Catherine

People should really start considering making a book about the how-tos when it comes to being stuck on real life situations.

But nooo.

Schools would teach you that we came from apes and ask us on how many oranges Mark has left after giving three of them away. Nobody ever asks on what Mark was thinking, bringing a helluva lot of oranges to school. Or why only Sarah gets to have some.

What they did teach us at school was that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

That's kinda working for me right now because to be honest? I don't even have anything to say. It's like my brain decided to pack its bags, and fly off to the Bahamas.

"I shouldn't have done that."

We were on our way back to the apartment. It seems like we both felt the need to just lock ourselves inside our own rooms. Well he could. My room's door-less. I may just call a handyman to fix that one since this guy keeps making excuses.

He called them nasties and scared me,yes,the way adults would scare children, that they might come and get me but for Pete's sake! He's just on the other room. And the walls are pretty thin. If he could sing out Frank Sinatra then I could pretty much shout bloody hell and let him hear it.

"No. I shouldn't have done that." I rolled down the window. It was weird because,as I said before,the truck was old. You don't just get to push a button to make the windows roll down. It's like trying to open a jack-in-a-box.

"It only rolls down halfway."

I tried. But it really was stuck. I needed air. Like fresh from the outside air.

Now that I think about it,he doesn't even need those car fresheners. He's his own perfume.

Maybe that's why I need air from the outside. He was suffocating me. But I'm not going to go as far as sticking my head out like an eager puppy on his first car ride.

"You have enough money-"

"More than enough really." He glanced at me, a small smile on his lips.

Rolling my eyes,I moved my body near the window, practically leaning on it. Let's just hope his truck doesn't open on its own.

"If you have more than enough,why not buy a new one. This clearly isn't used for towing. It can barely hold itself."

"Easy on the compliments, bonbon. Besides,haven't you heard of that song by Lady Gaga. Something about having lots of money but not being able to buy a house in heaven? I live by that."

"You listen to Lady Gaga?" I tried hiding the smile on my face and pretended to cough.

"What's so funny?" he was frowning now.

"Nothing. Just- I never pictured you as a Lady Gaga kind of guy." the fresh air and us talking was calming me down little by little. It took all my willpower to keep my hands still and not look down after that parking lot incident.

Funny how I never noticed the habits I do when I feel uncomfortable until he pointed them out.

Oh glob, did we screw this up.

He already told me from day one what he was sent to me for.

That's kind of all I'm thinking about right now.

I was the one who crossed the line. And he helped. God must be mad (well not mad,maybe pissed) that I-we didn't follow the script.

"Stop thinking about it too much. We can't unkiss you know." I turned my head to him. He was still frowning,like he found something unpleasant just by taking a quick look on my face.

"Right. And we're two adults who have kissed other people before. What we did was kind of a spur-of-the-moment."

"I don't think so." he smiled and looked at me. We had to stop for the red light.

Curse you red light .

"What do you mean I don't think so?"

He rested his arms on the steering wheel,his eyes fixed on the red light outside. "You already said it,bonbon. We're adults. And I find you the kind of adult who doesn't do spur-of-the-moment. Therefore,I'm concluding that you've been wanting to kiss me from the start. I'm glad I could help you relieve the sexual tension between us." He smirked then had the audacity to wink at me.

I gasped. "Why you- I do not. You told me something so personal. so precious... And then you ask me a question I couldn't answer. You were just laying there,looking like it didn't bother you one bit. And it bothered me that it didn't bother you. That kid you were talking about deserved love. He deserves to be loved just like any other person. Nobody should be denied love and time and affection and-" I felt a hand touching mine. I looked up to see him looking at me. I'm not sure how people know it,but at the moment,it was like his eyes were smiling at me.

"Calm down, bonbon." He squeezed my hand gently and got his eyes back on the road. I wasn't even aware that I was shouting. He was driving with one hand on the wheel, the other, still not letting mine go.

"I wish you'd say that to yourself."

"What-" I could've finished my sentence you know.

If it weren't for that rogue insect attempting to cross the road that unfortunately got inside the truck and straight to my mouth.

You want to know how to cough violently?

