Friday Night Tripartite

"Well, maybe I'm not safe from emotional harm."

"Fair enough. I'll stop talking about it."

"Thanks. Brandon?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it cool if I just sleep on your couch tonight? Don't feel much like going home. I mean, some company would be nice, even if it's just a warm body in another room."

"No, that's not okay."

Brynn felt herself start to well up again.

"Really?"

"You can take my bed, I'll take the couch. Just don't, you know, puke on my sheets or anything."

Brynn smiled, reached over, and lovingly squeezed Brandon's arm. Then she allowed herself to close her eyes for the last few minutes of the car ride.

*

"Bye, Annie!" Felicity and Savannah called out.

"Bye guys! Don't do anything stupid tonight!"

"Don't worry, Annie!" Savannah replied. "I'll make sure Felicity is on her best behavior tonight."

Annie shook her head and laughed as she exited the apartment.

Savannah and Felicity returned to the couch and silently played around on their phones for a while.

"So, Savannah? What kind of trouble are you thinking about getting me into for tonight? Drunk and vomiting on the streets at two in the morning? How about shoplifting a tray of shrimp and cocktail sauce from the grocery store? Or what about hunting the garbage can raccoons with sharpened sticks?"

"Why would we do something we've done before, Felicity? I'm thinking we need something new, fun, and unpredictable."

"I'm terrified."

"I've been looking at everything that my friends are posting about online tonight, and I have found something that you might be interested in."

"Okay...?"

"You know my little cousin Davey? Well, he's in this fraternity, I guess, and he posted online that the fraternity is having a late-night pancake fundraiser, and it started just a little while ago!"

"No thank you," Felicity replied curtly.

"Why the hell not!?"

"We are grown women, Savannah! Your cousin is, what, eighteen years old?"

"Nineteen."

"Okay, whatever. Why the heck would I want to go hang out with a bunch of drunken, stupid, college bros who are going to just riddle me with lewd comments all night?"

"All you can eat pancakes, that's why!" Savannah said excitedly.

"You want pancakes? Let's just go to Waffle House or something!"

"But this could be so much fun, Felicity! Like an adventure or something. Who knows where the night could lead?"

Felicity eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Are you trying to bag a college dude?"

"I should also mention that this is a religious fraternity," Savannah added, ignoring the question. "Am I speaking your language now? They probably won't be drinking at all! We'll probably all share a few pancakes, maybe a prayer or two, and play a game of I Spy or something!"

"You're trying to find a nice, wholesome virgin boy to corrupt, aren't you!?"

"Damn, you know me too well. Still, come on, it could be fun! At least you know that you won't get into any 'trouble', as you put it. Bunch of goody-goodies like that, you'll be safe! Come on, Felicity, this is the safest adventure I have ever suggested to you."

Felicity sighed and rolled her eyes, but in the end, relented like she usually did.

*

As Annie drove out of town and onto the beginning of a long stretch of a mostly deserted highway, her mind wandered back to the conversation she had had with her friends that night. Her friend's reassurances had made her feel a little better, but didn't really do much to help her with her long-term self-esteem issues.

She thought about how she looked. She actually agreed with her friends that she had a very attractive face. She loved her look very much: thick glasses, dark curly hair, a few freckles, and naturally perfect teeth. She was always very pleased with herself from the neck up, at least.

It was the rest of her that always seemed to give her issues. Her breasts were just barely a b-cup. She had a little bit of an ass, but had always wanted a little more. She guessed she had nice legs, but at times she felt that even they were a little lacking.

She had actually spoken to a therapist about this once. The therapist seemed to think that a lot her issues came from her comparing herself to others. More specifically, her three best friends, all of whom had filled out quite a bit more than she did. Deep down, she knew she had the potential to be accepting and loving of her body, but didn't quite know exactly how to get to that point.

All of this was the reason that she didn't date much. She didn't even like looking at her own naked body, so the idea of letting anyone else look at it terrified the living shit out of her. With her three boyfriends from her past, it had taken her at least a couple of months for each one before she was comfortable enough to let them be intimate with her. They had all assured her that she looked absolutely gorgeous when she was naked, but somehow she just wouldn't let herself fully believe them.

