Getaway
SHE'S IN LOVE.
Mariah Walker is in love with an asshole.
Despite all of the good qualities Mariah possesses, she holds a few less redeeming ones as well. Like the fact that she's naive and stupid when it comes to dating, especially when it comes to dating Nathan Wright.
To first clarify her stupidity in this situation, let me emphasize the fact that she is not actually dating Nathan at all. He broke up with her, months ago, after she found out that he was sleeping around. He said that she was too controlling and needy for his taste and that if she couldn't accept his wandering eye, she couldn't accept him. So he left.
Only Mariah followed.
I don't like Nathan. Not at all. I've met the guy once. In that one meeting, I can clearly see why Mariah fell for him and why she stays. I also learned enough to know that she should have let his sorry ass go when he dumped her, because separation did nothing to make Nathan a better man.
He's handsome, with dark hair and a straight nose, and an alluring, low voice. He works out, wears nice clothes, and smells like he recently took a walk through Hollister. Of course Mariah, who is beautiful but seems to lack the part in her brain that recognizes this beauty, would jump on any opportunity when someone as appealing as Nathan Wright offered his time.
Mariah Walker is a smart girl, really. She just gets lost in the glittery lights of dating and feeling wanted. I just wish she had wandered off into the adventure of romance through someone else's arms; that someone being anyone other than Nathan Wright.
He's a womanizer. As much as I hate to use that term, he embodies it. The day we ran into him at Kroger's, he couldn't keep his eyes on Mariah. Seeing him on the other side of the produce section, she had hurried over, pulling the cart and me along with her, hurriedly introducing us. She had smiled for the whole of the grocery store and the world to see, her molars practically visible as they peaked out from her pink lips. They were on "Sometimes" status at this time, a term Nathan the Asshole had patented, meaning that they were sometimes an item and sometimes not, depending on the situation. Basically, in Lehman's terms, they were friends with benefits.
She had kissed his cheek after introducing us, her fingers sliding over Nathan's tight grip on his shopping cart - which was full of fruits and vegetables, along with multiple boxes of sugary cereal. He'd reached out a hand to shake mine as Mariah quickly explained who I was - oh, she couldn't have him thinking she might have been hanging out with a guy who even stood a chance against the godly Nathan - and I watched as my best friend reduced herself to cream in a skillet.
Mariah asked him some questions - What was he doing here? Was he not hanging out with his friends tonight like he said he was? - and I noticed the uneasiness that swept over his features, knitting his brow together. I watched him as he answered her questions. Watched how he didn't watch her, the lovely girl in front of him who so desperately wanted his attention, but instead kept his eyes circulating the store around us, perhaps looking for people who might recognize him. I caught him appraising three women in the short time it took Mariah to remove his grasp from the shopping cart and slide her fingers through his. He never met her eyes except for after he denied everything, turning the conversation back to Mariah and her friend.
As I answered some of his questions, posing some myself, I watched as his arm slid around her small frame. I rolled my eyes internally as she stared up at him admirably, an overly joyous smile covering her face. I could have laughed at the way he held her, as if he possessed her, as if he needed to inform me that he was a threat to me. He'd dumped the girl on the street and he was warning me, like she belonged to him.
Honestly, he was lucky she was skipping back into his arms. She's too good for him. Case closed.
But alas, despite how sweet and nice and lovable she is, Mariah is with Nathan tonight. He called this afternoon and asked if she was busy. She was busy, actually, but after minimal pleading, she escaped our plans for the night. He promised her a fun night, she told me, her eyes huge and her smile just as big. She grabbed my hand when I shook my head out of complete disgust for the whole situation, waving for her to go on ahead and go with him. She held it in both of hers, grinning, as she reached up to place a kiss on my cheek, almost the same way she had for Nathan in the grocery store so many weeks ago.
I took a drag of my cigarette, staring out into the darkened sky that loomed over the stretch of black trees across the road from Jenkins Commons. She was with him now. I tried to ignore the thought of her lips on my cheek, or how much I envied that feeling, because it made me think of her. I wished she was here with me and not out with that piece of scum. I wished she was here, and not there, her soft lips leaving kisses for Nathan that he would never deserve and that I would never get.
