I ran for my bedroom just as Helena realized she’d been tricked. I managed to slam and lock the door as she bellowed my name. I was safe.
For now.
SANDY HAD already left for work when my phone vibrated in my hand a short while later. I was in the middle of a fervent one-sided conversation filled with an inordinate amount of exclamation points to a certain Daddy. (U NEED TO RUN! SANDY KNOWS ROBERT AND JEREMY LIVE CLOSE!!!! IT’S ALL OVER!!!!!!) I switched over to another thread and saw a second message from the number I’d only gotten the night before.
The first one was a smiley face. A goddamn smiley face.
The second read: I’m here! You ready?
No. No, I wasn’t. How was I supposed to face the man who had seen me accidentally deep-throat fruit?
I thought about ignoring it and him. Maybe he would think no one was home and leave and then I would never have to see him again. Even though we worked together. And lived near each other. And—
“Man up,” I muttered. “Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re not Paul. You’re not Sandy. And you sure as shit aren’t Tyson. You got this. You got this.”
Damn right. I was cool. I was suave. I didn’t take shit from no man. And so what if Jeremy had seen me eating a banana? It was just fruit. Everyone did it at some point in their lives!
“Play it nice,” I hissed. “Be smooooth.”
Be right out! ;)
Okay, yes. There was a winky face. I didn’t know why I thought that was necessary. I’d just thrown it out there like it was nothing, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it now. Maybe he’d ignore it.
My phone vibrated again as Jeremy texted back.
;)
“Oh dear god,” I breathed.
I was doomed.
I shoved the phone in my pocket.
I straightened my tie.
I lifted my backpack over my shoulder.
I stared at myself in the mirror.
“Just do it,” I told my reflection. “You aren’t some silly white boy in a romantic comedy of errors or a drama-filled angst-fest about childhood sweethearts. You are Corey motherfucking Ellis, and you are going to rock this shit.”
I nodded firmly and headed toward the door and the great beyond.
“SO YOU like bananas, huh?” Jeremy asked as he pulled away from the curb.
I laughed shrilly. It sounded like someone was fisting a donkey. “Hahahahahah, yeeeeeeah. Just, like, so much! Gotta keep up with my potassium!”
Goddammit.
It didn’t get any better from there.
Chapter 6: The Obligatory Info Dump
A COUPLE of weeks later, not much had changed.
Scratch that.
Things had gotten worse.