Chapter 19: The Grind; The Lunatics Return

The Grind: The Lunatics Return

“I said he asked me to marry him!” I shouted to Kaley over the din of the coffee shop. It was later that night, and I was still glowing from the question. The band had just begun to do their sound check, a special for high school students, and they hadn’t quite gotten the balance right yet. A squeak emitted from one of the microphones, and I covered my ears instinctively.

“And…?” Kaley asked. We were waiting for Colin, Steve, and Christy to show up. Christy and Steve were driving together, and Colin was coming a little bit later. It was the first time we would see Colin and Kaley together.

“Well, I agreed. But I kind of laughed at him.”

“You what?” Kaley exclaimed, nearly choking on her tea. I nodded.

“The first time, I cut him off because mom came in from work. The second time he tried to ask me, my computer informed me it was infected with a virus called the Love Bug, and after all of that, I was more interested in my computer than what he was saying, and ended up exclaiming "SHIT!" before I answered him.”

“And then you said…”

“Sure.”

“You said ‘Sure’.” Kaley rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”

“He asked the same thing.”

“What’d you say to that?”

“I can’t really remember. But he has the rest of his life to figure out what to do with me.”

“And you like it.” She laughed. “Ooh, there’s Steve and Christy walking in the door!”

It wasn’t exactly hard to spot the two teenagers. They almost seemed to stumble into the room like drunks, except they were never really drunk. Christy was just so damn…bouncy all of the time.

“Christy!” I shouted to her over the microphone’s squeaking, “I’m only seventeen and I’m engaged to be married to a twenty eight year old!” I realized seconds later that the guitar amp had shut off and I was shouting across an otherwise silent room. I looked at Kaley who burst out laughing.

“I didn’t know your face could turn that shade of red.” Steve said as he walked over to give me a hug. I hugged him back.

“Neither did I.”

“So what happened?” Christy asked, unusually calm as she sat down next to me with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

“Well he asked me once, and I told him to hang on a minute because mom walked in the door. And then he asked me again, and my computer had a virus. So it had just told me that it did, and I yelled shit! And then I realized what I said, apologized, and accepted.”

“Today seems a day for Storm to keep her mouth shut.” Steve suggested to the other two and they nodded emphatically.

“So what’s Colin like?” Christy asked Kaley with interest. I laced my fingers together, trying not to squirm uncomfortably. The night outside was cooling off enough to be outside and not sweat, and the coffee house was very humid.

“He’s…hot. In the scrawny white guy way.”

“He good in bed?” Christy asked with interest. Kaley blushed.

“I couldn’t tell you that. He’s still a virgin.”

“You aren’t.”

“No. But that wasn’t my fault.” Kaley glowered at Christy, clearly uncomfortable.

Christy reached over and patted Kaley on the head. “We know. So are we going to get some hot displays of public affection?”

“He’s not really into that sort of stuff.”

“Are you?” Christy was drilling Kaley with the efficiency of a sex counselor.

“Um…besides with Mike, before now, not really.”

“I see. And when are you planning on getting married?”

“We’ve only been dating a month or two. Let’s talk about your sex life.”

“She doesn’t have one.” Steve laughed and joined in the friendly banter. “She hates boys. She thinks girls are icky.”

“Well what about her sex life?” Christy asked Steve, turning towards me and motioning with her finger. “Something she’s been doing has to be working if she’s got the guy begging to marry her.”

“You hush about my sex life.” I laughed. “I have none.”

“Right. I can just hear it now. ‘Oooh, fuck me, big man, fuck me until I scream!’” Christy imitated the high voice that I used whenever I spoke to Roger. Seeming to accentuate her point, my cell phone began to ring.

“Shit!” I yelled in surprise and dug through my pockets. I retrieved the phone from the depths of my baggy pockets just in time to answer it.

“Hey!” I grinned, my voice automatically raising to speak to Roger.

“You alone?” He asked me huskily. I looked around at the three faces intent on my expressions and body language.

“Not exactly. What do you need?” I asked. I had a feeling he was going to try to turn me on and then leave me hanging. Which was bad, because he and I were going to have a not-too-happy conversation later on in the night.

“I was just feeling lonely.”

“I’m at the coffee house with Kaley, Steve and Christy.” I said cautiously.

“I see.” He almost sounded dejected. “Well, I’m going to be merciful and spare you from my teasing right now. However, tonight, I’m going to send you a story. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” I said pensively, slightly confused. He was always too shy to show me parts of his writing. And pictures of himself. In fact, I was pretty sure he was more insecure in his sense of self than I was.

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.” I shot a glare at Christy who was grinning from ear to ear, listening to me nearly squeal out the fact that I loved him. “I’ll call you when I’m away from all of these people.”

“Fuck me, big man, make me scream like your bitch!” Christy said in a high pitched voice and I kicked her under the table. Hopefully he hadn’t heard.

“Do I want to know?” Roger’s deep voice rumbled on the other side of the phone suspiciously.

“Not really, no. I’ll call you back, alright?”

“Okay baby…I love you. You’re still going to marry me?”

“Yup. I love you too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” I hit the little button to end the call and stuffed the phone back into my pocket, sheepishly. I realized the other tables were looking at me with interest. I sighed.

“Yes, everyone. That was my older fiancé on the phone. Bite me.” I directed my voice to my friends, but also the curious glances behind them. I felt something – or someone, I wasn’t sure – grab my hand and seconds later, I felt teeth clang uncomfortably against my carpal bones in my wrist.

“Ow! God damn it, Christy!”

“You said to bite you.” She said, smiling with the innocence of a three year old. I rolled my eyes.

“If you were anyone else, I’d hurt you.” Christy was too cute. If I wasn’t straight, I’d marry Christy purely for the fun of being around her.

I heard the door behind me squeak shut, and I turned in my chair. Colin stood in the door way, silhouetted by the darkened night outside and the brightening street lights. His long hair hung limply to either side of his head, and in the dim light I could see him grinning from ear to ear.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the party has begun.” He announced proudly, going towards Kaley to administer a hug and a chaste peck on her cheek. Christy raised her eyebrow at Kaley, who turned bright red.

“And you said you didn’t have a sex life…”