This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: There's That Smile.

"The Cautionary Tale of Lucy Collins"

5. Now It Won't Go Away

The next day had started off as something so dull as to be called potentially criminal… they could have died of boredom. Artie had seen Lucy, asked how she was, as he would have, and she thanked him, saying she was fine, and apologizing, not having meant to snap at him the night before. This was one of those days where their schedules very rarely intersected though, so already the plainness of the day was not seeing any improvements. Friends were one thing, but none of them made him smile like Lucy did. But for now they were apart, and he had class, so he went on toward his locker.

He didn't see him coming until he was right on the other side of that locker door. Then all of a sudden there was the shadow looming overhead, and Artie didn't have to look up before to know who had casting it. He did look though, finding Grant and his damn grin staring back at him.

"Hello, Abrams," he bowed his head.

"Look, I'm not getting involved in this," Artie shook his head, shutting the locker door.

"Too late for that," Grant countered. For a moment Artie remained there in silence, observing him. It was hard to imagine Lucy ever having seen something desirable in this guy, but then sometimes even the best people could get fooled. What mattered to him now was that she was free of him, and if he wanted to keep it that way, then he had to just turn and leave.

"No, it's not," Artie gave his parting words and turned his chair to roll off. Grant wasn't ready to call it a day though, so he followed.

"So what's your trick?" he asked Artie, who frowned in confusion. "Well first the Cheerio, now Lucy. Maybe I should join that club of yours, looks like it works miracles in hopeless cases."

"You're hopeless alright," Artie muttered to himself, moving along to try and get away from the guy.

"What's that?" Grant asked, then, "I want you to tell Lucy something from me."

"I'm not telling her anything, and you should leave her alone," his goal was to keep moving, not to get involved, but Grant wasn't giving him much chance.

"She needs to pay for my car."

"Lucy didn't touch your car. Anna touched your car," he kept himself from adding 'which you deserved.'

"I'm not going anywhere near Anna, she's crazy," Grant scoffed. "But Lucy, well she's just a tease, so…"

Artie felt a chill coil at his spine – no… he wasn't going to let him rile him up. That was what he was doing, he could tell, and somehow Artie would have to manage not to rise to it.

"Six months I dated her, you know?" Grant went on, following behind. "And, hey, I was a perfect gentleman at first. She wasn't up for it, so I waited. And I waited… And you know what I figured out? She liked it, liked having that power over me." Artie was surprised, that of all things, that made him chuckle: the guy was out of his mind. "What's so funny, Wheels?"

"Besides you?" Grant moved from his side and planted himself in front of his chair, blocking his path. Artie steeled himself, staring up at the guy. He wasn't going to get away from him, and his resolve was giving way under the need to stand up for his girlfriend in some way. "She told me what you did. Right now the best thing you can do is just leave her alone."

"What about my car?" Grant gave no mind to his words.

"I don't give a damn about your car." He reached for his wheels to back up and roll off, but Grant grabbed on to the chair, stopping him.

"Let me tell you a little story. I call it 'The Cautionary Tale of Lucy Collins.' About three months into our relationship, there was one night where she came… so close… to giving in, and I mean real close. Some but not all clothes had been thrown off, and I had my hands around her, you know?" he took his time, letting the image get good and settled in Artie's mind. He wasn't sure where Grant was taking this, but he could feel himself fuming at the stunt he was trying to pull. "Do you know, I think that girl's got the softest skin I've ever felt… Oh, but you wouldn't know, right? With me, just before things got really interesting, she went and pulled the coy virgin act and changed her mind, so I can't imagine she's taken the leap now, especially with someone who could never… really… make it worth her while."

"I think I can speak for her and say she's happy with the change herself," Artie did his best to hang on, but he was barely keeping it together.

"I think you're missing the point. You and me and her, we know what really happened," he stated, then looked around the semi-crowded hall. "But they don't," he turned a smile back to Artie, who felt prickling at his skin.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything… not yet, anyway. But, hey, I bet they'd all love to hear about this secret encounter of ours… with some edits," he added.

"You've got no proof," Artie shook his head, hoping that was the case.

"Maybe not," Grant admitted. "But she did have her shirt off, and I saw she's got this… scar, right here," he traced a line at his back, just under his left armpit. "Crooked little thing, I'm sure one girl or another is bound to have seen it in the locker room. And she'll tell another, who'll tell two more, and then no one will need 'proof.'"

"Can't blame a girl for not wanting people to think she slept with you, and it didn't even happen." If he wasn't holding on to something, he wasn't sure what he would do.

"They won't care. I mean, would you? And you still don't get it. If she kept that one a secret, then how many more could she be hiding?" Grant delivered his final hit, standing back up and taking a step back, with that smirk of his as he started to turn away.

In one second, Artie had snatched his wrist before he could get away. And in the next, he was swinging his fist.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)