Always
forever
What things she said
Never say never
The
simple lies she fed
Nick
pulled his car smoothly into his driveway and got out, grabbing his bag from the
passenger’s seat. He enjoyed
spending time with his family, but there was always something about coming home
that was a comfort to him. Although
this time, he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do.
He had counted on Brian being home and receptive to whatever Nick would
say. But in the last few miles on
the road, Nick had suddenly come up with things that would just throw his entire
plan off course. What if Brian
wasn’t home? What if he and Michelle were out still? What if they BOTH were
home? By the time Nick pulled into
the driveway, he had thought of a dozen different opening lines to use, no
matter the situation. Feeling
ready, he strode with determination towards the front door, taking note of the
unfamiliar car parked at the curb.
He
had just slipped his key into the lock, when the front door suddenly flew open.
There stood Michelle, looking just as surprised as Nick felt.
All his prepared lines quickly disappeared from his memory as he stared
at her in disbelief.
“Oh,
Nick, it’s you,” Michelle said. Recovering
from her surprise, she smiled sweetly, and almost innocently at Nick. “What
are you doing here?”
“I
could ask you the same thing. I
live here, remember?” Nick fought the urge to roll his eyes, but made no move
to try and conceal the condescendence in his voice. He had given up on trying to
remember what he had planned to say and just decided to go with the flow. He brushed past her and entered the house.
Michelle
shut the door behind him and quickly moved to stand in front of him, blocking
his access to the rest of the house. Her
smile disappeared and was replace by a look of harsh anger. “Don’t talk to
me like I’m an idiot,” she demanded. “Cuz I’m not, you know?”
“Could’ve
fooled me,” Nick said, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.
“What’s
that supposed to mean?”
“I’m
just saying you must be an idiot to lie to both Brian and Rylee.”
“Oh,
that!” Michelle said, acting like her lies were simply very trivial.
Over
Michelle’s shoulder, Nick saw Brian come into view, his mouth open to say
something. But upon hearing
Michelle’s next words Brian stopped short.
“What
was I supposed to do? The stupid little girl was interfering with my plan!
Her and her silly little “date”!
Please! How else was I going
to get rid of her?” Michelle was oblivious to the fact that Brian was right
behind her, and Nick wasn’t about to tell her.
She shrugged innocently. “Now she’s out of the picture, letting me
move in on Brian. I told her to
stay out of my way. I don’t know
why she’s so picky. It’s not
like she won’t get him back after I’m done with him.”
Nick
shook his head, in disbelief. He
couldn’t believe how much Michelle was incriminating herself.
He glanced sideways at Brian and noticed that his mouth was open again,
but this time in shock. “So what did you tell him?” Nick feigned curiosity,
and fortunately Michelle wasn’t bright enough to pick up on it.
She
smiled, as if she was being asked to revel her secret plan for world domination
instead of just her little lie to Brian. “Oh,
I just told him that one of her classes was changed and that she had to run.
It was very simple really.”
“What
did you tell Rylee?”
“Nothing!”
Michelle said, laughing gleefully. “I
just told her we were ‘busy’ and let her draw her own conclusions! Of course
it helped that she heard Brian’s voice over the phone and she couldn’t hear
what he was saying! I’ll bet
she’s going crazy with jealousy right now.
Aw, the poor little girl!” She
smiled with satisfaction. “It was
too perfect.”
“Too
perfect is right,” Nick thought.
Brian
caught Nick’s eye as the shock wore off.
He almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he knew that Nick
and Rylee had been right about Michelle’s character from the beginning. And he was angry. Angry
at Michelle for lying to him and Rylee, and angry at himself for not listening
to his friends when they tried to tell him what Michelle was really like.
He should have used his better judgment when Rylee called by not allowing
Michelle to answer the phone.
Nick
smiled. He couldn’t help it.
He could see Brian’s expression was one of anger, and in his eyes was
the look Rylee referred to as “burning blue fire”.
Michelle was in for a rude awakening.
And Nick had a front row seat.
“What
are you smiling about?” Michelle demanded, not at all pleased to see Nick’s
smile.
“Oh,
I’m just thinking about what Brian’s gonna do when he finds out,” Nick
responded, breezily.
Michelle
grinned even broader. “Oh, but
see, Brian’s not gonna find out. Because
even if you tell him, he won’t believe you.
