*Chapter Twenty Seven – Cheating?*
(The next day, the 16th of October…)
Steph McMahon and Molly Holly had gotten used to the fact that their other roommate, Terri Runnels, was hardly ever in the room. However, on this day, Terri was back because she had a falling out with her best friend, Debra Williams. Basically Debra has gotten a job at the local Wal-Mart and Terri was jealous since she wasn't as lucky in her job search. Terri was bitching to Test, of all people, on her cell phone, while Steph and Molly were trying to do their homework.
"Yeah, I mean how can she expect me to not get jealous? I got an offer from all the gas stations, but nothing from anything at the mall. And she has the boyfriend, the clothes, the car, and the job…" Terri whined, making Test wince on the other end. Why do I put up with her shit?, he thought as he shifted uncomfortably on his bed. He pushed his business math homework to the side and tried to concentrate on what his most annoying female friend was saying.
"Right, but that doesn't mean that you have to let her be the best. You can have all of that too, ya know." Test tried to advise Terri.
"But how? I mean, all the guys up here think I'm a huge slut and a big bitch, at that, and it's like that reputation followed me to wherever I applied." Terri continued, making Steph roll her eyes. Maybe Shane was right, she thought as she tried to concentrate on her homework, maybe all she really does is whine about how unfair her life is. But I hardly know her though…
Well you are a slut, Test thought to himself as he tried to think of what to say. But that can change. "You know what? You're too concerned about what other people think of you. You really gotta get rid of that. No wonder no guys up here like you and use you for the sex."
Terri growled. "But that's what I'm good at."
Test shrugged. "So go to the school paper and offer to write a sex column." I can't believe I just said that, he thought. I should see if she actually goes through with it, though. I know that Bubba Ray is the editor of the paper this year, so it might fly. Then again, Bubba Ray and Terri never really did get along, so that should be interesting.
"You really think I could do it?" Terri asked, twirling her long blonde hair around her finger.
Test sighed in irritation on the other line. "Yes."
"But still, I'm gonna need money to be able to keep up with all the latest trends and such. You know me, I'm all into high fashion." Terri continued, while Steph gave her a few glares. She still didn't get the hint, she thought. What a dumb bitch.
"Find somewhere to waitress. TGI Friday's would be good…what about the Ground Round? Or even the Olive Garden? They make mad tips there." Test suggested. All I want to do is finish this goddamned homework and all she's doing is holding me up, he thought as he cracked his knuckles. He did that when he was getting extremely irritated with someone.
Molly sighed as she continued to plow through her biology lab homework. She was trying to figure out how light affected photosynthesis but Terri's bitching and complaining to Test was only making Molly more irritated by her roommate's behavior.
"Right, but seriously, I would rather die than work at one of those places!" Terri practically yelled, which made Steph wince and Molly groan.
"Listen Terri, if it's that important, can you take it outside? Steph and I are trying to finish our homework now so we can go and do stuff later." Molly explained sort of harshly.
Terri didn't hear her, though. "And don't even mention the gas station. I don't need 40-year-old drunks hitting on my hot ass. Uh-uh."
Molly gave her a warning look. "Did you not hear me or something? Do I have to repeat myself? I said we were trying to study. Can't you take it outside?"
Terri blinked, and retorted, "Sorry, you should've said it just a little louder." She got off her her desk, on which she was sitting, and muttered a few curses under her breath.
"What'd they do, tell you to get out of the room?" Test muttered as he reached for his homework and grabbed a pencil. He was going to attempt to do his homework and talk to Terri at the same time.
"Yeah, of course. They're too busy trying to keep up their grades…yeah, they're such bitches…you would think that…" Terri trailed off down the hall.
Steph pushed her brown hair out of her face. "Why does she have to be such a bitch to us? We live here too, ya know."
Molly shook her head. "She's an extreme bitch, what can I say?" She penciled in the answers to her lab questions. "At least she's not here all the damn time."
"True." Steph replied as she looked out the window. It was a bit cloudy and overcast, with darker clouds in the distance by one of the classroom buildings across campus. "It looks like it's gonna rain soon."
"Yep, a 60% chance." Molly nodded as she got up from her chair and stretched. "At least I'm halfway done with my homework."
