Her

Months passed and my grades are satisfactory - for a C-average student. Procrastination got the better of me and my grades began to slip, including my attitude towards school. It’s Friday and we have a test in U.S. History that I didn’t study for - like always. Mr. MacDuron handed out the tests to each of us.

“The first section will be multiple choice,” he said, “then you will have five short answers and two essay questions on the back. You must complete every section.”

He was a former drill sergeant for the ROTC at school. Standing at five foot, five inches, Mr. MacDuron only had to look in your direction for you to s**t your pants. Bruno leaned over to me and said, “Dude, I am so fucked on this test. I haven’t paid any attention this whole section!”

I laughed in pity. “Bro, I literally have no idea what the hell I’m looking at.”

“How much do you think this test would impact my grade if I just totally flunked it,” I questioned.

He replied, “Hell if I know, but what I do know is that I am fucked!”

We took the test with sounds of distress as we read every question. It took us the entire class period to complete it. After we packed our things to leave, I said goodbye, walked out of the room, and took a right down the hall to go to my dorm. I ran into a housemate of mine, Peter Green (or Just Pete) from Switzerland. Just Pete and I met last year when I snuck up to the science building after study hall to smoke a cig. I walked around the corner and saw him smoking. Naturally, he flipped s**t and tried to run, but I reassured him that I wasn’t going to snitch and that I was there for the same reason.

I gestured over to him and said, “Hey man, you wanna go have a smoke? I just got railed by my history test.”

“Hell yeah, I need one. Let’s grab Gene too.”

It was the end of the day and the three of us signed out to leave campus. Friday nights meant Friday night football for Berkley. Since football wasn’t much our thing, we wanted to get the hell out of Dodge. As we walked to the parking lot, past the field, there was a sudden squeal that I knew all too well.

“Masonnnn! Masonnnn,” she hollered as she skipped merrily in my direction.

Unenthusiastically, I said, “Hey Kate.”

She kissed me on the lips and said, “So, what’s the plan for tonight? Wanna come over? I’ve got this handle that we can share and my parents won’t be home, so it’ll just be us!”

“Sorry, it’s a guys’ night tonight.”

“Oh come on, you can always hang out with them another time!” Then she said, quietly, “But I won’t always be in the mood for " you know " sex.”

Which was completely false. She was manipulative, condescending, and only in the relationship to get her rocks off. Little did she know, I had my mind on someone else and I was completely uninterested in her.

“Sorry, I already told the guys I’d hang with them.”

She fired back, “You’re such an a*****e, you know that?”

I rubbed my eyes and let out a huff of air, “Look, you can’t just make plans and not tell me about them without letting me know in advance. It’s not fair. Maybe some other time.”

I walked off with the guys in silence.

“Well that was awkward,” Just Pete said.

“Let’s just get out of here, she’s pissing me off.”

“Y’all wanna go to the bowling alley? I think Jen and Kellie will be there,” Gene said.

“Anywhere but here is perfectly fine with me,” I replied.

We drove ten minutes into town and pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley. There was a giant marquee sign with bright flashing lights that read, “TopAlley” that was bolted to the side of the building. Groups of teenagers stood outside smoking cigarettes, while loud hip hop music with pounding bass poured from the windows of their cars. We continued passed the crowd and walked inside to rent our shoes.

“Hey guys! We’re over here,” Jen said from Lane 2.

We got our shoes and slinked over to the girls. Kellie has blonde hair and blue eyes; she’s aggressive and the captain of the cheerleading team. She had her dad call the school today to tell them that she was sick, so she could go shopping. Jen has dirty blonde hair with brown eyes, is reserved, and does what she’s told. She doesn’t have much of a life of her own as she lives to serve Kellie " sadness.

I went to the concession stand to get an ICEE and some food. Kellie came over and sat next to me. She leaned on the counter and propped her head up with her arm. She turned to expose her body to me. A few moments of silence passed; I think she wanted me to strike up a conversation, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“So I heard you and Kate had an argument,” she said with a scheming tone in her voice.

 “Word gets around fast, huh?”

“Welcome to boarding school,” she joked.

