A Shift in the Universe Christian Mitchell Copyright 2004
CHAPTER SIX:
I shouldn't have been surprised by the attention that the breakup of Kyle and Ashley had amongst our friends. It definitely was the main topic of conversation that morning. As soon as I walked into school Tyler and Paul cornered me in the hall as I approached to my locker.
"I'm sure you already know that Kyle broke up with Ashley, huh?" Tyler asked with a slight tone of irritation.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Of course," he huffed. "But, hey, why didn't he tell the rest of us about it last night?"
"I have no idea," I replied. "Ask him. I'm not his publicist."
Paul smiled. "Close enough."
"I found out last night after I left Tyler's house. Basically, the news is new to me, too," I responded.
Tyler shrugged his shoulders. "Well, whatever, man. I still think he should have said something last night. Hell, they've been dating a long time. I didn't even know they were having problems."
"Maybe they weren't," Paul stated, purposely stressing every syllable. "School's almost over. Soon it will be summer then he'll be off to college. He probably wanted to let her loose so he could explore his options."
Tyler laughed. "Options?"
"Yeah," Paul responded. "Why keep yourself from the dating scene once you're at college? I'm sure there will be plenty of new bitches for him to fuck around with."
Tyler shrugged his shoulders as I rolled my eyes.
"You should probably drop Lisa," Paul smiled.
"Man, fuck you!" Tyler exclaimed. "Whatever happens, happens. But I'm holding onto my girl for now."
"Hey, it's just something to consider," Paul replied.
"Shut up," Tyler replied before he focused his attention on me again. "When you see that mother fucker, tell him that he has some explaining to. I mean, c'mon - - he didn't even tell his boys!"
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed. "I'll let him know that you're on the hunt for blood."
"Good," Tyler smiled then punched me in the arm.
I immediately thrust my elbow into his side. "Don't take it out on me," I complained.
Paul laughed and scratched his chin. "See you guys in gym class." Then he was lost among the crowd of faces in the hall.
Tyler started to walk away and called out," wait up, bitch!"
I was kicking myself in the ass for not calling Kyle the night before. We could have talked about my conversation with my mother. Plus we could have attempted to devise some sort of plan of action: when to tell our friends, what to tell them. Because he had left my house soon after ten o'clock I assumed that I would simply talk to him before classes started. However, due to the news of his breakup with Ashley, it seemed as if any private time between the two of us was not going to take place at school.
I didn't see Kyle until lunch when I walked into the cafeteria. He was already sitting with Brandon at our usual table. I quickly paid for my sandwich and water then joined them. Just as I was about to sit down Ashley appeared out of nowhere. She didn't look very happy. I felt bad for her, but I also felt awkward because I was the one that Kyle was happy to see.
Kyle's smile faded. He glanced up at her and swallowed his food. "Hey."
Ashley brushed the long brown hair from her face and sat down on the other side of him. "That's it? That's the greeting I get - - hey?"
"I'm sorry," Kyle smiled. "I was trying to swallow my food."
Brandon had stopped eating so that he could focus all of his attention on whatever action was about to take place between Kyle and Ashley.
"I thought we could go outside and talk when you're finished here."
Kyle shook his head. "I can't. Marcus and I are prepping for an exam before next period."
She rolled her eyes. "You have gym class next period."
"Well, we can't study during gym."
She quickly became agitated. "Fine. Are you free after school?" Then, to my complete surprise, she leaned closer to the table and looked over at me.
"Or do you and Marcus have plans?"
Kyle was becoming angry. He situated himself so that he was facing Ashley. "Do you really want to start an argument? Here, in front of everyone?"
"No, I don't want to argue," she replied. "I want to talk. We can still be friendly with each other."
"I suggest you start by dropping the attitude," Kyle sneered.
Brandon laughed out loud and slapped his hand on the table. "Sorry," he apologized as he picked up his fork. But, Brandon being Brandon, we all knew that he really wasn't sincere.
Ashley's face morphed into an expression of disgust. "Fuck you, Brandon.
This isn't funny! I'm not here to entertain your sorry ass."
"Then stop being such a drama queen," he replied.
