Complicated by You (12 page)

Why do I always have to be Janet? Her role sucks.

On the television, oblivious Brad talked on about how they should stay in the weird house and that the oddly dressed people in the mansion were just peculiar partygoers. Janet however, noticed the creepy individual, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, riding the elevator and shrieked. This was my part.

I blinked my eyes and mechanically said, “Hi. I am Janet and I am scared.”

“You suck, Evie! You know you can do better. You’re being bad intentionally.” Pipe flipped me off. “You’re just mad you couldn’t be Dr. Frank-N-Furter this time.”

“This time?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You never let me be him. For ten years, I’ve been begging to be him and for ten years you hog the role.”

“I was born to play Dr. Frank-N-Furter. You have a great ass and perky breasts. Don’t take this role from me.”

“Tramp,” I spit the word out.

“You’re so jealous.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Cyn, honey, can you rewind it a little for me, right to where he gets off the elevator?”

She did, giggling the whole time and leaning on Jay who’d been eyeing my legs. When he realized I caught him looking, he directed his attention somewhere else. We hadn’t talked at all since the beach. I left them in the ocean, grabbed Pipe, put on my clothes, and waited for them to get in the car. We drove back to the rooms with no further strange happenings occurring, well if one didn’t count
The
Rocky Horror Picture Show
re-enactment as strange.

The scene began again. Dr. Frank-N-Furter turned and stepped off the elevator. Pipe whipped around, swinging his cape and hitting me with the bottom as he pranced and sang the lyrics to “Sweet Transvestite.” My job as Janet was to scream, faint a tad, recover, and then be overcome as Pipe performed. Pipe blew me a kiss.

Tramp.

“Evie’s never going to get over you stealing the role,” Jay called out to Pipe.

It was no use talking to him. Pipe left reality whenever the song began. A mass homicide killer could storm into the room with a chainsaw, slicing and ripping us apart. Pipe would be singing through the entire horrid scene and not realize what occurred until the end of the song.

I collapsed on the bed. The way he stomped in those heels made me scared for my delicate toes.

“You want some popcorn?” Cynthia slid the bowl over to me.

“No. I’m good.” I stayed on my side of the bed and forced myself to focus on Pipe, instead of Jay and Cynthia behind me. In two days, my life had changed—the best friend I’d drooled over from afar confessed the he desired me too, we made out to the point that we semi-had sex at the beach near his girlfriend, who by the way decided that we should share him.

What did that even mean? Share him? How did my life turn into a soap opera right before my eyes?

“Evie?” Cynthia scooted over to me. Pipe’s voice rose in the air. Our neighbors would probably be hitting the wall soon. If Melanie was in, she’d come over and curse us out. For some reason, Pipe and Melanie never got along.

I turned to Cynthia. “What’s up?”

“Did you have time to think about what I asked you?” She edged over some more. Her leg smoothed against mine, pressing the lace into the khaki skirt. She wore a smile on her face, one that appeared innocent, like she hadn’t asked me to do some weird threesome thing with her boyfriend.

“I’m not interested.” I directed my attention to the TV. Dr. Frank-N-Furter had made it to the stage.

“Why not?”

I shrugged.

She sighed. “So then, what will happen to me?”

Dear God. Get a backbone and leave me alone.

I grabbed my pillow and placed it in my lap, needing something to dig my nails into and squeeze.

“He cares about me too, you know that right?” she asked. “He told me he loved me right before we got back to the car. He loves us both. Why count me out of this?”

“Out of what, Cynthia? You both are together. I’m the one that’s out.”

“He’ll pick you.”

“No. He won’t.”

She batted her eyes in a pathetic manner. I didn’t know if she was doing it intentionally, or if that simply happened when she was really sad.

“He loves us both. Just try it for me, once,” she muttered.

I glanced over my shoulder and rolled my eyes at Jay. “Asshole.”

“What did I do?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that and calling me names?”

“Get your girlfriend.” I put my back to him.

The TV shut off in front of me. Pipe did it. “Why are you all talking during my performance? What could possibly be more important than me singing, ‘Sweet Transvestite?’”

“There’s an exhaustively long list of things that are more important than you singing songs.” I tossed him a wicked grin and flung the pillow at him.