First,you grab your throat. Try to cough that little bloodsucker out even if you know that once it's in,you'll just have to let it...digest.

That's creepy.

When you feel like it's still holding onto your throat,hold onto something. In my case,the dashboard.

Hunch over. Don't even think about what you look like. Just wheeze and cough like you ran a marathon while drowning on air. (people who have experienced this know this is pretty accurate)

If none of this works,you'll eventually have someone's hand on your back and patting the soul out of you.

...

I assure you,this is not funny.

I felt the car stop and I saw from my curtain of hair that he parked us at the side of the road,his hand feeling like a thick book slamming on my back.

If all else fails. Accept your fate and just...swallow.

"Are you alright, bonbon. " I leaned back,trying not to look like I just swallowed glob knows what. It was like throwing up on reverse.

Instead of answering,I glared at the cursed window and grumpily rolled it shut. For eternity. Turning to him with a smile,"I'm fine."

He sighed and with another concerned look,restarted the car.

***
How do you confront your drunken ex?
Wait. Let me be more specific.

How do you confront your drunken ex,who just happened to be sitting at the side of the road,with a bottle of what I could only assume was alcohol?

"Stop the car , will you?"

Damon complied and I got out before it even fully stopped. Squinting my eyes, I confirmed that it was in fact,Glen.

His eyes were droopy and red when they met mine.

"Catherine" his voice cracked and he gingerly stood up,trying to fix his already rumpled shirt.

"What are you doing here?" I took a step back when he tried touching me. It's not that I found him disgusting. He was just...how do I say this...

Stinky.

He reeked of alcohol and he looked like he's been drinking more than he's supposed to.

"You alright Gwen?" I felt a hand on my shoulder. Damon was pulling me closer to him, eyeing Gwen who's now trying to focus his eyes on the both of us. He could barely keep them open.

"You. You don't deserve her...you mechanic." He pouted and pointed a finger at Damon. I felt Damon's fingers tighten on my shoulder.

"And you do?" Damon gave out a fake laugh.

"What'd you see in him that you didn't see in me?" He almost tripped while trying to walk over to us.

"Obviously nothing. I don't think she needed another asshole in her life."

Glenn almost crouched down when thunder resounded from the night sky.

He looked around and slowly straightened up. He smirked, as if he didn't just cower and waved his bottle around. "I was only having fun with her ye know. Jus wanted a little adventurrre."

He's talking about my sister.

"'Twas fun at first. Such a tiger." he smiled at me, as if I needed to know all this.

"Get back in the car,bonbon." he was already turning me towards the car when Glen laughed.

"Wait wait. She needs to hear this. Catherine, your sister's going to hell."

That stopped me. Prying Damon's hands away from me,I approached Glen. Squinting my eyes,I crossed my arms and waited. Audrey and I never had a strong bond but the big sister in me was inching to punch him in the face.

"She's been hiding a dirty little secret. That filthy whore."

I was already pinching my forearms.

Patience Cat...

Damon was about to approach him when I grabbed the end of his shirt.

"Let him speak first. Please..." He frowned but took a step back.

"Bet you didn't know she's been screwing someone other than me."

Damon laughed,wiping a fake tear on his left eye. "Karma's a bitch."

Again. Thunder.

Glen glared at him but smiled when he looked at me. "Guess who?" I guess he was trying to do that sing-song voice but it really wasn't working. "I'll give you a clue. Flower. Pretty fucking flower."

He's too drunk to make sense. My sister was cheating with a flower. Am I missing something here?

He grimaced when a car parked next to ours. Of course I knew who it belonged to.

It was weird not seeing her all dolled-up. The last time I saw her wearing a sweatshirt was back when we were twelve.

"Audrey."

She looked at me,wide-eyed as if she just noticed us there. She avoided my eyes and started walking to Glen.

"Come on let's go." She was trying to touch him but he was moving away ,clearly disgusted.

"Go to hell."

That does it.

