The Friends Zone

by Tarrah Anders

  “I’m not in here for that buddy!” I say crossing my arms as his smile falters.

  “Another girl?” He then asks noting my posture.

  “I’ve lost count; I think we’re in double digits. I want a new couch!” I say.

  “Yeah, me too. Look, I’ll talk to him about it this afternoon at the office. Or maybe, I’ll take him to an early dinner.” Dane’s shoulders tense.

  “I’m trying to understand, I really am. And I get it, but he’s going to regret all this. I don’t ever remember him being a player in College.”

  “Well, he was… but that’s neither here nor there. At work, he’s focused and sober – so I’ll talk to him today. I got this.” He assures me as he kisses my cheek and exits the closet.

  ***

  “No, mom- we’re putting wedding planning on hold for right now.” I exhale into the receiver; this has been an endless conversation with both of our parents.

  “But dear, I know you guys are upset….” My mother starts.

  “Yes and no it’s not that. It’s just I do not want to discuss the matter any further right now. I know you want a wedding, but this is my wedding and we will do it whenever and however we want!” I interrupt.

  “I’m sorry Sterling. I just don’t want you guys to make any hasty decisions.”

  “Mom, there are no hasty decisions. Just because Bets died, doesn’t mean that we won’t get married, that hasn’t changed, and it will not change. We just aren’t in a rush right now. We’re busy with work, we’re helping Max out and… and I need a new maid of honor.” Tears start to prickle my eyes.

  “Oh honey!” my mother exclaims. “I’m sorry.”

  “Listen, right now, can we just not talk about a wedding. We’ll start planning soon, I promise.” I should just let her plan everything. My after thoughts sometimes make more sense than what comes out of my mouth.

  “I love you honey, give my love to Dane. I’m sorry if I upset you.”

  “It’s alright mom, you’ve got good intentions. Listen, I need to get back to work. Talk soon, K?”

  “Be good honey. Bye.”

  I place my head in my hands. I wipe the tears away from my face. Who is going to be my maid of honor now? The phone on my desk rings.

  “This is Sterling Cranefield.” I answer.

  “Hi, Ms. Cranefield – my name is Mr. Stenson, I am the principal from Parkside Elementary. I believe that you are the case worker for a Ms. Tabitha Daughtry?”

  “Yes, that would be me. Is there a problem? Is Tabitha alright?” I ask as I hurriedly place scattered belongings in my purse.

  “I’m afraid not ma’am. You see, Tabitha’s teacher mentioned a concern with the child and I think that it would be beneficial if you were to come down to the school. Are you able to do so today?” He asks.

  “Of course, I can be there within the hour.”

  “Very good. I’ll speak with you soon then.” He hangs up.

  My heart is pounding, what on earth could have happened? What is this concern? Is Tabitha okay?

  I put my purse on my chair as I stand. I straighten my skirt and walk towards Mr. Johnson’s office.

  “Sir? I have an unexpected appointment with one of my kids principals, so I’m going to head to East County and meet with them. Depending on how long that will take, I may not be back for the day.” I explain from the doorway.

  Mr. Johnson nods, yet does not look away from his computer monitor, his pen furiously writing on a notepad beside him. “Very well. See you tomorrow Sterling.”

  “Sir? Everything okay?” I ask hesitantly.

  He looks up from his monitor finally and puts down his pen. “I’m sorry; you know how the end of the week goes. Do you know the situation or was it a ‘come and see’ call?”

  “It was the ‘come and see’. I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to be walking in on. Nevertheless, I’m hoping it isn’t too bad. It didn’t seem like it was life or death, just that the teacher had some concerns.”

  Mr. Johnson nods and strokes his mustache. “Drive safe. And have a good weekend.”

  “You as well.” I say walking towards my desk and picking up my purse without breaking stride.

  The drive to the school is uneventful. I pull into the school parking lot and hear children at play as I walk towards the administration office.

