“Hey Gayle.” Emma greeted as she answered the door. I swirled the root beer bottle I had in my hand as I continued to look tiredly at the ceiling. From the corner of my eye I saw Emma pull Gayle into a hug at the doorway.
“Hey Em.” Gayle replied, walking into our living room. I stared at the ceiling with heavy eyelids as I listened to Gayle shuffled around our apartment. “Hey Kid.” I waved at her in reply, not saying anything.
All day I’ve been tired as hell and I couldn’t even explain why. I hadn’t done anything completely tiring for the past couple days, but they were busy. A few days ago, Emma and I had agreed that we’ve been neglecting each other and ditching one another for our boyfriends. We explained this to Matt and Johnny and they were more than happy to spend a few days with all the other guys, since they were probably neglecting Brian, Zach and Jimmy for us. So we spent next couple days going to the mall, going to the beach, seeing movies, going out to dinner, and hitting up some clubs. We had a considerably fun time so today we decided to stay at home and invite Gayle. But for some reason I felt like no amount of sleep was enough to quench my tired thirst.
“Kid, are you drinking beer?” Gayle asked skeptically. I kept myself from rolling my eyes. I brought the bottle to my lips and successfully managed to take a sip without any spilling down my face.
“Only the root kind.” I slurred, too tired to articulate. I saw Gayle narrow her eyes at me, but I chose not to respond. She walked over and took the bottle from me, bringing it to her mouth. I smirked smugly when she grimaced at the fact that I wasn’t lying. She looked down at me and I forced myself to look back at her. She raised an eyebrow and my eyelids drooped.
“I’m glad it was root beer,” Gayle mused, smiling a little. I lazily raised an eyebrow and she smirked. “Because if it was actual beer I was gonna say you started drinking pretty early.”
“It’s five.” I muttered as I checked the clock on the TV. I looked at Gayle and she smiled.
“You started drinking before I got here, that’s considered early.” Gayle pointed out. I sighed.
“So what you’re saying is we’re drinking tonight?” I questioned, internally groaning. I was too damn tired to drink tonight.
“We’re having a girls night out,” Gayle said, smiling widely. Oh God. “So that means pizza, Chinese, drinking, nails, hair, makeup, and boy talk.”
“I’m cool with the Chinese, but everything else sounds like too much work.” I stated as I took another sip of my root beer. Gayle rolled her eyes and stood up.
“Too bad. I already ordered the food and I’m going to set my things in your spare room.” Gayle announced as she grabbed a huge back. I watched silently as she rounded the corner towards the sex room. Her bag dropped. “Holy shit, when did this turn into a honeymoon room from the movies?!”
“Jessi did it.” Emma called from our bedroom, probably talking to Johnny. She was such a sucker.
“You did?” Gayle questioned, her head poking out from around the corner. I nodded and she raised her eyebrows. “Why?”
“Because I’m sick and tired of Emma deflowering my bed so I made the sex room for when one of us has our boyfriend over.” I answered, slowly pulling myself up into the sitting position. I needed to sleep; a twenty-one year old girl should not be acting like a fifty-five year old crippled person.
“Sex room?” Gayle emphasized, walking back into the living room. Once again I nodded and she narrowed her eyes. “Have you and Matt used the sex room?”
“She wishes,” Emma yelled. I rolled my eyes and mentally slapped Emma.
“She’s a whore, don’t listen to her,” I mumbled, glancing back at Gayle. She was looking at me curiously, but there was some underlying emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “And no, we haven’t.”
“Are you guys finally dating now?” Gayle asked, smiling. I couldn’t explain how odd I found Gayle; she was just as bipolar as Matt. It was creepy and somewhat annoying. I nodded and smiled back, pushing back my thoughts.
“Yeah. I think for more or less a month.” I informed her, beaming. Ever since we got together, Matt had been less bipolar, and I loved it. Everything was still so surreal, and some days I couldn’t even convince myself that I was friends with Avenged Sevenfold until one of the guys texted me asking if I wanted to hang out.
“That’s so cute.” Gayle cooed, turning her head to the side in adoration. I nodded and she looked me up and down. “So you look like you’ve been hit by a truck. What’s up?”
“I have been so tired today it feels like I was hit by a truck. I just want to sleep, but this is the last day Emma and I are spending together boy-free so I’m trying to keep myself awake for it.” I explained, leaning my head back in exhaustion. I pulled my head back up and looked at Gayle, my eyes drooping again. “I haven’t moved from this spot all day.”
