The Tribuo - 49. Part V, chapter 3

- III -

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I finished cleaning the apartment; my new roommate went into his room after finishing his coffee, and hadn’t come out for hours. It was around 9:30 in the evening when I plopped down in front of my computer, determined to do some fun, time-wasting internet surfing before going to sleep. I was looking at some random stuff when the messenger window popped up.

“Hey,” it said.

It was Jamie Craig from school. She was one of those girls who always worried about everything. “Oh my God, I have this project that’s due in a month, I know that I’ll fail!” “Oh my God, I gained two pounds since last Sunday; I have to go on a diet, like, right now!” “Oh my God, I have this weird hair that grows inward, I think it’s cancer!” I guess I would call her a Drama Queen, except she was something beyond that. I sighed. I knew she was about to start freaking out about something.

“Hey,” I typed back.

“Wednesday night, remember?”

Ah crap, that’s right… Her birthday bash.

“Yeah,” I typed back. “I remember.”

I seriously didn’t want to go there. I had two papers due on Thursday, and my first class was at 7:40 in the freaking morning, but I knew that if I didn't show up for at least a little while, I would never hear the end of it from her.

“I am so stoked!” she typed. “But oh my God! What if people will forget and nobody will show up?”

Yup, I knew it.

“They will show up,” I yawned. “I gotta go to bed, I am tired. Had to clean the entire apartment today. Oh, hey! Guess what!”

“What?”

“I have a new roommate!”

“Guy or girl?”

“A guy.”

“Cute?”

“I guess…” I thought about it for a second. Yeah, he’s good-looking. Not really my type, since I am not much into blonds, but he is cute, all right.

“Bring him on Wed!”

“I’ll ask him. I gotta go to bed, Jamie. See you tomorrow?”

“Yup. Sleep tight!”

“Night.”

I logged off and looked outside. The porch light was on. I guess I forgot to turn it off. I shut off the computer and shuffled outside, wrapping my sweater around myself. It was getting pretty cold lately. I went outside and blinked when I saw Russell-Something sitting on the bench, his knees pulled up all the way to his chest. He glanced up.

“Oh, hey,” he smiled. “Last smoke before bed.”

I looked at him thoughtfully.

“Okay,” I said finally. “I realize that I only know you for several hours, but I am going to say it anyway…”

“Smoking is bad?” he offered.

“Yeah, well,” I shrugged. “That too. But no…”

I sighed and leaned on the wall.

“Listen, I don’t know what happened earlier today, but just so you know…”

His eyes slightly darkened. I guess he knew where I was going.

“Lex is my best friend,” I said quietly. “And he’ll be here a lot… So if you have a problem with something… I don’t know…” I rubbed my forehead. “Have you met him before...? I mean…”

“No,” he said and looked away.

“Then what was that?” I frowned. “Look, he is a good guy, and…”

“I’m sure he is,” he wouldn’t look at me.

“Then what was that?” I repeated and he just sat there.

Finally, I was too cold and frustrated to listen to his silence.

“Fine,” I sighed. “I am going to bed. See you in the morning…”

I almost went back inside when he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to be rude or anything. It’s just…” He sighed and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. “He looks almost exactly like… Someone I used to know… I was just really startled, that’s all. Didn’t expect something like that… Sorry.”

I looked at him with curiosity.

“That big of a resemblance, huh?”

He looked at me seriously.

“Uncanny,” he said quietly. “The hair, the eyes…” he smirked. “Shit, even the height… For a second I felt like I was in Twilight Zone… Caught me by surprise… I’m sorry, okay?”

I wrapped my sweater tighter around my shoulders. The wind was ungodly.

“Who did he remind you of?” I asked, and he was silent for several long seconds.

“My best friend,” he muttered finally.

“So what’s your actual last name?” I wasn’t brilliant at changing subjects, but his shoulders visibly relaxed. “It’s not Russell Something, right?”

“No,” he laughed. “It’s Taylor.”

“A friend of mine is having a birthday party on Wednesday night. You wanna go?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t know anyone there…”

“You know me,” I grinned. “Plus, Jamie loves meeting new people.”

“Jamie is the birthday girl?” he looked up at me. “Or birthday boy?”

“Girl,” I nodded. “I am not going to stay there very long; I have an early class on Thursday, so…” I shrugged.

“Sure,” he nodded. “I’ll go.”

“Cool…” I yawned. “Well, I am off to bed. Good night.”

“Night.”

“Turn the lights off when you done.”

“Will do.”

*****

Monday and Tuesday flew by with nauseating speed. I was swamped with projects. In addition to those two papers that were due on Thursday, I managed to get several more. I guess taking almost twenty-two credits was, in fact, a dumb idea, just like Lex said when he looked at my schedule in the beginning of the year. I should’ve dropped a couple of classes, but I decided that it would be a piece of cake. Well, now I was stuck with all of them, since I missed every single deadline, and I kept kicking myself every day.

