Jason and Marty proceeded to laugh so long and hard after that, it caused our waitress to stop and stare at us while she served our food. I felt like an asshole, but I knew it shouldn't have affected me. "We gotta go, Mel," I told her once the food was in front of us and the waitress had left. "I'll see you at home, okay?"
"Hey, why you gotta kill the party, J?" Jason asked me, propping up the phone on the table so Melanie would still be able to be heard. "I like the girl, not exactly sure what she does for you, but she's still cool."
"I'm his sanity supervisor," she told him.
I smiled, remembering that I had called her that the first night we kissed. She'd been so confused as to what her status was with me, it was the best thing I could come up with at the time. I never expected her to use it in front of my friends though. Jason and Marty really seemed to like her though, and I was happy about that. It meant that I didn't have to worry as much as I thought, that I could bring them around her and they'd all get along just fine.
"Well he needs it," Marty said. "Trace is real organized and stuff, Melanie, but I don't know...I'd be afraid to see him get all sentimental. Sometimes Justin needs a woman's touch, if you know what I mean."
"I'm pretty sure I do...and I'm not sure who just said that, but I'm going to get off this phone before I can let any more of your ridiculous humor hit my ears. Goodbye guys, I'll see you later Justin, behave Trace."
She hung up then, not letting us get another word in. I breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing the conversation could have gone a lot worse. Of course I knew I wouldn't get her true opinion about the situation until I got home, but I figured if anything, she would tell me that she could tolerate Jason and Marty again if she had to. And I knew she would have to. I was going on tour, after all.
"I like her a lot," Marty smiled at me after awhile. "Justin, you shouldn't have been so timid. You could have brought her here with you."
"Whoa, slow down," I told him. "I haven't seen you guys in forever."
"You could have done that too," Jason pointed out, casually.
"Yeah," I frowned. "Thanks, Jason."
"Hey, I'm just stating my opinion," he said, as he began to dig around in his salad with his fork. "I mean, I'm glad to see you J, and I fully expect to start getting back on track with our work out program within a week or so. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, but fuck brother, if you ever pull this shit again, we're done."
The table fell silent again. I glanced at Trace, but naturally he was too busy stuffing his face with food to pay attention to me. I knew he heard what had been said, but I was sure he agreed with it anyway. Marty also look solemn, and while I knew he would never have been as blunt with me in a public place, I was sure he felt the same way.
"We were gonna ask you guys to come by the house next weekend to watch the game," Trace threw in, apparently sensing that my confidence was declining rapidly. "Remember, Justin?"
"Oh..." I eyed him a little, knowing that was never the case, but I should agree in order to brighten the mood. "Yeah. I mean, y'all should. It'll be a good time. Mel will be there."
"Yeah and you guys can meet my girlfriend too," Trace reminded them. "She's a lot of fun."
"Sounds pretty cool," Marty nodded. "You down, Jason?"
He sighed a little. I knew part of him still wanted to be stubborn and tell me I was going to have to work hard to get him to respect me that much again, but he just didn't seem to have it in him. I assumed that while he was angry I'd been ignoring him, he knew I'd been through something really bad, and wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah, I guess so," he agreed, finally. "Maybe Melanie can try to Tae Bo me or some shit."
"Don't count on it," I laughed.
"She reserves that for when Justin is being an asshole," Trace nodded.
"You should be pretty beat up then," Marty informed me.
"Shut up."
The rest of lunch had gone like that, the four of us picking on each other, and discussing what the following year held in store. Marty and Jason wanted to know about the radio interview, the new single, and what else I'd be doing to promote the rerelease. I was glad they were so into starting fresh. For a long time, I convinced myself that they were against it. That they were done with me.
But I guess now I know who my real friends have always been.
We parted ways shortly after, and Jason made me promise to call him and let him know what was going on with the get together at my house, before giving me a light hug goodbye. I was surprised, pointed out that big bad Jason was actually being sentimental, and he threatened to kick me in the balls. Yeah, that was Jason, and I was glad to have him back, even though I knew it would take a little more time to get him to completely trust me again.
"Hey, Trace," I said to him, once we were safely back inside his car.
"Yea." He didn't look at me as he started to toy with the cd player.
"I'm um...sorry you know, for overreacting."
He just shrugged. "Yeah, well, don't say I never did anything for you."
I just smiled. "If you hadn't dragged me here under false pretenses, I don't know when I would have built up the guts to do this. I don't know, you always seem to have the answers Trace. You always seem to know what's right for me and what's not. Seriously, man, I owe you."