She flipped him off and stood up from the table. "Kyle. Please talk to me soon. I just want to have a conversation with you. Okay?"
Kyle nodded his head. "Alright," he replied in defeat. "I'll call you after school, okay?"
"Thank you," she smiled as she walked away from the three of us.
"And now I know why you broke up with that bitch," Brandon said in a singing manner. "Damn, she's becoming mean."
Kyle waved off Brandon's declaration. "She's not a bitch. She's just pissed at me."
"Fine. She's a bitch - - with nice tits. See, I even threw in a compliment," Brandon grinned.
Kyle frowned and continued speaking. "I don't really blame her. But, hey - - shit happens."
"Well, that doesn't sound very friendly," I observed.
"Hey, I feel bad," Kyle replied. "But I'm not going to become completely upset over it because breaking up with her was the right thing to do." He nudged me with his shoulder. "I'm not the bad guy."
"I know," I smiled.
Brandon pushed his tray of food out of his way. "What test do you guys have?"
"We don't," Kyle answered. "I just don't want to talk to her yet."
"I hear ya, bro." Brandon stood up and lifted the front of his shirt, exposing his abs for all to see. He rubbed his hand across his stomach and yawned. "I'm outta here, man. I have to finish my Biology homework."
"Good luck," I grinned and continued to eat my sandwich.
Before he left Brandon lightly slapped the top of Kyle's head then mine. "Hasta luego, amigos."
Once Brandon had vanished Kyle rested his head in the palm of his hand and looked at me. "How was the talk with your mother?"
"A lot better than I thought it would be," I smiled.
"Really? Cool."
"Yeah, she has no problem with you and me being together. She just wants me to be happy. You know, `no matter what, I'll always love you.' That kind of stuff."
Kyle smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
"And my dad talked to me briefly this morning before he went to work. I guess my mother said something to him last night. He doesn't give a shit either. It's kind of weird actually. If I think about it, I almost don't believe it. Twilight Zone material."
"It's not weird. It's great," Kyle beamed. "I can only hope that talking with my parents goes as well as it did for you."
"When do you think you're going to do that?" I asked with more than just a bit of curiosity.
"I don't know, within the next couple of days. Before the weekend, for sure."
"Good."
"I'm nervous about it, though. I know my parents pretty well, but a part of me wouldn't be surprised if they were really upset with me."
"I'm sure it will be fine. I'll send good energy your way," I replied.
"Thanks. I may need all I can get," he laughed.
"When do you want to tell everyone else - - like Tyler and our other friends?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"How about right now?" Tyler whispered.
I don't know how long he had been standing there, but he did a very good job of sneaking up behind us. His voice scared the shit out of me. I must have jumped three feet above my chair just as Kyle's head slipped right out of the palm of his hand.
"Shit!" Kyle exclaimed. "How long have you been standing there?"
Tyler was laughing hysterically. "About three seconds!" he snorted. He was having a difficult time speaking full sentences without bouts of laughter.
"Man, you should have seen your faces. Fuck, that was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!"
"You won't be laughing when I kick your fucking ass," Kyle scoffed.
Tyler sat down at the table. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. When I heard my name I couldn't resist the urge to say something."
"And what exactly did you hear us talking about?" I asked.
"Kyle needs all he can get of something or other. And you wanted to know when to tell your friends something or other. I don't know what the hell you guys were talking about," he replied as if he was disinterested. "But now I'm really curious."
"I bet," Kyle responded.
Tyler held up his hand to indicate that he requested our silence. "First - - I have an issue with Kyle."
"Yeah, what's that?"
"Why didn't you tell us about breaking up with Ashley? You could have said something last night when you were at my house. Brandon told me this morning because Tina had told Paul about it on the way the school."
"Oh," Kyle replied with wide eyes. "Ashley confided in her best friend Tina, who then told her brother Paul, who then told Brandon. Then he told you?"
Tyler pondered the thought for a moment then nodded his head. "Yeah, that's right."
"What else have you heard?"
