Planning on Forever (6 page)

– COLLIN –

Heading
out the back sliding glass door, the yard is already starting to fill up with
family and friends. Staring over the balcony, looking down upon everyone and
with my girl by my side, I realize, life is good.

“Hey,
lover boy, get your fine ass down here so I can kick your ass in that bounce
house!” Travis looks like he has already handed his keys over to the bartender.

My
parents made a pact with my friends and me, that as long as we hand our keys
over to the bartender, we can all drink and have a good time. I don't think it
is any secret that my family is well known in our town; they own a small
telecommunication business in the Syracuse area. Therefore, as long as
everything stays under control, no one will dare rat them out for underage
drinking.

Heading
down the stairs, I throw my keys to the bartender, grab a bottle of beer, take
a long guzzle, and make my way to the bounce house.

“You're
on, bro!”

Before
we know it, we have five large football players all wrestling around in the
giant inflatable, throwing each other across the floor, body slamming, and
making our own WWE special. We have to get out a few times to flip the castle
back up and anchor it since we keep knocking it over. Thank god for insurance,
because I can’t promise it’ll be returned fully intact.

When
we are so exhausted that we can no longer stand, we decide to get out, and grab
some beer and food. If there’s one thing my friends and I know how to do well,
it’s eating. The caterers restock everything when they see us getting out of
the bounce house, knowing they are about to feed an army. Piling our plates
high with pulled pork, brisket, coleslaw, salt potatoes, and corn bread, we all
sit together, drinking our cold ones, and reminiscing over the last four years
of high school. Some of us go back farther than that and into our pop warner
years. These guys have been my youth, and my young adult life; we've had each
other’s back the whole way through. I’ve never felt like an only child growing
up;
they
were my brothers and always will be.

Out
of the corner of my eye, I see Alexa talking with my family. She is laughing
and carrying on like she is one of them.
She sure fits in well.
I’ve
decided that I’m going to propose to her at the end of my sophomore year of
college. It gives us both time to live the college experience. After her first
year, we will get an apartment together located somewhere between both of our
schools. After that, well, we will live our happily ever after.

Making
eye contact with each other, I curl my finger, motioning her to come over to
me, and then pat my lap to sit down. Once she is comfortably seated on my lap,
I move her hair aside and kiss her neck, breathing in her intoxicating scent,
the scent I’ll never forget; a mixture of fresh summer air and vanilla.

“I
see you guys worked up an appetite in that thing,” she jokes, seeing all the
food we just consumed and all the beers we already shot back.

“You
better get your oils ready, princess, ‘cause your man is going to need a good
rub down tomorrow with the way I just schooled him in that thing,” Travis
slurs, making it obvious he’s already drank a little too much.

“I
think I can help him with that,” Alexa replies, wrapping her arms around my
shoulders and pecking my lips. “Hey, Trav, did Collin tell you your friend,
Nicole, works at the ice cream stand with me? Small world, huh?”

Feeling
my body freeze underneath her, I pray that Travis puts two and two together.

“Nicole?
Who the hell is she?” he replies with a look of confusion.

“Ya
know, tall, really dark hair, blue eyes...” she continues.

“Ahh...Nicole...yes,
I remember her, but I think your man knows her better than I do.”

WHAT
THE FUCK!
As soon as he says it, you can see the look of regret in his eyes. For once,
could he just think before he spoke?
JESUS, TRAV!
Feeling her body
tense, I know she understands what he just said. Her eyes are already filling
with tears and she just stares at me, frozen. Snapping out of it, she leaps up
off of me and b-lines it for the house
.

– ALEXA –

I
knew it! I knew there was something strange about that situation. I knew I
should have pursued it, but I trusted him
–
I trusted her. Why I trusted
her after knowing her for only a couple of hours, I don't know, but I did. God,
I’m so blind! How could’ve I been so stupid? Of course they had a party that
night, of course he was the guy she hung out with. This was just too much of a
coincidence to not be true, and come on, they were at Travis's house. You just
don't sit around and shoot the shit at Travis’s house.

