Status: Sorry to leave you hanging guys! The keyboard on my laptop is malfunctioning.
Stop Pretending That You're Sorry
15
My hand reached out to latch onto Tucci’s. Our fingers laced together and he tugged my in the direction of the woods behind the house. He grabbed a couple of beers with his free hand and we were off.
We stumbled through the woods in the dark together, laughing as we did so.
“Tucci, where the fuck are you taking me?”
“Shhh, we’re almost there.”
“Liar, we’re in the middle of fucking no where and it’s dark,” I giggled.
“Oh shit I took a wrong turn, it’s this way.” He gave a sharp tug and we went tumbling to the left.
“Oh my god, where are you taking me?”
“To a secret place. It should be right around here… ah! Here we go!”
My eyes were still adjusting and I had no idea what this supposed secret place was.
“C’mere, we’re going up.”
“Up?”
“Yeah,” I could tell by his tone that he was smiling.
He brought our entwined hands forward and pressed them to something hard in front of us. I felt really stupid when I finally realized it was a tree.
There was a ladder up one side of the tree, which we ascended, our hands finally parting.
“This is a sweet little tree house,” I commented, once we had finally reached the top.
“Right?”
There were only three walls, the fourth one appeared to have been knocked out somewhat recently. There was a window on the wall opposite the gaping hole. Tucci slid over to where the final wall should have been and swung his legs over the side so they dangled high above the ground.
He popped open the beers by smashing the tops against a little table that was up there. Surprisingly it worked.
“Here you are, Jelly bean,” He said, handing me a still ice cold Pabst. To be honest I don’t remember what happened to my first one. I guess I set it down or something, all I know is that I didn’t have it when Tucci grabbed my hand.
“I come up here to think a lot,” He said, his eyes wandering up to the stars. “This used to be me and my brother’s place to chill. It decayed a little over the years, so it needed some fixin up when I decided to start hanging out here again. It’s kind of lame, but whatever the fuck.”
“I don’t think it’s lame. The stars look really pretty through that hole in the wall.”
He let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of kicked the shit out of it when I was angry.”
“Jeez, no kidding. You must’ve really been angry. What about?”
Of course I had to go and make things awkward.
“Uh… nothing. So anyway, what should I know bout you, Regan?”
It was a defense mechanism. I learned it well after my dad died and everyone would ask me how are you? Where have you been? Are you okay? You answer with a simple one word answer and then change the subject to focus on the other person. People love talking about themselves.
I chose to ignore it anyway and just go with the flow.
“Well I just moved in, and the only friends I really have are Julia and Katie, even though I can’t tell if Katie actually likes me or not.”
“Yeah, she’s like that. It most likely means she likes you though. Trust me, she’d make it more obvious if she didn’t. Where’s your new house?”
Despite only having a few sips from my beer, I still like to blame this one on the alcohol.
“Off of Redmill.”
And then I internally kicked the shit out of myself for telling him that. Now my new friend knows I live in a crack den.
“I live right on the other side of these woods. I’m assuming you drive if you came all the way from Redmill. Or did you come with somebody else?”
“Actually I walked. I don’t have a car.”
“Shit! You walked all the fuckin’ way here?” His eyes bugged out. “From Redmill?”
“Don’t act like it’s such a big deal. I walk everywhere.”
“Damn. You need a ride lift tonight? I got you.”
“Sure, I’d love one.” Stupid, stupid, stupid, Regan. Stop letting people see your house. God forbid someone catches sight of Anthony or worse, your emaciated mother.
We stayed up there for over an hour just talking about ourselves with bits of other random shit thrown in.
Finally we climbed back down to earth, and headed in the direction of Tucci’s house.
He and his brother shared a Crown Victoria. Gavin hated it, he said it felt like riding in a fucking cop car. Apparently he was saving up for his own car, but that fund kept getting dug into for gas money.
“You’re really chill, Regan. You know what I mean, Jelly bean?” Only he said the last part so fast it came out sounding more like, “Nah me, Jelly bean?” He put a lot of emphasis on the e in mean and bean. It was slightly endearing.
That was what he said when he let me out of the car in front of my house.
“Thanks, Tucci. I had fun. And thanks for not trying to get in my pants.”
