Against the Wall (5 page)

“
I should hope so. If you’re gonna drink like it’s Quarter Beers night, we should hit the store before we get too shitty and can’t drive.” Not a bad idea.

“
How many do you have?”

“
Twelve pack.”

“
Should be good. If I still wanna drink, I can move on to that bitch ass wine of yours.” I hold out my beer to clink glasses with her rather large goblet of sparkling red bubbly. It may as well be a vase.

“
Hey, where are the pooches?” I ask her, looking around the kitchen. They’re never too far away from their mama.

“
They’re resting in my room. I just bought them a new bed and they love it,” she explains.

I nod, peeling the wrapper of my beer. “So what’s up with Nick? He should pitch a tent and live at the office.”

“
Don’t remind me,” she sighs. “If I didn’t have you, I’d be alone all the time. I may as well be single.” How many times have I heard that? But I guess it’s the price you pay for marrying such a successful attorney. I know if I were her, I would be sitting at home all day eating Oreos, reading books, and watching reruns of old soap operas instead of teaching a bunch of high schoolers how to write a complete sentence that actually makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, we love our students and our jobs. It’s just sometimes they can suck the life right out of you. But then again, one small victory, like a simple thank you or a smile that lights up the face of a struggling reader when he finally gets a C on a test, makes all the hard times worth it.

“
Oh stop,” I tell her. “I envy you. You have a great husband who takes care of you. You only work because you love it, not because you have to. So he’s not home all the time,” I pause to take a drink. “At least you don’t have him here all day nagging you about cleaning the house, or washing dishes. You get to have a drink with me, and when he gets home, if you feel like it, you can let him ‘manhandle’ you.”

“
Yeah, well I guess there are some perks.” She gulps down the last of her wine and pours herself more, while I hit the fridge for another beer. “So tell me what happened that’s so bad you’re getting liquored up and crashing on my sofa tonight.”

“
Hmm, where should I start?” I tell her, squeezing some more orange juice in my beer.

“
Tell me about lunch. I know it was good because you were giddy as all hell when I talked to you during fifth period.”

I look up and watch the blades of the ceiling fan as I revisit my happy time with Matty. We both laughed hysterically when we talked about shopping for prom two years ago. Mel and I dragged him to the mall with us to find dresses to wear as chaperones. We tried on the sluttiest dresses we could find while Matty sat on a sofa in the middle of the store eating popcorn like he was watching Monday Night Football. He’s always been chill enough to hang out and have fun with the girls.

In those moments with him, I was so at ease and having such a good time.

I wish I would have locked my doors at the end of the day so it wouldn’t have been tainted by Chase and his stupid ass remarks.

But back to my lunch.

“
I was giddy, wasn’t I?” I smile. “But I ruined it, Mel. I think I hurt him. See. That’s why I told you I shouldn’t go out with him.”

She shakes her head at me. “Shels, it was just lunch for crying out loud. You aren’t getting married. Just tell me what happened already.”

I try to focus on the good stuff. Matty looked so cute today, and he smelled so damned good. “Okay, so he showed up right after the bell rang. He was adorable. He brought me a Rice frickin’ Krispie treat for dessert.”

Mel turns her head to the side, and bats her lashes at me. “Wow,” she admonishes. “He's in it big time. He's never shared his cherished treats with me before.”

“
I know, that's what I was thinking. It was like a declaration or something.” Matty loves his Rice Krispie Treats. It’s like they are military rations and the only thing standing between him and his last breath. He never shares. In fact, I think he swatted my hand one time when I tried to take one. It’s always been a joke between us. I don't touch his treats, and he doesn't touch my beer.

“
I know. Totally sweet, huh. We just talked while we ate and we couldn’t stop smiling at each other. It was perfect. And then, just before lunch was over he got up to leave.”

“
Uh-huh. And?” Mel flutters her brows at me.

“
He kissed me on the cheek. And he told me to think of him when I ate my dessert.”

“
And how was it? The kiss?”

I take a quick pull of my beer. “It was on the cheek, Mel.” But I know what she means. I felt it. Even though his full lips barely grazed the side of my face, it couldn’t have been any better. She glares at me. “Okay, it was amazing. Like a damn romance novel. He kind of just lingered there,” I touch my cheek. “He barely made contact. Enough for me to be aware his lips were touching me, but not so much he was pouncing on me. It was frickin’ picture perfect.” Putting my hand to my face again, I wish I could summon that moment back and just bathe in the feeling of it again.

“
Oh, if only I could’ve been there. I feel like I need a box of Ding Dongs and a box of tissues just listening to this.”

Instead, she drinks some more wine, and I drink more beer.

“
You’re silly. Melly belly!”

“
Oh shizzy. Only two beers down and you’re already busting out the Melly bellys.”

“
Shizzy, Mel? Just two Cougar Town sized glasses of wine and you’re talking like a rapper.”

“
Fo shizzle, my nizzle g-money. Don’t hate the playa, hate the game. You know I’m the
ish
, yo,” She crosses her arms in full gangster pose. We both laugh until Mel starts snorting.

“
Oh girl, you crazy!” We can’t stop laughing. Mel staggers to the fridge to fetch me another beer, and I fill her glass, yet again.

“
We need to get new jobs. Listen to us.”

I chuckle.
“I know. Gangsta rap lingo.
Occupational hazard, I suppose.”

“
You’re killing me, Shel. We keep getting off subject. So what happened? How did everything go to shit in a matter of minutes?”

“
Oh.” Sighing, I force myself back to reality. “My amazing lunch got shit all over when Chase came to see me after school.”

