We've Got This

The walk from the high school to my elementary school was short, so Tyler gave me a piggy-back ride the entire way. The walk was about ten minutes, and the school was a five-minute walk from the house. “Here we are,” I said as we approached, jumping off Tyler’s back. “Fairview Elementary School. Spent six and a half years at this school,” I said, taking his hand and walking over to the main entrance. “This is where the awkwardness and unfortunate-lookingness began,” I chuckled.

“What do you mean, where the unfortunate-lookingness began? I can’t imagine you looking as bad as you think you looked,” Tyler said, taking a seat on the bench that was off to the side of the front doors.

“Well, let’s see,” I said, sitting down next to him. “Um, I had to start wearing glasses in 4th grade. My teeth started going all askew in 5th grade; I had braces for most of middle school. Uh, boob development wasn’t very fun; I wasn’t a big fan of wearing a bra at first,” I chuckled. “I was just a very awkward kid.”

“I would love to see proof of this awkwardness, because I don’t really believe you,” Tyler said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

“Oh come on, like you weren’t awkward when you were a kid?” I asked, and he shook his head no. “I don’t believe that for a second.” He just smiled cheekily. “So you’re saying that you were just born pretty?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged. “What can I say, some people are just born with it,” he replied with a smirk.

“Oooh, and he’s humble ladies and gentlemen!” I said as I stood up. “Come on, let’s go over to the playground,” I said, offering him my hand, which he happily took.

Luckily for us there were no other people on the playground, so we went over to the swings and sat down. “I haven’t been here in so long,” I said, more to myself than anything. “I used to be able to do flips between the swings, and hang off the monkey bars when I was a kid. I don’t have to best memories from here, or really any at all, but I did have some fun times on this playground.”

Tyler just nodded, taking in what I was saying, and stood up. He then stood in front of me and took the chains of the swing in his hands, gently pushing me back and forth. “Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” I asked, trying not to kick him in the shins.

“For showing me your schools. I think I learned more at those places, through your memories and stories, than I could have if you had just taken me around town. I think I got a better sense of who you are, and who you’ve grown up to be. That means more to me than seeing where you would hang out with your friends and all of that,” he said, grabbing and stopping my swing when I was right in front of him, so I could wrap my legs around his waist.

I smiled up at him. “Well then, I’m glad you enjoyed my little educational tour,” I chuckled, leaning up to kiss him sweetly. He smiled into the kiss and let go of the swing, wrapping his arms around my waist as the swing fell away. I wrapped my legs a little tighter and he lifted me a little higher up his waist as our tongues met in my mouth.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, until we heard footsteps in the woodchips. I then dropped down from Tyler’s waist to see who it was. “Hey Jean.”

I groaned internally and rolled my eyes. “Hello Satan – I mean, Chelsea. What do you want?” I asked.

I was putting some things in my classroom, and I saw you two out here. Who’s this?” she asked, eyeing Tyler lustfully.

“You’re a teacher here now? Oh boy, Satan is going to be teaching small children,” I said snarkily, hoping she would just leave.

“Yes, I’m the new music teacher,” she replied proudly, ignoring my Satan comment. “Now, you want to answer my question? Who’s this fine drink of water?” she asked again.

My grip tightened around his waist and my blood started to boil. “Tyler, this is my ex-best friend that I told you about, Chelsea. Chelsea, this is my boyfriend, Tyler,” I said stiffly.

“You’re not still with Tommy?” she asked, puzzled.

“I broke up with him over a year ago. Why don’t you just get the fuck out of here?”

She ignored that question and turned her attention to Tyler. “I hope you’re not expecting anything from her in the bedroom,” he said, smirking. “She wouldn’t even put out for Tommy, and she was with him for years.”

“How fucking dare you!” I seethed. “What I do and don’t do with my boyfriend is none of your fucking business!” She seemed taken aback from my sudden outburst, so I decided to capitalize. “What? Do you not like it when people use bad words like that? Does mommy not let you use language like that? Are you still following all of their rules?” I asked, talking to her like she was a child.

