Beyond the Reasons || JUSTIN FOLEY

Nine

FLASHBACK
MONET'S CAFE
IMOGEN'S POV

"Oh, my god, MiMo! I've never felt that way with sex before, have you?" Jessica asked me. She of course told me her experience with the dildo that I left for her to use, and I understood exactly how she felt. Understanding and figuring out what you like on your own time, and giving yourself pleasure. It's a whole different feeling than sex. Sometimes. . it's a better feeling.

"It's like you have complete control over your own body, isn't it?" I said, and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, exactly!" She said.

"It's just different when you're by yourself. No need to worry about making some embarrassing face." I said, shaking my head, and Jess started laughing.

"Oh my gosh, and if your boobs are doing something weird." She said, which made us both laugh and then I took a deep breath. Now it was my confession time.

"Except. . uh. . so the last time I, you know. . did that. There was this one part that didn't totally feel healthy." I said.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked.

"I started thinking about someone that I shouldn't have." I said, looking down at my coffee cup. I started thinking about Justin. . wait, no scratch that. Not only did I think about him, but when I reached my climax, I actually said his name. Of course, my parents weren't home and the boys were in the out-house so no one heard me, but I said Justin's name.

Multiple times.

"Oh, MiMo. ." She trailed.

"Someone really bad for me, Jess. It's fucked up." I said, and Jess shook her head.

"Hey, it's whatever. It was just a fantasy, right? It didn't mean anything, did it?" She asked, and I sighed. I know that she knows exactly who I'm talking about, but I'm glad she's not disclosing his name. Especially because we're at Monet's, and he's currently here for his shift, so I wouldn't want him to overhear his name.

"Well, I think it's part of this whole thing of, like. . taking back control of my own body, you know? Rewriting my own story." I said, and she nodded her head.

"Right. Yeah, like. . you have to think about this person in order to get them out of your system for good." Jessica said, and I nodded my head. That had to be it, right?

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe that's it."

―

MOTEL
THIRD PERSON'S POV

After receiving a text from Bryce Walker, Justin met him at the motel he asked him to, and when he walked through the gate that was next to the pool, Bryce was opening a beer, which wasn't a surprise to him. "What the fuck is this place?" Justin asked as he approached Bryce at the table.

"Ah, Mom won't let me drink at home anymore." Bryce said, which is understandable since he's not 21.

"What's up? What do you want?" Justin asked.

"Sit down. Grab a beer." Bryce said, gesturing to one of the many bottles that he had on the table, but Justin wasn't in the mood for sitting down and catching up. He only came because Bryce's text was specific.

"You said it was important. You said it was about Imogen." Justin said. Bryce leaned forward and grabbed another beer, and opened it with a bottle cap opener.

"It's about Imogen. It's about us. It's about a lot of shit. Sit." Bryce said, putting the beer back down.

"No, fuck you. What about Imogen?" Justin asked.