"Not much. I know Ashley was really confused by it because she doesn't think you gave her a good enough explanation as to why you were breaking up with her. But apparently she told Tina that she's pretty sure she knows what the real reason is."
"And what's that?" Kyle asked with piqued interest.
I looked at Tyler as if I was about to hear the biggest news story of the year.
"Beats the hell out of me," he shrugged. "If Tina told Paul then he didn't say anything to us. I'm just telling you what I heard."
The only response that Kyle had was "the grapevine of Westwood High." He threw his hands up and rose from the table. "I'm going outside."
"Hey, it's cool. I'm just giving you a hard time," Tyler beamed.
"I know," Kyle replied. "But still - - all this gossip - - give me a break, man."
"Well, if I were you I'd plan on talking to Ashley some time soon," Tyler suggested.
"And why is that?" Kyle asked.
"Because - -" he stressed. "If she doesn't think you told her why you broke up, but she thinks she knows the reason why, then she'll start blabbing to all her friends. Then the whole school will know about it by the end of the week. And if she wants to be a real bitch about then she could start telling a shit load of lies."
I looked at Kyle with raised eyebrows. "Tyler's right, you know? You're gonna have to talk to her. You better call her after school, like you told her you would."
"She might tell everyone you're a lousy lay or something,'" Tyler said. "Just completely go off the deep end and say shit. Psycho boyfriend. You cheated. Small dick. Who's to say for sure."
"Dude," Kyle exclaimed. "You know that none of that is true!"
"I do. A lot of people outside our group of friends might not. " Tyler replied. "And, besides, you know what they say - - it's not the size of the tool, but how you work it."
"Bitch, you know I don't have a small dick."
"Hey, I've seen you naked, but you could be a shower and not a grower, for all I know," Tyler laughed.
"Hey!" I shouted in an effort to calm the situation before it started to get out of hand. "Kyle, just call her and find out what this is all about."
He sighed and allowed his shoulders to slump forward. "I will."
Kyle grabbed the upper sleeve of my shirt and pulled until I stood up. I swallowed the last bite of sandwich and picked up my tray. Thankfully, a couple guys from our class approached the table and sat down. Tyler noticed that he wasn't going to be left alone to eat lunch and smiled.
"See you guys later," I said as Kyle and I walked away.
It was a warm and sunny day so Kyle and I walked to the parking lot. We sat down on the grass near the sidewalk leading to the school building. There was a guy mowing the lawn, causing bits of grass to fly in the air.
I sneezed. "Damned grass."
"Bless you," Kyle chuckled.
"Thank you," I smiled.
"Oh, shit," Kyle whispered, barely moving his lips at all. "Here comes Ashley."
"Yes, God bless you," Ashley offered.
"Thank you," I repeated.
"Did you come out here to fight with me again?" Kyle asked.
"No," she answered. "Is this how you study for your exams? No sheets of paper? No books? Do you have your study guide written on your hand or something?"
"Ashley, I just didn't feel like talking about all of this now."
She sighed and threw her hands up before returning them to her hips. "It's fine. Don't worry. I get it. I know what this is all about now."
"What?"
"The two of you. You and Marcus. You must think I'm really fucking stupid, Kyle. We dated for over two years. You think I don't know you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyle questioned with irritation.
"You do!" she exclaimed. "You do think I'm stupid!"
Kyle grunted loudly. "Stop it!"
"I'm talking about your new girlfriend. Marcus."
Initially I was shocked to hear Ashley call me Kyle's girlfriend. Yet, I was also offended. "Wait a minute," I protested. "I'm not a fucking girl. I can't be anybody's fucking girlfriend."
Ashley glared at me. "Well, someone has to be the girl in the relationship, right?" She kneeled down so that she and I were at eye level. "I just figured that since he's been fucking me for the past two years he has more experience being the man than you do."
"Holy shit," I said, shaking my head from side to side. Disbelief overwhelmed me. How could she be so certain that she knew what was happening between Kyle and I?
"Ashley you are way out of line," Kyle interjected.
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are. Why are you doing this?
