The Second Date

"Fuck that," Rose snapped, her eyes becoming a stormy gray color. "So, your answer is just to roll over and just... give up, then? Stop fighting?"

"We're trying to prevent a fight in the first place!" Dylan said, raising his voice at her. Rose looked like she was about to get all riled up again, but I stepped forward and spoke up first, just wanting to diffuse the situation.

"Look, can you leave us all alone and just... go enjoy the party? Please?" Dylan looked over at me and glared, his eyes becoming as gray as stone before they became blue again.

"Oh, you'd like that, I'm sure... so you can continue to gawk at her," he said, grimacing at me. My cheeks turned crimson.

"Seriously, can you fuck off?" He just sneered at me.

"What, are you going to fucking make me?" The situation in the room was tense as we stared each other down, neither of us seeming to want to make a move.

"Dylan, come on; can we just go? Please?" the woman finally asked as she turned around and stepped in front of him. I saw her tense up a bit, but Dylan just sat there for a moment before he snatched his drink from her and sighed.

"Fine." He stomped out of the garage, leaving us alone with her for a moment.

"Um, I'm really sorry about that, guys," she said quickly just before she headed out herself, leaving us all alone in the garage. We were all silent for a bit, until Ryan finally spoke up.

"Who the hell was that guy?"

"Remember the asshole from the bookstore I mentioned?" Rose asked. "That was him."

"Oh, so that's what you were on about, Lins. Oops," he said with a shrug as he blushed a bit. Linsey just rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes, Ryan," she said, with a smirk. "Rose told me all about their little run-in earlier before I came here." She looked over at Rose. "Anyway, it's wild that you ran into him again. What are the chances, right?"

"Ugh, tell me about it. Man, it sucks - the first other Polly I meet around here, and he turns out to be a massive dick," Rose replied, with a frown. "Well, there was his girlfriend, too. She seemed... quiet. Dylan was super shitty to her, too; god, he reminded me of my ex - I feel bad for her." She let out a sigh before she looked over at the doorway.

"Whelp, anyone else need another drink after all that, or is it just me?" Linsey reached down and grabbed the two cups of beer sitting on the table and held one of them out to him. He took it, and they tapped them together in a toast before taking a sip. Ryan grimaced. "God, this stuff tastes terrible." Linsey nodded after a moment, and they both poured the cups out into the sink before tossing them into the trash. "Well, I'm gonna get one more drink that's actually drinkable, and that'll probably be it for me. I don't wanna go too crazy tonight." He looked over and grinned at me and Rose, and Linsey looked over at him in surprise.

"Alright, who the hell are you, and what have you done with Ryan?" Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Very funny, Lins. I guess I'm just... turning over a new leaf," he said, dramatically. Linsey smiled and gave his blonde hair a little tousle.

"Well, I'm proud of you, man," she said as she gave him a light punch on the arm. She looked over at us. "Should we go get that last drink, then?"

Rose and I nodded, and we all headed back to the kitchen. There was an even longer line for the bathroom, and Rose broke away from us and got in the back of the line.

"Could you guys grab me another rum and Coke if I don't come back soon? This might take a bit." I nodded and we headed off to the kitchen, which was somehow stuffed with even more people than earlier; there was a small crowd clamoring for the drinks at the island, and barely any room to move around.

"Seems like the party's picking up," Ryan said, with an excited grin - I couldn't say I shared the sentiment.

"Uh huh," I said, quietly. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I started to feel a bit lightheaded. There were way too many people; I didn't even want to think about what the living room looked like. My eyes drifted toward the sliding glass door, and I felt like I needed to take a break from all of this.

"Guys, I'm gonna head outside for a bit. This is all getting a little bit... much for me. Let Rose know where I'm at, okay?" Ryan nodded.

"Sure, man. We'll let her know." I nodded and squeezed my way through the crowd and opened the door. I felt immediate relief as I breathed in the cool night air and let it out in a long exhale. I moved past the patio and sat down on the grass. It was cold out, but it felt nice to get away from everyone, even if it was just for a bit.