  I’m sitting for less than a minute before the principal calls me into his office. I laugh to myself as I feel like I’m in trouble.

  “Ms. Cranefield, thank you for coming so swiftly. Mrs. Stevens, Tabitha’s teacher reported some issues which she had concerns to me during her lunch break.” The principal went to his office door again and welcomed another individual in.

  “Sterling, so good to see you again.” Mrs. Stevens shakes my hand warmly. We’ve met on a few occasions when I first took over the case file for Tabitha.

  “You as well. What’s going on? Mr. Stenson said you had some concerns.”

  “Tabitha seems frightened. She’s flinching at contact with her peers. Without being overbearing, I tried to direct my vision to her sleeves when she would reach for objects. I didn’t see anything of question, but I did notice that her movements are very meticulously cautious.”

  “How long have you been observing this behavior?” I ask, my mind running a mile a minute.

  “It’s just been this past week. Normally, I wouldn’t think much of it, you know being a pre-hormonal 4th grader and all. She just seems off. I spoke with Mrs. Jenkins when she brought Tabitha in truant on Tuesday and per usual, she was standoffish and in a hurry. She was non-committal to answering my questions.”

  “What did you ask her?” I ask.

  “I asked her if everything was okay with Tabitha. I mentioned that she seems off on Monday. She didn’t acknowledge any difference in the child, she just said that she’s being a girl, and then stormed out.”

  I turned to Mr. Stenson. “Do you have a space where I can have a quick discussion with Tabitha?” I ask.

  “Of course. Mrs. Stevens, can you bring Tabitha into the breakout room next to the teachers’ lounge?” He says as he stands to walk me to the room.

  “Again, thank you for coming so quick. It’s a heartwarming feeling for what you do.” He smiles as he leads me down the empty hallway.

  ***

  I pulled up outside the house. Dane’s car is not here yet, so I’m unsure of what the night entails. I unlock the door and look around. I pull open the curtains and prop the front door open to let in some light and fresh air.

  In the kitchen, I look inside the fridge and note that nothing for dinner was taken out for tonight. I silently curse and try to remember if that’s my bad or Dane’s. I grab my phone to text Dane to see what the agenda for the night is.

  Me: You guys home for dinner or should I only get something for myself tonight?

  I don’t expect an immediate answer and I turn towards the hallway and walk into the bedroom to change out of my work clothes.

  The doorbell rang and I went to answer it.

  A blonde-haired woman stood at the security screen. She looked familiar, however Max’s recent conquests have all looked the same.

  “Can I help you?” I ask.

  “Look, I wanted to apologize, I didn’t know that he was your boyfriend – he didn’t say anything and I’ve felt horrible about it since. I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” She starts.

  “Um. Thanks. But it’s okay. Really. Thank you for stopping by.” I say trying to not prolong the conversation any further but she just continued. She’s just trying to clear her guilty conscience of wrongdoing to a fellow female. My mind argues with me.

  “He just was so sad. He said something about needing a thrill and he seemed so interested in me. I’m just so sorry. He never said he had a girlfriend, let alone someone who lived with him. It’s no wonder he insisted not going to the bedroom. I’m just really sorry. I should have known.”

  “Listen, no harsh feelings. However, I wouldn’t suggest comin
g back around here. I appreciate the apology, now I would like to get back to my day.” I try to act bitchy to get blondie to leave and it works. She nods and retreats quickly down the sidewalk.

  I run my palms down my side. Dane had better speak to him. Speaking of the devil. My phone on the counter chirps with a message.

  Dane: Sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier. Max agreed to go out to dinner and hang out at home with us tonight. We should be back around 8 or 9.

  Me: Sweet. Pizza for me!

  Dane: Haha. We’ll see you after. Love u

  I’ve ordered pizza, I’ve eaten my share of pizza and now I’m sitting atop a sheet on our couch watching reruns of Friends when the guys come in.