“Yeah, she flipped s**t because I wanted to hang out with friends. It’s honestly really stupid,” I confided.

“Friends?” she said looking up at me. You could tell she was suggesting something else by the glimmer in her eye. “Yeah friends,” I said and looked down at the counter. My food arrived, I paid my bill, and walked to a table near our lane. The rest of the group already had the lineup set up and it was Kellie’s turn to bowl. She got up in her Daisy Dukes and walked over to the ball return, picked up the eight-pound, neon pink ball and rolled it down the lane " gutter ball. “Geez, this’ll be a long game,” Gene joked, walking over to me.

The door swung open and Bruno strolled in. “Hey what’s up guys!” “It’s about time you got here,” I said and dapped him up. I escorted him to our lane and threw him a pair of bowling shoes.

He said, “Dude, this is the first time we’ve hung out since the summer.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just been distracted lately,” I replied.

“Kate?”

“Goddam, does everyone know everything about our relationship?”

Kellie looks over at us and smiles.

“Well what about her? She’s hot and seems like she’s totally into you,” he remarked.

I looked over at her and made eye contact. She was a dime, but I wasn’t attracted to her and I cut away. “Nah dude, not for me.” I had someone else in mind. I finished my food and we walked over to the lane. It was Bruno’s turn to bowl and he picked a ball that was obviously to light. He lined himself with the pins, swung back, and with full momentum forward, he threw the ball. It reached a good five feet in the air and crashed to the ground with a loud bang. The ball slowed tremendously, but made it to pins. Strike.

“How the hell is that even possible?” Just Pete shouted.

Bruno laughed and said, “I’m a pro at this, dude.”

“Pro my a*s, you just chucked the ball at the end of the lane. Anyone can do that!”

While we were having a good ole’ time, Kate and her posse pull up in the parking lot. “There’s his f*****g car!” They get out and strut towards the entrance. The door flew open with great force and they entered. I looked over at the group of heavy makeup, tight clothes wearing, porcelain dolls and immediately felt sick to my stomach. Kate didn’t even look at me, but straight at Kellie. I knew this wasn’t going to go down well.

“Oh hi, Kellie. Sorry, but this place is a nice establishment. The w***e house is down the street,” Kate said, sarcastically.

“Oh, then why don’t you leave, you dirty c**t.”

“You think you’re so clever don’t you? You can’t get a guy yourself, so you have to go around stealing them from other people. He’s mine, not yours!”

I interjected, “I’m actually not a piece of property, so…”

“Shut up, Mason!” Kate screamed.

I stood up. “No, f**k this! I’m tired of being treated like a piece of s**t. Kate, you are literally the worst human being I’ve ever met in my life. You’re manipulative and controlling, and I won’t have anymore of it. We’re done.”

From the lane, Bruno shouted, “Oh s**t! Yo, he just roasted that hoe!”

I stormed out of the bowling alley and lit a cigarette. Gene and Just Pete stayed inside and chilled with Kellie and Jen. I took a seat on the curb and pulled out my phone to check Facebook. Kate had already written some bullshit that I was a terrible person and that we need to work out our problems; except, she was the problem. I hated the weight that I felt on my shoulders from being in that relationship. However, knowing Kate, she’s not going to give up; she’s not one to give up easily. She got everything she ever wanted.

Bruno came outside and sat next to me and pulled out a pack of menthols. He stuck one in his mouth and lit the cigarette. “You alright, bro?”

“Dude, I’m just tired of this bullshit. I honest-to-God think that she’s psychotic.”

He laughed, “Bro, you stuck your dick in crazy. She’ll never let it go.”

“That’s just it, we never had sex or did any of that.”

“Wait really? What about that one time at your party when you and her went up to your room?” he questioned.

“Nah dude, we just made out and stuff. I told her that I was too drunk to have sex.”

There was a slight, but seemingly lasting pause. My heart began to race, as I wanted to say something that I would forever regret. It was in that moment that I foresaw my whole world crash and burn. Bruno was silent and staring off into space. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I bit my tongue and wiped the sweat off my brow. It wasn’t time.