C H A D
I sighed as I let the hot water run over my body, wishing that all of my issues and all of my problems would just wash away with the dirt. The bottom of my back was aching with stress, it wasn't easy for me to smile, and my head was pounding. I sort of felt like you do right before you get sick, but I know that I'm not getting ill. My problem is right across the hallway, on her laptop.
Allison Munroe.
It's amazing how quickly that girl can drain the life out of you. It's like she's just a... a black hole that sucks every happy thought, every joyful emotion, right out of you! I could tell what she was doing today. She thought she had me fooled... I mean, really, how dumb do I look? I graduated high school! I have a damn diploma! Those tricks she was trying to pull on me, a five year-old could see right through those! Trying to seduce and charm her way out of work. I hate to break it to her, but she could jump on top of me and I'd still make her work. That's my job. That's what I'm getting paid for.
Who the hell does she think she is? Seriously. Rich people just... they just get me so pissed off! They think just because they own a lot of property that they own the world. That they own everyone in it. That they can manipulate everyone into doing whatever they want. It's disgusting! If I wasn't a classic Southern gentleman, I'd go in there and give her a piece of my mind!
Oh, you can bet that I'll talk to her about today, though. I'll try and stay calm—try—but I can't promise anything. I let the soap wash around my face, run down my shoulders, my back, my abs. It escaped down by legs, carrying the dirt with it, and sucked down the silver drain.
With regret, I sighed and cut off the water. The shower immediately stopped and I quickly started to shiver. I pulled open the shower curtain, grabbed my towel, and began to dry myself. After I finished tousling my hair with it, I wrapped it around my waist. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times, too lazy to brush it. I cleaned my face and stared at myself in the mirror. I needed a shave soon.
I turned to pull open the door, but what—or who—I opened it to surprised the hell out of me.
"Oh, shit!"
"Oh my god!"
There stood Allison, a look of utter surprise on her face, her knuckle raised as if to knock on the door. Her face was flushed with just a hint of red under her jawbone. She looked completely flustered. As for me, I was about to freak out until I remembered that I had a towel around my... well, I was covered.
"I... I was going to ask when you were going to finish," she scrambled, and I could tell she was struggling to keep her eyes on my face. I couldn't help but smirk just a smidgen. "But, uh..." cue the wandering eyes "I—I see that you're done!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm done," I nodded casually, my nonchalant-ness obviously making her more embarrassed. I had to admit, this was fun! "You gotta shower?"
"Um... yeah, I need to shower..." she muttered, eyes not meeting mine.
I smiled, trying to act flirty just for the sake of the situation. I wasn't uncomfortable in the least, and she appeared as if she was about to explode. This is the happiest I've felt all day! If taking advantage of the situation and completely mortifying her makes me a bad person, then hey... I'm a bad person.
"Our faucet turns a little weird... need me to show you how to work it?" I asked, gripping the waistline of the towel, as if it was about to fall and my hand was the only thing holding it up. Now she made sure that she kept her eyes on my face.
"No!" she exclaimed indignantly, now realizing how I was milking our current dilemma. "I... I think I can figure out how to work a water faucet on my own, thanks!" She looked more angry now, but not any less embarrassed. Point for Chad.
Before I could say anything else, she rushed by me and slammed the bathroom door in my face. Aggravation started to itch at my skin, but I pushed it down after realizing that it was actually really funny. All she did was show me that I won!
I sighed and leaned against the wall beside the door, listening to the tub water beginning to cut on. It sounded like just a little trickle, though. I smirked as I heard the metal being twisted and turned, even banged on. I crossed my arms, my towel pretty secure. Now I just waited to be proved right.
Five whole minutes passed before the door cracked open reluctantly, all that was visible was her eye and nose.
"You're still standing out there, aren't you?"
"Yup."
Silence.
"Can you..." her tone changed mid-question "...you—you broke the faucet!"
I rolled my eyes. I almost got her to admit that she was wrong, but I should've known that she'd find some way to make it sound like it wasn't her fault. In her rich little world, she never did wrong. She was blameless. The rich could almost never admit that they were wrong. It showed weakness.
"Allison!" I groaned her name in exasperation. I know that I should be smug, since I know that what she's doing is just her defense for knowing she was wrong... but nevertheless, she is irritating the everliving crap out of me. Even with something as little and insignificant as a shower faucet! She couldn't stand to admit to something as stupid as that? … I guess it's the principle of the thing.
"What? Don't get mad at me for something you did!"
Now she was starting to make me mad. "It's a dumb water faucet, Allison. Don't pull this. Just admit that you don't know how to work it, and I'll go in and fix it for you."
"I know how to work a fau—"
"I'm sure you do. But not that one, huh?"
She shut the door in my face once again. She was so competitive about everything! She couldn't be wrong, she couldn't get dirty, she couldn't get sweaty, she couldn't lose an argument. It's completely ridiculous! What is she, five?
"Alright. Fine. Be that way!" I chuckled through the door. "But good luck getting that shower started without me!"
She stuck her hand out of the door for only a moment, enough to send me a... signal. An unpleasant signal. One that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in anger. Whatever. She can sit in there all night and sleep in there if she wants to, I'm not doing anything for her spoiled ass! Until she can act her freaking age, she can forget any assistance from me. I told her so too. She needs to act her age, not her shoe size. All I heard was a huff and nothing else. I rolled my eyes again, muttered some unpleasant things under my breath, and walked to my room. She can rot in there for all I care, with that attitude.
Two hours went by, and I almost forgot all about it, playing Black Ops on my tiny TV. I said a word that doesn't bear repeating when I was shot in the back unexpectedly. I hated to admit it, but I sucked at this game. I really really did. I was almost somewhat thankful when a knock came to my door that made me pause it. Thank the Lord, I needed a breather before I punched a hole in my wall.
Almost completely forgetting that Allison was even at my house, I still hadn't bothered to put a shirt on. All I had on were some old basketball shorts I had leftover from senior year. When I opened the door to see her standing there, still dry, I remembered the problem. She looked defeated and extremely irritated, only stopping for a second to stare at my chest and then put on the bratty mask again.
"Fine. You were right. The faucet is weird. I can't get it started. Help, please." Her voice was monotone and she was staring at the ceiling as if she was talking to someone far below her. This made me bristle.
"That hardly sounded convincing."
She sighed and stomped her foot like a child. "Come on, Chad! I feel gross! Every night I shower at exactly seven o'clock sharp, and its nine! NINE! Now my whole schedule is thrown off!"
I rolled my eyes at this ridiculous logic. "And who's fault is that?"
She shut up quickly and stared at the hardwood floor under her bare feet. She took a deep breath, as if she was about to do something like jumping out of a plane or diving off of a twenty foot diving board. She looked up at me like a pitiful puppy.
"Chad. I'm sorry I'm such a bitch." Silence. I rose my eyebrows as a signal to go on. She whined. "The faucet is a stupid thing to argue over, and I guess today just sucked ass so much that I felt like aggravating you. I still feel like aggravating you. But I need to shower. So, you were right, please help me."
I tried to smile, realizing that was the closest thing to a heartfelt apology that I was going to get. I walked into the hall and trudged towards the bathroom, pushing open the shower curtain and fixing the faucet within ten seconds. I left an irritated, open-mouthed, and somewhat thankful Allison behind me as I went back to my Black Ops match.