I couldn't shake the feeling of frustration welling up inside me as I watched the last few people still outside head back into the house. I felt trapped amongst the sea of bodies in there, but for Ryan, Linsey, and even Rose, this was just another Saturday night. I really didn't know how they did it. It's not that I wasn't having fun, but I just wish it wasn't so damn stressful for me.

A few minutes had passed, and I pulled out my phone to kill some time; I didn't feel like going back in yet. I was alone out in the yard until I heard the sliding glass door open, and I smiled as I saw Rose emerge from the house holding two plastic cups. She smiled back at me as she approached and sat down next to me on the grass.

"The bushes were taken already, huh?" she asked, as she handed me one of the cups. I chuckled as I took it from her. "I made you another rum and Coke."

"Thanks, Rose," I said, before I took a drink from it and immediately grimaced. "I think you switched them again." She took it from me and took a sip, then nodded.

"Ope. Yup, that'd be mine. Wow, I'm bad at that, aren't I? Here." She handed the other cup to me, and I took a drink from it; just like last week, it was much better the second time around.

"Are you sure you're not doing this just to mess with me?"

"Wow, Matt. Rude," she replied, feigning offense. "Nah, I'm just a bit of a klutz sometimes." She smiled and her cheeks turned a bit pink. I smiled at her, and she scooted closer and gently threading her fingers through mine. "You know, I'm really glad you came out with us tonight."

"I am, too, even though it's... been kind of a lot, what with all the people, and that run-in with Dylan..." I said, after a bit. I took another swig from my drink and looked back at the house, where someone was opening the sliding glass door to the kitchen.

"You're still here, though! It was a big step even coming here tonight, Matt, and I'm proud of you for that." I smiled at her for a moment, but then it faded as I let out a sigh.

"Yeah, but I'm still out here, while everyone else is having fun inside. I mean, you had to come out here to check up on me." Rose put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"So? It's still progress, Matt. A small victory is still a victory. I don't care if you had to take a step outside for a breather, Matt. It's a lot to deal with, sometimes - even for me. So yeah, maybe there's a bunch of drunk randos in there... Ryan and Lins excluded, of course. But you're out here, and I care about you, so of course, I'm going to come check on you. It's not a problem at all." She looked out at the yard. The fire had long since died down to embers and the music had stopped, but the fairy lights were still glowing, and the night was peaceful. "It's much prettier out here, anyway." She leaned her head against my shoulder, and I gingerly ran my fingers through her hair.

"You know, I think I might have preferred an actual room full of spiders to all those people in there," Rose grimaced and shook her head vigorously.

"Oh, hell no. If I was ever in an actual spider room, I'd be burning that shit down without a second thought." She shivered. "I hate them."

"Bah, they're just cute little things," I said, with a grin.

"Hard disagree. They've got all those legs, and they bite, and some of them get huge, you know! Have you seen the size of some of those fuckers they've got in Australia?"

"I don't think you're going to find any Australian spiders in Ohio, Rose."

"Well, the ones here are scary, too! I'd happily take a house party over a roomful of those leggy little shits any day."

"Fair enough, Rose," I said with a chuckle. I took another drink from my cup and set it down next to me. Rose did the same, and then we both laid back on the cool pavement and stared up at the sky for a minute. The clouds from earlier had cleared up, and the moon sat lazily in the sky, surrounded by the white pinpricks of scattered stars.

We heard the back door slide open again, and I ignored it this time, but Rose sat up and looked that way.

"What are you doing here?" The question had a bit of a sharp edge to it, and I shot up and looked over expecting to see Dylan again, but instead I saw Cait standing there with her hands raised submissively.

"I'm not here to start anything, I promise; I just want to talk," she said, hastily.

"You and everyone else today," Rose said with an exasperated sigh, as she picked up her drink and took a large swig of it.

"Ryan told me you guys were going to be here tonight and said you were willing to hear me out."

"Wait, seriously? He meant tonight? I thought that was going to be, like... some other time that wasn't tonight!" I exclaimed.

"I-I can leave, if you want," Cait said hesitantly. I looked over at Rose and saw that she was frowning; she really didn't look happy about this new development, but she just sighed and shook her head.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to apologize for last week... to the both of you," Cait said, as her cheeks bloomed with color in the glow of the lighting around the yard. Rose raised her eyebrows, and Cait met her gaze. "I was... well, I was a bitch to you, full stop. And...I was jealous, and just... not in a good place that night, and I'm sorry for how I acted."

