ʢʡ Prologue ʢʡ
Derrick Harrington impatiently tapped the chair he was sitting on at Starbucks. His girlfriend, Claire Lyons, was an hour late. This was supposed to be their first date in about two months. She was so busy with her programming stuff, and she didn't seem to have time for him. He checked his watch again; annoyed that time had barely passed. The minute hand was still where it was the last time he checked it, which had been a few seconds ago. He was about to give up when a blonde head whizzed through the crowd and arrived at his table.
"Sorry I'm late," she panted. "The professor kept me late to ask me about something."
"You could have texted me or something."
"My phone was in my locker – my bad – and what the professor said was really interesting, I couldn't pass it up."
"So, your studies are more important than I am to you?" he asked in a half-joking tone.
"I didn't say that…"
"You certainly imposed it. And I'm sure that's surely what you were thinking as you were listening to the professor." He said the word like it left a sour taste in his mouth.
"No, that's absolutely not what I was thinking," she snapped back. "I was just thinking about how his explanation went really well with the example."
"Oh, so I didn't cross your mind at all?"
"Not exactly…"
"I've been sitting here for over an hour. The least you could have done was to think of me. Just a thought. Is that too much to ask?"
"You aren't in my mind! And I didn't say no, I said not exactly."
"They virtually mean the same thing!"
"No, they don't, and…"
The people sitting next to them cut her short. They looked agitated. "Could you two lovebirds," one of them said, dripping sarcasm, "take your couples' bickering to another table or zip it?"
"Sorry about that," Derrick apologized. He sat down, realizing that in the heat of the moment, he had stood up. Claire nodded and sat down too.
"At least I can apologize," Derrick said to the people next to them, every word directed to Claire.
"Well, ex-cuse me if I just want to hear an explanation of what I learned in class today." She narrowed her eyes.
Derrick shook his head and turned so that he was facing the people next to him. "How would you feel," he said to the three men at the table, "if your girlfriend was an hour late for a date and she didn't even bother to call or text because she claimed she left her phone in her locker?"
"I'd probably leave it at that," the man nearest to Derrick said. "If she said she left it in her locker, she left it in her locker. I'd have to give her the benefit of the doubt. What's a relationship without trust?"
"Yeah," the second man echoed. "If you know you can't trust her, why date her at all?"
"I totally agree," said the third man. "Trust is the basic foundation for a relationship. If you have no trust, then… I don't think your relationship would be the best."
Derrick stared at them in disbelief while Claire looked at him with a smug Ha! look on her face. He obviously hadn't expected them to take Claire's side. What happened to bros before h**s? Huh? What happened to the good old days? However, it wasn't like he actually knew them personally. They were just Starbucks' neighbours. These neighbours virtually changed every day.
"And, how would you feel," Claire directed to the three women, "if you were late, and you had a genuine reason you didn't notify your boyfriend, but he didn't believe you? And he gets angry because you didn't think of him even though he's been sitting at a place for an hour waiting for you?"
"For one," began the first person that had talked to them, "I'd never lock my phone in my locker," she said in accordance to Derrick's earlier statement, "unless I was trying to avoid someone or something. The locker is too unsafe to keep something like a phone in it. I probably would have given it to the nurse or guidance counsellor to keep for me."
"I have to agree with her," the second woman said. "I'd never leave my phone in my locker unless I wanted to hide from doing something on it, like texting or calling someone."
Even before the third woman began speaking, Derrick looked at Claire with a pointed look on his face. The look said, I've caught you. The third woman began talking. "I don't think that I would ever leave a phone in my locker," she said, agreeing with the second point. "That being said, I probably would have done all the things I needed to do on it first, including calling my boyfriend and telling him why I'd be late."
Derrick reached over the table and high-fived each of the girls, before turning back to Claire. "Did you hear that?" he asked. "I'd only put it in my locker if I wanted to avoid something or somebody. Were you trying to avoid me?"
"No, Derrick, I wasn't trying to avoid you. It just never crossed my mind at all. Besides, didn't youhear? The benefit of the doubt."
"You'd only be asking for that if you knew you've done something wrong. C'mon, Claire Bear," he said, "were you trying to avoid me?"
"No, I wasn't trying to avoid you! Why can't you just leave it at that? I wasn't trying to avoid you and I'm not going to have this argument with you over this."
"Is it because you're scared?" he taunted. "Because you're scared that I might find out that you're trying to avoid me because you've done something wrong?"
"The best way to find out something about us women is to check our bags," the first lady said to Derrick. "If there's something in there we want to hide, then we wouldn't bring our bags." She motioned to the fact that Claire was wearing a messenger bag, instead of carrying a purse or something.
"Technically, I'm not a woman," Claire said, getting a tad annoyed. "I'm in high school… pre-college."
"So?" the second woman asked. "You're past sixteen, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then you're virtually a woman," the third woman added. "Just so we don't get confused, I'm Marianna, she's Myka," she said, motioning to the first woman, "and she's Melissa. We're triplets. Sort of, anyway."
"I'm Brandon," the first guy said, eager to get his two cents in, "and these are Jordan and Michael."
"I'm Derrick," Derrick said, "and this my… girlfriend Claire."
"No wonder you guys are fighting," Myka said.
"Don't worry, it'll pass," Brandon said. He checked his watch. "Alright, we have to go. I guess we'll see you around or something."
The six of them stood up and the women grabbed their phones. "We'll exchange numbers," Melissa said, "in case you guys need to talk about this."
After swapping numbers, they left Claire and Derrick sitting in an uncomfortable silence.
"You heard him," Claire said quietly. "A relationship is nothing without trust. Why don't you just trust me?"
"I don't know, Claire." He ran his fingers through his hair in the manner that Claire loved so. "Things have changed. We head off to college next year or so… I'm not even sure if we'll get the same college, what with you doing your programming and me my accounting. I… I don't know anymore." He looked at his iPhone time. "I have to go; my mom wants me to run some errands for her. I really thought that we could reconnect."
Derrick stood up and brushed his shorts. "If you want to eat or drink something, here you go." He handed her a few crisp bills. "Bye, Claire."
He exited the shop, leaving Claire to sit there all alone.
*a few days later*
Claire's iPhone buzzed. It was an iMessage. She checked it, gasped and nearly fainted. It couldn't be so, but, there it was…
From: Derrick
Claire, I think we should take a break
What did you think? Thanks and props go to splendeur, who came up with this ah-mazing plot :) without her, I wouldn't have this story :D
Amor,
Kellie.
'I got a bad boy, I must admit it. You got my heart, don't know how you did it. And I don't care who sees it, babe, I don't wanna hide the way I feel when you're next to me.'