Easier Said Than Done

We sat in the car, Sam staring out the front windshield, occasionally tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. I thought he’d picked me up to talk, but he hadn’t said a single word since I’d climbed in, tossing my overnight bag into the backseat.

Finally, clearing my throat, I questioned, “So, Sam, what’s wrong?”

He stayed silent for a couple minutes before turning to me and saying, so quietly that it took me a minute to comprehend what the words were, “I think Quinn cheated on me.”

My stomach dropped. “What do you mean Quinn’s cheating on you?” How could she do that to Sam? He was so nice and sweet, and he would do anything for her, and that was how she repaid him? By being a total bitch?

“I don’t know if it’s cheating or just cheated. But I dunno. She’s just…acting weird.”

I swallowed. “Wait, so she’s acting weirdly, and you automatically assume she’s cheating?”

His face reddened. “With her history with Finn and Puck…I dunno.”

That kind of surprised me. I thought that Sam was strict about not holding that against her, even though it totally should be. Not that I was trying to drive a wedge between the two of them, but it was the truth. “Um…it depends. What do you mean when you say that she’s not acting normally?”

“I hear her talking on the phone a lot, and when I ask her who it is, she won’t tell me. She just smiles and hands up a finger to tell me that she’ll only be a minute. And she laughs a lot when she’s on the phone with him. I know it’s a guy, ‘cause the volume of her phone is kind of loud, and I can hear.” His jaw clenched before he turned and looked at me, worry coloring his eyes.

“The evidence does seem damning,” I mused, tapping my chin. “But I’d talk to her about it. The number one most important thing in a relationship is honesty.” We pulled into my driveway, and Sam parked the car before facing me to listen to the rest of my advice. “I know that kind of from experience.”

He mulled this over for a second before sighing and nodding. “You’re right. God, why do the Glee kids always cheat on each other all the time?”

“Because we’re overly hormonal teenagers who can’t control ourselves,” I responded without missing a beat. “You going to come inside?”

“Might as well.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and started following me inside.

Aileen was in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee with our Keurig single-cup coffee maker thing. When she saw Sam, her face lit up. “Sam, it’s so nice to see you! It’s been so long since you’ve been over.” The pointed look she shot at me clearly meant that I should be hanging out with him way more often.

“It’s nice to see you, too,” he replied, a little embarrassed. “The coffee smells good.”

“You want a cup? It takes less than a minute.” I swear, Aileen was in love with that coffee maker. If it was legal, she would totally marry it. As things were, she took every chance she could to endorse it to people who had not been introduced to its awesomeness.

“Uh, sure.” Sam glanced at me, probably waiting for me to intervene and help him, but I just leaned up against the wall, watching and smirking. Some help I was.

Once Sam had been given a mug full of steaming coffee, equipped with both cream and sugar, we hurried up the stairs to my room. Well, I hurried, while Sam moved at a snail’s pace to make sure that he didn’t spill anything.

“You know,” Sam whispered so Aileen couldn’t hear us after I had closed the door behind him, “I’m not even that much of a fan of coffee…”

“Then hand it over,” I ordered, reaching for the mug. After taking a sip, I grinned at him. “I knew she used the German Chocolate Cake one for you. It’s her favorite, so she wouldn’t give it to anyone except someone she loved.”

“Why does she like me so much?” He was clearly flattered, if slightly freaked out.

“Because you’re polite and stuff. Plus, she thinks that we’re destined to get married or something.” I laughed a little and took another sip of the coffee. “When I was with Puck, she was always like, ‘You know, you could always be with Sam!’ She’s just a strange girl.”

Sam’s huge mouth was grinning. “That's kind of funny.”

“I know. I’ve tried explaining the fact that you’re with Quinn, but she simply won't have any of that.”

He snickered before his face fell. “Speaking of Quinn, should I call and ask her?”

“I feel like that’s a conversation that you guys should have face-to-face,” I replied, but it was too late. He had already pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. And, of course, he put the dumb thing on speaker phone. Like I wanted to know what was going on.

“Sam?” she answered in her soft, slightly husky voice.

“Yeah. I just wanted to ask you…who’s that guy that you’ve been talking to on the phone so much recently? He interrupts, like, every time we make out.” Totally didn’t need to know that last part, thanks, Sam.

There was kind of a long pause. Then, surprisingly, Quinn laughed. “He’s my cousin. He’s thinking about coming to Lima for winter break in a couple weeks. I haven’t seen him in forever, so I try to talk to him as much as I can.”

Sam looked up at me, obviously wanting to know whether he should take that as truth or not, but I just shrugged. It wasn’t like I knew Quinn well enough to know what her lying was like. I couldn’t see her face, either, so that didn’t help.

“Oh, okay. So are we still on for Tuesday after Glee Club?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Her voice sounded like she was smiling.

“Bye. Love you.”

They hung up, and my face broke out into a wide grin. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“I just hope she’s not lying to me,” he mumbled.

“Stop being mopey. You just ruined my moment of imagining how cute you two are.” I stuck my tongue out at him, and in return, he threw one of my pillows at me.

“Hey, watch it!” I laughed. “I still have the coffee, ya know. If I spill it all over the place and have to clean my sheets, I’m going to kill you.”

“So very dramatic,” he responded. “And hurtful.”

I rolled my eyes and drank the rest of my coffee. Or, Sam’s coffee. “Here,” I handed it back to him, “Aileen will like you so much more if you drank all her coffee. Before she had the Keurig thing, she made gross coffee, and I think she doesn’t fully understand that it no longer has anything to do with her skill.”

“Whatever keeps her loving me.” He stood up and spun the cup around on his finger, sending a few drops to go flying. Sigh. “Do you think that I should do my James Earl Jones impression?”

“Not if you want to keep your vocal chords.” I smiled sweetly at him. “And it’s important that you have those so we can win Regionals.”

“Vocal Adrenaline, here we come,” he nodded before walking out into the hallway. He went into the kitchen, and I followed until I reached halfway down the stairs.

“Your coffee was really great, Aileen,” he assured her. She must have been making lunch or something.

“Oh, you’re so sweet. I’m glad you liked it.” Then, in a quieter voice, she added, “I don’t know if Ellie told you, but she’s single now. Just letting you know.”

I sat down on a step and facepalmed. Aileen may not be my mom, but she sure can be embarrassing.

When I looked up, Sam’s face clearly read, ‘Oh, don’t they say the darndest things?’ Then, we both started laughing simultaneously.

We really had to start hanging out more.