I saw her face go a little red. “Why are you such a bitch?” she asked. “You never used to be like this.”

I scoffed. “Look in the mirror bitch! You helped make me like this!” I replied, letting go of Tyler and approaching her. Sensing that things were getting out of hand, Tyler tried to stop me, but I pulled away from him. “No!” I shouted at him before turning back to Chelsea. “You have no idea how you made me feel all those years we were friends. I was a way better friend to you than you were to me! I did everything for you! I actually put thought into what I got you for your birthday and Christmas, while you just gave me shit just to get me something! You never did anything for me! You even had the audacity to make fun of me the first time I hurt my knee and needed surgery! You ruined my childhood; you turned me into a compliant follower, and the second that you realized that I actually had a functioning brain, you kicked me to the curb like yesterday’s trash! I fucking hate you!” I screamed.

“Oh yeah? What about you! You used me to take you places and give you rides to school!” she shouted back.

I nodded. “Yes, yes I did. I can be damn manipulative if I want to be! I did that because that was the only way for me to justify being friends with you, you egotistical bitch! You don’t care about anyone but yourself!” I ranted.

“You go ahead and think whatever you want to about me, but here’s a fact; since you wouldn’t put out for Tommy, he came to me. More than once,” she said, a victorious smirk on her face now.

I chuckled evilly and rolled my eyes. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I never slept with him then; you probably gave him something, and he could have given it to me. And you can have him by the way…once he gets out of jail for breaking the restraining order I have against him,” I said, the smirk leaving her face and finding mine. “Look who gets the last laugh now, bitch,” I said, motioning back to Tyler. “You have fun teaching the kids their scales; have an awful life,” I said as I walked away from her and headed for home.

I heard Tyler mumble an awkward ‘nice to meet you’ before he caught up to me. “That was pretty harsh. You okay?” he asked, taking my hand in his.

I nodded. “I actually feel a thousand times better; I’ve been waiting years for that, and I don’t really care if it was harsh or not; I said what I needed to say, and she’s a fucking bitch; she ruined my childhood. I guess that was my closure,” I replied. “But man, it felt good to finally get all of that off my chest,” I chuckled as we headed up the driveway of the house.

“Hi,” I called as we walked into the house.

“Hey, how was everything?” Mom asked as we came into the living room. “Tyler? What did you think of everything?”

“I thought everything was great; I’m really glad she took me around to her schools. Until we ran into someone,” he started, shifting the attention to me.

“We ran into Chelsea,” I said simply, shrugging. “Apparently she’s the new music teacher over at Fairview.”

“And how did talking to her go?” Mom asked.

“I said what I needed to said and was done with it; now I can completely cut her out of my life,” I replied. “Did the doctor call with the results yet?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes, he did. Add torn MCL to the list,” she said. I groaned. “You need to start thinking about when you want to get this done,” she added.

I nodded. “I know, I know. I just don’t want to think about it this weekend,” I replied. “Any plans for dinner?” I asked, getting an apple out of the fridge and taking a big bite.

“And you ask this while eating an apple,” she replied sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes. “No, and dad’s not cooking tonight. Why don’t you take Tyler somewhere?” she suggested.

I looked over at Tyler, who was sitting across from Mom, sipping at a water bottle. “Want to go somewhere for dinner? We could go to Fox & Hound, it’s a sports bar,” I said. “If you want, of course,” I added.

He nodded. “Sure, as long as I drive,” he said, a smirk creeping onto his face. “Have you ever driven with her?” he asked, turning to Mom. “I tell you, I was afraid for my life the entire time we were in the car! She’s a nut job behind the wheel!” he exclaimed, trying not to laugh but failing miserably. I rolled my eyes and headed upstairs. “Oh come on!” I heard him call as I entered my room and shut the door.