He smiled, but didn't meet my gaze, and I noticed that his hands had started to grip the steering wheel a little tighter. "Yeah. I'll keep that in mind."
He didn't say much to me the rest of the way home, and while it was a little strange, while I thought he would have started to talk to me about Tarin and tell me if they'd resolved their issue, I figured it was for the best. A lot had happened that afternoon. My emotions had been fucked around with and I knew I was still a little bit edgy, despite the fact that I wasn't angry with Trace anymore. I knew it was better just to let the day blow over, and talk to him after we'd both been able to completely clear our heads.
He dropped me off inside my gate, and we said a short goodbye to each other before he sped off. I asked him to stay for a little while and say hi to Melanie, but he seemed adamant that he had to get home. I didn't ask questions. I guess I just didn't care. I wanted to go inside and talk to Melanie, make sure she wasn't annoyed about having to talk to my friends for all that time without warning.
I walked into the house and into the living room, smiling when I spotted her lounging in the large leather recliner, arms crossed above her head, her gaze intently fixed on the television. "Hey," I smiled.
"Wait." She stated in a daze, and let me stand there for a good ten minutes so her soap could end. Then she smiled and flicked the TV off, before looking over at me. "Hey," she said softly, lowering her arms down so she could rest her hands in her lap. "Did you have a good time?"
I shrugged and slowly crossed the room, so I could sit down on the part of the sofa that was closest to the recliner. "As good of a time as I could have had," I chuckled, trying to remain composed for her. The truth was, I was tense as hell. Even though she'd been calm, and funny on the phone with Jason, it didn't mean she wasn't annoyed. I was just waiting for her to start griping about what I'd done, and I wanted to be able to talk to her rationally about it rather than flip out and bark at her that she couldn't understand my friends because she didn't know them.
"Hmm." She eyed me knowingly. "You know, your friends are a riot, Justin."
I just sighed. "Mel, I didn't..."
"They seem like really cool guys to hang around."
I looked up at her in surprise, because she seemed okay with everything. I mean, she was smiling at me like she was happy I'd gotten out and had lunch with my friends, and that she'd been included in our conversation. I didn't understand. It wasn't like her to take the level of immaturity Marty and Jason had tossed at her so well. "You mean you're not mad?"
"Justin," she laughed. "Why would I be mad? I know that I'm a weirdo sometimes, but I understand that guys play around and like to joke. It was a harmless phone conversation, and I didn't take it seriously. I actually liked joking around with them. I just didn't know you had other close friends other than...well, Trace."
Maybe I was jumping the gun, but I couldn't help but think Melanie really liked Jason and Marty too. It was a great thing. It meant I could broaden my little circle of friends, have football and basketball parties on the weekends like I'd done in the past. I hadn't been able to bring Kerri around Marty and Jason all that often. When we were together, I was working too much to have a casual Friday night with the two of them, and Kerri was so anti social that I found myself simply staying inside behind closed, locked doors with her all the time. Melanie wasn't like that. She was open to new things, to watching my life grow, and change in a positive way.
And I knew that if she could get along with Jason and Marty, that my family would love her too. That our relationship...when it became an exclusive thing, would be accepted. I hadn't realized just how likable Melanie was, because I'd never seen her interact with anybody else other than Trace. But...the girl had a personality. She was playful, knew what to say to knock Jason's rambunctious attitude down a few notches, and I knew that when she got to talk to Marty a little bit more, she'd be able to match his sarcasm in a way that would make him want to pop open a beer with her.
Not that Melanie is a beer popper.
It was as if I reached a new level of existence. No longer did I have to worry about what my best friends and family thought about me. Their stares weren't trying to determine if I was "odd" or "gay or "weak". They were curious. They wanted to know how I was bettering my life, and they were happy for me. Proud of me.
I was never going to let them slip out of my life again.
I told her that I wanted to invite Jason, Marty, and Trace over next weekend for some basketball and buffalo wings. Much to my surprise, she actually seemed happy that I wanted to surround us with new friends, loud noises, and too much junk food. She only reminded me to make sure I gave her a shopping list of the food we would need, and make sure to help her get the house in order so Marty and Jason wouldn't walk into a pile of dirty underwear.
Yeah, it'll be fun. I think for the first time in a really really long time, I'll be able to kick back and act like myself a full one hundred percent. Kerri won't be there to cry to me, tell me she's scared, or act like a fuckin leech. I'll be better because of it.
I don't need her, or her fucking forgiveness right now
I'm moving on with my life.
Story Tags: justinandtrace
