Parker

I can’t focus with Matt staring at me from across the table with his stupid smirk and perfect dimples. He hasn’t said a word since he came in and sat down, he just keeps staring at me with his stupid hazel eyes. I clear my throat and try to focus on my notes in front of me. Matt doesn’t like me ignoring him, though, so he scoots his chair around the table until he’s sitting right next to me.

“So, what got into you the other night?” he whispers.

I close my eyes and purse my lips. Today was the first time I’ve seen Matt since the quickie in the apartment stairwell. I know he didn’t want to hear the truth – that I broke up with my boyfriend and was upset because of it – but I didn’t have the energy to lie about it either so I just shrugged.

“Oh, are you mad at me again?” Matt asks. I feel his hand on my knee. He slowly starts to bring his hand up to my thigh and in response, I slam my legs closed. “Aw.”

“It shouldn’t have happened,” I tell him quietly.

Matt rolls his eyes. “You always say that but then you come begging for it.”

“What?” I scoff. “I do not come beg for anything.”

Matt smiles at me but doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “So, are you going to tell me why you were crying?”

“Are you going to tell me why you were shirtless in my neighbourhood?” I ask.

“Sure,” Matt shrugs. “I was pissed off, so I went to my friend Zack’s house to get high. I like to run when I’m upset, so I decided to go for a quick run. Then I ran into you and damn, I’m glad I did.”

I shift in my seat. “You have a girlfriend, Matt.”

He ignores me. “Your turn.”

I take a deep breath and put down my notecards. “Austin and I broke up.”

“You broke up with him or he broke up with you?” Matt asks me.

I shrug, slightly shaking my head. The answer was complicated. Technically, I broke up with him though, I didn’t mean to, but he wasted no time agreeing to it. “I broke up with him.”

“So, why were you upset?” Matt asks me.

I shake my head. “Matt, we’re not friends. We don’t have to have this conversation.”

Matt looks at me surprised but furrows his brows. “Okay.” Without another word, he moves his chair back to the other side of the table and then leaves.

I should feel relieved because now I can focus on my notes, but I can’t help but feel bad. I’m not sure if Matt was being nice so he could get laid again or if he was being nice just to be nice, but I had a feeling he was just being nice. Matt wasn’t the type to be nice just, so he could get laid, mostly because he probably knew how god damn irresistible he was.

I stare at my notes for most of the hour, but can’t take it end because I keep thinking about Matt. Fifteen minutes before the bell rings, I decide to go find him and apologize. I don’t know much about Matt but one thing I did know was that he liked to hang out under the bleachers and get high with his friends when he could. I head there first.

I hear the laughing before I even reach the bleachers. I run my hand through my hair as I turn the corner and see Matt and his friends standing in a circle passing around a joint. His friend, Zack, sees me first and gently bumps into Matt with his elbow and then nods in my direction. Matt looks surprised but breaks away from his group anyway and approaches me.

“You’re supposed to be in period zero,” he tells me. “I could report you for truancy.”

I cross my arms. “You’re supposed to be there too. I could report you for doing drugs on school property.”

Matt smiles. “Or you could join us.”

I nibble on my lip. I know the bell is going to ring any moment and I’ve never been high before. Still, one drag wouldn’t hurt, right? Maybe it would even help ease my mind about seeing Austin today. “No, that’s okay,” I tell him. “I just came to apologize for being a bitch. I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Hey, what are you doing tonight?” Matt asked me.

I shrugged. “My parents are going to my brother’s baseball game and then taking him to dinner. I’ll probably be studying since my tutor keeps walking out on me to go get high,” I joked.

Matt laughed. “How about, to make it up to you, I’ll come over, bring pizza and we can study? Or watch a movie or something?”

I narrow my eyes. “I don’t think Vanessa wants us hanging out.”

Matt laughs. “I’m allowed to have chick friends just like Vanessa is allowed to have dude friends. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek. I know the possibility of this ending in sex is very likely and so, I’m tempted to reject Matt’s offer. Except I know I could use the distraction, even if that distraction is just pizza and a movie otherwise I’ll spend my evening crying into a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. “Okay, fine. You can come over at five.”

“Sounds great,” Matt grins showing off those ridiculous dimples again.

---

I hate myself for wanting to freshen of my make up before Matt arrives later that night. I told myself I was going to hell for the way I was acting with Matt knowing that he was with Vanessa. Matt and I were both going to hell because of how we have treated her and how we treated Austin. Of course, Austin wasn’t a part of the picture anymore and he’s partly to blame for whatever happens tonight. If Austin and I were together still, I would have never agreed to Matt coming over here.

The doorbell rings and I straighten my shirt before opening the door. Matt stands there with his smile and his bookbag draped over his shoulder. “Did you miss me?” he asks.

“You wish,” I grin.