"O-oh. Well, thank you," Rose said, and then she blushed a bit, too. "I didn't really handle things in the best way last week either, so... I'm sorry, too." Cait nodded, and a smile crept its way onto her face.

"I, er... like your hair, by the way. Your highlights are really cool," she said, as her cheeks turned a bit pink.

"Oh. Thanks!" Rose said, flashing a genuine smile as her irises became a verdant shade of dark green before becoming blue again.

"Um, would it be okay if I talk to Matt... alone for a moment? There are some things I wanted to talk to him about privately... if not, I totally get it, though, with him being your boyfriend and all." Rose was silent for a second as she mulled it over, but then she got up and nodded at us.

"Alright. Don't keep him too long, though; he is mine, after all." She smiled at me, and her eyes became an iridescent shade of shimmering green for just a moment, totally eclipsing the dark green hue I had seen just a moment ago; my cheeks turned crimson at the stark contrast between the colors. Rose stretched a bit before she headed back into the house, leaving the two of us alone in the back yard. I took another drink from my cup as Cait looked around for a moment and cleared her throat before finally speaking.

"Um... I didn't expect to find you out at a party," she finally said. "Did Ryan drag you out here?" I shook my head.

"He didn't, actually; I came of my own free will, if you can imagine that. Ryan's trying to be better about drinking, and I wanted to support him." Cait raised her eyebrows at that.

"Wait, Ryan's trying to cut back on the booze? Wow, that's huge," she said, with a smile. I nodded and looked back at the door and took another swig of my rum and Coke.

"So what, exactly, did you want to talk to me about, Cait?" I asked. "I can't imagine you came all this way just to make small talk."

"Oh, um... yeah, sorry. I... just wanted to say sorry to you personally, for... well, everything, I guess... during our relationship. I know I said it last week, but even beyond my... cheating." She was quiet for a moment. "I'm sort of just now realizing how... poorly I treated you when we were together."

"I'm also just now realizing that myself, Cait," I said. "You... took advantage of me. You were manipulative and left my self-esteem in shambles. You... you really hurt me, Cait." She nodded at me, and then her gaze drooped to the ground.

"I know, Matt. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"Can I ask why you didn't just break up with me? If you weren't happy... why didn't you just leave me, Cait?"

"I was happy, I just... you... you did make me happy, Matt, but you... just weren't... right... for me." It took her ages to get the sentence out. "You weren't what I... needed," she finally said, and her voice trickled down at the last word, until it came out as no louder than a murmur.

"Sexually, you mean," I said, flatly. She turned crimson as she tore her gaze from me and nodded.

"So instead of just ending it, you just... got what you needed from someone else, and took what you wanted from me, is that it?" She was silent for a little while before she finally nodded.

"I... I'm sorry, Matt," she said, and I could tell she meant it. She looked like she was about to cry.

"What do you want, Cait? Do you want me to forgive you, is that it? Is this about winning me back, or something?"

"No," she said. "I'm not trying to get you back, and I... I understand if you won't forgive me, but I'm sorry. I just want to... fix things, between us? At least... be friends again?"

"I don't think we... can, Cait," I said, shaking my head. She nodded, after a moment.

"Is there something I can do to... make it up to you, at least?" I let out a sigh.

"Just... promise me that whoever you end up with... Just treat them right, Cait. Make them happy. Don't do to them what you did to me, okay?" I asked. She nodded as she looked out into the night, and she was silent for a bit.

"Does she make you happy?" she finally asked.

"She does," I answered, with a nod.

"I'm... glad to hear that, then; don't lose her. You treat her right, too - I already know you will, though." She smiled at me one last time, and I thought I saw a couple tears running down her cheeks. "Thanks for everything, Matt. And... I'm sorry again." She got up and patted me on the shoulder before she walked away. "Have a good night." I was silent for a bit before I spoke up.