  I look up from Ross and Rachel having yet another one of their famous arguments over being on a break as Dane and Max come to a halt next to the couch.

  Max blushes and sits on the arm of the couch facing me, placing his crutches behind him.

  “So.” He starts. “I think I owe you an apology, or a million of them”

  I crane my neck and stare at him.

  “I don’t remember most of the nights, hell I don’t remember getting home. So, I wasn’t exactly sure what Dane was talking about at first. He mentioned there were several.”

  “Double digits.” I say, waiting for him to continue. He winces.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be doing that, especially in your guys place after you’ve been so gracious to let me stay and hobble around here. And for having you witness me being a slime.”

  “At least you know you were being a slime ball now.” I nonchalantly say with a small smile.

  “Am I forgiven?” He asks with sheepish eyes.

  “Only after you have this couch cleaned.” I smile big this time, spreading my hands over the sheet.

  “I took care of that over dinner, a new couch will be delivered tomorrow. I’m actually surprised that you’re sitting on it with a sheet, I mean I hope you don’t get pregnant, sperm can last up to 72 hours—“ He didn’t even get to finish as I jump up and start play hitting his shoulder.

  “You suck!” I bellow at him.

  “That’s what I’ve been told recently. Sorry, really.” He offers. “But I have one question?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How did you get rid of them?”

  “I pretended that I was your girlfriend and they hauled ass every time. Although one of them, I think it was blondie number uno, she came back today to apologize. Some girl honor code or something.” I shrugged.

  Max’s arm hooks my neck and he pulls me to him. “Thank you. You shouldn’t have, but thank you. I’ll be better. Again, I’m really sorry that I’ve put you guys through this.”

  “Yeah, just bring them to your room dude.” Dane interjects by hitting the back of Max’s head.

  Max rubs the back of his head and we all fall into a comfortable laugh.

  That night after hanging out a little more with Max, Dane and I eased into bed. I told him about my day and the concerns from the teacher about Tabitha. I told him how after talking to her privately helped her open up about issues that were misconstrued and the underlying cause of what the teacher was observing was early puberty in which made Dane laugh.

  “As a male, I probably would have thought the same thing the teacher thought.” He laughs.

  “The teacher is female.” I deadpan as he starts laughing more. “Why is that funny?”

  “I would think that chicks would be able to see the hints of that kind of thing in others, like how animals can sense when an earthquake is coming.” He wipes his eyes as his laughing fit commences.

  “Oh shush. Women are not animals in that sense.” I poke his ticklish side.

  “If we have a girl, I hope you can warn me of these hormonal puberty things, so I don’t make a complete fool of myself.” Dane says calming down.

  “I’ll try.” I smile easing into his warmth. “How was the conversation with Max?”

  “Like he mentioned, he didn’t remember much. He knew he may have hooked up with someone on one of the nights, but since we shooed them away at first light, he kind of thought it was a dream in a way. He ‘fessed up to looking for an out, a way to cope and to drinking too much though. When I told him it was you who booted the girls out of the house, he felt bad. And I mean really bad.”

  “I don’t want him to feel like we’re his parents.” I state.

  “I don’t think he does. He knows that he fucked up. He feels bad because, well he had to buy us a new couch and that you had to take witness. Betsy was someone to you too; I think that’s what hit him. But he will be stepping it up a notch with some physical therapy and he can resume driving and going back to his house, sooner rather than later.”

  “He’s fine with staying here, I’m fine with that. Just the sex business out in the common areas shouldn’t be had by anyone but us.” I joke poking his ribs again.

  Dane laughs. “Let’s just not tell Max that. I tried to tell him to just get the couch cleaned, but he said he wanted to get us a new couch to make it not a memory that’s remembered.”

  “I like his thinking on that one.” I smile as I drift off to sleep.

