Building Friction (Part 10)

I  received a call offering me a six week subbing gig at a local high school, filling in for a World Civics teacher who was out on maternity leave. The income was going to be a great addition, so I signed on and showed up the next morning,  then instantly regretted the decision. The students were unruly and the teacher apparently taught the lousiest excuse for college prep kids that I'd ever seen. They assessed me in 10 seconds and decided that I was too young to be doing what I was doing. The girls barely hid their catty remarks behind their hands, and by lunch I had been "accidentally" brushed across the ass by 4 different male students.

By the time that I hobbled home, weary from explaining how to pronounce my last name and fending off overt glances at my chest, I was ready to slip into the shower and give myself a little battery operated recovery time. I was almost to climax when I heard the motor give out on my trusty friend. I screamed in aggravation and threw the vibrator on the bath mat, listening to it hit the floor with a dull thump. I managed to finish the job old school-style, but it took longer than I was hoping it would.

After I'd toweled off and thrown on my robe, I padded over to my computer and started it up. I was 3/4 of the way through writing a piece on how high school boys appeared to be getting more and more aggressive when I saw Geoff sign on. Within seconds a chat window appeared.

"You busy?" The screen flashed at me.

"Yes. I'm just finishing up a piece right now."

"Oh, well I don't want to bother you. Go ahead and finish it."

"That's what I was planning on doing."

"Good. But just out of curiosity, what's it about?"

"You'll see that when everyone else does."

"Oh, alright."

I continued with my piece for a few minutes before it occurred to me that Geoff,  or his alter-ego FeedtheSickness, had not posted any commentary on my work since the piece from Friday. My mind seized mid-sentence and refused to cooperate. To appease it, I decided to just ask him why and get it out of the way.

"So, how come you haven't been commenting lately?"

"I just thought that it wouldn't feel right. Towards the end I was fighting to figure out negative shit to say. Now that I know you, it just would come off a little crass."

"You've got to be kidding me. There's no way that you are concerned about coming off as crass."

"Fine. It just felt false to be knocking the girl that I've dreamt about fucking."

"You hadn't dreamt about fucking me at all before? Not even after some of the more salacious pieces?"

"If you're asking if my reading about how you gave your first blow job lead me to imagining violating you in the same way, the answer is no. Mostly I just wanted to smack you."

"You wanted to smack me?"

"Do you really need to repeat everything I say? Yes. I wanted to smack you. Because here was this writer who obviously had the talent to be doing so much better than just detailing the ins and outs of oral sex."

"I honestly don't know why you keep praising my writing on one hand and tearing apart my material on the other. They should work in tandem."

"One would think so, but in your case, you're writing what you think people want to hear from you. Rarely will you let your finely manufactured facade down and write from the heart. Those were the times when you wouldn't see me comment. I was always moved speechless when you stopped trying to bullshit everyone that you had all your shit figured out."

"I really hate that. I really hate when people assume that they know who I am based only on a few sentences."

"Don't kid yourself, there were a hell of a lot more than just a few sentences. You definitely suffer from literary diarrhea."

I laughed. "I prefer the term verbose."

"Yeah, I thought you might. Which is why I didn't use it."

"Still. I hate how you're doing this. Thinking that you know me. Walking into Steph's house on Saturday and pretending like you had no clue who I was and then flipping a 180 and acting like you're a Chloe expert."

"Well, I am an expert on the Chloe who shows herself online. I think I've earned that title after suffering through almost 6 months worth of inane posts."

"I still find it deceitful."

'Call it whatever you want, kiddo. I'll just say that I was dying to meet the girl who I'd been reading for so long. I had this worked up sense of excitement. Which quickly fizzled, I might add."

"Well, that's nice."

"For just a second I thought I saw the real girl trapped behind this idiotic and unnecessary shell you've built up."

"When exactly was that?"

"When you agreed to kiss me. See, what you said about you not having to go through with it was indeed perfectly true. I was expecting you to find a way to weasel out of it. But you went along for the ride. I admired that."

