Status: Sorry to leave you hanging guys! The keyboard on my laptop is malfunctioning.
Stop Pretending That You're Sorry
66
My phone buzzed in my pocket. 5 missed calls, all from Max. He was calling about John or Cayleigh, or both and I didn’t want to deal with it. The guilty nausea I felt every time I passed John in the hallway was bad enough. Or maybe that was just morning sickness… Either way I still felt horrible.
I went to check on John, see how the hangover was going, during lunch.
“How you feeling?” I asked, leaning against the door frame.
“Well, to be blunt I feel like deep fried shit.”
I grimaced.
“Wanna split lunch? Katie packed me one, she didn’t pack one for you though, she was too weirded out.”
“Honestly, not that hungry, I will however replenish my coffee from the teacher’s lounge. Excuse me for a minute, you’re welcome to stay here and have lunch in my room. I’ll be back shortly.”
When he got up to leave I noticed his phone sitting on his desk, it lit up to signal an incoming text. From Max. Shit. Doing a quick over the shoulder to check my surroundings, I dove for the phone snatching it up like some sort of prize.
It was on silent, John had missed 2 calls and 4 texts, all from Max.
[ R U ok? ] – Max
[ im so sorry ] – Max
[ call me please ] – Max
[ John? ] – Max
Fuck.
Without a second thought I deleted each one by one. I could’ve just left it at that but I didn’t, instead I stuck his phone in my pocket. No, that would be too obvious. He leaves me alone in his room and his phone goes missing? Not hard to figure out that one. Instead I pried open the back and popped out the battery, stuffing that in my pocket. His phone went back on his desk, in exactly the same place and position as it had been before. John would never know.
As if on cue, my phone rang again.
“For fuck’s sake!” Goddammit Max, go away!
“You know I could have you written up for explicit language as well as having your phone out.” John was leaning in the doorway.
“But I know you,” I said, flashing him a coy smile. “And you wouldn’t do that.”
“You got me. Damn, I really need to stop giving you special treatment,” He sighed closing the door behind him and returning to his spinning chair. “People are gonna start to think something’s up.”
“Something is up.”
“Yes but we don’t want people knowing that.”
“Oh I wasn’t talking about the baby, I was talking about your little friend there,” I snickered pointing at his crotch.
For a full 10 seconds he believed me, looking at his crotch all panicked only to find that he was flaccid after all.
“Dammit, Regan.”
“I’ll write you up for that, be careful.”
He chuckled softly at my joke. Holy shit, were we flirting? Shit we were. DANGER DANGER. ABORT MISSION.
“I should um, go…” I stuttered clambering to my feet.
“Lunch isn’t over for another fifteen minutes, where are you planning to go?”
Fuck. Didn’t think that one through.
My butt returned to my seat. “I’ll just stay here then.”
And then the worst possible thing happened, he picked up his phone.
“That’s weird, battery must be dead. Can I borrow yours?”
“What?!” I didn’t mean to sound so shocked.
John gave me a quizzical look and spoke slower, “Can I borrow your phone?”
“Can’t you just use the office phone?”
“I don’t have Max’s number memorized. He’s been trying to get a hold of me all day, he keeps calling at all the wrong times. He’s probably freaking out about last night, I just need to call him and tell him I don’t remember anything, and I’m no longer angry.”
I was backed into a corner. If I said no John would know something was up. If I said yes John would find out about what really happened.
“Um, okay.” Fuck, Regan, what are you doing?
My hand slowly reached out to him, my phone resting in my outstretched palm.
He dialed.
Kill me now.
Max answered.
Fuck my life.
I will never forget the look on John’s face when Max told him. To this day it still makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it.
I went to check on John, see how the hangover was going, during lunch.
“How you feeling?” I asked, leaning against the door frame.
“Well, to be blunt I feel like deep fried shit.”
I grimaced.
“Wanna split lunch? Katie packed me one, she didn’t pack one for you though, she was too weirded out.”
“Honestly, not that hungry, I will however replenish my coffee from the teacher’s lounge. Excuse me for a minute, you’re welcome to stay here and have lunch in my room. I’ll be back shortly.”
When he got up to leave I noticed his phone sitting on his desk, it lit up to signal an incoming text. From Max. Shit. Doing a quick over the shoulder to check my surroundings, I dove for the phone snatching it up like some sort of prize.
It was on silent, John had missed 2 calls and 4 texts, all from Max.
[ R U ok? ] – Max
[ im so sorry ] – Max
[ call me please ] – Max
[ John? ] – Max
Fuck.
Without a second thought I deleted each one by one. I could’ve just left it at that but I didn’t, instead I stuck his phone in my pocket. No, that would be too obvious. He leaves me alone in his room and his phone goes missing? Not hard to figure out that one. Instead I pried open the back and popped out the battery, stuffing that in my pocket. His phone went back on his desk, in exactly the same place and position as it had been before. John would never know.
As if on cue, my phone rang again.
“For fuck’s sake!” Goddammit Max, go away!
“You know I could have you written up for explicit language as well as having your phone out.” John was leaning in the doorway.
“But I know you,” I said, flashing him a coy smile. “And you wouldn’t do that.”
“You got me. Damn, I really need to stop giving you special treatment,” He sighed closing the door behind him and returning to his spinning chair. “People are gonna start to think something’s up.”
“Something is up.”
“Yes but we don’t want people knowing that.”
“Oh I wasn’t talking about the baby, I was talking about your little friend there,” I snickered pointing at his crotch.
For a full 10 seconds he believed me, looking at his crotch all panicked only to find that he was flaccid after all.
“Dammit, Regan.”
“I’ll write you up for that, be careful.”
He chuckled softly at my joke. Holy shit, were we flirting? Shit we were. DANGER DANGER. ABORT MISSION.
“I should um, go…” I stuttered clambering to my feet.
“Lunch isn’t over for another fifteen minutes, where are you planning to go?”
Fuck. Didn’t think that one through.
My butt returned to my seat. “I’ll just stay here then.”
And then the worst possible thing happened, he picked up his phone.
“That’s weird, battery must be dead. Can I borrow yours?”
“What?!” I didn’t mean to sound so shocked.
John gave me a quizzical look and spoke slower, “Can I borrow your phone?”
“Can’t you just use the office phone?”
“I don’t have Max’s number memorized. He’s been trying to get a hold of me all day, he keeps calling at all the wrong times. He’s probably freaking out about last night, I just need to call him and tell him I don’t remember anything, and I’m no longer angry.”
I was backed into a corner. If I said no John would know something was up. If I said yes John would find out about what really happened.
“Um, okay.” Fuck, Regan, what are you doing?
My hand slowly reached out to him, my phone resting in my outstretched palm.
He dialed.
Kill me now.
Max answered.
Fuck my life.
I will never forget the look on John’s face when Max told him. To this day it still makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it.