“
Aha. He couldn’t stay away when he heard you were moving on.” Mel nods her head as if she’s all knowing.

“
Something like that I guess. I don’t even know how he heard anything. And it’s not like Matty and I haven’t had lunch together before. Even when Chase and I were together, we would meet for lunch. Why would he think this was any different?” Mel hangs her head low in an admission of guilt. “What did you do?”

“
Uh. I may have mentioned it to one of the girls in the copy room, when I knew he was listening.” My mouth drops.

“
C’mon, Mel, you know how everyone is. By the time he got to my room, he had it in his mind Matty and I are sleeping together.”

“
Good,” she says. “Let him chew on that for awhile. It’s not like he’s the only one who can get a piece of ass.”

I laugh inside at the thought. I can’t remember the last time I got any action. When I do, it’s going to be scary. Cob webs and dust bunnies are probably growing down there.

“
Well, you shouldn’t have tried to set him off,” I scold her.

“
I couldn’t help it, Shel. He walks around all smug without a care in the world. I wanted him to know you moved on and didn’t need him anymore.”

“
Well, that kinda backfired. He came to see me and then looked at me with those damn Hershey Kiss eyes of his and I melted like an ice cube in the desert. I’m so weak. He said he wanted me back, and I got all weepy thinking it might be true. So I asked him about Summer and that shithead had the nerve to basically say he just wanted me as a little side action and he wasn’t going to break up with her.”

“
What a cock sucker! You should have just grabbed him by his balls and twisted them all up,” she says, with a slur of her words and a fist full of air.

“
I wish I would have. I told him to get the fuck out and he wouldn’t leave. That’s when Matty came in.” Taking a moment for a swig of beer, I notice Mel’s big eyes bulging from her head. “Yes, it only gets worse from here.”

“
Oh shit,” Mel’s voice gets higher and she rubs her hands together.

“
Calm down, sister,” I tell her. “Matty told him to leave too. Then they got all my dick is bigger than your dick. They puffed out their chests at each other. Chase said some shitty things and left, barely dodging Matty who was about to give him a left hook.”

Mel gets us round four. “What did Chase say?” Giving her the run-down of Chase’s nasty words and how Matty took off, Mel’s face is red with anger. “That rat bastard. I hope he gets diarrhea. Stinky ass bubble guts that make Summer want to puke. I hope they both get the squirts.”

A new whirl of laughter ensues as we picture Chase and Summer dealing with bouts of explosive shit.

“
Poor Matty. He just left, huh. He’ll be okay. That guy likes you so much, he won’t let Chase get to him,” Mel tries to reassure me. I wish I could believe it. I grab another beer, a bottle of wine, and we head into the family room.

“
I don’t know,” I begin. “I don’t really think I should pursue anything with Matty. I know he gets what’s going on with Chase, but I can’t just lead him on, hoping my feelings for my ex will go away. It’s not right. Plus, I can’t very well have grown men about to go to blows in my classroom again. I’m not about to get fired over a fling with another staff member.”

She punches me on the arm before plopping herself down on the couch. “Stop being such a puss. I don’t think it’ll come to that. Just keep your bitch up when it comes to Chase, and forget about him. You can’t let him string you along forever.”

Where have I heard this before? “Did you to talk to Matty? Is there a script for this pep talk? He basically said the same thing earlier.”

She chuckles. “Perfect. Matt and I are alike. You can’t screw me cause we don’t swing like that, but you can do him. What’s better than dating your best friend? It’s perfect.” She is so serious, it’s scary. I love her reasoning.

“
Yeah, well … until Matty and I are no longer working at the same place of employment, it’s not gonna work. I’m putting my foot down. If I’m gonna get any anytime soon, I’m gonna have to extend the search off campus.”

“
Alright, boss,” Mel says, holding up her glass to me. “I’ll send out the search party soon. We need to get you some action before your va-jay-jay gets moldy.” Nice. I think I like cobwebs better.

I put my beer down and take a look at Mel’s extensive library of DVDs.

“
What should we watch? Should we ogle over the bad boys of Entourage, or drool over McDreamy and McSteamy in Grey’s?” I hold up boxed sets of various seasons of each show.

“
Ooo. Tough choice. Do I have any Grey’s with Avery? He’s McScorching hot. Have you seen those eyes?”

Yes, I have. “They remind me of Matty’s.”

“
Ah shit, Shel, I’m sorry. But c’mon, if he has eyes like Avery’s how can you not hook up with him? You owe it to yourself and Grey’s fans all over the world to start a relationship with a man based on his stunning blue eyes.”

She kills me with her crazy talk. “You’re a dumb ass. Let’s just watch Entourage. One look at Adrian Grenier and all my man troubles will be behind me.”

“
One look at him, my legs’ll be twitching, and I’ll be all primed and ready to go when Nick comes home.”

“
Aw damn. Remind me to put some ear plugs in.” I toss a pillow at her head and then we both settle in to watch Marky Mark’s funky bunch.

Three episodes in and a few more beers and glasses of wine later, Nick finally gets home and whisks Mel off to bed. I bid them good night and change into some workout pants and a tee I had in my car. I try to fall asleep but I can’t. Thinking about Chase has me wound so tight I could snap.

Was he always such an asshole? I never really thought so until today. Well, and when he called off the engagement. I’ve known him almost my entire life. Living without him is like living without air. I’ve never known anything different. Every single memory I have includes Chase. We started going out when we were in junior high. Then we broke up freshman year. We both wanted to be free in high school. It lasted just a semester before we got back together. Then we broke up again the summer before our junior year. Chase was feeling a bit too tied down and wanted to play tonsil hockey with a bunch of cheerleaders over the summer.