Chuckie

That was the seventeenth time Angelica sent my call straight to voicemail. I tried calling her several times during school hours and approximately ten times since I got home; but Angelica was stubborn and insisted that she make some sort of statement. I was getting tired of her ignoring me and not answering her phone. I knew she was still a bit jaded from earlier this morning, but I figured she may have gotten over it by now. Sighing, I kicked off my sneakers and headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Kimi was out with Lil and Suzie shopping for dresses for the upcoming autumn formal, my father was out doing another one of his dangerous, yet highly effective, kick-boxing classes he signed himself up for after an unpleasant run in with an amateur mugger, while Kira was at her weekly yoga session with Mr. Kunchi and her yoga club she established at our local library. I was home alone and I certainly relished it to the fullest. My house was always filled to the brim with people or some kind of activity to the point where I could barely have company over to study, let alone hang out. When it was not Kimi's 'artsistic type' friends coming over to practice for the school play or moan about the harsh realities of life, my father had a few of his bingo buddies over for a few drinks and good conversation, or Kira had her girlfriends over for manicures and 'lustful' talk that I tuned out as soon as I heard the words "Last night he…". Tommy and Phil would occasionally come over but because of the chaos that always seemed to happen over here, our gatherings were always and have been religiously anticipated to be at Tommy's.

I grabbed a cool bottle of cola from the fridge, then a bag of zesty tortilla chips from the cabinet; heading to the living room to watch a bit of television. I stayed a bit later after school to get my homework done since I anticipated Angelica being upset with me, and she did not disappoint. I figured I may swing by later when she had the entire day to herself to cool down but with her not answering the phone, I would hate to drive all the way over to her place and she not even be there. I took a handful of chips and a swig of cola, flipping through the channels to find anything good on. I stumbled across a few music videos, the afternoon news, and a few sitcoms but nothing truly caught my attention. I flipped through my phone. Still no missed calls or text messages from Angelica and it was already going on five. I decided to call her one last time before I decided to surrender my efforts and just wait until she called me. Again, voicemail. I sighed, scrolling down through my texts to try and see if I magically missed one from Angelica. Instead, I found one from Samantha.

Be over your house by 5. Can't wait to see you. Been so long. TTYL

I mentally cursed myself for forgetting. I almost forgot Samantha and I were partners for our History assignment on the Cold War. She was overly excited about working together due to us not really having the time nor the opportunity to converse with one another. Since I began dating Angelica, she has learned to keep her distance since she knew the levels of animosity Angelica bore towards her were a bit higher than she would have preferred. I, also, learned that as cool, confident, and collected Angelica may seem, it was all a façade; Angelica-surprising to say the least- a bit insecure and very jealous of others. She and Samantha got into a verbal altercation last spring when Samantha asked me in advance to go to her senior prom. Angelica didn't take kindly to my ex asking me to her senior prom; the same prom Angelica would be attending as well. It went from simple sarcastic, snide comments to full blown yelling and screaming. Suzie had to hold Angelica while Samantha's best-friend, Rachael, drew her back.

Today's not really the best day to come over. Sorry Sammy.

I pressed send and took in a deep breath, grabbing another handful of chips. I felt my phone vibrate but before I could check it, the doorbell rang. I took a quick glance at it and saw Samantha had texted back.

Too bad. Already here.

The doorbell went off again. I silently cursed myself again before turning off the television, brushing off a few excess crumbs from my shirt and pant leg. I breathed, opening the door to greet a very bashful looking Samantha Shane. I embraced her in a warm hug before inviting her in. As faithful as I was to Angelica, I could not help but notice Samantha's…assets. The pink deep-plunge lace camisole she wore hugged her flawless hourglass figure perfectly as her breasts were accented nicely. The shirt rested just above her bellybutton and showed her perfectly tones stomach and butterfly belly ring. The brown, khaki shorts she donned stopped just below the curves of her backside as they hugged her thick, voluptuous hips like a well fitted glove. I made an appoint not to stare too hard but if I was not mistaken, she was not wearing any real panties but a lace thong. I swallowed, hard.

"I'm sorry, I just looked at your text. Now is not really the best time, Sammy."

She pouted. "But no one is here, Chuckie. I'm sure you have at least a little time to work on our project right?"