  DANE

  Max has been avidly going to physical therapy twice, sometimes three times a week for the past month. He’s still bringing home one nightstands, but it’s not as often as before, which is welcoming. It’s also not happening on the new sectional couch he replaced our old couch with, in which we are grateful. We still tease him about it and he still feels guilty each time. He has tried a few stints at staying at his house, which was like a mini vacation for Sterling and myself in which we fucked most of the time, coming up for air for nutrition value only.

  Work is thriving and we are staying extremely busy. Late nights are rare, but they still occur, or Max and I will bring home work to work on as well. We rotate time out in the field on a site, but primarily Lukas is taking care of a lot of that stuff, as he has a knack for it.

  Sterling and I have started a little more wedding planning based on the urging of both our parents, but we’re taking our time. We haven’t fully implemented any concrete plans but we’re working our way to it. We set a date for the following summer, and decided on a small wedding with only the immediate family. So far, just planning that much has called off the parental for the time being.

  I pull up to the house and notice a car in the driveway behind Sterling’s. I walk in the front door and I smell Tacos and thank god for food. Tacos always seemed like a thing we would eat as soon as Candace returned to town after her trips, like her personal homecoming.

  “Dane!” Candace rounds the corner and hugs me and I return the hug.

  “Hey, how was… where were you this time?” I ask, feeling bad for not paying attention.

  “I was in South America, mainly in the Amazon.”

  “And I’ve already made the amazon.com joke, so don’t even.” Max says as he returns from the hallway. Candace gives Max a small smile and returns to me.

  “I was doing forest conservation on the Ecuadorian side. I did a lot of trail maintenance and eventually did some farming.” She explains.

  Sterling joins us in the living, looking happy and refreshed; she comes to my side and kisses me softly. I smile at her and mouth hi.

  “And I already made the joke about drug farms and body farms too, no trying to recycle my jokes buddy.” Max deadpans.

  “Yeah, Max grilled her good when she first got here.” Sterling declares.

  “That sounds cool. We missed you.” I smile.

  “Yeah, I’m so sorry. My mail took forever to get to me, and my satellite connection was so patchy once I started working in one of the local communities. Like for real, I was living in a hut.” She offers eyes roaming to Max. “Anyways, everything seemed to be delayed 3 months in reaching me.”

  “No worries, you were out saving the world.” Max quietly says.

  “Hey, tacos are almost ready. Just need to grate the cheese and we’re g
ood to go.” Candace says.

  “Yum.” I had no other word to say. It was a slightly awkward moment. Cadance missed the past several months and didn’t officially know how to react with Max or Sterling. She was always Betsy’s friend and so therefore our friend by proxy, but we were her friends and that wasn’t going to change just because the person who brought her together with us passed away.

  Sterling is handing out plates to everyone and we’re getting our dishes filled banquet style. When we’re all sitting down and chowing down, Candace asks, “So Dane, Sterling… a year ago, when I was about to leave the country, you guys just started dating, sadly I never thought to ask any morbid details and now… you’re engaged. Please, oh please fill me in on how this all happened, how did you guys hook up, I remember a game was mentioned?” She bounces in her seat.

  “Well.” I start. Has it really been a year? I ask myself. “It started over a game of truth or dare. Max dared me to kiss Sterling.”

  “That’s all it took?” She laughs.

  “Betsy asks me a truth question on if I ever, you know thought about Dane like that. Then Max followed up with the kiss.” Sterling further explains.

  “I believe the truth question was if you thought inappropriate thoughts about me.” I winked at her.

  “Inappropriate?” Candace asks.

  “You know, more than friends, dirty, that kind of way. Anyways, we totally kissed.” I smiled thinking back to that night.

  “Yeah, the kiss was hot! Like it was panty drenching” Max recalls as he takes a drink of his beer. I briefly look up at him and notice that his behavior seems off.

  “And then we didn’t talk about it really, and a week later we did body shots and one thing lead to another…” Sterling trails off as she remembers that night.

  I smile, thinking about it too very fondly.

  “And that guy, Ryan, he and you weren’t together anymore?” Candace asks.