"I can't believe this," she responded. She took a deep breath and flung the hair out of her face before sitting on the grass. Tears had already started to roll down her cheeks. Sadness aside, Ashley was still angry. "You started talking about Marcus a lot more than usual during the past few weeks. It was almost unbearable. I tolerated it because I knew that the two of you were best friends. Marcus is my friend, too. But there was something about the way you talked about him. The look you had in your eyes."
Neither Kyle nor I said anything. We continued to devote all of our attention on Ashley.
"Then after Marcus' birthday party... when you spent the night at his place. I never really heard from you after that. A two minute phone conversation and that's it. We didn't have sex at all. We always had sex over the weekend. You avoided me like the plague. And the time that you would have spent with me was spent with Marcus instead."
Ashley spoke one sentence as she normally would then the following would be verbalized with rage. It was as if she was suddenly bi-polar.
Kyle ran his hand through his hair and let out a deep breath.
"Then when you wanted to take a break from our relationship, I knew" she whispered. "Kyle - - I just knew it."
"I don't know what to say," he said.
"There's nothing to say," she replied. "The last thing that really clued me in was the way you treated me in the cafeteria. You always would have talked to me. Whenever we fought in the past, you were always willing to listen to me. Suddenly, I no longer had that opportunity. And when I found you out here - - allegedly studying - - but you weren't."
I diverted my gaze from Ashley to the sidewalk.
She brushed a blade of grass from her jeans. The anger seemed to have completely disappeared from her face and voice. It was as if she had terminated the bitchy persona within the span of a second. "Those are the reasons I knew that my suspicions were correct."
My mouth must have been wide open, completely hanging to my chest. I had absolutely no idea of how to respond to Ashley. I wasn't even sure if I should say anything at all since it really was a conversation between she and Kyle.
I could not believe the pace of how the events of the past few days had played out. What I thought was going to be a secret between Kyle and me was quickly being exposed from one hour to the next. It seemed like life was in fast forward ever since we had slept together.
"If you had these suspicions for the past couple weeks, why didn't you say anything to me? Why didn't you let me know what you were thinking?" Kyle asked not much louder than a whisper.
Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I was scared to hear the truth. And you wouldn't have told me anyway."
"You don't know what - - "
She quickly interrupted," please don't point the finger at me like I'm a crazy person. If none of this is true, then just tell me."
Kyle didn't say anything and neither did I.
"Tell me that I'm wrong and I will apologize for everything that I've said."
The silence was so profound that I didn't hear the lawn mower or the birds or any of the students outside. An immense silence had enveloped the three of us.
Ashley let her arms fall to her side. Her hands landed on her shoes with a clap. It was the only thing going through my mind at that moment. I was so stunned by Ashley's revelation that, for some reason, I concentrated on the clap echoing around in my head.
Kyle broke the silence by clearing his throat. "I don't think I want to t alk about any of this right now."
"That seems to be your stock response today."
"I'm sorry, but there is too much racing through mind at the moment," he replied.
Ashley took a deep breath and straightened her back. "Yeah," she agreed.
"That's fine. We can talk later."
Kyle stood up and held out his hand to help Ashley to her feet. Then she extended her hand to me. When I finally stood completely erect she kissed me on the cheek. She very gently squeezed my hand then released her grasp so she
could grab Kyle's hand.
"I'm sorry I said those things to you earlier. I still love you, Marcus.
You're still my friend. I'm sorry that I started to take my anger out on you."
I accepted her apology with a nod of my head. I glanced at Kyle. He suddenly looked exhausted.
She redirected her gaze at Kyle. "My feelings are hurt though, Kyle. Just because we've started to clear the air doesn't mean that I'm not upset. A five minute conversation in the school yard does not qualify as closure."
Kyle nodded in agreement. He put his arms around Ashley and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry, too."
She relished in the strength of Kyle's embrace for several seconds then finally pulled away from him. "I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I'd like to finish our conversation though."
Kyle quietly replied," okay."
The bell signaling the end of lunch and the start of the next class rang out. I looked over my shoulder and watched some students return to the building.
"Better get your asses to gym class," Ashley said as she walked away. It was a relief to see her smile return, even if in a subtle form.
Kyle turned to me and slapped his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. Let's go."