"Well, then you really don't know much about me. I don't weasel out on bets that I lose fair and square."

"Touche. You're right. I really don't know YOU. I know the persona. But I'd be willing to bet that's all you know as well."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Just that. That you really don't know much about yourself either. You certainly don't think of yourself the way that I do, which is probably more accurate than this dumb little petulant child act you've got going on."

"Well, this has been really nice, catching up and all, but I've got more writing that I should be doing."

"Ah, yes. You must go attend to that. We can talk some other time."

With that, Geoff signed off and I spent the next 20 minutes staring at my computer screen, at a total loss for words.

------------------------------------------------




I trudged through another hellish day at the high school, but it was a little easier to stomach knowing that I was going to be going out with Matt later. He'd called and left me a voice mail telling me when he'd like to pick me up. He left me three options for movies that were starting within a reasonable time and told me that he was fine with seeing any of them. I weighed the idea that he wasn't going to be all that into kissing me if we were working on a slower intimacy schedule and opted for the horror flick. He seemed surprised when I called him back with my choice.

"Secretly I was hoping that you'd pick that one, but I didn't think you actually would," his voice was smooth and warm.

"Oh, I'd thought you'd have judged better. I am the girl who owns a pet snake, remember?" I heard him laughing on the other end and felt a twinge of excitement. That's a good thing, I reminded myself. Better to not be too at ease with someone so soon.

I returned home, picked out some cargo pants and a light weight sweater to wear and then jumped into the shower. I did my hair and make-up, strapped on a pair of wedges and went to sit down on my couch to wait for Matt's arrival. Zoe slithered around in her terrarium. I'd brought her into the pet store once to get an opinion on what was wrong when she got her respiratory infection, and Matt had been the one to help her. It looked as if she was sensing his arrival as well.

My mind began to wander as I sat waiting. I tried to think of some interesting topics of conversation, where I might want to go if he asked me to do something after the movie and even tried to imagine what his kiss would be like. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the doorbell chimed.

"Hey!" Matt was smiling and holding a small cardboard box. "You forget something recently?"

"Aw, fuck! That's right. You must think I'm a lousy owner!" I took the box from him and heard the tell-tale scratching of a rat inside. Zoe began to make her way up the side of the glass.

"No, just a busy one. And a lucky one who happens to have a date with me. Here," Matt took the box back from me and walked up to Zoe. "You hungry, girl? Your mistress forget about you?" Zoe's tongue flickered in rapid motion. Matt pried open the box with one hand and I opened the hatch on the terrarium, allowing him to drop the rat inside. Zoe settled back down and made quick work of her meal.

"Man, she doesn't mess around, does she?" Matt remarked.

"Nope, she's not a tease, that's for sure." Instantly I felt my cheeks explode with a flush. "I didn't mean anything by..."

Matt was bellowing with laughter. "Shit, Chloe, I know you didn't. But it was funny. I'm willing to admit that."

"I'm not complaining about the other night. It's fine with me if you want to be friends first. I understand that." I was lying, but I think that he was buying it by the looks of the relieved smile on his face.

"I know it seems weird. A guy who would turn down the opportunity to kiss a willing, pretty girl. But I went through some shit the last time I dated someone, and I really feel like I rushed through the physical stuff without bothering to understand the person. I don't want to repeat that mistake. I told myself that the next time I got into something, I'd do it right." Matt's eyes were deep pools of blue. This was the most sincere I'd ever seen another person be. I both admired it and was a little frightened of it. My sarcastic nature was always my shield. If I was going to date this guy, that was going to have to be thrown to the wayside.

"I admire that," I finally said, then watched the corner of Matt's mouth curl. "So let's go get some popcorn and watch some fake blood and body parts go flying. That's enough to throw cold water on just about anyone."

He laughed loudly, throwing his head back. "I don't know. Perhaps that's all it will take to set me off again." He alternated raising each eyebrow, then winked at me.

I giggled. "Well, then. Let's hurry up and go find out."