The Realm of Shadows Part 5 (Technicolor)

I watched my friends more than I watched the movie, which was some pointless comedy. Dave was sitting in a huge armchair. He laughed long and loud at anything he found amusing. At one point, he looked over at me and smiled. He had such a boyish smile that I was compelled to smile back, even though I was unhappy with him for basically choosing alcohol over me.

Sarah was on one of the couches. She wasn't paying much attention to the movie, either. She had a can of beer in her hand, but I hadn't seen her drink any of it. She looked to be a combination of angry and nervous. She kept playing with her hair. She also looked over at me, but averted her eyes as soon as she realized I was looking at her.

Jessie was apparently trying to see how much she could drink in a 98-minute period. The movie wasn't even half over, and she was already on her third beer. She was sitting next to Will, a smug look upon her face. She would laugh at the movie, but her attention was obviously focused on Will. She was flirting with him majorly.

She would press herself up against him when she leaned over to get another beef from the floor. She played with his hair and kept whispering in his ear.

Will, being who he was, was flirting with her also. He had had a couple of beers himself, and they were both laughing too much, and much too loudly. It was raucous laughter that pierced my heart. I was hurt enough by the fact that they were flirting, but what made it even worse was they would both look at me and laugh.

I was sitting on the floor, off to the side. The movie played on, but the night was turning out nothing like I had expected. Will and Jessie looked over at me one last time.

"Okay," I said, finally having had enough. "What the hell do you keep looking over at me for?"

Jessie got all wide-eyed and innocent, of course. "We're jus' makin' shlure you okay," she slurred. Will said nothing, but Sarah snorted, and then turned off the television.

"Hey!" Dave exclaimed. "Why'd you turn it off?!" He had been so immersed in the movie that he hadn't been paying attention to what the rest of us had been doing.

"No one was watching it anyway," Sarah replied.

"I guess I'm nobody then?" Dave made a face at Sarah, and she flipped him off.

"It's okay, guys," I said, wearily. "I think I'm going to call my dad to come and get me anyway."

"What? No!" Dave exclaimed. "Ya can"t leave yet." I just shook my head.

Jessie tried to jump up off of the couch, but failed badly. She flailed, and tried to catch herself, but ended up flopping backwards. Will got up instead and came over to me. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Erin… Please don't leave. We weren't trying to upset you. You know how Jessie is. Please don't leave yet. I've missed you so much."

His breath in my ear made my heart start to beat fast. I could also smell the beer on his breath. I fought with myself for a moment, and then my trip hammering heart won out over my brain. And I was supposed to be the logical one.

I sighed and agreed to stay a little while longer.

Show all stories by   Author:  45684 ( Click here )