It was a rainy autumn day and it had that rain smell, like maybe it was dead worms or something. Shauna was busy smoking a cigarette when Leanne joined her with a big smile. She didn’t light up or anything, she just stood there. Shauna narrowed her eyes.
“I’m not saying anything,” Leanne smiled.
Shauna sighed and kept smoking. After a while the silence was too much for Shauna to bear, even though she usually liked quiet. “I’m not… gay,” she insisted.
“Ok,” Leanne smiled.
Shauna sighed again and noticed Cerise’s boyfriend and his big friend coming towards them. She quickly finished off her cigarette and scooted inside.
“You got a cigarette?” asked Terry.
“Yeah,” replied Nick, taking out a pack and handing a cig to his friend.
“Thought you were quitting,” said Terry as he lit up.
“Am. It’s for just in case.”
They leaned up against opposite sides of the walls around the little smoker’s alcove outside Casgrain. It was always so dirty here, but this little spot had a roof and it was drizzling and Nick hated the rain. He said it fucked with his hair. Terry didn’t mind it. This was his favourite time of year. The air was crisp and smelled good and it was so cute the way Cerise loved crunching leaves under her little baby feet.
“So how’s Britt?” asked Nick as he puffed on his own cigarette.
“Ok I guess,” Terry shrugged. “Her teacher had this idea about her going to a child psychologist or some shit and Vicky’s all over that. But she can’t afford it. But my dad can and now Vicky’s all reconsidering the joint custody thing. I mean she could make him pay for it anyway she’s being nice I guess. Sometimes I think she wants to get back with him.”
“That’s a bad idea.”
“Anything involving my father is a bad idea.”
“That would make your sheer existence a bad idea.”
Terry shrugged, not wanting to get into an existential conversation.
“So have you made up with Cerise yet?”
He shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Dunno.”
“You gonna?”
“Well how come it’s always gotta be me making the first move? How come she can’t come to me?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Nick nodded.
Cassie and Sarah dragged Cerise into the washroom, which was sort of annoying. Couldn’t they have this conversation in the hallway, where it didn’t smell like bleach? Oh well, at least it didn’t smell like urine.
“So,” Sarah began. “Are you like aware that I only broke up with Jay ‘cause Karine told me to? ‘Cause like, she said you were into him.”
Cerise was taken aback and unsure of how to respond. “I was with Terry at the time. Why would I care about Jay?” Cerise couldn’t entirely remember how she’d felt when Sarah and Jay were together but now that it was being brought up again she found herself very against the idea of them hooking up again. Maybe that’s just because she was going through a rough patch with Terry.
“And you were gonna go to grad with Jay, right?” Cassie confirmed.
“Well, yeah I guess.”
“And Karine ruined it.”
“Yeah, I guess she did,” Cerise admitted.
“She’s just a big destroyer of relationships!” spat Cassie. “Jay and I were fine until she stuck her nose in our business!”
“Well, she has this weird hold over Jay,” said Cerise. “He’s like in love with her. And she just keeps stringing him along. Always flirting with him but never actually going out with him. It’s pretty shitty when you think about it.”
“It’s not just shitty, it’s totally evil!” exclaimed Cassie.
“Yeah, it is pretty messed,” nodded Sarah.
“She’s such a fucking bitch!” growled Cassie.
“I can’t believe we’re friends with her,” said Sarah.
Cerise nodded, conceding the point. Why were they friends with Karine? She wasn’t exactly the nicest person on the planet. The only reason Karine even deigned to hang out with Cerise is because Terry insisted. She was sure if Terry wasn’t in the picture Karine would still be hating Cerise as much as she did in high school. She seriously was a total bitch.
That night Cerise walked over to Jay’s garage and watched the boys working on the elephant. It was pretty much complete and all they were doing was sitting around drinking beer.
“Hey Cerise, you gonna be in the elephant this year?” asked Vani.
“Am I invited?” she replied.
“The more the merrier I suppose,” shrugged Karl.
“So how come I wasn’t invited last year?”
“Were you expecting an engraved invitation delivered by doves or some shit?” snarked Karl.
“Besides, you were funking over Terry Trebifunksky last year,” said Jay.
“I guess I’m funking over him this year too,” she mumbled under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she replied, turning around and going back home.
She sat on her bed and was about to text him but then decided a phone call would be better. He answered immediately.