"Damn, Annie," she said to herself, "maybe you need to talk to that therapist again. Why won't you love yourself? That's what he told you before. 'You will never feel like you are worthy of love from another until you truly love yourself first'. I just need to stop comparing myself to others and-"

Annie stopped talking to herself abruptly. She had just run over a pothole that had seemed to appear from out of nowhere, and the car had turned off almost immediately. She was able to pull the car to the side of the road before it rolled to a complete stop. She tried to turn the key, but all that happened was a horrible screeching sound.

"Goddamnit," she said aloud.

*

No sooner had Brynn shut her eyes, than they arrived at Brandon's house.

Brandon lived in a quaint, but very nice, little house down a cozy street. Brynn loved it. It was exactly the kind of place she hoped to have for herself one day. Just enough room so that you don't feel cramped, but no so much that it feels cumbersome and stressful to keep it clean. There were two bedrooms, one of which he had turned into an office/gym, and one bathroom. It wasn't exactly something you would raise a family in, but it was fine for a bachelor. As far as she knew, Brandon had no intent, or prospects, for a family at the moment anyway.

Brandon came around to Brynn's side of the car and opened her door for her. She was still a bit lightheaded, thus was thankful for him helping her not to fall flat on her face as she stumbled across his yard to the front door.

They both walked in the front door. As he usually did, Brandon threw his keys in a bowl that sat on a small table near the door. And, as usually happened, the jingle of a bell on a collar was heard, and seconds later a big, fluffy, beautiful tan-colored cat gracefully bounded around the corner and meowed.

Then, Brynn completely lost her shit.

"Aaawwwwwwwwwww, Coco!" she squealed as she knelt to pet the cat all over. "My wittle fwuffy wuffy goochie goo! Oh, you are such a special little baby!"

"I wish I could tell myself that this disgusting display is just because you're drunk, but we both know that's not true," Brandon said.

"Well, she's just the most perfect kitty in the whole world, and I wuv her!"

"Do you want me to leave the room so you two can be alone?"

"Oh, Brandon, don't be ridiculous. You know how-"

Brynn stopped mid-sentence as a second jingle sounded from around the corner. A second cat entered the area, this one a little less graceful, and a tad less cute. Brynn looked up at the cat and once again lost her shit.

"Earl, you son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed, gesturing wildly. "Get the fuck out of here! Nobody wants you around you worthless piece of-"

"Hey, hey!" Brandon interrupted. "Stop yelling at my cat, sis! What's the problem with Earl?"

"I'll tell you my problem! He's a no good, worthless sack of shit who doesn't deserve anyone's love or affection!"

Earl calmly walked up to Brandon and rubbed against his leg, seemingly unaffected by Brynn's taunts.

"How is he worthless? He's a cat! What worth should he have?"

"Well, Coco is a sweetie-pie who provides her fluffiness to others as a means of relieving stress and feeling good. Earl is a skeletal freak who can't even make his poops land properly in the litter box! That's right, Earl, we all know you are the one leaving smeared dookies on the side of the box! Why don't you just...oh man, I think I'm going to be sick."

At that, Brynn took off down the hall towards the bathroom, Brandon, unbeknownst to her, just a few steps behind her. She flung herself on the floor in front of the toilet, lifted the seat, and readied herself for what was about to come. However, before the "big moment" arrived, Brynn felt a hand lightly brush up against her neck. It was Brandon, of course, and he was right behind her, holding her hair back and out of the way.

"It's okay, sis, I'm here. Just get it over with and then I'll get you a glass of water and maybe some light food."

As she started to heave, Brandon rubbed light, comforting circles on her back, and Brynn felt a strange sense of peace and love, something she was sure she had never felt before in her life mid-vomit.

*

"How far outside of town are you? Can you call your friends to come get you? Or at least sit with you while I make my way over to you?"

Annie sat, stranded, on the side of the road, while talking to her father on the phone.

"I don't know, Dad, they were all drinking tonight. I don't want them endangering themselves coming out here."

"Drinking? Were you drinking too? You aren't driving intoxicated, are you young lady?"

"Young lady, Dad? Really? And no, I'm not intoxicated. I had like a beer and a half."

"Mm-hmm."

Annie rolled her eyes.

"Look, I hate to ask this, but can you help me? I know it's late and it'd be a hell of a drive, but I'm kind of stuck here."