"Look here asshole. You don't have any right to talk ill of my sister. You're drunk. If you're going to insult someone,at least try doing it sober. That's how men do it. Intoxicated people like you don't have the balls to say shiz like that without the help of alcohol. You're a coward. I thought you were smart. You stink and you look like you just got mugged. And you-"

I caught Audrey's eyes looking at me in disbelief. I turned to Damon, him covering his mouth. Glen looked so unsure and embarrassed. It's like my little speech knocked the alcohol outta him.

"I-I..."

Just then,the passenger's side of Audrey's car opened.

I'll give you a clue. Flower.

"Heyya there."

I turned my head from the woman who just got out of the car and my sister supporting half of Glen's body with her own.

"I thought you read Channing Tatum fanfictions!"

***

"So..." I sighed and placed the cup of coffee Rose offered us. We were at her place. She told me that Glen caught my sister and her together,and I was afraid to ask how.

She and Damon are trying to sober Glen up. Judging from the screaming in the shower, I'm guessing the cold water was doing wonders.

"You and Rose huh."

She was looking at her hands, she reminded me of myself.

"I mean uh,how-when did this happen..."

"Remember when you brought her with you on mom and dad's anniversary?" she whispered.

I nodded. Remembering how I caught them talking while I was trying to keep everything smooth sailing.

"It progressed from there...little by little. And I tried... I didn't- with the other guys. That's why they didn't stick around." she let out another sigh before looking at me. "I'm messed up, I know."

The person I am seeing now isn't Audrey,the pretty one. Although she is that. The one looking at me now was my little sister. The same girl who begged me not to tell mom and dad that she broke one of mom's antique vases. She looked so scared and helpless, and I took the blame for her.

"It's alright." I cooed, just like what I did back then. I took her shaking hands. "You can tell me."

She took a shaky breath. "She was nice to me. And she's funny. And I was...I think I envied you." She laughed a little,her eyes focused on her hands. "You have all these...people looking at you the way dad looks at mom. Like they knew exactly who you are and accepted everything about you. And I wanted it. I craved it." her hands tightened on mine. "That's why I tried taking them away from you...just to see...feel the way you must've felt while you're with them. I'm sorry if I tried stealing Damon from you. But he said no anyway."

I didn't know any of this.

"I have a lot of friends. But they were never like yours. Never like her." She glanced at the bathroom door.

"And she makes me feel...special."

"We tried stopping before. She was scared to tell you, so I went out with other guys. And she was really upset. We were both afraid to tell anyone. "

After the kidnapping incident, she found it difficult to talk to me. I just assumed that she was scared she'll be the one kidnapped next and kept her distance. There were times back then that it felt like she was about to tell me something, but always managed to stop herself. Was this it?

Was this what Glen meant when he said it was different?

I did not see this coming.

She was so...they were both so...girly.

"Well...are you like, girlfriend and girlfriend now?"

She smiled. "I don't know."

"So you're a lesbian?"

She met my eyes,just as confused as I was. "I don't know... I don't even know what it is that we have now. I like her. Maybe a little too much. Maybe. It just might be a phase. God, I don't know."

She took her coffee and the both of just sat there, and finished our drink.

"Please don't tell dad yet."

I put down my cup. "It's not mine to tell."

She gave me a small smile. "Thanks Cat."

We were having the sister-talk. It may be about her sexuality but hey, it's something. I stretched my legs and regarded her with a look. "You do realize that a time would come when we'll argue really bad and this is going to come up. And we both might say things we're going to regret. I expect you to be the adult, you hear? No more bullying me or I'll tell mom you sneaked out to attend Anderson's senior party when you were a sophomore."

She bowed her head and nodded.

"So I guess we're like sisters now."

We eyed each other and started to laugh.

Apparently, the laughing turned to sobs and we both found ourselves crying.

"I'm sorry I stole your boyfriends." she hugged me,and it made me cry even more. Not because she stole my boyfriends, but because I never knew I needed this kind of connection with her. Not until now.

"They were asses anyway."

I wiped her tears,as she did mine.

You know what? I don't think you need a guide or any how-to when it comes to situations like these.

You kind of just roll with it. And see what you'll find out and learn along the way.

"He's knocked out." Rose emerged from the bathroom with Damon carrying a sleeping Glen dressed in Rose' violet bathrobe.

Bridal style.

"Where should I put sleeping beauty here?"