500 Days

by Jessica Miller

  She stopped and turned around. “What did you just say?”

  “Reece, he’s cheating on you.”

  She charged straight for me and slapped me hard across the face. “That’s low. Even for you.”

  “It’s the truth. I saw him the other night.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I saw him leave with another woman.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t know. I… I got distracted.”

  “Ha! Typical. Do me a favor and leave me alone. Stay away from me and butt out of my life.” Having nothing left I let her walk away from me. And this time I knew, she was walking away for good. I was the biggest dick in the world. I punched the wall. If I wasn’t so drunk it would have hurt a hell of a lot more than it already did.

  “Whoa man, you alright?” Johnny asked, approaching cautiously.

  I shook my hand out. “Yeah…women,” I laughed.

  “No pussy is worth that destruction,” he gestured to my bleeding knuckles. “I heard one of the girls inside talking about being pre-med. Let’s get you cleaned up properly,” he winked. I followed him back into the room where he led me to the so-called girl who was claiming to be pre-med. Turns out she only took a first aid course back in high school because she was a lifeguard during the summer or some bullshit. I could have cared less. She was cute and legal. I let her clean off the cuts and tape up my fingers. I then followed Johnny to their next destination.

  When I woke up in the morning I noticed little miss first aid nursed more than just my knuckles. I sat up and looked around the room which was covered in a god-awful bubble gum pink color. One corner had a gaudy gold chest that was loaded up with stuffed animals and shelves covered with unicorn statues. A pink laptop was on a white desk. Beads hung from curtains with feathers on the end. Everything in the room was a different shade of pink. It looked like someone threw up Pepto Bismol everywhere. Where the fuck was I?

  I had a bad feeling in my stomach. The last thing I wanted to do was wake this chick, but I needed to get the hell out of there before something bad went down. I searched the floor for my clothes. They weren’t hard to spot amongst the cotton candy colored carpet. I hopped into my jeans and threw on my shirt. I felt the bed shift when I sat down to lace up my boots and then I felt a warm hand dance across my back. Shit, she was awake. “Leaving already?” she cooed, slipping her other arm around my chest.

  “Sorry, I’m not the stick around type of guy.”

  “Relax. I know the drill,” she said, getting up and throwing on a t-shirt. “I just thought maybe I could get a goodbye kiss?” She walked around and stood in front of me.

  “I don’t do goodbyes either.”

  I went to stand but she shoved me back down, rolling her eyes. “I’m not some clingy girl so no need to run off in a panic.” She climbed on my lap and pushed me back on the bed. “And you’re not leaving until I get another taste.” Off came her shirt and then she started to unbutton my pants.

  “Just out of curiosity. Where are we?”

  “My parent’s house. Don’t worry, they’re not home.”

  I sat up wrapping my arm around her waist and spun her onto the bed. “In that case we’re going to do this right.” I spread her legs wide and slipped my tongue in between her wet lips. She moaned instantly and if it wasn’t for her telling me her parents weren’t home, I would have stuffed a sock in her mouth. Only a few flicks of the tongue and she was quick to come. She tugged me up by my hair and threw me down on the bed, tearing my pants down to my ankles. Her mouth automatically found my dick. I put my hands behind my head and let her do her thing. Not five minutes later, there was a commotion downstairs. Her head popped up and her eyes shot to the door.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Fuck, I think my parents are home. You have to go.”

  “What? You’re just going to leave me hanging?”

  She grabbed a shirt off the floor throwing it on hastily and then made her way over to the window. “Hurry up,” she gestured.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You leave me with a hard on and then want me to jump out the window?”

  “Give me a break. I’m sure you deserve it. And if you don’t get out of here before my father finds you, your blue balls will be the least of your worries.”

  “Your father an angry man?”