"You know I'll come get you, Annie. I just need to get dressed and I'll leave in like five minutes. On my way, I'll call my buddy Rusty and get him to meet me there with his tow truck too. He's owes me."

"Um, Dad? There's somebody pulling in behind me, looks like they are stopping."

"Okay, just stay on the phone with me until they leave. Are there any houses around or anything?"

"No, just trees. Okay, it's a man, and he's getting out of his car."

"What kind of car? What color? What does the guy look like?"

"It's an SUV, I can't see anything else."

Annie slightly rolled down her window as the man walked towards her car. She was pretty nervous, and had never felt more vulnerable in her life. Luckily, he came to a stop several feet away from her door and held his hands up in a way suggested that he meant no harm.

"Hello?" the man called out to her. "Anyone in there?"

"Yes, but I've got someone coming!" Annie replied.

"Tell him I'm almost there," her dad chimed in. "So he doesn't think you are going to be sitting here for a while by yourself."

Before she could say anything, the man spoke again.

"Do you need a phone, or need me to call a tow for you?"

"Um, no, I've got someone on their way, but thanks!"

"Do you want me to stay with you? I'm not trying to be creepy, I swear. I just don't want you to be alone in case, well, I don't, just in case."

"Really, I appreciate it, but my dad will be here real soon."

"I can just sit in my car until he gets here, if you want."

"No, really, I'm fine, but thanks!"

"Okay, well be safe. Sorry if I scared you, I just kind of have one of those hero complex thingies. Anyway, hope you have a wonderful night!"

For some reason, those last few words rang somewhat familiar to Annie. In a flash, she was taken back to her high school days, and remembered a young English teacher of hers that would every day, without fail, tell the class to "have a wonderful day".

"Mr. Garfield?" she called out as he turned away. "Is that you?"

The man immediately turned to look back at her, tilting his head slightly and squinting his eyes.

"Yeah," he replied, "that's what some people call me. May I ask your name?"

"Um, you might not remember me, but I was a student of yours about ten years ago. My name is-"

"Annie Atikinson," he finished for her.

Annie told her dad good-bye and got off the phone. She smiled to herself, slightly amused at this random turn of events.

*

"Hey! What's up cuz!?"

"Savannah!?"

Felicity and Savannah had just entered the frat house. Coincidentally enough, it was Savannah's cousin Davey that they saw first.

"Savannah, what are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining, of course!"

"Well, we were a little bored tonight, and I saw online that you were hosting some kind of pancake fundraiser party or something."

Savannah looked around the quiet house.

"Um, are we early or something?"

"Uh, well, not really. I mean, there were other people here earlier! But...I heard someone say something about a party at this other frat house down the street."

"Oh, damn cuz, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, well we don't exactly rank super high in coolness when it comes to our reputation. But we have fun nonetheless!"

"Yeah, I can see that," she said, looking around at the deserted house. "By the way, this is one of my good friends, Felicity."

Felicity waved uncomfortably at Davey.

"Hi Felicity. Well, come on in! The other guys are in the living room just over here!"

As Davey led the girls into the living room, they were met with five pretty sad looking guys sitting in various seats around the room.

"Hey guys," Davey announced, "this is my older cousin, Savannah, and her friend Felicity! They heard about our party and decided to drop by."

All the guys seemed to be at a loss for words as they turned to look at the two beautiful women who had willingly entered their abode.

"Wow," one of them said. "You guys are, like, grown women or something!"

"Yeah, or something," Savannah replied. "Now what's a girl gotta do around here to get some pancakes? You do HAVE pancakes, right? I mean this isn't just a ploy to get strange girls to enter your house, is it?"

Davey rubbed his neck uncomfortably.

"Well, funnily enough, we-"

"Do we have pancakes!?" one of them interrupted. He briefly left the room and returned with a pan filled with at least a hundred pancakes.

"The only question that remains is do you like real maple syrup, or the fake stuff with the bottle in the shape of a woman?"

"Wait a second," said the guy who called them grown women. "Savannah? Didn't you used to babysit me? In fact, didn't you used to babysit all of us?"

"She sure did!" Davey said in her stead. "When we were all about eight years old and you were like, what Savannah, sixteen or something?"

