And Now the Tables Do Turn

Over the next two weeks, the fact that Josh was actually dating someone hit me full on. Cori was everywhere. She came to band practice. She was Em’s new best friend. She had even hit it off with my own sister at my birthday party.

Em and I had barely spoken since our little spat at my birthday party. I had called her a few days after, mostly to apologize, but before I could get the chance, she got a call from Cori on the other line. While I was on hold, I simply hung up. She had texted me several times, but I ignored each message, feeling betrayed.

In the two weeks following my birthday, it seemed like the only person I talked to was John, and I was okay with that. We were stronger than we had been before I started fooling around with Josh. We were dependent on another. We were together for at least five nights out of the week, and more than just physically.

I was sound asleep, nestled under a sheet and a comforter, and I was dreaming about Josh. There weren’t many clothes involved, and at some point, Kennedy walked in. He was eating an apple and he saw us in the bed and started laughed.

I woke up slightly disoriented and was relieved to find John still sound asleep beside me with his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, our legs tangled. I sighed, scooting closer to John. My lips brushed over the skin of his neck and he let out a breath before grumbling something in his sleep. I repeated the action, and that time, he tried to roll over. Frowning, I maneuvered myself, straddling his hips.

“John,” I said quietly, my palms flat against his chest. He stirred, his face contorting. I curled my fingers, clenching the fabric of his shirt. I dipped down to him, my lips gliding over his jaw. He didn’t react until I moved my lips up to his, my teeth brushing against his bottom lip.

His lips moved against mine and he sighed once I pulled away. His hands moved over the bare skin of my thighs, grazing the hem of my shorts. I wasn’t resting on his pelvis, rather standing on my knees, straddling him.

“I really fucking hate when you do this,” he said with a groan, leaning his head back.

I bit my bottom lip, smirking. “No, you don’t,” I reminded him, toying with the hem of my t-shirt. He laughed once as I leaned down, kissing him again. His hands found my hips, his thumbs grazing over my exposed skin. I smiled against his lips as I started to drag the hem of my shirt up my torso.

He sat up, pulling my shirt over my head before shedding his own. He pulled me close to him, our bare chests pressed together. His lips moved to my jaw, down to my neck.

“Good morning,” he said into my skin, a smile forming on his lips.

“Good morning to you too,” I responded with a giggle followed by a gasp as his lips grazed over the skin behind my ear. “That’s not fair,” I argued, arching my back as he kissed the spot again.

“It’s not fair that you ambushed me,” he said, his lips leaving my skin. His fingers dragged down my spine, making my curl my toes in sensation.

“I didn’t ambush you!” I argued. “I simply took advantage of your morning wood.” I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Which I didn’t have until you climbed on top of me and started to undress yourself,” he responded, locking an arm around my waist and flipping me over before I could protest.

“But--” I started before he silenced me with his lips.

“Are we going to argue, or are we going to fuck?” John asked, his lips barely leaving mine. I could only giggle.

Forty minutes later, I looked over at John and blushed. He smiled, kissing my temple.

“I have a question,” John said after a moment’s silence.

“And what would that be?” I asked, curling against him with a yawn.

“Jobe wants to know if we want to go on a double date with him and Cori tonight.”

I sat up rather abruptly, pulling away from him. “He asked you that?” I questioned, looking over my shoulder at him. He only nodded, dragging a finger down my spine.

Anxiety swirled in my stomach. If I refused to go to out tonight, I knew John would suspect something. I really would have rather spent my evening going out with Melanie and the boy she’d been dating since my birthday, one of Kennedy’s band mates, Garrett. Weighing my options in my head, I sighed.

“Yeah, we can go,” I said, nodding while pressing my lips together. “Can we get ice cream tonight?”

He laughed quietly, sitting up and leaning against me. He kissed my shoulder, his arms looping around my waist. “That sounds good to me. Why don’t you go get a shower, and I’ll call Jobe up and we can arrange a time.”

“Okay,” I said, climbing for my bed. I took the sheet with me, wrapping it around my frame. I retreated to the bathroom after grabbing a change of clothes.

After my shower, John and I relaxed for the rest of the day. We watched a few episodes of House on DVD while I worked on schoolwork. He drifted off to sleep at one point, his head on my shoulder, his arms around my waist. I was able to finish a test and an essay while John was asleep, and by the time he woke up, I had already retreated to the bathroom to attempt to do something with my hair.

Still half-asleep, John walked into the bathroom as I plugged in my straightener. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, pressing his face into my neck. He yawned loudly, directly into my ear. I tried to shrug him off, laughing, but her arms held tightly around me.

“I love you,” he told me quietly, kissing my jaw. I laughed again, a chill running down my spine.

“I love you too, John, really,” I said, trying to loosen his hold on me. “I need to get ready!”

“Fine, fine,” he grumbled under his breath, finally releasing me, his fingers lingering on the curve of my waist. He finally pulled away completely, closing the toilet seat and sitting down, still watching me.

We maintained light conversation as I did my hair, straightening it, then tying the top layer back. I painted my nails quickly, waving my hands frantically, willing the paint to dry before doing my make up. I dressed quickly, finally bothering to ask where we were even going.

“You mentioned wanting ice cream, so we’re meeting at that mini-golf place by Dairy Land,” John explained as I flipped through my closet.

“Where we had our first official date?” I asked, pulling a casual dress off the hanger.

