Give Me Therapy

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The sound of voices startled me awake. I sat up straight and found myself alone in my makeshift bedroom, assuming Jack left sometime after I crashed. I rubbed my eyes and noticed that they were still swollen from crying. I turned my attention to a radio clock realizing it’s only been an hour since I fell asleep. I stood up from the bed and found myself pressing my ear against the door, trying to listen in to what the guys were saying.

“I can’t believe I was so stupid and didn’t even know it was her!” I heard Alex groan. I wondered if he just got back from our confrontation in the alley.  “Whoa, hold up, what are you talking about?” Zack asked with confusion in his voice. “He’s talking about how Dawn is Isis,” Jack piped in matter-of-factly.

“Wait, you knew?” Alex asked with disbelief.

 “I sort of just knew it in the back of my mind, but it didn’t click until the concert,” Jack said.  “Wait a hot second, Dawn is Isis? Like, Isis from Maryland?” Rian joined in.

“Yeah and she’s pissed,” Alex added in with something choking his words.

“Why? What did we do?” Zack’s voice sounded farther back, as if he sat down on the couch. “Stood her up, ditched her, chose to forget about her, never bothered calling, left her on what we knew was an important night for her. Need I say more?” Jack sighed.

“It’s not like we meant for any of that to happen,” Alex said as I heard his footsteps wander back and forth, pacing. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” Jack added. “Dude, don’t make me feel like anymore of a dick fucker then I do already,” Alex said as his voice was weighed down with guilt. “Well we deserve to feel like shit and worse,” Jack said.

“Okay, I can’t be the only one who’s stuck on the fact that Dawn is Isis right? I mean, she’s the same girl that used to beat me at rock paper scissors for the last slice of pizza?” Rian asked, still trying to add it up in his mind.  “Yeah, she just changed her name or something. Next time you see her, just look at her. I mean, after a while you just sort of. . . I don’t know. Remember?” Jack sputtered.

I opened the door as quietly as I could; trying to watch the scene as the guys wallowed in their revelation. I felt a pinch of pain, but I almost had a feeling of great relief and even joy.  Jack was sitting on the couch next to Rian while Alex was pacing back and forth with a look that almost made you think he was a man heading to the gallows. Then there was Jack who was leaning back in a chair, staring blankly at the floor under his feet. I looked at Rian whose face was screwed up in concentration. I watched as the realization smoothed the creases in his forehead. “Oh,” he said softly.

“Well what are we suppose to do?” Zack asked. “What do you mean?” Alex asked as he put both hands on the top of his own head, trying to rid himself of nervous energy. “I mean, what do we do? We all know how awkward it’s going to be tomorrow when she wakes up. We can’t just pretend we don’t know who she is; we also can’t just pick up where we left off. Can we?” Zack leaned forward, thinking to himself as he spoke aloud. The guys looked around at each other, hoping that someone would have the answer.

“No way are we going to just pretend tonight never happened, and no way are we going to just ‘pick up where we left off’. I say we kiss major ass for a while and hope for the best. It’s the least we could do,” Jack finally threw out the idea. Zack nodded in consideration, Rian ran a hand over his shaved head, and Alex just stopped pacing. “I need to talk to her.” Alex turned around and started walking to my room. I jumped back as fast as I could, and burrowed under the sheets. As quickly as I could I arranged the bed and lied down, pretending I was still asleep.