A/N: This chapter will be in Craig's point of view (head's up), so don't get confused…
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Beers between acquaintances
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"Let me feel now what sharp distress I may"-Charles Dickens
I've given my share of gifts to women- The diagnosis of bipolar disorder, le cheating du jour, manic episodes, ultimatums, abortions, the Ramones- However, giving someone a stripper somewhat crosses the line- maybe not for me perhaps.
"Yes. I'm Emma Nelson." She said crossly, as Ellie eyed me again out of the corner of her eye. I have that effect on women.
"I have some complaints that have been filed about the noise level coming from this house." He said stupidly as Emma began to tense up.
"May I ask what complaints are these? Because we aren't doing anything wrong…" She said rigidly, as I held in the laughter.
"Well, I'm going to check around anyways." He said whipping out a small boom box.
Emma looked confused as Ellie glared at me. I simply shrugged my shoulder as he pressed play. Obnoxious and very nineties, stripper techno music came blaring out the speakers. Emma shielded her face with her arms as the guy began to dance closer.
"Who sent you?!" She said yelling over the music, as I chuckled while walking into the kitchen.
I walked towards the fridge and searched for a beer. This whole hide and seek routine was refreshing yet tiring. The chase, the cold shoulder, the awkwardness of it all was the only thing that I knew how to do, and I sure as hell was fucking great at it. I finished up my beer and threw the glass bottle in the trash. I turned around face to face with Stella, JT's girlfriend.
Looking up and down, she was Ok, but she wasn't great, possibly not even good. Her blonde bun reflected the light, as the redness spread from her cheeks. It seemed to be that awkward elephant in the room was getting its full share of enjoyment. She cleared her throat or whatever, as I grabbed another beer.
"I'm sorry," She said stuttering, as I twisted off the cap, "I didn't know that you were in here… I just wanted to get away from you-know-what…" She said trailing off as I ignored her and glanced into the living room.
Only to see the guy now humping the table, as Emma effortlessly continued to hit him with a jacket, while continuing to look shell shocked. It was all too hilarious really. The inner feminist inside her must be slowly wilting.
"Yeah, is it me or is it hot in here? I don't know maybe it's the room temperature, but I swear…" She was still talking, hmm.
"Uh-huh." I said zoning out again, feeding the awkwardness. She looked down at her patent leather shoes as I finished off another beer.
"Your friends seem, friendly. I don't know exactly if they fancy me, but they seem nice." She said unconfidently as I looked her over once again.
A strand of her hair hung limp next to her cheek. I could see the outline of her collarbone sticking out from her blouse, as she weakly smiled at me. I felt sorry for her. I felt sorry for the fact that she had to ride the rigid conveyor belt of life; the fact that JT probably didn't care that much about her; the fact that she was taken for granted; the fact that she oddly reminded me of what Manny used to be. I reached into the refrigerator again and pulled out another beer.
"Well, I like you." I said drinking some more. I ran my fingers through my hair, and glanced at her solemnly.
"Thanks…" She said confused, as I opened into the refrigerator once more, "not to be nosy or anything, but don't you think you've had enough?" I smirked and turned around to hand her the beer, she wrinkled her nose in slight disgust.
"Do you want to talk?" I said desperately as she took the beer out of my hand. I began to start drinking mine again, as she set hers down on the table.
"I don't know how to exactly respond to that…" She said confused at my flirtish diatribe. Suddenly, a loud shriek came from the living room.
"I guess that's our que…" She said weakly, as I finished off another beer and threw it in the trash.
"Well, the offer still stands." I said solemnly as she nodded and walked into the living room.
I followed suite, only to see Elle squeezing the organs out of what I soon realized was Marco. Stella speed walked over to her corner, and stood awkwardly, as Ellie finally let go. I looked over at Emma, who cheeks were flushed, and still was holding the jacket. Sean gave Marco a civil hand slap, as Ellie fixed her hair. I watched Stella out of the corner of my eye, as JT gave Marco a mutual hug. It was my turn, here we go.
"Hey, man. What's up?" I said lamely, as I gave him a hug. I could feel Ellie's and Stella's eyes burning into my back as I let go.
