Modern Swinger

Two weeks had passed, and Matt's comments only got worse. If snapped back with a witty comeback, he would shot me down again. I couldn't keep up with it anymore.

Ignoring his hateful comments didn't work anymore either. I was left without any options. That's why when we got to New York City, I hurried to the nearest store to buy a laptop, and Ipod.

I sat in the coffee shop uploading my music. I was really excited. I was hoping this was a way to drown Matt out.

My cell phone started ringing, and I pulled it out to see 'Jon D' flash on the screen.

"What up?" I answered.

"Don't hate me." He responded.

"Shit, what happened?" I mumbled.

"..."

"Jon, speak now." I said angrily.

"Well, the van broke down. Sowe need to borrow some money." He said quickly.

"I just spent my month's allowance right now." I sighed.

"Where are you?" He sighed.

I told him where I was and he agreed to meet me there. We were supposed to go home in two more weeks, and the car breaks down?

How could this shit happen?

Jon and Matt hurried into the coffee shop, and quickly sat where I was. Jon sighed tiredly, and Matt glared at me.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked impatiently.

Jon looked at Matt, then back at me. "The van broke down. The mechanic said it would be 650 in total."

"But since you spend all your money on stupid shit, we're stuck here." Matt commented.

I glared at him, but like always that did nothing to him. "Look it's my money. I'll do what I want with it."

"We know. We're going to try and make our last 100 last as long as possible. We don't have a place to stay, and since the van is in the shop, we're basically homeless." Jon responded.

"Ok so we need a plan." I stated.

"Aren't you rich? Don't mommy and daddy have some money to give you? You have to contribute too." Matt answered angrily.

I felt like I wanted to cry. Once again he hit my weak spot. I could feel the color draining from my face. Matt didn't know about my parents. He never asked what happened to them. I shook away the empty feeling that had washed over me.

I sighed annoyed. "I can give you half, but that's it."

Jon smiled. "Ok. We're going to see if we can get any gigs."

"How long is this going to take?" I asked to no one in particular.

"A week." Matt answered.

I shook my head as I looked back at my computer screen. "Great, one week of being homeless. We still need to wash clothes. I don't have any clean ones."

"I know. Listen let's go and meet the rest of the guys." Jon said standing up.

I nodded. I put everything away in a new bag for my lap top. We began to walk the busy streets of New York. Jon was leading far ahead of Matt and me. I wrapped my hoodie closer to my body feeling the cold air against my body.

"I can't believe you spent all your money. Now we're going to be stuck here forever." Matt sighed taking his cigarette box out.

"Shut up. It's my money, and besides I'm paying half so back off." I snapped.

He grabbed my arm and stopped me. We faced each other. He lit his cigarette, and blew the smoke out passed me.

"Why can't you remember?" He whispered loud enough for me to hear.

People began pushing pass us.

I looked up at him and sighed. "Why do you want me to? Why does it mean so much?"

This was a side of Matt I've never seen before. He was venerable, and kind. This was his softer side, not his egotistical asshole side. He looked over me up and down. He leaned over to my ear.

"You look so beautiful." He whispered in my ear loud enough so I could hear him over the cars honking, and people talking.

I could feel the butterflies swarming in my stomach, and the palms of my hands getting sweaty. This was something new to me. I've never in my time of knowing Matt, have I've gotten this feeling.

How could one comment from the guy I'm supposed to hate make me feel so....so....wonderful?

"I like you Chloe. I always have." He whispered again.

He stood back up and stared at me with his brown eyes. I couldn't read him. I didn't know if what he was saying was sincere. I just didn't know what to think of it. I focused my attention to the sidewalk. People continued to push pass us on the busy sidewalk.

How was I supposed to respond to this?

Matt threw out his cigarette. His hand brushed my cheek, and my chin. With his finger, he lightly pushed my head up to press his lips into mine. It took a while before I kissed back. His lips tasted of cigarettes, and beer, but I didn't mind it at all though. In fact, I liked it.

We pulled away and I instantly began to feel guilty of my actions. "You know what would nice? Me and you." Matt smiled at me.

I pulled away and shook my head. Matt's smile quickly faded. His eyes showed confusion.

I was confused myself. I was leading him on. I didn't know if I even liked him for that matter.

"Shit, come on, we have to get going." Jon hissed at us. He grabbed my arm and began walking to our destination. I was thankful for Jon. He saved me and he didn't even know it.

Matt stood there staring at me. I said nothing. There was nothing to be said. I turned around and avoided hitting people passing by. The only thing I could think of was:

Why did I kiss back?