"Not really." I lied. "I am swamped with ACT prep and homework for my other classes; besides, I would hate for my folks to get back and get the wrong idea about you here."

"Oh." She said flatly, moving aside a stray hair. "Well, I drove all the way here…but I guess I can go if you want…"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I hated when Samantha made me feel guilty. I did not like disappointing anyone, let alone women. I was somewhat of a people pleaser and only wanted to make people happy. I hated when anyone was upset or angry with me; which is why I have been stressing out so hard about my 'fight' with Angelica. She never stays mad but can seriously hold a grudge. I took a quick glance at my watch. My father and Kira would not be home until almost nine and Kimi would not be back until seven. I didn't see the harm in allowing her to stay for an hour or so. "Actually, you're right; an hour won't hurt anyone right?"

She beamed, hugging me as she pecked me on the cheek. "Thanks Chuckie."

"No problem." I mumbled, rubbing stray lip gloss from my cheek. "Did you want any snacks or anything? My mom just went shopping so we have plenty."

"Any fruit?"

"Strawberries and grapes I believe."

"Perfect."

I led Samantha into the kitchen, grabbing the bowl of freshly washed strawberries and grapes Kimi cleaned the night before. I pulled out a carton of cranberry juice as Samantha brought out crackers from the cupboard. I smiled, handing her a glass. "How are you?"

"Good, missed you though."

"Missed you too." I grinned, pouring the juice. I watched her pop a grape into her mouth, nibbling on a cracker. "I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to really hang out."

She scoffed, taking a small sip from her glass. "I find that hard to believe. You spend all your time with that…woman."

"Sammy…"

"I know, I know… that is why I refrained from saying anything rude or inappropriate."

I rolled my eyes, taking a strawberry. "I really wish you two could get along."

"Me, get along with the queen of mean? No way."

"You two used to be best-friends." I countered, taking a cracker. I bit into it and washed it down some the cranberry juice. "You used to be inseparable."

"That was before Angelica turned into a psychotic bitch."

"Sammy…" I warned. She sighed, apologizing. There was a small moment of silence before either of us spoke. I watched intently as Samantha bit into another grape, smashing half of it between two buttered crackers for a makeshift sandwich. One thing I missed about Samantha was her free spirit. Unlike Angelica, Samantha would eat anything, anywhere, without caring who or what was watching. For our first date, I initially took her to a fancy seafood restaurant to try and impress her but we ended up heading over to Dave's BBQ shack instead. We ordered five slabs of baby-back ribs drenched in barbeque sauce, corn, coleslaw, and two pounds of fries. Hands were sticky, mouths were marred, as manners were dammed to hell. Angelica was the opposite. She had to only eat certain foods from certain places at a particular time. She never would allow herself to become as uninhibited as Samantha and would never be caught dead in a hole-in-the-wall barbeque place, let alone anywhere that did not have at least a four star rating. As much as I loved Angelica, I hated that she was raised to be so…particular about certain things. I really wished she would just let her hair down and let it blow in the wind sometimes.

"So, did you leave your backpack in the car? I didn't see you bring it with you."

"Chuckie, like I really came over here to do homework on a project you more than likely already half-way finished by now."

She wasn't lying either. Though I enjoyed the fact that Mrs. Crenshaw finally paired me with a student of notable academic rigor, I still had a certain standard to maintain so I took it upon myself to begin majority of the project in my spare time. Samantha could just read it aloud and add her own side comments while I did a great deal of the research and organization. I coughed. "So…why are you…"

She cut me off, snatching the strawberry I had in my hand. "To spend some time with you, duh."

"Samantha, you know-"

"Angelica will never know." She spoke, nudging my arm softly. "Besides, we're just…friends. No harm in friends hanging out, right?"

"Samantha, I don't know about this."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the fruit bowl and box of crackers from the kitchenette; heading to the living room. She plopped down roughly against the couch, shedding her sandals while letting the hair she had in the high-ponytail she graced flow freely down her back. I joined her, still a bit uneasy about the idea of my ex-girlfriend coming over to spend time with me. Angelica knew she and I were partners for a project, but was under the impression that we would only work together during school hours. Initially it began that way but because of Samantha's extracurricular activity and my afternoon job at the Java Lava on the days she was free, we scheduled to have house meetings in secret. I stole a strawberry from Samantha; she in turn stealing a cracker from me. Before either of us could realize, we had a full-fledged food fight. I threw a handful of grapes that she dodged, hitting a window as she smashed two huge strawberries on my shirt. I was too distracted trying to figure out how I was going to pretreat the stain to see Samantha dump the entire box of crackers on my head. We looked at each other for a while, bursting into a fit of laughter.