“Yeah, that’s the place. We’re going to play a round of mini-golf, then head over for ice cream, and I came up with that idea all on my own,” John said with a proud smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at his pride.

I settled on sandals and put on the necklace that John had gotten me for my birthday before John decided to change. I rolled my eyes as he searched from something remotely clean of his in my drawers and my closet. He finally found a shirt that I’d stolen from him a while ago, mostly to wear around the house.

“I better be getting that shirt back,” I warned him as he tugged it on.

“Spence, it was my shirt to begin with. You took it,” he reminded me.

I only shrugged. “That’s right. I took it, which makes it mine now,” I reasoned with him.

He laughed, rolling his eyes. “You can have it back tonight, okay?”

“Okay!” I beamed.

I didn’t put up a fight when John offered to drive to the mini-golf course. We were silent in the car, yet comfortable. I toyed with the hem of my dress, staring out the window.

When we got to the course, Josh and Cori were already there, talking about something that they both found to be amusing by the looks on their faces. John and I parked and got out of the car. Walking towards them, I was quick to take his hand, lacing my fingers through his.

“Hey, guys,” Cori said with a bright smile. Upon seeing us, John put and arm around her waist and she leaned into him, her cheeks going a tad pink.

Her hair was pulled back, her bangs French braided. She was wearing a simple grey dress, a low V in the front. Her flats and ring were a matching shade of bright pink and her lips were painted red. She was toying with the charms on her necklace absentmindedly as she smiled.

“Hey,” John said with a smile, squeezing my hand. Out of habit, I smile.

My eyes fell on Josh quickly before I noticed that he was watching me. His hair was messy as always, and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a day or two. His shirt was loose on him and he licked his lips before smiling at me.

We soon headed over to the course, where we got our clubs and colored balls. We decided to do it as times, so John and I had the red balls and Cori was quick to grab the yellow balls for her and Josh. I could hear her apologizing to him in advance for her complete lack of aim and he laughed, kissing her forehead.

We started the game and Cori hadn’t been lying. Her aim was horrible, but Josh’s was spot on. I watched bitterly as Cori got up to the tee and Josh offered to help her. I rolled my eyes as he stood behind her, his arms going around her as he “showed her how to swing properly.” They kissed quickly, her fingers dragging along his jaw as he pulled away.

The way they constantly flirted was enough to make me sick, despite what had happened between Josh and I. They were always making little remarks to each other, or always touching and it drove me mad.

“Remember when we were like that?” John asked, pulling my attention to him.

“We were never that bad,” I assured him, rolling my eyes. “We could at least go ten seconds without touching each other or making googly eyes.”

John shrugged. “Jobe isn’t ever like this. He must really care about her.”

His comment made my ears go red and I jumped when Josh yelled over to tell us that it was our turn.

An hour later, Cori and I were sitting awkwardly at a picnic table outside the ice cream place while the guys ordered our ice cream. Cori and Josh had won the game of mini-golf, much to my irritation.

“How long have you and John been together?” Cori asked, pulling me out of thought. She was toying with her necklace again and it made me slightly nervous.

“It’s going on two years,” I told her, having to think about it a bit. She let out a short breathy laugh.

“That’s a long time,” she commented and I nodded. “Is it hard? With him being gone on tour a lot of the time?”

“It was at first, but now, he’s been home for so long and when they leave in a few weeks, it’s going to be hard.”

“They leave in a few weeks?” she questioned, frowning.

“Yeah, they took a tour break, but they’re heading back out.” Cori nodded in understanding before looking down at her lap.

The guys came back with our ice cream a few awkward moments later. John set my turtle sundae down in front of me and it was obvious that he’d taken a bite. I nudged him and he laughed, knowing that he’d deserved it. Cori was maintaining a bit of a distance from Josh, obviously surprised by the news that they were leaving soon, which Josh hadn’t told her.

Within a few moments though, she was directly beside him again.

John made it a point to get to know her as well as possible, and I had to admit, listening to her talk was interesting. She was originally from a small town in Ohio, and when she was seventeen, she’d shaved her head at a cancer research benefit. She wanted to teach high school history or lit, and her older brother drove her crazy.

The more time we spent at the table, the more I felt sick.

She was obviously great for Josh and he was smiling softly and proudly as she talked, knowing how amazing she was. He would take bites of her ice cream as he pleased and she’d shoot him looks, only to smile when he’d laugh at her. We talked for a bit after we ate, and his hand was resting on the table. She toyed with his fingers, her fingertips tracing the pattern of his.

“She knows,” John said, looking over at me in the car on the way back to my apartment. My stomach dropped.

Had Josh told that little bitch about us? Had she told John?

“Knows what?” I asked, trying not to sound too alarmed. My palms suddenly became clammy and my throat tightened.

“That you don’t like her.”

“I don’t not like her,” I said, relief washing over me like a tidal wave.

“Spence, you make it obvious. If I was her, I would have run screaming and crying after some of the looks you give her,” he teased, looking over at me again.

I shrugged, “I’m not trying to be mean or anything, but I don’t know. She just seems, I don’t even know, John. There’s just something about her.”

“Like what?”

I rolled my eyes. “I just said that I don’t know. But, I don’t think she’ll last long. I told her that you guys are leaving for tour in a few weeks and she had no idea. She seemed upset about it.”

“Well, either way, she was good for him while it lasted,” John said with a shrug.

I could only nod, my jaw clenched.