He didn’t before did he?”
Nick
smiled back. “Oh, I have a
feeling this time will be different.”
Michelle
rolled her eyes. “And why is
that?”
“Because
I’m standing right here.” Brian
couldn’t stay silent any longer.
Michelle
whirled around, hearing Brian’s voice coming from behind her. “Brian! What-… How-…. I-…” She turned to look back
at Nick, who was now the one wearing the satisfied smile.
“I- I was just talking to Nick…”
“Yeah,
I heard,” Brian interrupted. His
voice and face were expressionless, but the anger in his eyes was enough to
scare Michelle.
“How
long have you been standing there?” Michelle asked tentatively.
“Long
enough,” came the steely reply.
“Look,
Brian, I- I can explain. I was
just…”
“Save
it Michelle, it won’t work any more,” Brian interrupted again. “I’ve
heard enough.”
“But…”
“Goodbye,
Michelle. I think you can find your
own way out.” With that, Brian
turned and walked away.
Michelle
stood staring at the spot where Brian was standing until she heard the sound of
Nick opening the front door.
“Don’t
let the door smack you in the butt on your way out.
We just had it cleaned.” Nick
smiled cheekily and waved goodbye as Michelle walked by him and outside before
slamming the door soundly. He sighed, “Ah! That was oddly satisfying!”
Walking
into the house, he heard the sound of Michelle driving away and couldn’t
resist another smile. Spying
Brian’s cordless phone wedged between the sofa cushions, he scooped it up and
made his way up the stair to Brian’s room.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
And
I’m sorry
For
the things I did for your teardrops
All
the words I said
Can
you forgive me
And
open your heart once again
Nick
found Brian tearing apart his room looking for the elusive phone and muttering
under his breath. “Looking for
this?” Nick asked gently.
Brian
looked up from his bed where he had been sitting and sighed deeply. “Don’t say it, Nick.”
Nick
walked over and sat down beside his friend, handing him the phone. “I wasn’t
going to say anything.”
Brian
glared at him, disbelievingly. “Sure, like there’s not a big ‘I told you
so’ in there somewhere?”
“Nope.”
Brian
sighed again. “Man,” he lamented, looking down at the phone in his hands.
“Rylee’s going to kill me.”
“No,
she’s not,” Nick reassured. “She
IS going crazy right now, though.”
Brian
looked up at Nick’s words, remembering something Michelle had said earlier.
“Nick?” he questioned slowly. “Why
did Michelle say that Rylee was going ‘crazy with jealousy’?”
Nick
sighed in exasperation. “Cuz
you’re an idiot.” Such a simple
little obvious clue, and STILL Brian didn’t get it.
It didn’t matter if everyone else got it, Brian was absolutely
clueless.
Brian
looked at him quizzically. “What?”
“Never
mind,” Nick said, shaking his head. “Just
call her.” Nick gave Brian a push
on the shoulder, before leaving Brian to make his phone call.
With
one last curious glance at Nick’s retreating back, Brian clicked on the phone
and quickly dialed.
“Hello?”
Rylee answered the phone a bit breathlessly.
“Hi.”
Rylee
exhaled deeply in relief. “Bri…”
“I’m
sorry, Angel,” Brian said. “I’m
sorry for listening to her. I’m
sorry for not listening to you and Nick and everyone who told me that she was a
fake. I’m sorry that I let her
answer the phone and I’m sorry that-…”
“It’s
okay, Bri!” Rylee said, interrupting his long train of ‘I’m sorry’s’.
“Don’t worry about it. It
wasn’t your fault,” she reassured him.
But
Brian wasn’t so easily dissuaded. “But
I still at least shouldn’t have let her answer the phone.
I was going to tell her not to answer it, but I let her anyways.”
“Well,
when you put it that way,” Rylee said. “Yeah,
that was pretty dumb.” Her tone
was light. Brian was absolutely
forgive the second she heard his voice on the other end of the line.
She was just relieved that Brian had called.
She shouldn’t have doubted that he would, of course.
But still, there are sometimes those annoying nagging doubts that seem to
spring up from nowhere.
“I
know. I’m dumb. I admit it!” Brian exclaimed.
“Forgive me?”
“Of
course,” Rylee answered easily. “So…”
“So
what?”
