Stay Close, Don't Go

Currently, my body was positioned between a wall in some foreign house and Tom. Our lips were attached and moving slowly, memorizing the feeling of each other’s mouths. I definitely wasn’t planning on moving any time soon, but people had other ideas for us.

“Aye, Tommy! C’mere, I want Madi to meet someone.” It was Oliver, and I could only faintly hear his voice over the music of the after party for the show.

Tom groaned against my lips before pushing off the wall and stepping away from me. He linked his fingers with mine and, without saying anything, we headed to the direction of Oliver and a group of people.

“Finally, yeh two ‘ave been goin’ at it for a good five minutes.” He said with a laugh once we approached, “Anyways, Madi this is my friend SJ. SJ, this is Tom’s friend Madison.”

The girl, SJ, looked like a Barbie with tattoos. Usually I was fast to judge people, but the smile on her lips seemed genuine so I held back any negative thoughts in my head.

“Hey Madison, it’s nice to meet yeh.” She said nicely, her voice a lot different than I thought it would be. It was soft and smooth, not high pitched or annoying.

“Nice to meet you as well.” I replied just as politely while Tom wrapped his arm around my shoulder and brought me closer to his warm body.

He leaned in close to my ear once SJ started talking to Lee, “Her and Oli used to date, she’s a good friend of us all now. Don’t let her looks decide for her.”

Nodding, I accepted what he said and realized that she was in fact the type of girl Oliver would date. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still liked her; it wasn’t every day you found a Barbie type girl with a real personality.

“Tom, let’s go do some shots, yeah?” Oliver asked, eyeing his brother with an odd look.

Tom agreed, obviously understanding something I didn’t. He turned his head towards me, that unsure look of his filling his eyes as he leaned in quickly and pecked my lips before he left with Oliver. My whole mind was going insane from his kisses.

“I already like yeh better than the other girl Tom has been with.” SJ said suddenly before talking again, “I hope that didn’t come out weird.”

“No, I get what you mean.” I said, smiling in response. Suddenly, I was curious about Tom’s ex girlfriend, “Why though?”

SJ started to laugh a little and rolled her eyes, “She was a real trip; the type of girl yeh know is just a user. They dated ‘round the same time Oli and myself did. She was super obsessed with Oliver, an’ I don’t get how Tom didn’t notice really. He’s just too sweet I guess.”

I nodded as thoughts flooded through my brain. I was really curious, but I felt sort of bad about picking SJ’s brain for answers instead of talking to Tom about it. Obviously, I didn’t feel that bad, because I started asking another question.

“Do you remember her name? Sorry, I’m just curious.” I asked, taking a sip of the water bottle in my hand. I didn’t want to drink when I knew that I’d be headed back to my mom in an hour or so.

“Yeah, I probably couldn’t forget because it was such a stupid name,” SJ started to say, shaking her head while she thought, “It was Mercy, I think. God help her, she needs real mercy, what a bitch.”

Suddenly, I think I felt my heart stop. Mercy? Was it the Mercy I was thinking of? Because that Mercy pretty much flipped a bitch at me because she thought I was playing Tom; which would make her queen of all hypocrites.

Plus, Mercy was the first one to tell me about the girl who used Tom. Why would she talk about herself and not just admit she was the bitch who did it? My curiosity just happened to lead to confusion and even more questions in my head. This was probably a very bad idea.

SJ broke through my thoughts, probably not noticing my new look of shock. “I just hope yeh won’t be that way. Just promise that if yeh and Tom don’t work, it’s not because yeh want Oliver.”

“It won’t be,” I assured her. “Oliver and I have nothing more than an odd friendship, I’d never be able to do that to Tom.”

&&

It was Monday, and all through the rest of Saturday night and Sunday my thoughts had been consumed by what I was going to ask Janie about the whole Mercy thing. I just hoped she’d be enough of a friend to tell me the truth.

Janie must have sensed something Monday morning outside of our first class because her smile faded when she saw me. Immediately, she started to talk without a greeting, “Madison are yeh okay? Did something’ happen over the weekend?”

“Not exactly.” I replied, shuffling my books from one arm to the other, “But I have some questions that need answers.”

“Okay, go for it.” She said, her eyes full of question. I didn’t like putting her in this position, but I had to.

“Was Mercy the girl that Tom used to date?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

Janie didn’t even have to reply for me to know the answer. Her face fell suddenly and she got this strange look. Her mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish before she was able to respond. “Yeah, she was. Why don’t we talk about this at lunch? ‘Ere comes Tom.”

Janie was biting her lip now, something she did when she was unsure about things. I knew why she was unsure; she hadn’t told me and now I knew. No doubt I was a little pissed at her, but I didn’t push the subject because footsteps approached.

“Mornin’ Madison.” I heard Tom say from next to me. Faking a smile, I looked over at Tom and greeted him, watching out of the corner of my eye as Janie disappeared inside.

“Feelin’ any better after Saturday? Yeh seemed out of it towards the end of the night.” He asked quietly, looking around the halls instead of at me. He was so shy it was cute.

“Yeah I’m great.” I lied and stepped a bit closer to him. In response, Tom opened his arms and pulled me into him. This was exactly what I needed; a hug.

As the bell rang, Tom let me go and gave me a quick kiss before opening the door for me and following me into the science class. My eyes moved towards Mercy, who was standing by Janie. Janie’s lips were moving quickly, talking in a hushed voice as Mercy listened with her eyes wide. Today was going to be very interesting.