May 31, 2001
The Longest Day and a Half Part Two
Before reading this, make sure you're read Part One.
Mom and Dad are also righteous pissed. There is the usual bitching about my being totally wrapped up in Ryan, he is all I care about, I'm going to marry him and/or have sex... blah blah blah. I've heard it so much I can't even cry about it anymore. I tell them it's not fair to bar me from every social engagement merely because of Ryan's presence. He hangs out with the same people I do. What am I supposed to do? Not go out?
Dad: "Fuck it! Do whatever you want! Fucking go!"
Mom: "Not like asking us does any good anyway, you stupid bitch."
Allright, then. We get home. I heat up my dinner in the microwave. While I am chewing thoughtfully in my room, I hear dad in the next room say something along the lines of this:
Dad: "We're going to have to stop. Because she's going to grow up whether we like it or not. So deal with it. Nothing we can say will change anything now."
Oh, I was glowing. And I didn't stop glowing. Ryan came and picked me up. I got in the car without having been given a time to come home (even though I asked!) and without qualms of being harassed when I got home about all the minute details of my evening. They were still mad, sure, but they had given up. Finally.
So I planned on coming home early, before 12, to prove to them that I'm not stupid and I can make responsible decisions. I mean, I knew I still had to get up early. So I knew not to stay out until ungodly hours. How hard of a fact is that to deduce?
Ryan and I went back to his house, waiting for stupid Lindle and Hampton and Ali. Lindle got there soon afterward, but Hampton didn't show for an hour. And there was no Ali with him.
Needless to say, I wasn't really that happy. I don't like hanging out with just the three stooges. They're idiots. They're perverted. They're male.
But by the time I told Ryan this we were already in the car following them to the laser tag place (which was what we were doing instead of going to Hampton's house) and we couldn't get Lindle to stop. Ryan blinked his lights at him, but Lindle isn't very smart and thought we were playing a game. He blinked back. And Ryan didn't have enough gas to take us up there, then me home, then come back. So I was resigned to just go, even if it meant a night rich with testosterone.
So we drive for about a half hour and then pull off on an exit. We're driving. We're driving. And then Lindle veers off and we're pulling into a drive, the two cars lit with a horrible orange illumination...
I have been in a Hooter's parking lot. That is as close as I ever, ever want to get. Ryan seems baffled, and I follow him out of the car. Lindle and Hampton look innocently at me.
Lindle: "Jill, I just thought we could get some wings."
At this point I tackled him. I kicked him and tripped him and he bit me. I was pissed. On one hand it was hysterically funny, but on the other I fell for it way too easy. Why else would they invite me out somewhere with them? To fuck with me. As usual.
So they're all three laughing their asses off (yes, Ryan, too, but more on him later), so I stalk off to the car. I get in. I sit down. I slam the door. A few minutes later they come over all innocent, Ryan looking at me with those stupid puppy dog eyes. Anger and Laughter battled eachother inside me.
Ryan: "Are you pissed?"
Me: "Yes."
Ryan: (sigh)
Lindle: "We really did come for the wings."
A few moments later I realized Ryan had been in on the joke, they had planned this, and that I should loosen up. That's allright, though, 'cause Ryan will suffer for it. Oh, he will. He just doesn't know it yet. Needless to say, I made us leave Hooter's. We drove over to the Laser Tag place and it's closed. So we went to this weird restaurant called Bennigan's and I had ice cream and Lindle had ribs of death and Ryan and Hampton had appetizers. They played with the table decorations and I explained to them the intricacies of fork etiquette. They managed to tell every sick, perverse, and wholly hysterical masculine joke possible. I really do need to hang out with girls more.
On the ride home Ryan is being exceptionally morose and withdrawn. He won't tell me what's the matter. Apparently nothing.
Ryan: "So, did you have fun?"
Me: "Yes, if reluctantly."
He chuckles. Barely. Spends the rest of the car ride not responding to my jokes. I give up and ruffle his hair.
I kiss his forehead when I leave and ease his head onto my shoulder a moment. He looks at me with those huge, sad eyes again. Sighing, I depart.
Mom and Dad are in bed. I go to sleep with curiousities about tomorrow stirring about in my head.
astera at still in limbo