Hey There, Delilah

Ch26 •Hate The player not the Game•

Tyler called to let me know who the girls were. Apparently they were "super chill" and "hot as fuck." Personally, I didn't Even care if they were a Delilah look alike, it felt wrong to even consider going on a date this early.

Tyler kept dancing around the fact that he was going on a date. I assumed this was his way of coping, but it wasn't healthy. Whenever he cried, he would try to suppress any emotions, and hide his tears with his arm. Grief to him was something to be ashamed of and not something to work through.

I wanted so badly to say no to Tyler, but I knew he needed someone by his side when he went through the most awkward date of his life. He let me know that the girl he had a fling with a while ago was asking if he wanted to go on a date, and her friend would come along if I was interested. I told Tyler a hesitant "Sure", and he abruptly ended the phone call. "Alright." I always spoke to myself, especially about things that occurred in my life. Because my mind was a jumbled mess of fucked up thoughts and feelings, speaking aloud gave me some sort of order for my thoughts to follow.

My last date hadn't gone that well, and there was no reason to expect this one would be any better. Tyler was nervous, and the three of us were along for the ride. The night of the arrangement was even more tense and unenjoyable. Tyler was sweating profusely and couldn't control it. "THIS IS MY THIRD FUCKING SHIRT I'VE SWEATED THROUGH. DAMNIT!!" He unbuttoned it in a frenzy, and then threw it in the pile along with the other dampened shirts. "Ty, you gotta chill. You don't have to go if you're this nervous, the girls wouldn't care. I wouldn't care." I tried to calm him down, but it was no use. "NO IT'S NOT NERVES, CASON. IT'S SO FUCKING HOT IN HERE. 70? 70 DEGREES! THEY TRYING TO BOIL ME ALIVE? WHAT THE FUCK!" I kept peering down the hallway to see if his parents were going to react to the outburst of their son.

The only reactions they had were turning up the volume of the remote. "Ty, just turn it down then. It's going to be fine." I tried to handle the situation the best I could. He tugged on his pants, his sleeves, and on his ruffled hair. He kept trying to catch a breath, but he put himself in such a frenzy that it was difficult to calm down. "Shower? Maybe a cold one?" He kept pushing past me with no direction or no reason for stammering around. "You good? You drunk?" I was nearly speaking to myself. I was worried to annoy him too much, so I kept myself up against the hallway wall. "NO CASON, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" This time Tyler's mom did slowly approach the hallway arch. "Everything okay? Tyler what's the matter, honey?"

Tyler crumbled in his mom's arms, and began quietly crying. "I can leave, I'll give ya'll privacy." I still spoke at a whisper. She waved her hand slightly, basically saying it was all good for me to witness her son's mental break down. Her body was in the way of the arch. There was no escape. I didn't want to stare right at them while she tried to console him, but there wasn't many things to look at. I gave the dustball by the bathroom door a hard stare, and then moved my attention over to the pile of shirts that Tyler had thrashed around. I felt like I was witnessing "Untamed and Un-cut." I had never wanted to go sit alone in my room more than I did in that moment.

Tyler slowly pulled back from his mom's hug, and sniffled loudly. "I'm okay. I'm sorry, Cason." After patting him on the back, Tyler's mom returned to the family room. "So the date is still on?" I asked as hopefully sounding as I could, even though I prayed he would say no. "Yep!" He let out an overly exaggerated cheer and continued getting ready. This was going to suck major balls, but the least I could do as a good friend was suck those balls along side him.