  “Daddy likes to hunt. I’ll leave it at that.” I cautiously zipped up my pants and made my way over to the window. Thankfully we were on the first floor. “Go,” she said, rushing me. I had one leg out the window when the door to her room clicked. She shoved me out the rest of the way and closed the window. I fell flat on my back with a hard thwack. I rolled to my side and picked up my broken and bruised body. I needed to start screening these chicks I go home with. This was getting ridiculous. I brushed the dirt off my jeans and walked to the first street sign I found. Where the fuck was I? I took out my cell phone and called Colton.

  “Hey man, I need a ride.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I don’t even fucking know.” I looked around for something familiar, for something that would give a hint as to where I was. “Hold on a sec.” I walked down another block and found a gas station. I was at least twenty minutes from home. “I’m on 78.”

  Colton groaned into the phone. “You fucking owe me. I’ll be there in thirty.” I hung up the phone and decided to help myself to breakfast at the connecting diner. The best thing about mine and Colton’s relationship was that no matter what happened between us, the shit was always squashed quickly. We always had each other’s backs no matter what was going on.

  I found an empty booth inside the diner and ordered an omelet and coffee. Black. My head was pounding and my dick was painfully screaming at me. An hour later Colton finally showed up. I slid into the car and let my head rest back on the seat. “Thirty minutes my ass,” I mumbled.

  “You’re just lucky I didn’t leave your ass here. What the fuck happened to you last night?”

  “I hung out with Johnny.”

  “Why the fuck are you hanging around with that douchebag?”

  “Maybe because my best friend is too busy getting his pussy filled by his girlfriend’s dick.” He gave me one hard punch in the side. “Ass.”

  “You deserve a lot worse. And thanks to your stupid mouth Declan is currently not talking to me at the moment.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Because you told Alex that Reece was cheating on her.”

  “Somebody had to.”

  “I know, but you shouldn’t have blurted it out and not without concrete proof.”

  “Wait, you believe me?”

  Colton rested his elbow on the door. “I knew something was off with that guy the second I met him. I wouldn’t put it past him to be a cheating bastard, but we need proof and I’m going to help you get it.”

  “Why would you help me?” It’s not unlike Colton to help a brother out, but for some reason I knew something wasn’t right. I knew there had to be a reason behind it.

  He stepped on the gas as the light turned green. “Declan won’t talk to me.” I turned to look at him to make sure he was serious. “We had a fight, because of you. I took your side and now she’s pissed. So you’re going to make it right. I’m going to help you prove just how big of a dick Reece is. Then you’re going to tell Alex you like her and if she doesn’t feel the same, then that’s it.”

  “What do you mean that’s it?”

  “The end. For real this time. You move on Casper. Your feelings for this girl are volatile. Every time things go bad you bring everyone down with you and it’s got to stop. That’s the only way I’ll agree to help you out. If you give me your word that if Alex doesn’t love you back, you’ll leave her alone and move on.”

  I sighed, scrubbing a hand down my face. Easier said than done. I never felt like this before. This girl made me do crazy things, but Colton was right. If she didn’t love me back than I had to let her go. I sat up straighter
. “Alright, you have a deal.”

  Colton followed through with his promise to help me prove just how big of a dick Reece was. We knew this wouldn’t be an easy feat so we initiated Greyson into our little spy trap. Having nothing better to do he was all for it. We spent the first week just trying to come up with a plan to catch him in action. Greyson’s idea was to invite him out and then surround him by girls in hopes that he would take one home. I reminded him, with a hit to the back of the head, that Reece was too smart for that. We would have to do better.

  Colton informed us he didn’t care how we caught him just as long as we did. His relationship with Declan was on the line. They hadn’t talked since their argument. Colton texted her everyday but she never responded which made Colton angrier with me, not helping my case. He wanted to hurry this along as fast as possible.

  Greyson actually became useful after all. One of the girls in the admissions office had a crush on him. He was able to somehow weasel Reece’s schedule out of her, giving her some bullshit excuse that we were planning a surprise party for him. It wasn’t that far from the truth. We would surprise him with the truth and then throw a party for his departure. We decided to make sure one of us was always around Reece, but we all had different classes making it hard to ‘accidentally’ run into him.