On Wednesday afternoon, I was almost pulling my hair out. I finished three out of my five papers. I knew that one of the remaining two could wait until Monday, so I wasn’t worrying about that one. The other one I could probably stretch until Friday, but I had to at least start it. I was so frustrated that I felt like beating my head on the wall. I probably would have, if I knew that would help.

Finally, around six in the evening, I turned off my computer and got up. I was so stiff that it wasn’t even funny. I did some furious stretching and bending, and finally, I felt somewhat normal again. I glanced at the clock and realized that I should start getting ready for Jamie’s party. Russell wasn’t home yet, but he told me last night that he’d come back around 6:30 or so. I decided to hop in the shower before he showed up.

He came home at almost seven, and I was dressed and ready to go.

“Is Lex going?” he asked indifferently, but I could almost taste anticipation in his tone of voice.

“Yeah,” I said, touching my mouth with some lipstick. “He’ll meet us there though. You gonna take a shower?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I don’t reek, do I?”

“Not yet,” I said seriously and he laughed at that. “We are not going to be there long enough for you to start reeking.”

The party turned out to be okay. There were so many people that it looked like a disaster shelter. I didn’t know half of all those people. I had no idea that Jamie was so popular. I was standing by the kitchen counter, waiting for the coffeemaker to stop huffing and puffing, when someone softly said, “Boo!” right into my ear. I turned my head. It was Paul Landley, a guy from a couple of my classes.

“Hey,” I smiled.

“Coffee?” he made a grimace after glancing at the coffeemaker.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I need energy. I have a hell of a day tomorrow. And Friday… And a hell of a weekend…”

“How come?” he finished his beer and set the empty bottle on the counter.

“Ugh… I was dumb enough to sign up for twenty-two credits,” I admitted unwillingly.

“Jesus,” he looked almost shaken. “Are you suicidal or something?”

“I guess I am,” I said thoughtfully. “I have crapload of papers due in the next two days. I am going to take off soon…”

“Pfft!” he said. “Have at least one drink! I mean, it’s a party after all!”

I was tired, and to be honest, I’ve had enough coffee today. A drink did sound tempting. Paul grinned.

“Be right back,” he murmured and walked away.

He was indeed right back. He handed me a tall, funny-shaped glass.

“What is it?” I asked suspiciously.

“Pure alcohol,” he whispered. “It’s just a Long Island Iced Tea,” he laughed after he saw my expression.

“Fine,” I grumbled and took the glass.

I wasn’t going to finish it, I swear, but it tasted good, and Paul just kept on telling jokes that were actually funny, so before I knew it, my glass was empty. I guess Landley was somewhat of a magician, because suddenly, I had another glass in my hand and I had no idea how it got there.

“You know,” I said after I was half-way through it. “I am supposed to be driving tonight…”

“You’ll be fine,” he laughed. “Just go slowly and stop for red lights.”

“Nah,” I said carelessly. “I’ll just ask my roommate to drive.”

“Your roommate’s here?” he looked around.

“Uh huh,” I nodded and finished my drink. “Somewhere…”

“Where is your guy?” he asked suddenly, and at first, I almost said, 'Huh?' but then realized that he was talking about Lex.

“Around,” I waved my hand. “And no, I am not having another drink! These two made me all fuzzy… I don’t want to stay up all night puking my guts out.”

“Fair enough,” he sighed. “Come outside with me, will you? I need a smoke.”

“Sure,” I shrugged. “I don’t smoke though.”

“All good,” he said absent-mindedly.

Cold air outside felt really good. I sighed, thinking that tomorrow I would so pay for these two drinks…

“What?” Paul asked and I looked at him.

I don’t know if it was because I was tired or because I just had two hefty drinks on an empty stomach, but suddenly, he looked really cute.

“Mmm,” I shook my head and smiled. “Nothing. Just thinking that I’ll need a lot of coffee tomorrow…” I waved my hands in the air for no apparent reason. “A lot,” I finished and nodded to myself.

“Wow”, he chuckled. “You are lightweight, aren’t you? Those Iced Teas did some work on you…”

“Just a little,” I tried to shrug. “Nothing too bad… But I need to go find my roommate… I have a forty-seven class tomorrow morning.”

“You mean, seven-forty?” he laughed.

“That’s what I said,” I looked at him with dignity.

“Right… Here,” he handed me his cigarette. “You’ll like this.”

“I don’t smoke,” I looked at him with reproach.

“It’s half a cigarette,” he rolled his eyes. “Not like it’ll kill you…”

I guess he was right. If I were sober… But I wasn’t sober, so I took the cigarette out of his fingers and inhaled very carefully. I still coughed when the smoke got into my throat.

“Ugh…” I shuddered. “Take it, I don’t want it…”

“Just finish it,” he snorted. “Trust me.”

So I finished the damn cigarette. To my enormous surprise, I felt refreshed and energized five minutes later. I blinked. Even the effect of those iced teas was gone.

