Man. I woke up Sunday morning, feeling like my body was spinning in circles around my head. The way I felt didn’t even qualify as a damn hangover. It was just painful. I woke up lying halfway in Alicia’s bed, halfway on the floor, wearing nothing but a pair of socks, so I’m pretty sure that I just fucked up – big time. And considering the fact that this is the first time I’ve had sex in years, and I was drunk, it’s probably safe to say that I fucked up in more ways than one. Regardless, my biggest problem was bound to be calling soon, and I had no idea what to say to her. How do I tell my girlfriend of five years that I cheated on her? …Or do I tell her at all?
"Justin!" Alicia’s raspy, Southern voice resonated through the halls, calling my name from what sounded like the bathroom upstairs.
I wish I could’ve yelled back in response, but I think the vibration of my lungs against my body would have caused my head to explode. So, I threw on my boxers and very slowly walked up the steps, entering our red, white and blue bathroom area. "Yeah?" I froze when I saw the silhouette of her body standing in one of the three shower stalls. I can’t believe I really hit that.
"I left my shower shoes in my room. Could you go get them for me?"
Yeah, if I can hop in there with you when I come back. "Yeah, sure," I obliviously replied, watching the outline of her ass as she bent over. Man, I hope everyone comes back soon. I hiked back to her room as quickly as I could to retrieve her yellow flip-flops and dashed back upstairs, in spite of my headache, anxious to drool over my roommate. "How are you feeling?" I asked, passing the shoes behind the translucent shower curtain.
"I’m okay. I just got a little headache. How ‘bout you?"
"Same. I just wanted to make sure that we were still cool and everything."
"Yeah, don’t worry. I remember everything."
"Everything?"
"Yup."
"Oh…" I turned just in time to see one of our cameramen, Jackson, walking into the bathroom, and I thought I should get the hell out of there before this moment ended up on some fucked up MTV promo where they’ll make it look like I’m getting into the shower with her, or something crazy like that. "I’ll be downstairs, all right?"
"Yeah. I’ll be out in a minute."
I quickly escaped the camera lens and made it back downstairs to the Red Room to clear all my stuff out before everyone returned. The last thing I needed was for everyone to come in with their rumors and speculation when I’m trying to figure out what to do with Missy.
The kitchen, with the blue countertop still containing the open mayonnaise jar from the evening before, was cold and messy, but I was too hung over to care. I pulled a semi-clean bowl from the red dishwasher and poured a mountain of cereal into it, only to realize that we had no milk. Of course I still ate the shit anyway – even though the crunch of the Cheerios wasn’t helping my headache.
Not long after, Alicia joined me at the dining room table in an unusually good, but quiet mood. "Is that all the cereal?" she sighed.
I nodded, staring at the overflowing garbage can where the big yellow box sat at the top of the pile. "Sorry."
"I’m tired," she announced.
"What time did you wake up?"
"I dunno. Maybe close to ten." She glanced at the microwave and then back to my cereal bowl. "What ti—."
"What ti—." We both began, simultaneously. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"Nah, you can go," she smiled timidly.
"No, go ahead."
"I was just gonna ask what time everyone was getting back."
"I was about to ask the same thing."
"It’s pretty boring around here without them."
"Oh, so I bore you?" I jokingly asked.
"I ain’t say nothin’ like that."
I smiled at her and chuckled. "Actually, you did."
"Well you know I didn’t mean it that way."
"No, I know. I was just kidding. It is weird not having them around."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," I trailed off. Yep, this is pretty awkward. "So um, what are you doing today?"
"I dunno. What are you doing?"
"I dunno. What are you doing?"
"You just asked me that," she grinned.
"Oh, yeah."
She sighed again and stared out of the window behind us. "So, are we gonna talk about this, or act like it didn’t happen?"
"Talk about what?"
"You know – last night."
I’d love to talk about it, but I don’t know what to say. "Sure, let’s talk about it."
"Well, I…" Just as she began to speak, the strident sound of the one and only Usher reverberated throughout the foyer.