  At lunch I tried making peace with Alex, but she just told me to ‘fuck off’. Colton didn’t have any better luck with Declan either, but at least I wasn’t pathetic enough to chase her out of the cafeteria begging and pleading. When Colton finally returned, moping, I held out my hand that was filled with two meatballs. “I think you left these behind.” Colton didn’t say anything. He just went back to his lunch.

  After the debacle in the lunchroom, we noticed the girls begun to dine elsewhere, which meant Reece did as well. The next best thing was to catch him outside of school. Our first stop was the bar I originally caught him at. We had no idea if he would be out this weekend or not, but we decided to make the most of it. Well Greyson and I did. “Could you guys be fucking serious for once?” Colton whined. The lack of pussy was really making him a whiny bitch.

  “Look, it’s gonna seem suspicious if we’re all just sitting here watching everyone. We need to act as if we’re here for enjoyment.”

  “You two seem to be enjoying it a little too much.” It was almost closing time. I could tell Colton was getting restless so I told him to head home and Greyson and I would catch a cab. Seeing there were no chances of running into Reece, he agreed and left.

  “Where’d Colton go?” Greyson asked, handing me another beer.

  “Home.”

  “So he could cry in private,” he laughed.

  “Give him a break, would ya?” I growled.

  “Me? You bust on him more than I do.”

  I punched him in the shoulder. “Because I’m allowed to.”

  “Dick,” Greyson mumbled under his breath, making me smile.

  We called it a night just after two. On our way out we ran into Johnny. “Cas, how’s it hanging?” I greeted him with a handshake and introduced him to Greyson. “We were just heading to Glamour, you in?” Glamour was the only after-hours strip joint in town. Greyson’s over eager smile said he was in. I wasn’t exactly in the mood but after a long night of nothing, I decided, fuck it, and tagged along.

  After an hour of fake titties and sparkly crotches being thrust in my face, I was ready for bed. I tried to sneak out, but Johnny stopped me. He shoved me into a private room. “Dude, I’m good,” I said trying to leave.

  “This one is on me,” he said, closing the door behind him. I grunted and had a seat on the couch. The last thing I wanted was a ‘private’ dance from some stripper. The door clicked open and in walked a voluptuous brunette, wearing a tight red leather outfit.

  “My name is Alexia, but you can call me Alex,” she said, walking over to the stereo.

  Just-fucking-great.

  I felt like the universe was playing some cosmic joke on me. The music began and stripper Alex started to dance. I watched with heavy hooded eyes. She was sexy and any other time I would be all about it, but my heart belonged to someone else. I tried to let her distract me. She straddled my lap and rubbed herself up and down my thighs, grinding. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I felt warm hands run down my arms and then my hands were placed on her plastic breasts. “It’s okay to touch,” she whispered in my ear. “I know you want to.”

  I did, but not her. I let my hands fall by my side. She took the hint and finished the dance. When it was over, I threw a hundred at her and mumbled thanks. Then I grabbed Greyson and the first cab I saw. I needed to get the skank off of me. I felt used, dirty, and defeated. I hopped in the shower to try and scrub off all the filth. I had to use the communal bathroom because in one of my drunken rages I broke my shower and had yet to get it fixed.

  Images of the dancer popped into my head, but it wasn’t Stripper Alex. It was my Alex. We were back in that private room and she was wearing the same dark red lingerie the stripper was. Alex straddled me with a seductive smile. This time when she asked me to touch her I didn’t hesitate. I traced my finger along the ruffled edge of her bra. I could feel her shiver beneath me. My other hand guided over her hip and around to her backside, tugging her closer to me. She moaned into my ear as I ran my hands up her back and into her hair.

  “Alex, kiss me.” She pulled back just enough so our lips could meet.

  A loud banging bumped me out of the fantasy. My hand jerked, yanking a little too hard on my fully erect dick. “Hurry up in there. I got to take a shit!” Greyson yelled.