I was in the middle of changing my clothes when he knocked on the door. “Hang on a second!” I shouted as I pulled my shirt over my head. When I was done changing I opened the door to see Tyler patiently waiting on the other side.

“You know I was just kidding, right?” he asked. I nodded as I put my shoes on. “You look great, by the way,” he added, “but you really don’t need to; we’re just going to dinner at a bar,” he chuckled.

I shrugged. “Well, I kind of do; I need to look like I’m worthy of getting dinner with Tyler Seguin even if it is just in a sports bar,” I replied as I walked over to my mirror and started in on some concealer and eyeliner. “Some chick could easily try and steal you away from me the second I go to the bathroom or something,” I continued.

He sighed. “No one is gonna steal me from you, I promise,” he said, putting his hands on my waist and turning me around as I finished, pulling me close, and kissing my head. “Anyway, are you almost ready to go?” he asked. I nodded and handed him my car keys. “Wait a second,” he said, staring at me in fake awe. “You’re actually willingly letting me drive?”

I rolled my eyes and nodded. “Yes, I’m letting you drive. It will probably be dark by the time we leave, and it’s harder for me to drive at night; my eyes are really sensitive to car headlights,” I replied. He just nodded and we headed out.

It was only a five minute drive, and when we got there it was already a little busy; it was Friday night after all. However, we luckily didn’t have to wait for a table, and our waitress came over a few minutes after we were seated. “Good evening you guys, can I start you off with some drinks?” she asked, primarily to Tyler; her eyes were glued to him.

“I’ll have a Blue Moon,” I said, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears; she just kept stealing glances at Tyler.

“What can I get you, sweety?” she asked Tyler, inching closer and closer to him every second.

Luckily Tyler could tell I was getting frustrated by what was happening, so he did his best to scoot away from her. “Make that two Blue Moons,” he replied simply, taking my hand in his on top of the table and looking back down at his menu as he spoke.

She didn’t seem to get the hint though. “I’ll be back with those in a sec,” she said, making a point to rub her hand down Tyler’s bicep as she walked away.

“Wow,” I mumbled, looking down at my own menu.

“Is someone jealous?” Tyler asked, trying not to smirk.

“Wouldn’t you be?” I snapped, looking up at him. “My waitress just groped my boyfriend. That’s so inappropriate on so many levels,” I seethed. A second later she came back with our beers, and slipped an extra napkin over to Tyler; it had a phone number on it. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I breathed as she walked away before drinking nearly half my beer in one swig. He just looked at me like I was crazy when I put the bottle down. “I’m okay,” I said. “Really.”

“You sure?” he asked. “We can go somewhere else. Or I can at least get us a different waiter.”

“It’s fine, honest. Just really annoying. And I’m starving, so that doesn’t help much either,” I chuckled. “But I do have a question for you,” I added, folding my hands together on the table.

“Shoot.”

“Don’t you think we’re going a little too fast with this relationship?” I asked a little nervously.

“Do you think we are?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe. It’s just that it’s been two days, and you’ve already met my parents an all of that,” I replied, twiddling my thumbs.

“Well, let me ask a question, and you tell me,” he said, and I waited expectantly. He then leaned in closer, so I knew it had to be either a very serious or awkward question. “Does getting yourself off still trigger your anxiety?” he asked, and I was so taken aback that I started choking on air. I couldn’t speak because I was coughing so badly, so I just gave him a shocked look.

“See, the way I see it,” he started again, sitting back in his chair, “you told me that over the phone. At that point we’d known each other for what? A month? That’s a pretty intimate thing to say to someone. So my answer is no, I don’t think we’re going too fast. We’ve known each other for a few months, so I think we’re going at a decently normal pace for a relationship; we’re just now getting to spend time together and actually test-drive the idea,” he concluded, taking a sip of his beer. “What do you think?”

I took a second to think about it; he had a point. “I guess you’re right,” I replied, giving him a smile. “Where the fuck is our waitress? I don’t care if we still have that slut; I’m starving,” I said again, and Tyler just laughed.

Notes

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