“You
have time to talk now?”
“For
you, Angel, I have all day.”
“Well,
in THAT case… let me tell you about this new song I’m working on…”
The
two friends slipped easily into conversation.
Brian quickly forgot the whole fiasco with Michelle had happened.
Rylee did not forget as easily, and the immense relief that she felt
knowing that Michelle was gone stayed in the back of her mind as she talked to
Brian. “This won’t be the
last time,” she thought to herself. “Michelle isn’t the only girl
out there who would jump at the chance to be with Brian for his fame and money.
What if things aren’t resolved so easily the next time?
What if the next girl actually has a fully functional brain?
What am I going to do then?” She
pushed these doubts away, resolved to give Brian her full attention, leaving her
muddled thoughts for later.
Close
to an hour later, Brian reluctantly informed Rylee that he had to go.
“But one last question,” Brian said.
“Why would Michelle say that you were going ‘crazy with jealousy’?
What did she mean by that?”
“That
was two questions,” Rylee stalled. “You
said one.”
“Okay,
okay. You don’t have to be so
legalistic. You know what I mean.”
Rylee
sighed. “I don’t know, Bri,”
she lied. “But you know she
wasn’t exactly the brightest person. She
was probably just rambling. I
thought you learned not to believe anything she said,” Rylee teased.
Brian
laughed. “If Rylee’s playing it off, it must not mean anything,” he
thought. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You
were thinking?” Rylee asked, sounding shocked.
“Wow! I’m so impressed! This is a big occasion! We should celebrate
or something!”
“Oh,
very funny, Angel!” Brian responded. “Just
because I had a momentary lapse in intelligence does not mean that I’m always
like that.”
Rylee
laughed. “Sure, Bri.
You just keep right on believing that.”
“Yeah,
yeah, yeah.” He laughed along with her. “Hey,
you know what I don’t get though?” he asked suddenly, his tone changing
completely.
“I
thought you said you had to go.”
“What,
are you TRYING to get rid of me?” Brian asked, teasingly. “Just one last thing…”
“That’s
what you said five minutes ago,” Rylee said in a sing song voice.
“Oh,
please! It’s not like you have anything else to do!”
“And
how do you know that?” Rylee challenged.
“Because,”
Brian stated as if it were obvious. “I,
am your whole life.”
Rylee
laughed at his ego, but acknowledged that he was partially right. “Whatever, Rok.”
“Okay,
so are you ready to listen to me now, or do you have any more smart comments to
make?”
“Compared
to you, Bri, ALL my comments are smart,” she said with a smile.
“Hey!
What the heck? Why do you always have to be so mean?”
“Because,”
Rylee explained. “I’m
just doing my job by counteracting that huge ego of yours.”
“I
do NOT have a huge ego!” Brian exclaimed sounded offended.
“Yeah,
and Justin and Britney AREN’T dating,” Rylee said sarcastically.
“They’re
not!”
Rylee
laughed. “Forget it, just tell me
what you were going to say.”
“No,
what if I don’t want to anymore?” Brian taunted.
“Okay,”
Rylee shrugged, not realizing that Brian couldn’t see her over the phone.
“That’s fine. I’ll talk to you later, Brian.”
“Wait!
I was just kidding!” Brian exclaimed.
Rylee
laughed again. “Okay so what?”
There
was silence on the other end of the phone.
Rylee
waited.
Still
there was silence.
“Brian?”
Rylee asked slowly.
“Hold
on a sec.”
Rylee
tapped her foot impatiently. “I’m
waiting…”
“Dangit!”
Brian exclaimed. “I just
completely forgot!”
Rylee
laughed. “Yes, I do have that
affect on people!” she said airily.
“Oh,
so NOW who’s the one with the ego?”
“THIS
is not ‘ego’, Brian dear. This is what happened when someone is just so
fabulously perfect as I am!”
Brian
laughed. “You’re too weird,
Ry.”
“Yeah,
but you love me anyways!” Rylee told him cheekily.
Brian
laughed again. “I’ll talk to
you later, Angel.”
“Okay.
Bye, Bri!”
Rylee
hung up the phone with a smile on her face.
She sighed deeply in relaxation and lay down on her bed, staring at the
ceiling. She lay there for a couple
minutes, a big smile on her face and her hands tucked behind her head, just
reveling in the fact that Michelle was gone for good.
