t deserve to be treated like that, though. She walked in as he was bagging some bitch. There,” he says pointing in Jeff’s direction and he starts jogging. “Hey, Jeff. Hold on a sec.”

  Jeff looks up as he paces around his older pick-up truck. We finally catch up to him. “Hey, man.” Jeff says recognizing Tommy right away.

  “You alright?” Tommy asks him.

  “I can’t believe I fucked up so bad. I really thought if I just gave her some time, she’d come around.” This dude is visibly upset.

  “Yeah you did. I have to ask, why did you do it?” Jeff looks passed him to me. Tommy tells him, “He’s a friend. It’s cool.” It’s not cool. Right now I want to bash this guy’s fucking head in.

  “I don’t know how it happened. This girl was just there and FUCK!” He punches the side of his truck bed. He takes a few minutes to calm himself down. “What’s she been up to? How has she been?”

  “She hasn’t been great, Jeff. You messed her up pretty bad. The girls have been really worried about her. She didn’t deserve what you did. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to lie about it.” He actually winces and I’m happy this news bothers him.

  “No, I appreciate you telling me.”

  “Look, man. I really think it’s best if you just stay away from her. She’s done.”

  “I don’t know how to live without her,” he confesses.

  “You’re just going to have to figure it out. Come on. If your sister’s fiancé bagged some whore, what would you do?”

  He sighs. Tommy is being pretty harsh, but he’s got a point.

  “I’ll give her time, but I’m not letting her go without a fight.”

  “All I’m going to say is Jules and I haven’t been together nearly as long as you and Lyss were. I’d still never do it. I’ve been pretty wrecked and Jules has always been the only one on my mind.”

  “Just keep an eye on her, please. Don’t let anything happen to her.” He holds out his hand and Tommy shakes it.

  “Always do. We all look out for each other. That’s why I’m standing here talking to you.” Jeff nods at him. “Jeff, I’ve never had a problem with you, but I have to say this.” He’s trying to figure out how to say what he’s thinking. “Don’t do anything stupid. Push comes to shove, I’ll pick Alyssa every time, if you know what I mean.” I now have a new respect for Tommy.

  “I do. Thanks, man.” He turns and gets in his truck.

  “Take care, Jeff.” He doesn’t say anything else. We watch him as he pulls away until he is out of the parking lot.

  “Think he’ll stay away from her?” I ask Tommy as we head back to the apartment building.

  “I’m not sure what he’ll do. I don’t know him that well. But if I were him, I’d put up one hell of a fight for that girl.”

  “You have something for your girl’s friend, Tommy?” I wonder.

  “I don’t mean it like that, Rocco. She’s honestly a great girl who’s had some shit happen to her. There’s something with her mom. The guy she dated before Jeff was even more of a prick, from what I understand. She really knows how to pick ‘em.” He’s shaking his head. “I don’t know the whole story. Julia doesn’t even know, but whatever happened, he was arrested. We only know that much because Alyssa slipped one night when she was drunk.” My stomach has twisted up in knots. “Jeff was there to pick up the pieces after that. I think they were friends for a long time before that happened, if I remember correctly. She’s been so upset because she really thought if she’d be safe with anyone, it would be Jeff. Look, don’t tell her I told you any of that. The poor girl doesn’t need any one throwing this shit in her face.”

  “I would never,” I assure him. We head back up the steps to the door we came out of. Tommy leans over the railing and knocks on the girls’ window. I look at him.

  “We always do this. Beats walking all the way to the front of the building.” I agree with him as Julia opens the door. “He’s gone,” he tells her. “I made sure he left the parking lot.”

  She wraps her arms around his waist and he looks at her adoringly. I’m envious of what they have and it sucks that I will never be able to have that with anyone. “Thank you for coming, Babe. What happened? Alyssa is freaking out in there.”

  “Come on. Let’s go in and calm her down.” I say pushing my way in front of them to get to her.

  Chapter Five

  Alyssa

  It feels like it’s been hours since the guys ran out after Jeff, but it’s only been about fifteen minutes. My heart is racing and I’m wearing out the living room floor. Julia closed the blinds blocking my view of the parking lot and she’s refusing to let me go out after them.

  “Jules, if something happens to any of the
m, it will be my fault.” I run my hands through my hair and then pull it up making sure I don’t do it again.

  “Relax.” She’s watching the door from our couch. I can tell she’s nervous, too, but she’s trying to make me feel better. “Tommy isn’t a fighter, you know that. He just wanted to talk to him. Nothing is going to happen. What you should be worried about is what the hell Leah is going to do to me for letting the asshole in here.” I stop pacing and look at her. That’s the second time she’s said that and she needs to tell me why. She sighs then continues something she obviously wasn’t supposed to say. “We all decided we’d do whatever we had to in order to keep Jeff away from you. You were a mess. We were all so worried about you.”

  “I’m not a kid, Julia. I can deal with this,” I say a little irritated.

  “We know that. It’s what friends do, Alyssa. You know you’d go after Tommy, Mark, or Tyler if they did something like that to one of us.” I relax because she’s right. It would actually be worse if it were one of them because they all live here on campus. Jeff doesn’t have to face their wrath every day. “It’s our job to look out for each other.” We are quiet for a little while before there is a pounding on the window.

  I jump again. “Damn it! Why does he always have to knock so loud?”

  “I’ll go open it. You stay here and don’t open the door. I have my card.” She runs out before I can protest leaving me standing alone in the living room. They finally come back in just when I’m ready to run out to see what’s taking so long.

  Rocco comes through the door first, handing Julia her keycard over his shoulder. He’s staring right at me and he looks upset. I instantly think something happened, but when I glance at Tommy, he’s smiling.