“What the hell did I just smoke?” I frowned.

“A little miracle from Dr. Paul,” Landley laughed. “Feeling better?”

“Well, yeah… But seriously, what was it?”

“Some Chinese herb I put in my smokes,” he shrugged.

“Jesus, Paul!” I hissed. “You gave me a freaking drug?!”

He rolled his eyes.

“Do you even feel high?” he asked. “It wasn’t a drug. It’s totally legal in China.”

“Well, you are not in China anymore, Dorothy,” I grumbled, and then I couldn’t help myself. I laughed.

“Let’s go dance or something,” he said, and it sounded like a great idea.

…I couldn’t remember the last time I had so much fun. We danced, we laughed, drank some more, and I was amazed when I didn’t feel tipsy or anything. It was great. I stopped worrying about my papers and everything else. I’ll worry about them tomorrow. Right now, I felt really good, and I didn’t want to spoil this perfect evening. Paul and I went into the kitchen to find some food. Well, we didn’t really look for food when we got there. Instead, he just shoved me into the wall behind the fridge and started kissing my face. His hands and mouth felt so good that I moaned, buried my fingers in his hair, and for the next half-an-hour or so, we made out like two chimps in heat.

I guess we would go a hell of a lot further than just making out -- I mean, Paul’s hands made their way under my sweater, and he was fiddling with my bra clasp, for crying out loud -- but right then, there was a semi-loud cough behind my back, and it had an effect of a very cold shower. I jumped aside and hit my head on the fridge, since I forgot that I was pretty much trapped in the corner. I looked back. It was Russell.

“Sorry,” he said without even trying to look embarrassed. “It’s almost two in the morning. Wanna go home?”

Two in the morning? Crap! So much for us 'leaving early'…

“Umm,” I said, pulling down my sweater. “Yeah… Meet me outside in five minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” he nodded and walked away.

“Who the hell was that?” Paul muttered.

“My roommate,” I said, brushing my hair with my fingers. “Shit, I have a seven-forty class!”

“You’ll be fine,” he said with a small sigh. “Hey, what’s your phone number?”

“Why?” I glanced at him, and he rolled his eyes.

“I wanna see you again, that’s why. And I am not talking school.”

“Right…” I muttered and couldn’t help but smile.

I wrote my number on his hand.

“Don’t wash it off,” I laughed.

“Not a chance,” he said seriously. “Here…” He fished out another cigarette and handed it to me. “Dr. Paul’s special for you…”

“One was enough,” I shook my head. “Seriously, I don’t wanna pick up a nasty habit.”

“You are not going to,” he shrugged. “This is just in case if you need a healthy boost of energy… Don’t worry, one smoke is not going to kill you.”

“One-and-a-half,” I said pointedly, but took the cigarette.

I mean, he was right -- one smoke wasn't going to kill me, and whatever Chinese crap was in that cigarette, it would certainly help me to last through tomorrow.

“I’ll call you tomorrow?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“I’m not gonna do anything until probably Saturday or Sunday, so…”

“You can talk on the phone though, right?” he raised his eyebrows.

“Right,” I hung my head in fake defeat. “Okay, call me tomorrow… But keep in mind -- I have at least two papers to write 'till Friday!”

No need for him to know that I could stretch one until Monday.

“You are crazy,” he said with feeling. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”

We walked outside, and I didn’t say no when he offered to share another cigarette. I know, I know, not a smart move, but I figured that I didn't go to parties every night, so it was fine. By the time we finally got to my car, I felt greater than ever. Russell was waiting for me by my Toyota. I threw him the keys.

“You drive,” I said with laughter. “I had God knows how many drinks.”

“Three and a half,” Paul said.

“Okay,” Russell shrugged and unlocked the car.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Paul muttered right before I got in.

“Okay,” I nodded.

…We were almost by our apartment building when my phone rang. I knew immediately that it was Paul.

“Couldn’t wait 'till tomorrow?” I laughed when I answered it.

“Where are you?”

I blinked when I realized that it wasn’t Paul. It was Lex. Oh my God… I completely forgot about him tonight. I closed my eyes.

“Oh, God, Lex… I am so sorry…”

“I saw you at Jamie’s, but you were kinda busy making out with Landley,” he laughed. “Are you with him? Am I interrupting?”

“No,” I grumbled. “I am on my way home… Lex, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he snorted. “I was just curious. So was it just a drunken hookup or…”

“I guess it’s or,” I smiled into the phone. “He said he’d call me tomorrow.”

“Hubba-hubba,” he said seriously, and I laughed again. “You will tell me all the dirty details, right?”

“Of course,” I sighed. “Lex, we just got home. I'd better go to sleep if I want to be able to function tomorrow morning.”

“You mean this morning,” he said, and I cringed. Yeah, he was right.

“This morning,” I repeated dully. “I’ll see you in five hours or so.”

“Nighty-night, you, social butterfly, you,” he said as seriously as before.

“Night,” I sighed and turned off the phone.