"I did, didn't I!" Savannah exclaimed. "You with the blonde hair, you're the Stevenson's kid, right? And you over there, your last name is Williams, isn't it?"

Savannah had, in fact, watched over all of the kids in the room at one point or another. Felicity continued to stand there silent, amazed that her friend would never, and could never, feel uncomfortable in any situation.

The next few minutes were spent with the girls being served pancakes and Savannah reminiscing with her cousin and the others about childhood times.

While the others spoke, the guy that was sitting closest to Felicity leaned over and struck up a quiet conversation.

"Hey, I hope you don't feel uncomfortable or anything. I know we're young, but we are a pretty laid back group. Frats tend to have an icky reputation, but just know we aren't really like the others. Which probably explains why basically no one showed up tonight."

Felicity smiled at the boy, noticing that he was pretty good-looking.

"This is actually pretty entertaining for me," she replied. "I love seeing how Savannah acts in random situations like this, she can put on quite a show. What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm George."

"So!" Savannah called out. "Pancakes sure do make a girl thirsty...I guess there's no chance that a good, wholesome place like this would have something yummy to wash it down with?"

George turned to the other guys. They made some weird gestures at each other, and seemed to be silently on the same page about something. Felicity turned to look at Savannah to see if she thought their actions and silent miming seemed a little weird to her, but all Savannah did was gesture her head to one of the boys and subtly make a humping gesture at Felicity.

Finally, Davey spoke up.

"You're in luck, cousin! We just so happen to have a fridge full of beer and a couple of bottles of rum that we've been saving for a special occasion!"

*

After Brynn's vomiting episode, Brandon led her into the kitchen and had her stand at the sink.

"Here," he said, handing her a glass of water. "You need to swish this around in your mouth a few times and spit it out. It'll help get that acid off your teeth."

"You speak as if you have some experience in this department," she said as she did as he had instructed.

"This ain't my first rodeo, little sis."

After she was done cleaning her teeth, he led her to the kitchen table to sit down. Then, he retrieved a bottle of something from the refrigerator and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Coconut water. It's got all kinds of electrolytes and vitamins and other bullshit that's going to help you not have a hangover tomorrow."

She took a sip and made a face.

"Tastes...funny. Can't I just have a Gatorade or something?"

"Don't have Gatorade. Besides, coconut water doesn't have all the sugar and fake coloring that a sports drink has. Trust me, it's better for you."

"What, are you some kind of spokesperson for a coconut water company or something?"

"Just drink. Slowly."

She continued to sip as he took a seat at the table with her.

"Hmm. You know, the taste kinda grows on you after a while. Got any food?"

"You just threw up quite a bit, Brynn. You sure you want to eat?"

"Yeah, just a little something. Like maybe a bacon cheeseburger."

"Yeah, I'm fresh out of bacon cheeseburgers, Brynn. How about we start you off with a banana?"

"Ugh, why do you always have to be so healthy, Brandon?"

"So I can take care of you when you need me," he said as he handed her a banana.

She continued to eat and drink as they sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Thank you for tonight, Brandon. I know I was in quite a state."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Eh, what's there to talk about? Just another breakup. It wasn't my first, sure as hell won't be my last at this rate."

"You really liked him, huh?"

"Um, yeah I guess. We had fun, of course. We had a bunch in common, similar senses of humor. I wasn't in love or anything, though."

Brandon looked at his sister with a confused expression.

"So, if you weren't in love, why are you so bent out of shape over him?"

Brynn took a short pause before responding.

"It's really not him that's got me down."

"Then what is it?"

Brynn took a hearty bite of banana and chewed for a while before speaking.

"It's complicated."

"It's me, Brynn. You know you can tell me anything. And I swear I won't make fun of you until you are one-hundred percent feeling better."

She took a deep breath and gathered herself before responding.

"I'm...the reason Shawn broke up with me, and probably the reason all my boyfriends break up with me, is that..."

She felt herself getting choked up again. Brandon reached across the table and took her hand in his.

"Just relax, Brynn," he said as he looked her in her mascara stained eyes. "I didn't mean to push you into anything that you aren't ready to talk about. We can just change the subject if you want."

"I don't put out."

Brandon didn't understand at first.

"You don't put what out, Brynn?"

"My...body."

"Your body?"

Brandon took several more seconds before finally understanding her meaning.