"Honey! I’m home!" he exclaimed, sounding more like Lucy than Ricky Ricardo. "Now, where y’all at?"
I rolled my eyes at his impeccable timing (note the sarcasm), and got up from the table, following Alicia to greet everyone.
"Licia!" he screamed. "I missed you, baby!"
She wrapped herself in his embrace, agreeing. "I missed you, too, boy!"
"Justin, get over here," he finally said to me, hugging me anxiously. "I see you’re still alive."
"Barely," I laughed. "How was your trip?"
"Oh, it was amazing. Britney’s mom hooked us up!"
"That sounds hot," Licia beamed. "Where’s everyone else?"
"Girl, they’re tryin’ to find a parking space outside. You know I had to get in here and make sure my two favorite people were still all right. I can’t believe you didn’t kill each other!"
Oh, but we did a few other things. "Yeah, well."
Alicia and I chuckled nervously while Usher stared at us suspiciously. "So are you getting along now?"
"Yeah, we’re cool," she ensured him. She gave me an awkward look, as if I was supposed to know what the hell to say, and then pulled Usher further into the house, towards the living room. "So, tell me all about your trip, Ursh. I wanna hear every detail."
I watched them disappear and stood at the front door while the four remaining roommates drove in circles around Prospect Street, waiting for a space big enough for our car. Sunday morning – not gonna happen.
::::::::::
Late into that afternoon, the seven of us decided to do some long-overdue sightseeing. We’ve been here for weeks and we haven’t even made it to the damn Washington Monument yet. So yes, we decided not to bask in our lethargy and, at Brit’s insistence, venture into the city of Washington, DC. Bundled up tight in our coats and closely-knit group, we strolled down Pennsylvania Avenue, searching for the Smithsonian.
The seven of us took a break, stopping at a hot dog stand for a little nourishment before we continued our hike through the snowy chaos of the small city. I was downing my third hot dog and waiting for Alicia to garnish my fourth, when Adam pulled me away from the entire group. "I gotta talk to you, dude."
"What’s up?" I asked in alarm and a little confusion.
"Dude, you and Alicia are freaking me out. What is going on?"
"Um, is now really the best time to discuss this?" I looked back at the rest of the group, seemingly engaged in things other than us. But still…
"I can’t stand back and watch it anymore. What the hell is up with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You’re getting along all of a sudden. It’s weird. What’s up?"
"Well you guys did leave us alone for two days. We kind of had to get along."
"Okay. Yeah," he blinked, "but what happened?"
"We talked, man."
"And?"
"And we’re straight now."
"So you’re just not gonna tell me?"
"I’m telling you," I laughed. "That’s all there is to it."
"So then what’s up with all the weird looks between you two?"
"Adam. Bro. I think your imagination is running away with you."
"Dude, come on. Everybody can sense it."
I scoffed at his accusations, hoping he’d buy it. Damn, were we that obvious? "All I can tell you is that we talked, sorted everything out, and we’re cool now."
"So, are you cool like ‘me and you’ cool, or cool like ‘me and Lindsay’ cool?"
"I don’t even know what kinda cool you and Lindsay are, but I’m pretty sure that ain’t me and Licia."
"Okay. I get it. It’s a secret. But I bet you Alicia is gonna tell Usher, and then he’ll tell everyone else."
As he returned to where he’d previously stood, at Britney’s side, I kind of took in his words, contemplating whether or not that was possible. I mean, Alicia knows that I have a girlfriend, so she knows that she can’t tell anyone, right? And, even though she’s in one of those ‘open relationships’ with her boyfriend, she wouldn’t want that news to get to him, right? Or, maybe I’m just making too big a deal out of all this. It was just one drunk night that won’t happen again because we’re just friends, right? Because I don’t have any additional, non-platonic feelings for her, right?
Wrong.
::::::::::
It was pretty late when we arrived back in Georgetown. We stopped for dinner and Lindsay had us check out this weird club that showcased country acts. I like country as much as the next guy, but that shit was… it was weird.