"Nothing, much, you?"
"Pretty much the same." I said cryptically, as Emma walked towards him.
I watched the hallmark greeting card moment from a distance, as Ellie disappeared into the kitchen.
"I thought that you couldn't make it!" Emma said cheerily as Marco handed her a bouquet of flowers.
"Yeah, me too. It seems that I could leave early. Did you enjoy my gift?" He said smirking. Emma raised her hand, and pointed towards the door.
"That was your gift." She said disgusted. Leave it to the rainbow coalition to pick out a good housewarming gift. I mean who needs cutlery or a matching set of piggy plates, seriously.
"I guess that's a yes." He said hanging his coat on the coat rack.
"Em already has the sexual harassment papers filed out." I said sarcastically, as we all began to file back towards the couch. JT and Stella sat away from Marco and Emma, while I sat across from the four of them, on my left, Sean. Joy.
"I come bearing drinks." Ellie said bringing out six beers; I splashed my tongue around the inside of my mouth, trying to savor the remaining bit of alcohol still present in my system.
Marco put up his hand to signal that he didn't want one, "No beer. Do you have any Seltzer water?" Marco said in a perky, gay man type of way.
"Yeah, I don't think I'm up for any type of Alcoholic beverage tonight." Stella squeaked from what seemed like the corner of nowhere. Ellie tried her best to be civil, however it was very weak and strained.
"Sean, um, do you want anything else?" She asked trying to be polite, as Stella nervously cleared her throat again; Ellie subtly shot a glare her way. I watched as Stella submissively shrunk and crawled back into her imaginary hole.
"No thanks, I'm okay."
"I'm fine too. Just sitting here wasting away in the corner." Ellie may get her fair share of pleasure by being obnoxiously bitchy and bitter- meanwhile, a hint of an lyric from an Emo song and a scathingly, narcissistic remark is how I make a living.
"Haven't you had enough?" She quipped crossly, obviously not humored by my diatribe. I sunk into the couch, as Stella began to clear her throat again, which began to become extremely annoying.
"So, Marco, are you and Ellie an item?" She said obliviously, as I let out a chuckle.
Surprisingly, a light pink color began to rise up from Marco's hands to his cheeks. Ellie walked back in, handing Marco a glass of water.
"Unfortunately, no," He took a sip of his water, "We're just good friends. I'm gay." He said as Stella seemed to tense up. Emma looked over at Stella with a look that some would call concerned as Ellie, again subtly, rolled her eyes.
"Oh. I love the gay community, don't get me wrong. My uncle was," She said trailing off.
"Gay." Ellie said abruptly, finishing her sentence. Stella began to wring and fidget with her hands.
"Yes. He passed away recently."
"How?" Marco said trying to seem interested.
"He jumped off his apartment balcony." She said bluntly, with such an innocence of an eight year old. It reminded me of the time when, at dinner, Angie asked what a condom was. That kind of innocence. Emma and Marco seemed awkwardly uncomfortable- so did Sean. However, Ellie's gave her a look that had the words 'you-are-a-mindless-arrogant-bigot'plastered over her face. Marco drank some more of his water, as I looked over at the clock.
Only 7:20? Dammit.
"I never caught your name?" Marco said not really interested, but wanted to start up some type of conversation.
"Stephanie." She said meekly.
I would've have never pictured her as a Stephanie. Then again, I would've have never pictured as a Stella either. Emily, maybe- but Stella sounded better. I felt a shoe brush up against my ankle. I jerked my foot fast, as it shook off quickly, my entire body on alert. My nerve endings were getting tangled on the way towards my brain in one big traffic jam. Was she trying to send me mixed signals? I turned towards my left. Ellie, however, was looking towards JT's direction and didn't bother to look towards me. I followed my instinct, and placed my foot near her ankle. Just to make sure, I looked down. It was Sean's.
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A/N: Just to let you know, I'm not going to make this story one of those pesky Mary Sue's where the quiet, new character hooks up with Craig- Because quite frankly those stories annoy me. I just wanted to see what type of reviews I would get. BTW, the next chapter will be in Craig's POV again (just to let you know).
