"How was your date with Carrie Wilcox?"
Ben was not referring to my ex-girlfriend, Carrie Wilcox. He was actually referring to another girl named Carrie Wicox. Coincidences are strange when you really think about them. Basically, the first Carrie Wilcox was trying to ruin my reputation (yet again). When our vice principal called Carrie down to the office, I found out that there was another girl named Carrie Wilcox that was called down to the office by mistake. After our vice principal dealed with Carrie Wilcox, I decided to go out with the other Carrie Wilcox.
"It wasn't anything special, Ben. Just coffee."
"No dessert?"
"If you're asking me if I fucked her, the answer is no."
"A kiss?"
"I didn't even go for it."
To be honest, I don't even know why I went on the date to begin with. You see, for the past few weeks or so, I've been with Melinda every night. After her and her boyfriend Aaron broke up, things finally started up between the two of us. However, she made the decision that we shouldn't make things official yet. It's gotten to the point where I feel guilty every time I talk to Ben. He's my best friend and he doesn't even know that I've been fucking our other best friend.
"Why didn't you kiss her?"
Because I had Melinda on my mind the whole time.
"I didn't feel like it."
"You always kiss the girl at the end of the date."
"I didn't feel like kissing this one."
"Is there a particular reason, Mac? She was really hot."
I decided to come up with a good excuse quickly.
"Ben, do you remember the last time I kissed someone named Carrie Wilcox? It didn't end so well! Now will you STOP ASKING ME ABOUT IT?!?!?!"
I may have been overdramatic.
"Alright, Mac, let's not be overdramatic."
"Sorry."
"So I hear Melinda is gonna go out with that guy Peter Cressler Saturday night."
"Is that the guy she was talking to in the hallway?"
"I guess."
"What's his story?"
"He's the starting tailback for the football team, he's a Saggitarius, and he loves the color Green."
"How do you know all that? What are you, his stalker?"
"It's all on Facebook, Mac."
"Of course it is. I really should get one of those."
"Yes. Everyone else does. It's because MySpace is kinda dead."
"Yeah, I don't wanna be one of those losers who still has a MySpace and no Facebook."
There was a brief silence.
"What were we talking about?"
"No idea. Wanna car-pool to the USY lounge? I'll drive."
"Sure. Sounds good."
When we got to the Youth Lounge at Temple Beth Zion, we saw that a lot of people were already there. There was all the members of our board plus a bunch of other people. My brothers Darrin and JT even came to the lounge.
"Michael, this lounge is FAB-U-LOUS!"
"Glad you guys could make it."
"Yeah, we needed to get out of the house anyway. Mom and Dad are double dating with Tara and Mark."
"How very interesting. Should be an awkward evening for all of them."
I continued to walk around and mingle. Part of my job description as President is to promote new members and events.
"Okay, so there's membership applications over there and a flyer for our camping trip on the 25th-27th of this month."
"That sounds great--but don't you remember me? We did have dinner together."
I suddenly realized that she was right. Her name is Sam and she recently moved to Phoenix from Vegas. She obviously did something different with her hair because I didn't recognize her.
"Jeez. I'm sorry, Sam. Did you do something different with your hair? I didn't recognize you."
She laughed.
"It's not that I did anything to it, it's that I didn't do anything to it. I haven't colored it in so long, so it's my natural blonde hair."
And a magnificent blonde head of hair it was. She was gorgeous.
"Steve likes me better as a blonde anyway. He told me when we were chatting via webcam earlier today."
I know her boyfriend, Steve Schuckman, through USY. I never knew he had a girlfriend until I met Sam, mostly because Schuckman is always cheating on her with random USY girls and has never professed to me that he has a girlfriend.
"I haven't talked to Schuckman in a while. Give him my best."
"I will."
I continued to walk around and mingle
You're probably wondering why I haven't told her the truth about her boyfriend. Well, the truth is that it's really none of my business. I'm not someone who likes to get involved in other peoples' affairs, especially since my own affairs aren't exactly in order.
"Hi, Michael."
"Uh, hey. What's happening, Melinda?"
"I have to talk to you."
"Not sure if this is really a great time."
"Why not?"
"Well, there's people around."
"Okay, I deserved that. Can we walk?"
"Yeah. We can do that."
We walked out of the Youth Lounge and walked around the synagogue courtyard.
"What's up, Melinda?"
"Michael, I need to explain myself."
"Explain how you agreed to go on a date with Peter Cressler?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I can see why he's a good catch. According to Facebook, he's a Saggitarius and loves the color green."
Melinda looked at me strangely.
"What?"
"I don't know. It's what Ben told me."
"Michael, I shouldn't have said yes to Peter."
"Melinda, it's not that you said yes. It's that you didn't consider my feelings about it. I mean, usually when people say they love each other, they mean it."
"I did mean it."
"Then why would you want to go out with the starting tailback from the football team?"
"I thought you'd be okay with it. I mean, you and I aren't even dating."
"That wasn't my choice, Melinda. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be lying through my teeth, trying to convincemy best friend that I haven't been laid since the summer!"
"Michael, don't yell. People can hear you."
"I wish I still cared about that, Melinda. I thought this was gonna be a temporary thing and then we'd be together for real after a few days."
"Well, I thought you understood what I was looking for."
"Apparently not."
"So where do we stand now?"
I thought for a moment before speaking again.
"Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go out with Cressler on Saturday night. I'm gonna figure out a way to deal with it."
"And then?"
"And then, I'm gonna figure out how to get over you and we're gonna move on and pretend like none of this ever happened. We're gonna go back to being friends because it seems we know how to do that. We don't know how to love each other, Melinda. We better quit while we're ahead."
I began to walk away. I heard Melinda call after me.
"So it's over, just like that?"
I turned around.
"Here's the sad truth that I realized tonight, Melinda: nothing is really over because nothing really started."
I continued to walk back to the Youth Lounge and noticed that Ben was standing right outside.
"Hey."
I didn't get a response.
"What's up?"
"I know why you didn't kiss that girl yesterday."
I didn't know what he was getting at really.
"I overheard your conversation with Melinda. You guys talk so loudly sometimes."
"Ben, I--"
"Lied. I'm your best friend, Mac. Why wouldn't you tell me about this?"
"Melinda didn't want anyone knowing."
"And she got to run the show?"
"Either way, the show is over now."
"Mac, what the fuck did you get yourself into?"
"Love. It sucks."
"Bet you didn't realize you wouldn't be the only one hurt by this. I can't believe you lied to me."
"I'm sorry, Ben. I know it was wrong."
"And you knew it was wrong while you did it. Yet, you still did it."
"Ben--"
"You can find another ride home."
On that bitter note, Ben left the synagogue and started driving.
I knew that I should've never lied to my best friend. Now, because I lied, he didn't seem to wanna be my best friend anymore. Things with Melinda would certainly become awkward, even if we decided to resume our friendship, it would be a rocky friendship at best.
So as I stood outside the Youth Lounge of Temple Beth Zion, I realized that I was totally and completely 100% alone. The sad truth is that I deserved it.
Sincerely,
Mac-Attack
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