“So… I don’t really remember what we were fighting about but can we be ok again?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied. “But for the record we were fighting ‘cause you said I’m not fun anymore.”
“Well to be fair, you’re not. But I still love you.”
“I love you too. And I’m still fun.”
“Prove it.”
About a half hour later he was in her bedroom and they were making love. Cerise supposed everything was back to normal but she wasn’t really sure. They watched T.V. afterwards and snuggled on the couch but they didn’t really talk. Not the way they usually did. It was weird.
It was a relief to have sex again. Terry hadn’t even realized how much he’d needed that. It was only when he’d gotten home again that he reflected on the rest of the evening and how thing still felt a little strained with Cerise. Oh well, time heals all wounds and all that shit. The next day at the Munch Box things seemed normal enough. Except Karine brought her new boyfriend to their table and there wasn’t enough room for everyone so she sat on his lap, which was obviously causing much distress to Jay and his stupid ‘fro. Man, that kid had no ability to hide his emotions, did he? What a knob.
“Sornin’ Marah,” said Vani as Sarah came along.
“I guess I’m supposed to say Vornin’ Mani?”
“Correct,” he smiled.
Nick stood up and offered Sarah his seat, which was quite gallant of him. Terry wouldn’t have thought of doing that even if he’d had a seat all to himself (he had Cerise on his lap). Sarah smiled and took the seat and Nick crouched down at the end of the table, acting like there was a chair beneath him. Terry was curious to see how long he’d be able to hold the squat before giving up.
“Ugh! He flaunts his physical prowess!” exclaimed Vani.
“Jealous?” smirked Nick.
“Deeply,” nodded Vani, causing them all to laugh.
“So that guy Jeff from Parrisses Squares is throwing a Halloween party this Saturday,” announced Cerise.
“Jeff? Which one is he? Do I like him?” asked Terry.
“No, you worry that I’m too flirty with him.”
“Right. I hate that guy.”
“So you’re coming?”
“Of course,” he nodded.
“Are we allowed to invite other people?” asked Nick.
“I guess,” nodded Cerise. “I don’t know how big his place is… he lives downtown.”
“That’s cool,” said Karine.
“Yeah, he goes to Concordia.”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty I think,” replied Cerise.
“Bonneville’s having a party on Friday,” said Nick, consulting his phone to be sure. “But I dunno, did you wanna go to that?” he asked Terry.
“Ehh,” Terry shrugged. “Bonneville’s kind of a douche.”
“I know.”
“His parties are pretty good, but I’ve already…” he stopped himself, remembering that Cerise was there. He was going to say that he’d already fucked every girl in that particular circle which was mostly true. Bonneville still hung out with the same crowd as ever. “Whatever, we can think about that one.”
“Yeah,” Nick nodded.
“Already what?” asked Cerise.
Terry hesitated and Nick saved him, asking again if he could invite others. Cerise said the more the merrier.
You invited how many people?
Like a zillion. And they’re all gonna
show up and we’re gonna totally trash
your place
U know I hate you right?
Cerise smirked at her phone. She wasn’t sure how flirty she should be. If Terry were to read these texts to Jeff he’d probably be annoyed. Not that she was doing anything wrong. She typed out various responses, always backspacing each one until finally settling on ya right, which was totally lame.
U still wit that boyfriend of urs?
Yep, and he’s coming to the party too.
And he’s bringing all his hockey friends
and their friends and so on
Aweome. So what’s ur
I was thinking angel
More believable to go devil
Maybe I will
Ok, now do some sexting so I can masturbate
You just made me puke all over myself
Kinky. Not really my thing but if you insist
She put down the phone then, deciding the conversation had gone too far. Should she put a password on her phone so Terry couldn’t read her texts? Not that he’d ever gone through her phone before. Should she delete the conversation? Was it even that bad? Should she be going to his party? They were still in a band together, so they had to be friends, right? His idea for her to go as a devil was actually pretty good. She could be the devil and Terry could be an angel, like Castiel from Supernatural, which would just entail a trench coat. Or better yet he could be an archangel with a sword and a cape. That could be cool. He’d look way hot like that.
Cerise was glad to find herself fantasising about her hot boyfriend in a hot costume, relieved to know she was still into him and this Jeff flirtation was no doubt meaningless.
No comments:
Post a Comment