Steph coughed. "I don't even understand this political science shit." She stared at her homework for a second, then pushed it away. "It's not due until Friday anyhow."
"Slacker." Molly said and stuck her tongue out.
"I'm far from one. I'm a McMahon, damnit!"
Just then, Steph's phone rang. She checked the caller ID on it and it turned out to be Chris Jericho. Her relationship with him had been sort of strained for the past week or so because of the fact that he was acting like an asshole. He wasn't acting like much of one before, she thought as she picked up her phone. "Hello?" she answered wearily.
"Steph babe, what's wrong?" Jericho asked on the other line. She was silent. You know exactly what's wrong, she thought. You're being an egotistical jackass and I don't like it.
"Nothing, Chris." Jericho pouted at his girlfriend's reply and Matt Hardy, who was sitting on the couch watching something on ESPN, noticed this. Jericho looked to Matt – "She's still sort of pissy at me, I think."
Matt shrugged. "Well you are acting like an ass lately. That's why that Victoria girl is pissed at you – you just had to make a comment about her chest."
"But…but it looked so nice in that shirt…I couldn't walk away without saying something!" Jericho retorted as he cupped his hand over his phone so Steph couldn't hear the exchange between the roommates.
"Girls hate comments like that, unless they're easy." Matt advised as he sunk lower into the couch. "So if you don't want every female on campus hating your guts, I'd advise you to stop making those asshole-like comments. It won't get you anywhere. "
Jericho smirked cockily. "I don't need any advice from you, Hardy boy." He put his phone back up to his ear. "Are you sure you're alright, Stephy dearest?"
Steph gritted her teeth, to Molly's amusement. "Well at least you didn't call me 'bitch' this time."
Jericho coughed. "But that's what you are…you're my bitch."
With a groan, Steph said, "Goodbye Chris." She hung up the phone, leaving Jericho confused as hell. The glaring look from Matt said it all.
"What, I thought girls liked being guys' bitches?"
Matt shook his head. "Maybe you should just cool it with trying to impress Steph for a while. I think you're threatened by the fact that she's rich. She's looking for someone that 's not afraid to be a man. And frankly, you're afraid."
Jericho glared at his roommate. "Listen, before I say something I regret, I'm just going to go back to my room and blast some AC/DC." With that, he muttered some angry ramblings to himself and closed the door to his room.
****
Spike Dudley, the youngest Dudley brother, maneuvered his way through the halls of Cedar Hall, one of the classroom buildings at WWE U. I know that Bubba Ray's been acting weird but he's acting weirder than usual, he thought as he avoided being pushed out of the way by the Undertaker. Undertaker…why do I get the feeling that he has something to do with my brother acting the way he is? He watched Undertaker walk down the hall with Chyna by his side. Spike was staring off into the distance when a sharp nudge on his shoulder caused him to turn around.
"What are you thinking about, bro?" It was his older brother D-Von.
Spike sighed. "I think there's something wrong with Bubba. Don't know why, though. I just have a bad feeling about things." D-Von's eyes went wide. Did he tell? Man, Bubba can't tell anyone else about what is going on or he's dead because of that…curse from Undertaker and Chyna. But still…
"You think so? Maybe he's just stressed out. He does have a rough semester ahead of him and so do I. I really wouldn't worry about it." D-Von replied, patting his younger brother on the head.
Spike groaned. "Don't ever do that again." D-Von just nodded. Sometimes it was hard to realize that Spike was well over 14 years old, which was exactly the age he looked like. But people still treated him like he was a kid and he hated it with a passion.
"I'm sorry bro, but you're just too damn cute." D-Von laughed as he walked away. Spike clenched his teeth. Too damn cute? Did I just hear that from my own brother? Man…now I know for sure that something is definitely up, he thought as he headed to his next class.
In the office part of the building, Dave Batista was busy asking his philosophy professor questions about the next test they were to have in class.
"So wait, you're saying that the test is gonna be multiple choice then?" Batista asked.
"Yes. I figured essay would be too harsh on you too soon." Professor Freddie Blassie told his student. "But you know that the more the semester moves on, the more difficult the tests and assignments will be."