Matt drops his bookbag down by the couch. “So, what do you want to do? Study or watch a movie?”

“Where’s the pizza?” I ask him, arching a brow.

Matt grins. “It’s coming. Figured I’d have it delivered so it would be hot when it arrived.”

“Mhmm,” I laugh. “You better not be skimping on the pizza, Matthew.”

At that exact moment, the doorbell rings. Matt looks fake surprised and I shake my head before answering the door. “Hey, did someone order a pizza?”

“Hey, ya little shit,” Matt chuckled, approaching the door.

Johnny scrunched his eyebrows together. “Matt? What are you doing here?”

“About to eat a pizza,” he told his friend, grabbing the pizza from him. He hands it to me and I take it to the living room coffee table. “How much?”

“$15,” Johnny replied. I watched as Matt pulled his wallet out of his back-jean pocket. I don’t see what Matt hands him but hear Johnny scoff. “Uh, tip?”

Matt scoffs right back. “I let you in my band, didn’t I? That’s tip enough.” Johnny flips his friend off before disappearing from the door and Matt closes it before turning to me.

“It’s a wonder how you have any friends at all,” I tell him biting into a piece of pizza.

Matt laughs. “He’ll be alright.”

We spend the next couple of hours eating pizza and talking about random things. Matt tells me about his band and about how they’re in the process of recording a demo to send out. And I tell him a little about my totally uninteresting life before I moved to Huntington Beach. As it always does with me and Matt, one thing leads to another and before we can start a movie or study, I find myself in my bedroom with him.

Matt’s lips brush against my shoulder, my collarbone and then my neck. “Tell me you want it,” he whispers in my ear. The warmth of his breath leaves chills down my spine and I have to refrain from calling out “yes!”

“Matt,” I mumble as his lips find mine. “Matt, we can’t do this.”

Matt lets go of my waist. “Okay,” he tells me. “Back away then. If you don’t want to do this, then it will be easy.”

My brain tells my feet to move but they don’t listen. Matt’s breath lingers on my lips. His fingers lightly skim against my arm. I reach up and pull his mouth down to mine and kiss him eagerly. Matt wastes no time kissing me back. He gently bites my lip before running his tongue over it. Matt lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist as he presses me against the wall.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Matt drops me, and I barely have time to brace myself before I fall to the floor. “Oh, shit! Sorry, Parker,” Matt apologizes.

I ignore his hand to help me up and focus on the person standing in my bedroom doorway. “Austin, what are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” Austin scoffs. “I was just leaving.” He turns and disappears from view. Before he can get very far, however, I catch up with him.

“Austin,” I call as he reaches the front door. “What are you doing here?”

“You know, I was actually coming to apologize. I was coming to tell you I was a dick the other night and I should have believed you when you said nothing was wrong but…wow. Are you the one he fucking cheated on with Vanessa with?”

I felt my throat close up out of shame. “I didn’t…I didn’t know he had a girlfriend,” I explain.
Austin laughs dryly. “Wow. You’re such a fucking whore. What’s your excuse now? You still don’t know he has a girlfriend? Or are you really just that shitty of a person?” I don’t answer him. “How long have you been messing around with him?”

I shake my head. “Austin, it’s not like that.”

“I mean, you accused me of cheating all the time and it turns out that you’re actually the cheater,” Austin spits.

“You’re right,” I cry. “Okay? You’re right, I –”

Austin’s hand collided with my cheek. Shock went through me like a bullet and I took a step backward. Austin’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he had done, and I could tell that he instantly regretted what he did. “Oh shit! Parker –” he started, but it was too late.

Matt came out of nowhere and tackled Austin to the ground. “Matt!” I screeched, pulling myself out of the state of shock and into panic mode. “Matt, stop!”

“Parker, are you kidding me? He just fucking hit you!” Matt yelled. His fist was in the air as his other hand held tightly onto Austin’s collar.

“He didn’t mean to! Okay? Austin isn’t like that. It was just a heat of a moment thing. Please, just…get off him.” Matt looked at me like I was crazy but reluctantly did as he was told.

Austin got off the floor and straightened out his shirt with his hands, then he took a step towards me. I take an immediate step backward away from him as Matt takes one towards him. “Parker, I am so sorry. I swear, I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t touch her,” Matt says at the same time.

“I think you should go,” I mumble, not looking at either of them. I can tell out of my peripheral that neither of them moves. “Both of you. Please.”

Again, neither one of them moves but then, Austin takes a step backward. “Okay,” he says quietly. “I’ll call you later so we can talk.”

I don’t reply and so he turns to the door and leaves. Matt still stands there, facing me. “Parker –”

“Matt, please,” I start. Tears begin to burn my eyes. “You should go see Vanessa.”
Matt is motionless for several seconds before he nods. Then, he grabs his book bag and then heads out the door.

Notes

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Title credit: Fall Out Boy “I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"