“How’d you get the root kind of beer then?” Gayle asked, smirking. I laughed.
“My wonderful wench fetched it for me.” I answered, smiling widely. Just then, Emma came out of our bedroom. She glared playfully at me as she went to the kitchen. I heard the fridge door open and she gasped.
“Who brought all the alcohol?” She questioned, not returning from the kitchen. Gayle beamed and I chuckled.
“I did.” Gayle called. There was a knock at the door and Gayle jumped. “And there’s the pizza and-or Chinese guy. Let the party begin.”
~
A few hours later, Emma, Gayle, and I were all dancing drunkenly to All Time Low. Even though it was just us three, we were grinding on each other like we were in a packed bar. We sang loudly and flipped our hair to I Feel Like Dancin’ until Emma and I stumbled to the floor. Gayle pouted but sat down next to me, our backs next to the couch.
“See, th-this is a good night, ain’t it?” Gayle slurred, wrapping her arm around my neck. I looked at her and nodded.
“Yeah. I like the color you used on my toes.” I cooed, sticking my foot into the air to admire the fiery red she painted my nails. She smiled drunkenly and took a swig of her beer.
“So, let’s talk boys. Emma, you start: How’s Johnny?” Gayle asked, looking at Emma. Emma gave a small smile and made a happy face.
“He’s wonderful. He’s so nice and-“
“That’s not what I meant.” Gayle interrupted, rolling her eyes at Emma. Confusion crossed her face and Gayle smiled wickedly. “How is he in bed?”
“Oh.” Emma muttered, her face going red. I felt slightly uncomfortable listening to my best friend’s sex life, but I’d be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t curious. Since high school, Emma had felt the need to tell me about her sexual advances with her boyfriends, and although I found it slightly weird, it didn’t bother me too much. And in any case, she and Johnny have been in their fling together for about two months now, and even though I knew they had sex, Emma hadn’t said anything about it to me. I snapped out of my analyzing and looked at Emma. She chewed on her lip before smiling awkwardly. “He’s… pretty fit.”
“Is that all I’m going to get out of you?” Gayle persisted, her face falling. Emma nodded embarrassingly and glanced down. I looked at her, confused. Usually she’d be more than happy to brag about how awesome Johnny may or may not be in bed; it wasn’t like Emma to be embarrassed about her sex life. Gayle groaned and looked at me. “Okay. Kid, your turn.”
“I haven’t had sex with Matt, though.” I answered, confusion in my voice. Gayle rolled her eyes and scoffed.
“I know that, silly.” Gayle snickered, playfully punching my shoulder. I rubbed where she hit and her eyes were bright. “How far have you guys gotten?”
“Just making out.” I mumbled, chewing on my lip. Emma’s face fell, but Gayle’s face twisted into some mixture of smug, anger, and pride.
“He’s pretty good at that, isn’t he?” Gayle stated, smiling at me. I began nodding when I realized what she had said. She suddenly didn’t seem as drunk as she was before.
“How would you know?” I questioned, my eyes widening. Gayle held her head high and looked me dead in the eye.
“Because we dated in high school.”
*
“Wait-what?” I stuttered, my mouth dropping. Gayle nodded proudly and I stared in utter shock. How could I not have known that? Was she the three year relationship Johnny had mentioned earlier? Oh my Jesus that is so freaking awkward.
“For how long?” Emma asked, breaking the ever-so-awkward silence. Gayle looked at her, pure smug written all over her face. It kind of pissed me off.
“Three years.” Gayle answered matter-of-factly. My body tensed. Why didn’t Matt tell me about this? I mean, granted we have only been dating for a month, but still. He vaguely knows about my ex-boyfriend, and the only reason I knew about his ex-girlfriend of three years existence was because of Johnny. I’d have to talk to him about this.
“Uh, what happened?” I questioned, utterly perplexed. The question literally smacked the smug right off of Gayle’s face as she began scowling.
“He broke up with me because he thought I was cheating and beat up the guy and had the rest of the band totally trash my car.” Gayle sneered, anger flashing across my face. I stared at her, baffled. Gayle noticed my look and the smug returned to her face, along with fear. “See, Kid? I told you to be careful around Matt when he’s angry. You need to watch yourself when you’re around him or you’ll get hurt.”