But, when we got in, I decided that I needed to do a little confessing – and what better place to do that than the confessional? I raced up the escalator and up to the third floor, hoping that no one made it in there before me. But damn, I hadn’t even gotten to the West Wing when I heard Usher rambling about only God knows what. But then, I heard my name, so I listened.
"Alicia and Justin. Lord, I don’t know what to say about them. Personally, I think that while we were gone they did a little somethin’, if you know what I mean. But whatever it is, they’re tryin’ really hard to cover it up. I think Justin is starting to like Alicia, but he doesn’t know how to let go of the high school sweetheart. Oh honey, you’ll figure it out once you realize that you gotta live with Alicia for two and a half more months."
I couldn’t help but laugh at Usher’s projections, even if I should have been taking them to heart. I stood there trying to convince myself that he was wrong, but the truth of the matter is, he was probably right. I paced around the Vermeil Room, shooting around the pool balls while Usher continued his ranting and raving about the wonder of New York City. I know I say it all the time, but that dude is a trip.
"Hey you," he startled me, coming out of the confessional, as I’d gotten wrapped up in my solitary game of 9-Ball. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. Why?"
"You seemed a little out of it today."
"Did I?"
"Yeah, unless you were talkin’ to Licia."
I chuckled, knowing where he was trying to go with that. "Nah, I’m fine."
"Okay. Well, the West Wing is all yours."
"Thanks, man." It wasn’t until I heard his footsteps against the staircase that I decided to do my confessing. I didn’t need anyone to hear what I was about to say. Very cautiously, I walked into the dim room and flipped the light switch that they say begins the session. Those producers are liars, ‘cause you always hear Real World-ers complaining about how the confessional camera is always on. But whatever – I do the switch thing anyway.
"So," I sighed, "Alicia and me – me and Alicia. We – well, last night, we had sex. And now, I’m kind of lost. I know that the right thing to do, hands down, is to just tell Missy the whole truth and whatever happens, happens. But I’m wondering if it’s worth breaking her heart over something that’s so incredibly insignificant – I mean, we were drunk. And if I promise myself that it’ll never happen again, then it’s okay, right? Well, not okay, but—," I paused when I heard the doorknob of the confessional turn.
Behind the door stood a semi-shy Alicia with a pink shade of discomfiture covering her gorgeous face. "Usher told me you were up here."
"I’m kind of in the middle of something," I smiled back.
"I know, but I thought that this would be the only place we’d be able to talk."
"Umm. Yeah, we can talk. Sure."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Come here," I encouraged, patting my lap. "Have a seat."
She grinned, resembling a flustered kid on Christmas, and sat down on the right side of my lap. "So what are you talking about in here?"
"I was talking about you. And me. And stuff?"
"And Missy?"
"Yeah."
"It’s okay. I talked about you. And me. And Missy. And Jeff. – When I woke up this morning."
"What did you say?"
"I said that I should probably just completely break it off with Jeff, since I’m not really feelin’ it right now, you know?"
"That’s probably a smart thing to do."
"Yeah," she nodded to me, and then to the camera. "And I talked about how I kinda felt bad that I’m responsible for you cheating on Missy."
"Really?"
"No," she laughed. She gave me a peck on the forehead, which was adjacent to her lips. "No, but I did say that life kinda sucks for your girlfriend right now."
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her honesty. That was one of the best things she had going for her… among other things, I realized, as her ass settled into my crotch. "And what else?"
"Well, I just told the camera what I always tell it. – I like you."
"I like you, too," I admitted. "I didn’t wanna say it, but I really do." It’s true.
"I know you do. It was only a matter of time."
"Oh, really?"
"Apparently."
"Yeah..."
"When we first got here, I was telling the camera that it was only a matter of time before the two of us were in here making out."
"But we’re not making out," I laughed.
At that moment, making another one of her notorious first moves, Alicia devoured my lips with hers. She didn’t even waste any time thrashing her tongue into my mouth. And so, as it turns out, she was right. And I was still doing wrong.
On the next Real World :: Sparks fly between Justin and Christina... but not in a good way :: Does Missy finally find out the truth? :: And Alicia shows her softer side. ::
Author's Chapter Notes:
From Justin's point of view.
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