Batista nodded, with a bit of annoyance in his eyes. "Okay, professor. Thank you." Professor Blassie nodded and Batista left his office. No sooner than that, he ran right into William Regal. "Shit, I didn't see you. Where were you going?" Batista had tried to make nice with Regal ever since they started at WWE U. 3 years earlier, but sometimes he just got on his last nerve.
Regal shrugged. "I was about to see Professor Blassie about the test since he really didn't mention anything about it in class yet."
Batista motioned to his right. "I was just in there. He said it's multiple choice for now but the tests will get harder as the semester progresses."
Regal groaned, "I am absolutely horrible at multiple choice, but at least he's not sticking to one format. I like that in a professor."
Batista shifted his heavy gray bookbag on his shoulder. "They're not that bad. But listen, I gotta head down to dinner before the line gets packed. Besides, I'm dying for some chicken parmesan right now."
"That's fine," Regal nodded. "Can we study together later on when the test comes up?" Batista blinked. No, he did not just ask that, he thought in irritation.
"Uh…" – he racked his brain for an excuse – "actually, I need to go home that night. So is it okay if you find someone else to study with?"
Regal nodded, not even noticing that Batista completely lied to him. "That's fine. I understand." Who the hell can I study with now?, he thought.
Batista nodded back as he left. "I knew you would. See you in class." He then walked out the door – right into the secondhand smoke of Terri, Debra, and the infamous slacker on campus, Scott Hall. Batista coughed, shook his head, and walked down the steps.
"He's kind of cute but a bit too preoccupied with school. He needs someone like you to loosen him up." Debra pointed out to Terri. They had since reconciled and Debra said she would help Terri find a job near campus.
"Well I am notorious around here for loosening people up." Terri giggled as she took another drag of her cigarette. "Ahhh, menthol."
Scott muttered, "Menthol is weak. But you're chicks so that's understandable." He leaned against the shiny silver garbage can, which looked like it came straight out of the 60's. "I love my Turkish Jades."
"Well I can have my menthol and you can have your Turkish Jades. I just like minty stuff, that's all." Terri defended.
"He wasn't meaning to offend you, were you, Scotty?" Debra laughed at her best friend on campus besides Terri. The two had met in their Intermediate Algebra course freshman year and hung around each other since.
"Not at all. Different things for different people, eh?" Scott replied and stubbed out his cigarette on the ground. He looked at his watch. "Listen, dinner has been going on for at least ten minutes now. Would you two lovely ladies like to go down with me?" Debra gave him a perverted look. "And no, I didn't mean it in that way, Miss Sex-On-the-Brain 24/7!"
Terri stubbed out her cigarette on the brick wall. "Let's go. I'm dying to see what shit they're gonna try to feed us today."
"And I'm dying to hook you up with Batista!" Debra cackled as the three walked down to the cafeteria.
***
Around the same time, Chris Jericho woke up from his nap. He stumbled into the living room after realizing what time it was. It's after 4:30, and I don't feeling like walking down to the caf. It's Ramen noodles night for me, he thought. The room was flooded with bright sunlight and was scattered with papers. Shit, I guess Rob has a research project on his hands, Jericho thought as he made his way to the fridge. He opened it and did a double take – the Undertaker had taken over half of it with some dark purple liquid in jelly jars, and RVD had taken over a part of the other half where there were a million different types of soda pop ranging from Coca-Cola to Jolt. I wonder where my stuff and Hardy's stuff is? Oh well. Jericho groaned and reached for his milk hidden in the back corner.
"Hey dude, don't touch my stash of soda, okay? I need that for next week." RVD said from the couch by the window. Jericho took the red cap off of his milk and rolled his eyes.
"Listen, jerky, I don't even like Mountain Dew." He took a swig of his milk and his features immediately soured. "Shit, did this expire already?"
RVD snickered. "Yeah, dude."
Jericho dumped the milk down the drain and turned the faucet on. He then threw the empty milk carton in the garbage and glared at RVD. He looked around and realized how quiet the apartment actually was. "I know 'Taker's probably out wreaking havoc with Chyna, but where'd Matt go?"