Ugh,
I could strangle him right now; I could strangle myself for being such a love
struck idiot. Now what do I do? I’m locked in the guest bathroom, and have no
car to get home since I drove here with Collin and his family. I am so screwed!
There is no way I can face him right now nor do I want to hear his explanation.
Spare me the details; I know something happened between them and that's all I
need to know.

Pulling
my cell phone out of my dress pocket, I dial Amanda's number. She is here
somewhere, and I know she drove. She has to work in the morning so she wasn't
planning on drinking
–
surprisingly.

“Hello?
Where are you? I heard Collin yelling at Travis and then he stormed off. I kind
of figured it had something to do with you,” she asks in almost one breath.

“Please
take me home,” was all I could spit out between sobs.

“Of
course, where are you?”

Trying
to compose myself, I finally blurt out, “In the guest bathroom off of the main
entrance...please hurry. I don't want to see him.”

Within
seconds, I hear her yelling in a tone that scares me. I can only assume she is
yelling at Collin. “Don't you dare go near her you son of a bitch! I don't know
what you did, but I do know that whatever it is, you destroyed her! She doesn't
want to see you and if you ever loved her in just the tiniest bit, you’ll stay
away from her and let her leave!”

After
a few more seconds, I hear a knock on the door.

“Lex,
it's me, Amanda. Open the door, it's okay to come out. He's gone,” she softy
whispers through the door.

Taking
a deep breath, I wipe under my eyes, knowing I probably look like someone out
of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with my mascara everywhere. I slowly stand up
and open the door. She immediately grabs my hand and says, “Let’s go. Let’s get
the hell out of here.”

– COLLIN –

She
won't even talk to me. I have to explain. Who knows what she is thinking. She
needs to know that I didn't have sex with Nicole. I can’t lose Alexa; I refuse
to lose her. Amanda won't let me near her, but fuck that! She’s my girlfriend,
and I’m going to stand outside the front door until she comes out. I
will
talk to her, and she
will
hear me out.

When
the front door opens, I jump in front of it, blocking the exit, and stand right
in front of her. She looks awful; still beautiful, but destroyed. She has her
arms crossed over her chest, makeup smeared across her face, and she is looking
down at the ground to avoid making eye contact. I hold her arms, squaring her
to me. “Please, baby, hear me out...” I begin, but she quickly cuts me off.

“Get
away from me!”

“Please,
I...I didn't–”

“There
is nothing to say,” she intercepts again, stepping around me to walk away. She
doesn’t even look back. She just walks to Amanda's car, and doesn’t look back.

I
watch her get in the car. I watch them pull out of the driveway, and I watch
them drive away. And now I’m just standing here–I can’t move. I’m frozen,
staring down the street. Maybe if I stand here long enough, she’ll come back.
She has to come back. This can’t be it. She is the one. Just a couple of hours
ago, I decided I was going to marry this girl. I planned our lives together.
We’re supposed to be forever. What do I do? What do I do? Please, God, someone
tell me what I am supposed to do!

“Hey,
buddy...” Matt slowly walks up next to me. “She left...she left, and didn't
look back...she's gone, man.” Saying it out loud just makes it feel even worse.
“What am I supposed to do? She was it for me, bro.” My heart aches. I feel like
a chunk of my heart was ripped from my chest, and driven away with the love of
my life.

“I
think you need to give it some time...give her time to calm down, and then
explain it all to her. Right now she is in shock.”

Give
her time? Give her time to hate me even more...no way! I pull out my phone and
dial her number...voicemail. I dial again ...voicemail. Awesome, she turned her
phone off. First part of the grieving process is being sad, done. Second part,
being mad, and right now, that is exactly what I am. Heading towards the bartender,
I grab an ice bucket and fill it with six beers. Not talking to anyone, I turn
and head towards the water to walk down by the dock. I sit at the end and stare
out over the water. I couldn’t care less that there is a party going on right
now; I just want to sit by myself and figure out where to go from here. This
day is not ending how I envisioned. We were supposed to have a killer party
with friends, family, and my girl. I was going to sit out here on this very
dock, holding her, and watch the fireworks.