And Now the Tables Do Turn

Within the next month, I could count on one hand the number of times I saw Josh. John had dragged me to band practice with him two weeks after the fight, and Em had tricked us into hanging out at her house a week later.

It stung, but mostly, it made me mad all over again. Whenever our eyes would connect (rarely though, because I avoided his eyes at all costs) I could see a flicker of emotion in them before he'd look away. The whole things sucked, it really did.

John and I's relationship had improved though, which was good. There was no more lying and no more sneaking around. John and I were back to how we'd been before my escapade with Josh had begun. Middle of the night phone calls and visits were common again and I was used to being only with him.

A month after my fight with Josh, it was my 21st birthday. Dree and Stephen had announced two weeks before that they were throwing a massive party in my honor, much to my distaste. I had texted Em about it immediately, telling her to make sure Josh knew that he was not invited.

John woke me up bright and early on my birthday and took me out to breakfast. I was extremely irritated that he wouldn't even let me shower before he pulled me out of bed and toward the door. We went to Denny's, both of us wearing sweatpants. We went back to my apartment afterwards and showered together before watching a few movies until we both fell asleep.

When I up, John was gone. He had left a Post-It on my lamp, saying to come over to his house at seven. I rolled my eyes, rolling onto my stomach. I reached for my phone and saw that Melanie had called me nearly ten times. I rolled my eyes and called her back.

"About god damn time you call me back," she said when she answered.

"Shut up, I was sleeping. Was it completely necessary to call me that many times?"

"Of course it was. I had to tell you happy birthday!" Mel exclaimed, yelling into the phone.

"Hush, I just woke up," I told her, pressing my face into my pillow. "Are you coming to the party tonight?"

"Duh. It's my little sister's 21st birthday, and there's gonna be a shitload of free booze, so yeah, I'm gonna be there," she explained as I rolled onto my back and sat up.

"Alright, well, I need to get ready to go over to John's," I said, throwing the blankets back as I left my bed. I put a hand against my forehead, blinking as a wave of light-headedness passed over me.

"Okay. Good luck with the birthday sex," she told me before I hung up.

I tossed my phone to my bed, my cheeks flushing pink.

A few hours later, I got to John's and parked on the street. I got to the door and there was another Post It on the door, saying just to come on in. I smiled, twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

"John?" I called, looking around the empty foyer.

"In the kitchen," he yelled from somewhere in the house. I rolled my eyes, walking toward the kitchen. My heels clicked loudly on the floors and echoed through the space. When I entered the kitchen, John was pulling a large pan out of the oven.

"You didn't cook, did you?" I asked skeptically, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

John whipped around, setting the pan down on the stove top. "I did, and I set all of this up."

"Set all of what up?" I questioned, laughing quietly. I walked toward the island and took a seat on a stool.

"Got my parents out of the house, cooked all of this myself, and you don't even appreciate it," he said dramatically, crossing his arms over his chest. I laughed, rising for my seat and walking to him. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek.

Dinner was nice. John had made meatless lasagna, which was actually very good. He got me a bouquet of yellow roses, knowing that they were my favorite. I smiled, blushing slightly as he handed them to me. After desert (turtle cheesecake), he slid a box across the table to me. I gave him an annoyed look as I picked it up.

"It's your birthday. and I spent money on you, you can get over it," he told me before I could even open my mouth to complain. I rolled my eyes as I pulled on the end of the ribbon. I opened the box and my eyes widened.

"John, I--wow," I managed. The necklace was stunning.

"Do you like it?" he asked, taking a drink of wine. I could only nod and smile. I took it from the box and fastened it around my neck, touching it gingerly.

A few hours later, we arrived at Dree and Stephen's, where the party was already in full swing. Dree and Em were near the door when we walked in, both completely tipsy. They screamed my name, hugging me tightly as they shoved drinks into my hand.

"Happy birthday, Spencer," Dree said, giggling loudly. She touched her cup to mine before downing half of her own. I grimaced before and after taking a gulp of my own drink.

"Good lord," I said, coughing. "What the hell is this?" Dree shrugged, laughing again. John smirked, putting an arm around my waist tightly.

We mingled a bit, going from group to group. There were a lot of people I didn't know, which wasn't surprising. Sure, it was my birthday party, but the party itself, with all the free booze one could handle, attracted people. We found Mel at one point and she decided to stick with us, not knowing many others at the party.

At one point, after two and a half drinks, I caught a glimpse of unmistakably white hair. I broke away from John and Mel and walked towards him. I was five feet away when I noticed the girl beside him. I was only two feet away though, when I noticed that his arm was around her waist.

I turned on my heel and sped away, but not before he spotted me. At the same time, John swooped in, pulling me towards Josh.

"Jobe! I was wondering where you were," John said, high-fiving him.

"Hey, guys," he said, staring straight at me. My eyes flickered away to him and over to the awkwardly smiling girl to his right.

She was a bit taller than I was. The top layer of her hair was pulled back in some sort of fancy knot, the rest of it cascading down her back. She had a cup in hand and was biting her red painted lip as she smiled, sending nervous glances to Josh. Freckles were dotted across her cheeks and nose and her teeth were white and straight. Her eyes were a weird shade of greenish-brown and they were lined black. I really hated to admit it, but she was very pretty.

"Happy birthday, Spence," Josh said, turning my attention back to him. I gave him a quick, forced smile.

"Thanks,"I said, raising my glass to him so I had an excuse to take another drink.

"Did he pay you to come here, or something?" John asked the girl, laughing. Her cheeks flushed pink a bit and she laughed.

"Actually, no," she responded, glancing over at Josh, a hint of amusement in her eye. He smiled over her before putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him to kiss her quickly. Now he was just putting on a show.