"You know you're vacuuming this up right?" I said, shaking excess crumbs from my orange locks. Samantha laughed, brushing off a few pieces of strawberry from her chest.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Wouldn't want your parents to think you had some wild party or anything." She joked. "You are quite the animal."

"Ha, very funny."

She giggled, beginning to help me clean out my hair. She commanded I stay still as she straddled my lap, pushing me back against the pillow of the sofa. She combed through my scalp with her nails, knocking dirt and debris. My face grew hot as I realized our position. I had Samantha's chest in my face as she sat atop of me. From our point-of-view, it was completely innocent. To the average bystander looking through the window, it was a reenactment from an adult film. I let out a nervous cough, looking away at anything but Samantha's erected nipples. The thin, pink camisole she wore barely did anything to cover the cheetah fabric of her bra.

"There, all clear." She chirped, smiling.

"Thank you." I grumbled, grabbing her waist to move her. "But if you don't mind, could you please get off of me?"

"Why? Not like you complained last time we were in this position." I chocked, damn near dying. I watched as Samantha leaned forward towards my left ear; beginning to purr gently as she briskly rocked her hips against the constraining denim of my jeans. "Do you now remember?"

"Samantha, stop!"

"Why? Does Angelica do it better than I do?" She nipped at my earlobe, snagging the small gold hoop hanging from the tender piece of flesh. I fought back a moan as she began to grin harder against my lap, twirling her hips like she was hula-hooping. I bit my bottom lip, gnawing roughly to keep myself from making any noise. "I remember you used to enjoy when I did this."

"Stop!" I pushed Samantha from atop of me; she landing roughly on the floor with a loud thud. She growled ready to snap but I told her to shut up. I bolted from the love seat. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"You pushed me, Charles!"

"I asked you nicely to stop dry humping me so since you refused, I did the first thing my head told me to."

"So manhandling me is the best option?!" she roared, standing. She dusted off her shorts before tying her hair back into a ponytail. "What the hell?"

"No, you what the hell! You know I have a girlfriend." I barked, finally pissed off. One thing I detested about Samantha was that she would always fins a character flaw in the other person during an argument but would never admit to her short comings. She practically molested me and saw nothing wrong with it but when I shove her, she cops an attitude. Women! "What were you thinking?"

She grew quiet, finding my living room's choice of carpeting much more interesting than me. I asked her again. She scoffed, flipping me the middle-finger before putting on her sandals. "Maybe coming here was a mistake."

"So you're going to ignore me?"

"Better than hearing you bitch and moan about something you used to enjoy."

"That is the past, Sammy." I warned, malice laced within the depths of my voice. Truth was, Samantha and I were not virgins; in fact, we lost our virginity to each other. Our first time was a cliché scene from a romance novel; candles, rose petals, chocolate, wine, and a hotel room at the top floor in the penthouse suite. Samantha's father was the regional manager of a five-star hotel so we got high-class rooms for dirt cheap prices. The night was originally supposed to be a typical dinner and movie date, but we were caught by a sudden rain storm that forced us to stay in the theater an extra four hours. By the time the storm passed, it was going on three in the morning and since neither of us had a car back then and rode public transportation, I did not feel comfortable allowing her to ride home alone at such an indecent hour. She called her father to get approval to book a room for his employee rate at one of the sister hotels his hotel was affiliated with and we ended up waiting out the remainder of the storm there. Samantha originally ordered two rooms but only one was available; so we settled on two beds but one bed was magically missing so we were forced to sleep together. One thing led to another and before we could come to our senses, I was putting on the emergency condom my father had given me during his 'talk' and Samantha was gripping the tight fabric of the cotton sheets. I never told Angelica about the night between Samantha and I- let alone I was not a virgin- because I knew she would either think differently of me or decide she did not want a relationship anymore. I hated lying to my beloved but I knew that if I told her, it would not pan over as well as one would hope.