Despite all of the good qualities Mariah possesses, she holds a few less redeeming ones as well. Like the fact that she's naive and stupid when it comes to dating, especially when it comes to dating Nathan Wright.
To first clarify her stupidity in this situation, let me emphasize the fact that she is not actually dating Nathan at all. He broke up with her, months ago, after she found out that he was sleeping around. He said that she was too controlling and needy for his taste and that if she couldn't accept his wandering eye, she couldn't accept him. So he left.
Only Mariah followed.
I don't like Nathan. Not at all. I've met the guy once. In that one meeting, I can clearly see why Mariah fell for him and why she stays. I also learned enough to know that she should have let his sorry ass go when he dumped her, because separation did nothing to make Nathan a better man.
He's handsome, with dark hair and a straight nose, and an alluring, low voice. He works out, wears nice clothes, and smells like he recently took a walk through Hollister. Of course Mariah, who is beautiful but seems to lack the part in her brain that recognizes this beauty, would jump on any opportunity when someone as appealing as Nathan Wright offered his time.
Mariah Walker is a smart girl, really. She just gets lost in the glittery lights of dating and feeling wanted. I just wish she had wandered off into the adventure of romance through someone else's arms; that someone being anyone other than Nathan Wright.
He's a womanizer. As much as I hate to use that term, he embodies it. The day we ran into him at Kroger's, he couldn't keep his eyes on Mariah. Seeing him on the other side of the produce section, she had hurried over, pulling the cart and me along with her, hurriedly introducing us. She had smiled for the whole of the grocery store and the world to see, her molars practically visible as they peaked out from her pink lips. They were on "Sometimes" status at this time, a term Nathan the Asshole had patented, meaning that they were sometimes an item and sometimes not, depending on the situation. Basically, in Lehman's terms, they were friends with benefits.
She had kissed his cheek after introducing us, her fingers sliding over Nathan's tight grip on his shopping cart - which was full of fruits and vegetables, along with multiple boxes of sugary cereal. He'd reached out a hand to shake mine as Mariah quickly explained who I was - oh, she couldn't have him thinking she might have been hanging out with a guy who even stood a chance against the godly Nathan - and I watched as my best friend reduced herself to cream in a skillet.
Mariah asked him some questions - What was he doing here? Was he not hanging out with his friends tonight like he said he was? - and I noticed the uneasiness that swept over his features, knitting his brow together. I watched him as he answered her questions. Watched how he didn't watch her, the lovely girl in front of him who so desperately wanted his attention, but instead kept his eyes circulating the store around us, perhaps looking for people who might recognize him. I caught him appraising three women in the short time it took Mariah to remove his grasp from the shopping cart and slide her fingers through his. He never met her eyes except for after he denied everything, turning the conversation back to Mariah and her friend.
As I answered some of his questions, posing some myself, I watched as his arm slid around her small frame. I rolled my eyes internally as she stared up at him admirably, an overly joyous smile covering her face. I could have laughed at the way he held her, as if he possessed her, as if he needed to inform me that he was a threat to me. He'd dumped the girl on the street and he was warning me, like she belonged to him.
Honestly, he was lucky she was skipping back into his arms. She's too good for him. Case closed.
But alas, despite how sweet and nice and lovable she is, Mariah is with Nathan tonight. He called this afternoon and asked if she was busy. She was busy, actually, but after minimal pleading, she escaped our plans for the night. He promised her a fun night, she told me, her eyes huge and her smile just as big. She grabbed my hand when I shook my head out of complete disgust for the whole situation, waving for her to go on ahead and go with him. She held it in both of hers, grinning, as she reached up to place a kiss on my cheek, almost the same way she had for Nathan in the grocery store so many weeks ago.
I took a drag of my cigarette, staring out into the darkened sky that loomed over the stretch of black trees across the road from Jenkins Commons. She was with him now. I tried to ignore the thought of her lips on my cheek, or how much I envied that feeling, because it made me think of her. I wished she was here with me and not out with that piece of scum. I wished she was here, and not there, her soft lips leaving kisses for Nathan that he would never deserve and that I would never get.