Perfection Doesn't Exist

A few days later, a couple days before we were to head out for Philly, I was driving home from my mom’s house when my phone rang. I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. It was Alex. He was quite persistent these days. I smirked and answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey babycakes. What are you up to?”

“Actually, I’m driving. I’m on my way home from my mom’s place. Why?” I asked him curiously, assuming he wanted to hang out or something.

“Oh, okay, I just wondered if you wanted to hang out.”

I laughed. “You’re quite persistent these days, Mr. Gaskarth.”

Alex chuckled. “I’m persistent when it comes to pretty girls.”

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see it. “Fine, I’ll throw you a bone. I’ll be home in about a half hour. You can come over then if you want and we can decide what to do then.”

“Alright, sounds good to me. See you in a little bit, sweet pea,” Alex told me and I could almost hear the smile in his voice.

***

A half hour later, I was pulling into my driveway at the same time as Alex. I rolled my eyes at the timing, parked, and climbed out. “Really, Gaskarth?” I asked him with a smirk.

He laughed. “What can I say?” he asked me with his palms turned upward as he shrugged. “We have beautiful timing.” He slung an arm over my shoulder and steered me towards the front door. I noticed Nikki was home. Good, I thought to myself, another person to make this seem like less of a date.

We walked through the front door when Nikki called out to me. “Jesse?”

I smiled as Alex and I walked into the kitchen, where Nikki was sitting on the counter, eating out of an ice cream container while simultaneously reading a magazine. “Yeah, it’s me.”

She looked up with a surprised look on her face, but quickly dropped it when she realized it was just Alex. “And Alex too, apparently.”

I nodded and swiped the container of ice cream from her hands and got a spoon out of the cupboard while Alex said, “Hey Nik.”

I took a bite of the ice cream and said, “Is this what you did all day?” referring to the magazine and ice cream.

She shrugged and stole the ice cream back. “More or less, yes. Oh! I cleaned some too.”

I smiled and shook my head, walking over to the fridge to get a water bottle out while Alex leaned against the counter Nikki was currently occupying. “So Alex. How is the collection of STD’s you no doubt have coming along? Have they found any new ones that weren’t even discovered yet?”

Alex chuckled at her, brushing off her biting comment. “Yeah, actually. You should probably get the medicine they gave me for it.” His comment promptly wiped the smirk off of her face.

I rolled my eyes. “Grow up, morons. You’ve already made it very apparent that you don’t like each other. Suck it up, because neither of you are going anywhere, obviously.”

Nikki rolled her eyes and took another bite of ice cream. “Whatever, just keep your STD’s to yourself, Gaskarth, and we won’t have a problem.”

Alex shook his head and laughed, but held back his comments. I was very thankful for this. We were talking about what to do when I heard someone pull into the driveway. I assumed it’d be someone for Nikki or Jack or something, so I ignored it. They’d either just come in, or take Nikki, so it didn’t matter. I also ignored the doorbell and knock on the door and let Nikki get it. But when she came back into the kitchen and said to me, “Jess, it’s for you. I forgot to tell you Matt called earlier to say he had a CD to give you and he was near us so he was going to stop by. Sorry,” she said apologetically, which I brushed off.

“It’s fine,” I told her and went to meet Matt at the door. “Hey,” I said to him with a smile.
“Hey,” he smiled back. “How was your Christmas?”

I shrugged and gave him a one arm hug, grabbing the CD from him. “It was good; my mom got me a pro camera finally, so I’m prepared to be taking pictures twenty-four seven now,” I told him with a smile.

Matt laughed, but then we heard Alex and Nikki arguing in the kitchen and he said, “Bad time?”

I shook my head and pulled him inside gently. “No, Alex just came by. Come on,” I told him and he followed me into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey man,” Alex said when he saw Matt.

“Hey,” Matt said to him. “What were you guys up to?”

Alex shrugged. “Nothing really. We were just going to watch a movie.”

Matt nodded. “Alright, well here’s the CD Jess. I’m going to get going,” Matt started, but I stopped him.

“No way! Stay and watch it with us.” Then I leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, “I could use another referee to keep Nikki and Alex from ripping out each others throats.”
Matt chuckled and said, “Ok.”

So, we all herded into the living room and got comfortable with me and Alex on the couch and Matt and Nikki in recliners. “Nikki, pick the movie.”

She shrugged and pulled out a DVD at random. It was A Christmas Story. I laughed. “Appropriate.” She popped the movie in and we started it.

About halfway through, Alex draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Matt look our way but I ignored it. Then Alex leaned in to either whisper in my ear or kiss my neck or something in the area, and then I heard Nikki scoff and get up and leave the room. Then I heard Matt clear his throat. I decided to ignore everything going on, including Alex. I figured if I acted as stiff as a board, he’d back off. I was wrong. Instead, he took the initiative and did indeed kiss my neck. When I heard Matt get up and stalk out of the room, I took this opportunity to push Alex away.

I got off of the couch and followed Matt, trying to catch him before he left. “Matt, where are you going?”

“Somewhere away from here,” he mumbled.

I grabbed his arm to stop him from walking out the door and said firmly, “Matt, stop. Why are you leaving?” I asked him, but he shrugged out of my grasp.

“I’m leaving because I don’t want to be witness to you and Alex’s… whatever it is you two are doing. Fine, you’re fucking Gaskarth. Congratulations, even though I don’t know why in God’s name you would be. I’d rather not stick around to witness it, though. So, I’m out.”

“That’s not fair,” I told him quietly.

Matt shrugged. “Whatever, Jess. A lot isn’t fair. I’m out.” Then he left.

I huffed, slamming the door and walking back into the house. I stormed by Nikki and right in front of Alex. “What the fuck is his problem?” I asked loudly.

Alex smacked his forehead. “This is not going how I planned,” he mumbled, making me wonder what he was talking about. He walked over and squeezed my arm again and said, “I’ve got some stuff to… fix,” he said. “I’ll call you later,” and then he was gone, too.

What the hell was going on in my life?