The
front door swung open, signaling Jessica arrival home.
Her arms laden with books she walked quickly past Rylee’s open door on
the way to her room, mumbling a quick hi. Three
steps away past the doorway, Jessica stopped, noticing something a little
strange. She backtracked, still
carrying her load of books.
“Rylee?”
she asked slowly, drawing out every syllable.
“Hm?”
Rylee answered, still staring and grinning at the ceiling.
“What
happened?” Jess asked in surprise.
Rylee
turned, propping her head up on one elbow.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well,
just look at you,” Jessica said, gesturing as best she could with her arms
occupied.
Rylee
frowned. “I don’t get it.”
“You’re
like,” Jess paused, searching for the right word. “Relaxed. A lot more
relaxed than you’ve been in a while. What gives?”
She shifted the load of books, trying to get a better grip.
Rylee
got up to help her cousin. Taking
half the stack, Rylee grinned. “You’ll
never guess what happened today!” She
quickly filled Jess in on the phone conversation with Michelle, as well as what
Brian told her had happened when Nick returned home.
The girls carried Jessica’s books to her room, then made their way to
the kitchen to make themselves dinner.
“And
the best part is,” Rylee concluded, taking ingredients out of their fridge.
“We won’t get anymore calls from Michelle!”
Jessica
laughed from her place at the sink. “Darn!
I always found Wonder Ditz rather amusing, didn’t you?”
“Jess,”
Rylee admonished, but she had to laugh. “You
know what I hated the most about her?”
“You
mean besides the fact that she was built like a Barbie doll with about half as
much brains?”
Rylee
laughed again. “Yeah, besides
that.”
“That
she liked to borrow Barbie’s clothes?”
Rylee
could only laugh, but Jess was on a roll. “Oh,
I know! That she wore those stilettos all the time, which made her about six
inches taller than Brian, not to mention about a foot taller than you?”
Rylee
stopped laughing for a minute. “Hey!
I’m not THAT short. I’m only two inches shorter than Brian. Just because YOU
have to get all the freakin’ tall genes in our family!”
“Yes,
I suppose. But I also got all the
pretty, talented and athletic genes in our family too!”
Rylee’s
jaw dropped. “You’re kidding
right?”
Jessica
just laughed.
“Alright!
That’s it! There’s a basketball court outside! Let’s go!”
Jessica
kept laughing, now at Rylee’s comical expression.
Rylee
stood with her hands on her hips, glaring down at her cousin, who was by now
sitting on the floor. Rylee gave in
after a while and joined Jess in laughing.
“You’re
psycho, you know that?” Rylee said a couple minutes later.
“It wasn’t even that funny!”
“I
was just laughing at you!” Jess exclaimed.
“Anyways,
rewind a couple minutes,” Rylee said, trying to get Jessica back on track.
“You know what I hated most about her?’
“That
she-…”
“Jessica!”
Rylee exclaimed. “Forget it, it
wasn’t even that important!” She turned away from her cousin.
“No,
wait! Really!” Jess said, grabbing onto Rylee’s arm to prevent her from
turning away. “I wanna know,
really I do!”
Rylee
rolled her eyes, but laughed at Jessica’s antics.
“I was just gonna say that I hated how she said his name.”
She shook her arm to get Jessica to let go.
Jessica
dropped Rylee’s arm. “I
KNOW!” she agreed, loudly. “It
was, like…” she searched for the right adjective. “…Skin-crawling!”
“B-ROK!”
both girls squealed at the same time, in perfect imitation of Michelle’s high
voice.
They
both collapsed into giggles again.
After
a while, Rylee sighed deeply. “I’m
glad she’s gone, but…”
“But
what?” Jess prompted.
“But
I can’t help thinking that this won’t be the last time.
There will always be girls like Michelle. What am I gonna do then?”
Jessica
shook her head in frustration at her cousin.
“You worry too much, Ry. Just
be glad that this one is gone, and don’t worry about who’s to come. “
“Yeah,”
Rylee said after thinking for a moment. “You’re
right, Jess.”
“Of
course I’m right! I’m always right!”
The two girls started a second round of laughs, and Rylee’s heart was much lighter than it had been for months.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~