One House Behind | ✓

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐚

Tanner

By the time I woke up, it was already the afternoon. I didn't have classes today and so I slept the day away. Checking my phone, I saw it was a message from Tina. I had met Tina in one of my classes, and because the teacher had put our emails on a page and sent it to all of us, she had grabbed mine. We had talked occasionally as we needed help with the homework.

Tina (Eng)

Hey, are you awake yet?

Me

just woke up, what ya need?

Tina (Eng)

Did you understand the prompt? I know this one is easy but I can't seem to start it

I decided to just call her. Texting it out or sending pictures was taking too much time and I figured that we could have just talked over the phone. Waiting for a second, I heard the phone ring before it was connected.

"Okay, I get it, laugh at me. I don't have great creative skills so poetry is out of the question. This is why I don't read books, they confuse me."

"I don't know either, I am the least creative person alive. But I asked my girlfriend to describe it to me, or at least give me the central ideas, and she said that it was about grief. So that's what I wrote about and we learned that he lost a lot of women in his life so it's understanding that a main point of his is grief."

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"That's what you took out of that?" I laughed.

I hadn't realized that I called Shelly my girlfriend. She was but we hadn't established titles. We didn't need to and for that, I ignored the shocked tone in Tina's voice.

"I'm sorry but someone as hot as you having a girlfriend and being loyal is...weird?"

"What do you mean loyal? Of course, I am. I'm with her, it's not that hard to stay loyal."

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that someone who knows they have good looks is just going to stay with one girl? Wait! Does she know you talk to me? Does she know I have your email and number?

You are waiting for me to get beaten up, huh? How old is she? Please don't tell me you like sugar mommas. She better be like eighteen or seventeen."

"She's seventeen. She's turning eighteen soon though."

"How pretty is she? You got a picture you could send?"

"How do I know you won't threaten her?"

I had a feeling Tina wasn't like that but it still applied. Shelly wouldn't get mad at me for having her number either. We both knew that I was going to be getting more as college life meant keeping in touch with other people too. If she got numbers that were guys, I couldn't be mad either.

Although it did make me jealous.

"I won't caveman. Send it, now!"

I picked one that had both of us. I didn't want to mislead Tina, even if it didn't seem like that, but it was a precaution. If she saw how happy I was with Shelly and how I looked at her maybe she wouldn't want to get with me. I felt cocky thinking that.

"She's so tan. What's her name? It's something like Penelope huh? I can imagine that, Tanner and Penelope."

"No, it's actually Tanner and Shelly. I think that's her real name too/"

"Shelly," Tina tested out her name, "I like it. It's unique and reminds me of the ocean."

"I know what you mean. Or like the gas station," I laughed.

Then regretted it. In a way, I was making fun of her. I shook it off as just a playful thing to say.

"So, do you understand the prompt better now?"

"Oh, that, right. Uh, I didn't actually call you for that. I was thinking of asking you out but then you said girlfriend and then I gave up."

"Oh."

"Don't worry, I'm not like girls in high school. I'm mature and there's this other gu-"

"Am I your backup?" I felt my eyebrow quirk.

"You were actually number one, he's the backup!"

"Let you tell it."

"I'm serious. I'm sure that if we were still going to school that I would end up having doodled your name everywhere and then blushed almost all the time. I'm a school girl when it comes to crushes but not when it comes to liking a taken guy. It's wrong to be a reason for a breakup and I'm not doing it."

"Are we still good? I don't think I'd make it through this year without you."

"Is that all you want to say? Yes! We are fine! Okay, I have to go, I'll talk to you later."

"Later."

Pulling my phone from my ear, I saw I got a text from Shelly. My lips stretched into a wide smile as I tapped on it. I placed my phone down for a second as I put my computer in front of me. She had wanted to video chat. Calling her, she picked up on the first ring.

"Hey."

"Hey back," she laughed.

"What did you do today?"

"I just finished class. It's so stressful having to take all of your AP classes on the same day. Why can't this illness take me out now?"

"Because I want to be with you. Which reminds me, we have to talk about something."

"Don't say it like that bully! You know what you imply with that right?"

Her lip was caught between her teeth. I still had yet to know what they felt like. I shook my head at her.

"It means that this," she motioned to both of us, "is over. Don't say those words unless you want us to stop talking forever."

"Never," I looked directly at the camera to show her I was positive.

And I wasn't planning on leaving her. Never would I do such a thing. I don't think I liked her enough to separate us as Edward did with Bella. I internally laughed.

Twilight was now our inside joke.

******

A/N:

I never thought I'd be learning about Edgar Allan Poe my freshman year of college but I did. So Tanner is doing that too!

The poem is A Dream Within A Dream