Samantha swore under her breath, brushing past me as she stormed to the foyer. I raced after to try and calm her down only to find a disgruntled and angry Angelica standing in the doorway. Her eyes were narrowed at Samantha, arms woven in between her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently against the tile. My eyes widened at the sight of Angelica, trying to mentally calculate the possibilities of the amount of time she had been standing there. Samantha stood in front of me, motionless; awaiting Angelica to speak. When she realized there was nothing to be said, she turned around to bid me farewell as she scooted past Angelica to scurry outside to her car parked in the driveway. I watched to make sure she was pulled out the driveway safely before directed my attention towards Angelica. Clenching my teeth together, I shoved my hands in my pockets; giving a goofy smile to lighten the mood. Angelica did not laugh; instead she lunged towards me and dragged me by my collar towards the loveseat. I could barely get a word in edgewise before I was thrown against the sofa, straddled again; only this time by Angelica and not my infatuated, lustful ex-girlfriend. I tried to talk to her but she was not trying to listen to anything I was trying to tell her. Instead, she slapped me and yelled out for me to be quiet. I held my face to soothe the sudden burning. I watched helplessly as Angelica lifted her blouse above her head, throwing it in a far left corner as she began to attack my neck. She reached behind her to unclasp her white, lace bra; spilling her full breasts against my chest. I began to panic, practically pleading with Angelica.

"Angelica, what are you doing!?"

"So you slept with Samantha Shane, huh?" she said angrily, slapping me again. She reached for my belt buckle to unhook my pants. "But you won't sleep with me?"

"It's not even like that, Angelica!" I yelped, pushing my half-naked girlfriend. Angelica tried to pin me but I was much stronger than she was. Instead, I flipped the script; grasping her by her waist as she wrapped her legs around me, lifting her only to turn her around and pin her against the pillows. Her breathing grew ragged, heavy as I pressed myself deeper in between her thighs. "Stop this!"

"Why, Charles? You don't find me as appealing as Samantha?"

"It's not even like that, Angelica!" I roared, releasing her. I was so angry that I moved over to punch a wall to avoid me in doing something I would definitely regret later. I had a very bad temper despite my mild manner demeanor. I drew in a few quick breaths, picking up Angelicas blouse and tossing it towards her direction. "Why haven't you answered any of my calls!?"

"I wanted the day to myself, Finster." She spat with venom. I could have sworn I heard her hiss at me. "Then I tried calling you shortly after your last call but it went straight to voicemail. I called like six times but go no answer so I decided to drive over here to see you. Never would have thought to see your ex's car parked in your driveway with the front door cracked open."

"Nothing happened."

"Liar!" she shouted. She stuffed her bra in my back pocket and put on her shirt. I turned away for good measure to be chivalrous. "I was standing there in the doorway watching you get grinded upon by your ex!"

"If you were really there you would have known as I shoved her off me, Angelica!"

"Seems like you were enjoying it from where I was standing." She crossed her arms, walking towards me. "So you aren't a virgin, huh, Charles? You been lying to me this whole time I see."

"I never lied to you Angelica. You never even asked if I ever been intimate with another woman; you simply assumed."

"Nothing personal but I didn't peg you as the suave type."

I chocked back a vulgarity as I grabbed her wrists, heading her towards the door. "Just get out. I will call you later."

"You really think I am going to leave after what I just saw less than ten minutes ago? Really, Finster."

I growled, this time making a dent in the wall next to Angelica by her head. She shrieked, flinching as she moved left towards the door. "Out!"

"What is it then, Finster?" Angelica screamed, coming to tears. "Am I not as pretty as she is, sexy as she is, skinny as she is? I know I gained weight but I promise I can burn it off."

I took a few moments to collect myself to cool down my temper. I didn't want to sever any ties between Angelica and I and I most certainly did not want to keep damaging my father's walls. If I kept this up, I would be tacking on plaster by the end of the night. "Angelica, I'll call you later and explain everything."

"Chuckie…"

"Angelica, please, just go. I need time to myself right now."

"So now you want time to yourself when Samantha Shane was just here grinding on you like a dog in heat?"

"Angelica"

"You still love her?"

"Angelica…"

"Do you!?"

"No!" I roared, finally fed up with her interrogating me. My head was beginning to hurt as the room started to spin. I wanted to push her out the door just to get away from her nagging voice for a chance to breath but chose against it. Before I could even take a moment to think, I just told her the truth. "She gave me Syphilis."