The Day All The Statues Came To Life

Strong Language, just a warning



I don’t know why I imagined their reactions would be different. Really, I don’t. All they knew about James was what they had heard, a continuous round of: asshole, womanizer, shallow, cruel. And so when I bounced up to Lily and Kyle the next day, I could practically see them force a smile on their faces. “That’s great Teagan.” Kyle said dully. Lily merely sniffed and continued examining her butt in the mirror.
“Fine.” I snapped, sitting down on Lily’s bed. “Go ahead and say it.”
“Not good enough for you.” Kyle said boredly.
I rolled my eyes.
“Does my ass look good in these jeans?” Lily asked, turning the opposite way, trying to get a better look.
“Like Beyonce in spandex.” Kyle said.
“Gross.” Lily said looking disgusted. She peeled them off, ignoring Kyle’s feeble yelps of defense to his sexuality, and tossing them to me. “Here, Tea, you just got another pair that James can take off for you.”
I knew Lily was joking, but that was way below the belt as far as I was concerned. “Fuck you.” I snapped and stormed out of her house.
Bex was next on the list, but frankly she didn’t want to hear it. “Where were you?!” She yelled as soon as I stepped into the apartment. “You disappear all fucking day, leave me to make up some shit to Dad, and I had to clean fucking everything-“
“James and I are dating.” I said sullenly, dropping my things into our bedroom, shoving the clothes Lily had given me in the closet.
“And who the hell cut your hair?” She demanded, throwing the dish rag on the counter.
“I did. Did you hear me?”
“Yeah. Great. Fantastic. See, but I manage to have a boyfriend and not leave my sister to deal with all the goddamn housework and furthermore-“
I shut the door in her face. By now, I was fucking pissed. Was no one going to be happy for me?

I met Jude and Ryan for dinner. They had been packing all day, and were enjoying one last meal at Ryan’s parents’ house. They were still away visiting family, so essentially, this was another small party. I drove Bex over, to try and make some sort of peace offering, and told her I would be back early enough to deal with dad, whenever he stumbled home.
Jake opened the door for us and I ignored him, walking straight to Ryan who was currently choosing from a selection of beer in the fridge.
“Hello.” I said.
He straightened and when he saw me, he instantly scrunched his eyebrows in anger. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Are you and James-?”
“Yes.” I said shortly. Obviously even Ryan wouldn’t be able to hide his distaste.
He glared at me a minute. “Are you fucking retarded?” He demanded finally.
“He said he loved me!” I shot back at him.
“Oh course he did.”
I spun around to see Jake had joined our conversation. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion.” I snapped.
“Hey!” Ryan said, stepping between us. But it wasn’t directed to me, but rather Jake, who seemed angrier than I had ever seen him in my life. I saw him drag Jake to the other room, only catching snatches of conversation, but not enough to make sense of it.
“Well, I think it’s great.” Jude said, sidling up next to me, watching the two with an amused face.
“Really?” I said bitterly.
“Yeah, toxic relationships have the best sex.” He said, smirking at me.
“You’re a fucking asshole.” I shot at him, and stormed out back.
Jude followed me. “Ok, ok,” He said, laughing. “That was a bit crude.”
“Fuck off.”
“Come on.”
“How was your whore last night, Jude?” I snarled. “Like throwing a hotdog into a cave? Of course you’re probably used to that, what with your size and all.”
Jude didn’t even bat an eye, he just burst out laughing. “Doll, you are fucking hilarious when you’re angry, you know that?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and balled me hands into fists. One more word from his arrogant mouth and I would punch him into tomorrow. Just try me.
He sighed when he realized I wasn’t joking. “You hate me don’t you?”
“Somewhat.” I said through gritted teeth, trying to maintain my temper.
“Look, I totally understand your situation, and believe it or not, if you like the damn guy, then good for you. He’s pretty lucky, dating a girl like you-“
“Meaning what?” I snapped.
“Meaning you look like a fucking super model, and have the mouth of a pirate hooker-“
I snorted, relaxing a little.
“Look, I may be an egotistical jerk, but at least I’m on your side.” I mulled that over. “Cigarette, doll?”
“Yes.” I said taking it. He lit it for me and I took a long drag. “A pirate hooker? Really?”
He laughed again. “Yeah.”
I laughed and settled myself down in the grass. “I don’t feel like joining the ‘party’ until I’ve had about 6 of these. Want to join me?”
“If you do me a favor.”
“Depends.”
“Take it easy on Jake, okay? He just cares about you.”
I gave a stiff nod, only because I felt I had to. Besides, Jude was on my side, I guess I could give him that. Well, that and I the fact that I wasn’t a total bitch.
“So what was your girl’s name?”
“What girl?” He asked, blowing a smoke ring. I was slightly jealous of that particular talent of his.
“Your toxic girl.”
“Ahh.” He was quiet for a moment. “Ella.” He finally said. “Ella Rothbart.”
“Quite a name.”
“Yeah well. She was quite the girl.” He said, producing three more smoke rings. “Dumb in the textbook sense, but so fucking street smart; she would steal something right under your nose and sell it back to you for double its worth. She had a…questionable moral system to say the least.”
“How’d you meet?”
“At a bar. Never date someone you meet at a bar. Especially one in downtown.” He said, pointing his cigarette at me.
“Dually noted.” I said, scowling and brushing ash off my new shirt.
“She was incredibly beautiful too, let her off the hook quite a bit. And at first, I mean, it was incredible. We would stay up for hours talking. She loved philosophy, thought up all these crazy ass theories about life when she got high and would wake me up at 3 am. Scared the shit out of me, the things she thought about.”
“What went wrong?” I asked. I was feeling bland just hearing about her.
“She was crazy as fuck. She used to do all this shit that was just…wrong. Go to funerals for people she didn’t even know, sleep with people for drug money when she didn’t even need it, shoplift random shit just because she could. It was insane.”
“But you loved her.” I said. You could see it in his face, plain as day. This Ella girl had done a number on him. She made James sound like a saint.
“At…first. I dunno. I think I was more in love with the idea of her. I liked to think she was brilliant, you know? That people just didn’t get her. And then, when I found out she had been cheating and stealing, it was like a competition to see who could hurt the other the most. It was sick. I’m better off without her.”
At this, he stubbed out his cigarette and jumped up. “Ready to face the music, doll?”
I took his outstretched hand and got up. “Yeah. Let’s go be the freaky fuck ups.”
“I prefer delightfully eccentric fuck-ups.” He said.
“Well, well, look at Mr. Thesaurus.” I said dryly.
He only laughed again, showing his very straight, very white teeth.
Fuck ups.