"John, this is Cori. She's my girlfriend," he said, his eyes flickering to me as he spoke.

She rolled her eyes. "You know I hate that term," she told him under her breath.

"Fine. We're dating, is that better?" he questioned, giving her a smirk. "This is John, Stephen's brother, and one of my bandmates, and his girlfriend Spencer."

"Nice to meet you," John told her enthusiastically. I only smiled quickly.

"So, you're the birthday girl, huh?" Cori asked me, changing the subject.

"Mhmm," I said, my lips against the rim of my cup.

"Not a bad party," she said with an appreciative nod.

"How long have you two been dating?" John questioned.

"Three weeks, really," Josh said, taking a drink from his own cup. An awkward silence filled the air. A very drunk Brian Dales is what saved us.

"Spencer!" he yelled, slinging his arm over my shoulders. I flinched from the volume of his voice, also from the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Hi, Brian," I said, shrugging a bit, trying to get his arm off me.

"Happy birthday, babe!" he yelled again, right in my ear before planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek. At that point, John joined in with trying to get Brian off of me. During that moment, Josh and Cori slipped away.

By midnight, I had drowned my sorrows in plenty of booze. Whether I was imagining it or not, I kept catching glances of Josh and Cori around the party. When I knew for a fact that I saw them, they were always touching.

I wanted to strangle this bitch and club her over the head with her shoes, which probably cost more than a month's rent. I stared bitterly from afar, taking a long drink from my cup, as they kissed quickly, a smile on his lips, like he knew I was watching them.

He probably did know that I was watching them. He was trying to make me jealous. He wanted me to feel the way he had when we were together, while I was dating John. He probably didn't even like her. He only liked hot girls, like me.

Cori wasn't hot. Her ass was flat and she had man shoulders.

I needed another drink.

There weren't many people in the kitchen. I didn't know where John had gone, and at that point, I didn't care. I poured myself a large cup of Jack, up to the brim. I ran a hand down my face, blinking rapidly.

I walked over to the table, cup in hand and stumbling a bit. I sunk down into a chair and rested my forehead against the table top. I jolted up when I heard footsteps.

"I was wondering where you were," Em said, her heels clicking on the floor. She walked to the counter, refilling her cup before joining me at the table.

"Where's Kenny?" I questioned, lowering my head back down to the table.

"Around," she answered simply, raising her glass to her lips. "Have you met Cori?" Her voice was cautious.

I sighed, pursing my lips as I raised my head again. I sat up, resting my elbows on the table. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Other than the fact that you ended it with him, it's not really your business," Em said slowly, watching me closely to gauge my reaction. "Also, he asked me not to."

"She seems like a stuck-up bitch."

"She's not, but right now, you're acting like one."

Her words hit me like a slap in the face. "Excuse me?"

"You're upset because he's over you and he's happy. You're mad because he brought her to your birthday party. There are so many people here that you don't know, and you don't care that they're crashing your birthday party, you're mad that she is," Em explained to me, avoiding my eyes. "He was hurt, Spencer. Did you expect him to wallow in it, or to move on? Honestly, he's fucking Josh Montgomery, he's a manslut, so of course, he's going to move on!"

"Em--," I started, frustration building in my stomach.

"She's a good person, Spencer. Cori's in college, she has interests, she's good for him. He really likes her."

"I don't need this, Em. It's my fucking birthday, so it's time for me to go party it up," I snapped, standing up abruptly. I downed the contents of my cup before refilling it and storming out of the kitchen.

I found John quickly and he didn't catch onto my frustration. We danced for a while and drank before we separated again.

Drunk, angry, and alone, I retreated to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and slumped down on the edge of the bathtub. Goosebumps raised on my skin as tears welled in my eyes. After a ten minute pity party, I wiped my eyes and fixed my make-up where it had smudged. I was thankful for the half full cup I had left sitting on the counter. I unlocked the door and downed the rest of the drink in a single swallow.

A wave of nausea came over me and I barely made it to the toilet before vomiting. I sighed, flushing the toilet and resting my forehead against the cold porcelain. I sat there for a few minutes with my eyes closed before the nausea returned. Haunched over the toilet, I felt someone come up behind me, holding my hair back. I straightened up and turned around, expecting to see John. Instead, it was Josh.

As soon as I saw him, I wished I hadn't downed the last of my drink; I really could have used it right then.

"Looks like you partied a little too hard," he said awkwardly, giving me a half smile. I gave him a blank look.

"What do you care?" I questioned, getting to my feet, still a bit wobbly.

"Really? Do you really need to pull this bullshit?" he scoffed.

"Yeah, Josh, I do. It's my birthday party, to which I personally made sure that you weren't invited to, and you come anyway, with that snobby little slut," I said, my voice low and angry.

"Don't talk about her that way! You don't know her at all," he said in Cori's defense, his voice a bit raised. It took me by surprised.

"You said you've been dating her for three weeks? Well, we ended four weeks ago. You must not have been as hurt as Em said you were because it took you no time at all to hop into her bed," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"I haven't," he said, looking down at his feet.

"What?" I snapped, irritated.

"I haven't slept with her yet. She wants to wait, and so do I," Josh admitted, his cheeks flushing a bit pink as he spoke, finally making eye contact with me. "I--I really like this girl, Spence, I do. She's not you. She doesn't have another boyfriend to answer to. She doesn't have to lie to spend time with me. I can go out in public with her and not have to worry about who will see."

His words hit me hard and tears rushed to my eyes again. I only nodded, swallowing hard, praying that my tears wouldn't spill over. My stomach was tied in a thousand different, intricate knots and I honestly felt like I could vomit again, but I didn't. I looked at him, wanting to say something, but I only shook my head, walking away.