  “What the hell are you two girls arguing about?” Colton mumbled.

  “Casper is jerking off in the shower. The stripper must have gotten him up but not off,” Greyson chuckled. Erection now gone, I turned off the shower.

  “You guys went to a strip club?” Colton said a little hurt to be left out.

  “Yeah, with Cas’s friend Johnny.”

  Fucking Greyson. I could just see the expression on Colton’s face. I wrapped the only dry towel left around my waist and stepped out of the bathroom. “You were hanging out with Johnny again?”

  “We ran into him on our way out and he invited us to Glamour. No harm no foul.”

  Colton crossed his arms over his chest. “If you’re not going to take this seriously then why am I even helping you? You need to get your priorities straight Casper. If you want to get drunk and fuck strippers then by all means, do it, but don’t dick me over in the process.”

  “I wasn’t…look tonight was a slip. Alex is the only one I want.”

  “Then you better get your head back in the game. No more hanging out with Johnny until this is over, got it?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded.

  “Are you girls gonna kiss and make up now?” Greyson called from the other side of the door. Tired of his mouth, I walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer, shaking it all the way back to the bathroom with me. Colton looked at me confused. I kicked the door open, popping the bottle and sprayed a surprised Greyson with beer. “What the fuck?” he squealed. He tried to cover his face with one hand while he covered his tiny pecker with the other. “You’re such a jackass.”

  I threw the half empty bottle at him. He caught it and took a sip. “Christ, don’t forget to light a match when you’re done.” I closed the door and headed to my room for the night.

  “So you just gonna leave me to clean up your mess?” Greyson complained.

  “Have fun,” Colton laughed, tapping his palm on the door and retreating to his room.

  Another week had passed and we were no closer to proving Reece was a cheater than we were before. I was starting to lose hope, wondering if maybe I was wrong about him. Something in my gut told me I wasn’t. The fraternity was having a party this weekend for Halloween, but our band was playing at Angels and Demons the same night. I had two chances to see Alex and only one to catch Reece. Something told me he wasn’t stupid enough to try something at her work or th
e house, but I was hoping.

  Halloween used to be my favorite time of year with all the girls scantily dressed. I wasn’t into the occasion this year. My focus was on something else, or should I say someone else. I had to do a double take when I first saw her. She wasn’t wearing her normal devil uniform. No. Tonight she was dressed as an angel. My breath caught in my throat as I watched her work the room. She was wearing a short strapless dress that hit mid-thigh, tiny shorts underneath, white knee high boots, and chin length wig with mask. She was glowing head to toe in all that white. Her makeup was light pinks instead of her normal black, making her eyes pop. She was the most beautiful thing in the room. She spotted me across the floor and narrowed her eyes at me.

  Oddly, I took the glare as a good sign. She wasn’t talking to me, but at least she wasn’t yelling. I so badly wanted to take her in my arms and whisk her away from all the prying eyes. Instead I hid in the back with rest of the band. My heart was racing. I had this feeling that something bad was going to go down tonight. I started my normal ritual of getting ready before a performance. We still had an hour before we went on, but I was getting antsy. My pits were sweating so badly I was half tempted to hop in the shower again. I took off my shirt and stuffed two napkins with ice and stuck them under my arm pits.

  “Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Greyson asked, giving me a grossed out look.

  “I’m hot and I can’t stop sweating.”

  “You’re not sick are you?” He started to back away from me.

  “No…I’m just, nervous.”

  Colton walked in with a bucket of beers and gave me a weird look. “Why are you delivering the drinks?”

  “I intercepted Declan on her way back.”

  I sat up. “She’s talking to you?”

  “Yes and no. She agreed to talk to me later.” He smiled, hopeful. I was happy to hear Declan was willing to talk to him. If I wasn’t the one to put him in this position in the first place I would have said something to her.

  I grabbed a beer from the bucket and pounded it back. Colton and Greyson wore worried expressions. “I’m fine,” I said.