He slapped it away. “We’re going to have to start over.”

“Hell no.” I shot up. “I will not be subjected to any more.”

“Evie has a point, Pipe. It’s one in the morning. I didn’t get any sleep last night. I’m exhausted.” Jay got up, yanked the dress up. It ripped in the middle as he pulled it off. He only wore black boxer briefs that hugged his huge thighs. I think everyone stared at him. I certainly did. He folded the ripped pieces and placed them on Cynthia’s desk. “Sorry, Cyn. I’ll buy you a new one.”

“No problem.”

“Well, bedtime sounds good to me.” I began clearing makeup, costumes, and unopened snacks from my area. “Let’s push these beds apart so we can all go to sleep.”

“No!” Pipe raised his hands in the air. “It’s the Love Bed.”

“It is not the Love Bed.”

“We are not pulling the love apart.” Pipe rushed to me and grabbed my hands. “Don’t divide us, baby.”

“You need some serious counseling.”

“I thought we would just sleep this way.” Cynthia exchanged glances with Jay.

Jay shook his head “no.” “Let it go, Cyn.”

“Let what go?” Pipe asked.

“The bed issue.” I flung heels and stockings to the floor.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s just the bed issue to me.” Pipe tapped his foot, which was a bad sign. Whenever he tapped his foot, it meant he shifted into detective mode. Ignoring him, we all wiped off our makeup, taking turns in the bathroom. Surprisingly it took no time at all. Through it all, Pipe continued to analyze our every move. His face was now clean, exposing the real beauty of his eyes and feminine features. “Why can’t we just all sleep in one bed? We’ve done it before.”

“It could be fun.” Cynthia patted my back. I almost seized her hand and twisted her wrist.

I wish she would just let this go.

“If we all sleep together then Pipe sleeps in the middle.” I scowled at Jay. “I don’t want to bump into you two lovers.”

He tells me he’s going to break up with her and then declares that he loves her right after putting his dick inside of me.

“Is that really necessary, Evie?” Jay helped me clean up without looking at me.

“Yes.”

“If you don’t want me to touch you, then I won’t,” he whispered. “But don’t try to hide behind Pipe.”

“I’m not hiding.”

He came close and brushed against my behind. “Yes. You are and if you knew what was going on in my head, you probably would hide.”

“Don’t even think of me that way anymore,” I muttered under my breath.

“Too late.”

Pipe clapped his hands and tapped Cynthia’s shoulder. “Ooo, this is really good. I don’t know exactly what they’re saying, but Jay and Evie barely ever fight. This is big.”

“We’re not fighting,” Jay and I said in unison.

“Are too.” Pipe took his DVD of
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
out of the slot and gently placed it back in its cover. “You all better tell me what’s going on. I swear I won’t let you go to sleep.”

“You will if you want to not get punched in your balls.” I stacked the unopened cookies on top of each other and slid them to the end of my desk.

“Why are you both fighting?” Pipe asked.

“It’s nothing.” I jumped on my bed, slung away the sheets, dived under them, and then pulled them up to my neck. “Goodnight, everybody.”

“Goodnight? Jay, what’s happening?” Pipe directed his attention to him.

“Like Evie said. It’s nothing.” He switched off the overhead lights. Only the Kermit the Frog lamp remained on.

Pipe slithered his way over to Cynthia and got into bed right next to her. “What’s up with them? Do you know?”

Cynthia still sat up in bed. The green light glowed on half of her face. Shadows concealed the rest. “I asked Evie to join me and Jay’s relationship.”

I slid down into the blankets, hiding myself from the laughter that exploded out of Pipe’s mouth.

“Oh God. Oh God.” Every one of his chuckles was followed by a snort. “You asked … Evie … Oh God. When was this?”

“Out on the beach.”

I rolled over and placed my back to them.

I’ll never get any sleep now.

“So I know Evie said ‘no,’ what did Jay say?”

“How did you know I said no?” I yelled out from under my blankets.

“You don’t share anything. Mrs. Elaine spoiled you rotten,” Pipe replied.

“I do so share.”

“Can I have one of your chocolate bars?”

“No. There are other snacks.”

“But I want the chocolate, stingy.”

“Oh shut up.”