Goodbyes are shit. I try to avoid them at all costs. So I left him with that. Sure it was kind of a lame way to end the night, but whatever.
We stumbled through the woods in the dark together, laughing as we did so.
“Tucci, where the fuck are you taking me?”
“Shhh, we’re almost there.”
“Liar, we’re in the middle of fucking no where and it’s dark,” I giggled.
“Oh shit I took a wrong turn, it’s this way.” He gave a sharp tug and we went tumbling to the left.
“Oh my god, where are you taking me?”
“To a secret place. It should be right around here… ah! Here we go!”
My eyes were still adjusting and I had no idea what this supposed secret place was.
“C’mere, we’re going up.”
“Up?”
“Yeah,” I could tell by his tone that he was smiling.
He brought our entwined hands forward and pressed them to something hard in front of us. I felt really stupid when I finally realized it was a tree.
There was a ladder up one side of the tree, which we ascended, our hands finally parting.
“This is a sweet little tree house,” I commented, once we had finally reached the top.
“Right?”
There were only three walls, the fourth one appeared to have been knocked out somewhat recently. There was a window on the wall opposite the gaping hole. Tucci slid over to where the final wall should have been and swung his legs over the side so they dangled high above the ground.
He popped open the beers by smashing the tops against a little table that was up there. Surprisingly it worked.
“Here you are, Jelly bean,” He said, handing me a still ice cold Pabst. To be honest I don’t remember what happened to my first one. I guess I set it down or something, all I know is that I didn’t have it when Tucci grabbed my hand.
“I come up here to think a lot,” He said, his eyes wandering up to the stars. “This used to be me and my brother’s place to chill. It decayed a little over the years, so it needed some fixin up when I decided to start hanging out here again. It’s kind of lame, but whatever the fuck.”
“I don’t think it’s lame. The stars look really pretty through that hole in the wall.”
He let out a hearty laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of kicked the shit out of it when I was angry.”
“Jeez, no kidding. You must’ve really been angry. What about?”
Of course I had to go and make things awkward.
“Uh… nothing. So anyway, what should I know bout you, Regan?”
It was a defense mechanism. I learned it well after my dad died and everyone would ask me how are you? Where have you been? Are you okay? You answer with a simple one word answer and then change the subject to focus on the other person. People love talking about themselves.
I chose to ignore it anyway and just go with the flow.
“Well I just moved in, and the only friends I really have are Julia and Katie, even though I can’t tell if Katie actually likes me or not.”
“Yeah, she’s like that. It most likely means she likes you though. Trust me, she’d make it more obvious if she didn’t. Where’s your new house?”
Despite only having a few sips from my beer, I still like to blame this one on the alcohol.
“Off of Redmill.”
And then I internally kicked the shit out of myself for telling him that. Now my new friend knows I live in a crack den.
“I live right on the other side of these woods. I’m assuming you drive if you came all the way from Redmill. Or did you come with somebody else?”
“Actually I walked. I don’t have a car.”
“Shit! You walked all the fuckin’ way here?” His eyes bugged out. “From Redmill?”
“Don’t act like it’s such a big deal. I walk everywhere.”
“Damn. You need a ride lift tonight? I got you.”
“Sure, I’d love one.” Stupid, stupid, stupid, Regan. Stop letting people see your house. God forbid someone catches sight of Anthony or worse, your emaciated mother.
We stayed up there for over an hour just talking about ourselves with bits of other random shit thrown in.
Finally we climbed back down to earth, and headed in the direction of Tucci’s house.
He and his brother shared a Crown Victoria. Gavin hated it, he said it felt like riding in a fucking cop car. Apparently he was saving up for his own car, but that fund kept getting dug into for gas money.
“You’re really chill, Regan. You know what I mean, Jelly bean?” Only he said the last part so fast it came out sounding more like, “Nah me, Jelly bean?” He put a lot of emphasis on the e in mean and bean. It was slightly endearing.
That was what he said when he let me out of the car in front of my house.
“Thanks, Tucci. I had fun. And thanks for not trying to get in my pants.”
Goodbyes are shit. I try to avoid them at all costs. So I left him with that. Sure it was kind of a lame way to end the night, but whatever.