RVD coughed. I know the truth, he thought. "He went off campus to apply for some jobs. He said it was really important, I guess."
"Ha, he's probably helping Jeff find some fishnet tights." Jericho muttered as he flopped down on the couch and put on the TV. I need to talk to him whenever he gets back, anyhow. I should see if he's willing to get me some applications for some places, too, he thought as he leaned back into the couch.
****
"Okay, so your brother is really against you being with Jericho for some odd reason." Matt Hardy said to Steph, who nodded.
"Right. I mean he's not that bad of a person, he's just a little too…"
"Horny. And asshole-like, at least lately." Matt finished for her.
"Yeah." Steph blushed.
Matt leaned back on the green paneled booth. The two of them were out at Denny's just discussing what was happening in their lives, which was really not much. Matt had noticed that Steph was a lot less tense around him than around Jericho. He picked up a fry and twirled it around his finger, making Steph laugh.
"So tell me about you and Shane's relationship." Steph poked at her salad drenched in low fat French dressing and emitted a high-pitched squeak. He didn't ask that, she thought. "No, you really don't want to – "
"But I do."
Steph raised her eyebrow. "Well aren't you ever the inquisitive one?"
Matt nodded with a grin. "Oh yeah…Jeff and Hurricane get so annoyed by it. I just like to listen to other people's problems and then I end up getting into other people's business. Not a good thing – I've lost many friendships over that."
Steph sighed dreamily. Wow, I can go on and on about my problems to him and he won't care, she thought. Awesome. But I'm with Chris, not him. Damn. "Do you think Jericho is wondering where we are?"
Matt put his hand up. "Don't worry, everyone is too wrapped up in their own lives to notice. Quit worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself for once."
She sighed deeply. "You're right, you're right, but it's just so hard for me to let go."
Matt closed his eyes and thought of the nature preserve about ten miles outside of Waters Grove. She needs to let go? Then I'll teach her to do it, he thought with a smile. He opened his eyes to Steph giving him a weird look.
"You okay?"
He nodded as their skinny waitress came by. "Is everything okay here?"
Matt gave her a devastating grin. "As always. Everything was great, but we're ready for the check."
"Coming right up." The waitress smiled and left to get it.
Steph pulled out her wallet and said, "I'll pay half."
Matt shook his head and put his hand over hers without thinking. "I'll pay," he croaked out. I bet I'm green right now, because I sound like fucking Kermit the Frog. Ribbit, he thought.
Steph laughed nervously and flipped her light brown hair to the side with her free hand. Matt still had his hand on top of hers. "What are you trying to do, Matt, imprint my hand print on the damn table?"
Matt blinked. Oh God, that's right. I don't need Jericho on my ass. And what about Lita? I think she's still pissed off at me for who knows what reason. I guess it's best if we don't talk anymore. I don't know…ahhhh, he thought as he quickly pulled his hand away. "Sorry, um, I have no idea what just – "
"It's okay," Steph reassured him as the waitress was heading towards their table. "Now let's pay the check and get out of here."
About 20 minutes later, Matt and Steph were at the nature preserve outside of town. Matt had parked alongside the main drag, and Steph was annoyed at this. "Can't you get ticketed for parking there?" she asked as they were walking to the one spot Matt wanted to show her.
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." He patted the back pocket of his khaki shorts. "I have enough to cover it, I'm sure." Steph raised her eyebrow and looked at his ass. You sure do, she thought and immediately shook herself out of her perverted thoughts. Ugh, I still don't know him enough and I'm thinking bad thoughts about him. Then again, if we get fined, I can always ask Daddy for money. I know Matt's dad doesn't make nearly enough as we do, so it's the least I can do.
Steph looked up at the sky. It was getting pretty dark near the east, and it was sort of windy. "Matt, it's gonna rain, I swear to God. Can't we just head back to the car?"
Matt smiled evilly. "Nope. I gotta show you something first…and then we can go back."
Steph groaned. Damnit, I just want to go back to the car. I hate thunderstorms, she thought.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes until Matt said, "Okay Steph, close your eyes."
She pouted. "What do you want to show me?"
"You'll see." Matt covered her eyes just in case.
****
End of Chapter Twenty Seven…