Five Simple Words
"Blink, we need to talk."
The words no one in a relationship wants to hear. Yet here I was, standing at my locker at the end of a very long and semi-stressful day of school, listening to my boyfriend, Racetrack, say those five horrible words to my face, as if they meant nothing to him. Five simple words, and my whole world changed.
I shut my locker, and turned towards Race. "What do you mean, 'we need to talk?' Race, what's going on?"
Race glanced nervously around at all the students scurrying about in the hallways, trying to make their way home. "Not here. Not with everyone around."
"Okay, then where?" I was getting more nervous about what Race needed to tell me by the minute.
"Um…" he looked around. "In here." He pulled me into an empty classroom at the end of the hallway, and shut the door.
I sat on a random desktop while Race sat on a chair. After sighing nervously, I stated the obvious. "Why do need to talk to me, Race?"
He bit his lip slightly, and then looked up at me catching my eye. "Well, Blink… I…
We…" he trailed off, trying to compose his thoughts.
"Just freakin' tell me!" I shouted, certain now what he was going to say. I just wanted to hear it from his own lips that we were over.
He bit his lip again, clearly not wanting to be having this conversation, but knowing he had to. "Fine. Blink, I… I don't want to hurt you, but it's not to fair to you to keep lying to you."
I dropped my gaze. "I get it…" I trailed off.
"No. You need to hear this, before… before you hear it from him…"
That caught my attention, and I snapped my head up. "Him?"
Race sighed. "…I kinda… um… yeah… I'm sorry Blink."
I blinked a bit, not expecting this. "You cheated on me?"
"Blink, I… It just happened. I never wanted to hurt you. It just… yeah…"
"Just, just tell me who."
Race bit his lip for like the millionth time. "Jack," he said quietly.
My eyes grew wide, and I lost it. "JACK? You mean to tell me that you cheated on me with my BEST FRIEND?"
"Blink, please, calm down…"
"CALM DOWN? Do not tell me to fuckin' calm down! You asshole."
I pushed off my desk, fled the room, and took off down the hallway toward the exit. As I rounded the corner, I knocked into someone, knocking both him and me onto the floor. I started to apologize as I got up, but then I caught a glimpse of that old cowboy hat and the stupid red bandana around his neck. It was Jack.
"You fuckin' bastard."
Jack got a confused look on his face. "What did I do?"
"Oh don't give me that bullshit. Does the name 'Race' ring a bell?" I snarled in response to his playing innocent.
His face paled. "He told you?"
"No shit Sherlock. And another thing… get the fuck outta my face. We are no longer friends." I couldn't take it anymore, and pushed passed him, and finally headed outside and out of the school.
I lay in my bed staring blankly up at the ceiling. I'd been that way since I got home from school three hours earlier, doing nothing but stare at my ceiling, trying desperately (and failing miserably) to keep my thoughts from Race or Jack. Yeah, that wasn't working out too well.
Every single time I closed my eyes, memories ofRace and my almost one-year relationshipwith himflooded my mind. When that kind of image wasn't playing in my head, my ten-year friendship with Jack was running the show.
How could they do that to me? My boyfriend and my best friend had both betrayed me. What did I ever do to them? What did I do to deserve to hurt this much?
I spent the next hour stewing in my own self-pity. Eventually, my cell phone alarm went off. I rolled over and checked the time. Three forty-five. Shit. I had work at four. Lovely.
I somehow managed to shower, change into my uniform, and arrive at my job, a waiter at Applebee's restaurant, with a second to spare. As much as I tried to hide my horrible mood, it was clearly evident to my co-workers.
"Whoa there Blink…" Laura, one of my friends at work said, as she stacked menus at the hostess stand. "What happened to you? You look like shit."
"Oh, that's a nice thing to say, Laur," Mush, one my better friends who worked with me, said, as he rounded the corner. He saw me and walked over. "Though she has a point. Blink, what happened?"
I sighed, not wanting to talk about the break-up. "Uh… Race and I broke up."
Mush and Laura's eyes both grew wide. "What? Why?" Mush asked, astonished, and Laura added, "You two were like the wonder-couple."
"Race… uh… cheated on me with Jack…" I said in response to their outburst.
"Jack, as in your best friend? That asshole!" Laura sneered.
I forced a smile. "Yeah, that's what I said. Um, can we not talk about this?"
Mush squeezed my shoulder. "Sure. I gotta check my tables anyway…" and he walked off, his hands in his pockets.
My six-hour shift could not go any slower. Finally, my last table was finished at ten fifteen, and I went to clock out. Mush came in behind me, clocking out too.
"Hey Blink, you okay?"
I turned around, not expecting him. "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine…"
I tried to turn back around to finish clocking out, but Mush caught my arm. "No, you're not."
I looked up into his concerned eyes, and something just clicked. I never noticed how brown his eyes were. I smiled a bit, almost instantaneously feeling better. "Alright, you caught me. I'm not."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Yeah, sure…" But Race and Jack were the farthest things from my mind. All my thoughts had been changed to nothing but Mush. I never realized how quickly your feelings could change until then.
Mush led me outside, and we walked around the strip-mall where Applebee's was located, and talked. I told him everything that had happened that day, and he let me vent. Even though I realized my feelings for Mush, Race had still hurt me. Bringing that subject up again hurt my heart, but whenever I looked at Mush, silently listening to me, I couldn't help but smile at how lucky I was to have his friendship.
And then a thought crossed my mind. I didn't know if he felt the way I did about him. That thought cut my happiness to pieces. I finally figured out who I wanted to be with, and now I had no idea how to articulate my feelings.
"Blink? Blink, are you there?" Mush asked, waving his hand across my face. I snapped out of my daze.
"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I was just thinking… I…" I made up my mind and decided to follow my gut instinct.
"Blink?" he asked with concern.
I leaned down, and quickly brushed my lips against Mush's. It was only a peck, and I pulled away almost as quick as the kiss was. Slowly, I met his eyes.
He was fingering his lips, a mixed look of slight confusion and delight on his face.
Since he hadn't said anything yet, I didn't know what else to do, so I began rambling. "Mush, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that… I just… I…"
I was cut off by Mush's kiss. Almost immediately, I kissed back. Our arms wrapped around each other's bodies, and my fingers roamed through his unruly curly brown hair.
I was smiling when we broke apart, and when I looked up at him, he was too.
"I have been wanting to do that ever since you started working here…" Mush said, as if he was explaining why he had kissed me that second time.
I have to admit, I was not expecting that confession. "I had no idea… I wish I woulda done that a long time ago."
Mush smiled, but it faded for a second. "But, what about Race? Am I just a rebound, because well, I kinda like you…"
I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Race who? Don't worry. I'm over him, and I really do like you."
Mush responded by leaning in to kiss me again.
As I lay in bed that night, despite the betrayal of my boyfriend (or rather, ex-boyfriend) and my best friend, I fell asleep with a smile on my face. I had Mush now. Everything would eventually be okay.
The End