“See. She doesn’t share. I bet she has like twenty bars hidden in this room somewhere. That’s her M.O., hiding chocolate like a little stingy chocolate freak.”

“It’s actually fifty bars in the drawer over there,” Jay chimed in. I could have slapped him for exuding smugness in his voice.

“So what do you think about Evie joining your relationship, Jay?” Pipe asked. “Do I even have to ask?”

I strained to hear his answer as I lay within the darkness of the blanket.

“I’m torn, Pipe. You know how I feel about Evie. You know it all.”

Pipe did? No wonder he kept telling me to just approach Jay.

“But, I have to admit that I do care about Cynthia too. Plus, I’m not sure if Evie would be happy in a situation like that. I don’t want to force her to do anything she doesn’t like.”

“And what do you think Cynthia?” Pipe asked.

I closed my eyes, dying inside from the pure embarrassment of the whole situation.

“I explained to them both that I just don’t have the same results like others when I have sex. I’m just not a sexual being. I don’t like to touch private parts or have mine touched. I let Jay do it because I really like him. He’s the first in a long time.”

I turned around and peeked at them through my blanket.

A shocked expression appeared on Pipe’s face. “So you’ve never had an orgasm?”

“Never.”

“Have you tried?”

“Yes, but when I do it’s like someone peeing on me. It’s repulsing.”

Pipe twisted his face in confusion. “What the hell happened to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her fingers shook.

He grabbed his fur hat, that he’d spent hours washing and drying in the dorm’s laundry room, and propped it on his head. “But I mean, something had to have happened.”

She stirred on the bed and began twisting strands of her hair. “I don’t really feel like talking about it.”

“Was it rape or—”

I sat up. “Pipe, leave her alone. She doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Cynthia looked at me and whispered, “Thanks.”

“So … you would rather not hook up with Jay?” Pipe asked.

“I would if he really needed it.” She shrugged.

“I don’t need it that bad, Cyn. We don’t have to do it again.” Jay turned over onto his back.

An exasperated sigh left Cynthia’s lips. “Because you’re going to break up with me soon anyway?”

“No.” Jay closed his eyes.

“So Jay and Cynthia are going to be in a relationship with no sex. What are you going to do, Evie?” Pipe asked.

“Chill.”

Pipe glared at me and shook his head. I mouthed the word, “what.” He gestured for the door, got up, and headed over there.
What the hell does he want now? Was it not enough he took the Dr. Frank-N-Furter role?
I threw off my own blankets and stormed off, without glancing at Jay or Cynthia. Once I got out in the hallway, Pipe sat on the couch with his legs crossed and wearing an
I’m-so-disappointed-in-you
frown on his face. “Why not just try it with them?”

“Don’t you start.” I pointed at him.

“What would be the big deal to just try?”

“Are you fucking joking? Do I seem like I’m the type of person to be a sister wife?”

He raised his hands in the air. “There you go being all dramatic. The poor girl has had some sick shit happen to her. For God’s sake she’s twenty years old and collects Muppet dolls. Be there for her.”

“By having sex with Jay?” I collapsed onto the couch. “You see her side, but you don’t see mine. They are a couple. They are together, and what am I? I’m the chick on the side that comes into their bed at night and does her duty for the master.”

“Master? Did you really just relate this to slavery? That’s your little escape mechanism, bringing in race. Why not just admit that you’re scared to be left out? That’s what it sounds like to me.”

“Someone
is
going to be left out.”

“Says who?”

“Says logic, dickhead. With three people, someone is always left out.”

“I never felt left out with you and Jay. Did you feel left out with us?”

“No. We’re all different.”

“Not really. You and Jay ogle each other with lust. I have no interest in either one of you, yet we all love each other and have a strong relationship.”

I leaned my head on the couch and blew out a long breath. “Let’s get this straight. You’re sitting here saying, ‘Hey, Evie. Why not just have sex with Jay while his girlfriend sits around?’ But then what happens after that? What am I doing when we’re not having sex? Am I with him too? You can’t believe I would just settle for a sexual relationship with him.”

“I doubt she thinks that. She knows that she’s on borrowed time. It’s clear that she’s nervous about losing him. Plus, you think Jay wouldn’t treat you like his girlfriend?”