"You, too," I said, after a moment but by the time I looked over she was already gone. I sighed and polished off the rest of my drink before I stood up. As I tossed the empty cup into the trashcan sitting against the house, I suddenly realized I had to piss - all that shitty beer from the game of beer pong earlier had probably caught up to me. The situation wasn't too dire, but it was enough that I should probably take care of it. I looked back toward the house and frowned - every time we had passed the bathroom that night there and been a line, and it would probably be no different at this point. My gaze locked on the bushes, and I sighed - they would have to do. There was no one else in the yard anyway, so I went ahead and made my way over to the cluster of bushes in the back corner of the yard.

As soon as I reached the bushes, I heard a gasp and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Who's there?!" I asked. A head poked out from the little alcove between the three large bushes - it was the Polymorph woman we had all seen with Dylan earlier in the garage.

"Oh. thank God; it's just you," she said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I thought you were my boyfriend." I shook my head.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just taking a bit of a break... get back here, I don't want him to find us."

"Dylan?"

"Yes. Now come on, hurry. I want to... talk."

"Fine, fine," I grumbled as I headed toward her hiding spot. "What do you need a break from -the party?" As I stepped around the bushes and looked down into the space between them, I had my answer. My eyes widened at the sight of the young woman as she shook her head at me - all of the ample curves she was sporting earlier in the garage were gone, much like what had happened to Rose after we had left the bar last week. The woman's clothes hung loosely on her shrunken frame, but the effect was more prominent than what I had seen on Rose. I felt heat blaze in my cheeks at the state of her and quickly tore my gaze away as I sat down next to her.

"A break from Dylan, and... from embracing my purest self," she said, glumly. "All this extra... baggage... isn't exactly comfortable to carry around if you catch my drift. And what your girlfriend said earlier got me thinking that I should maybe do something for me."

"You mean he doesn't even let you look how you want?" She shook her head.

"Nope. All this Pure Polly stuff has gone straight to his head. I've brought up that I'm uncomfortable with my body before, but he just... won't listen. Just keeps spouting his drivel until I finally drop the issue." A breeze blew past, and the woman shivered from the cold.

"Why are you out here in the bushes though? Why not take your little break in the bathroom?

"The line was crazy long!" she exclaimed. "It's constant. Man, I don't even like parties. Dylan always insists on dragging me out to them."

"I'm know the feeling. I don't care much for parties, either, er... sorry, what's your name?"

"Jessic... er... just Jess is fine." She said, as she blushed under the moonlight.

"Ah. Well, it's good to meet you, Jess; I'm Matt." I held out my hand, and she smiled as she shook it. "It's nice to meet another Polly around here... er, besides Dylan. No offense, but he kind of seems like a dick."

"None taken; he really is," she said, as she rolled her bright blue eyes.

"Why are you still with him, then?"

"Because... well, I don't even know, honestly. Things were fine before, and then he found out about that Pure Polly movement, and.. it's like he became a completely different person."

"So, the relationship started out good, and now it's... not." She nodded and frowned at me, and her eyes turned brown for a moment.

"I'm... scared to leave him, honestly. He used to make me happy, but it's just... not the case anymore. You saw how he treats me, but for some reason I keep thinking it'll get better - that this whole Pure Polly thing is just a phase, and we can make things work if I just... wait it out. I know it's probably a lost cause, but it's just-"

"- hard to take that step?" She looked over at me and nodded.

"Well, I actually just got out of a shitty relationship a while back. So did Rose. If we did it, I'm sure you can, too. It might be hard, but you have to do what's best for you at the end of the day. You deserve someone you don't have to... hide from." She looked over at me and nodded.

"I know. But what if he blows up at me?"

"It's your choice Jess, but... everyone eventually hits a point where it's just not worth it. You have to decide where that point is for yourself."

"I... see. Thanks, Matt. I feel a bit better now. I'll definitely... think abou-"

She gasped and clamped her mouth shut as soon as we heard the sliding glass door open and close, and then there was silence in the yard again. Jess's eyes widened and put her finger to her lips as she shrank back a bit, pressing herself against the bushes. We heard footsteps clomping across the yard, and they sounded like were heading our way.

We hardly dared to breathe as the footsteps came closer and closer to the bushes. My heart pounded in my chest as they stopped, and whoever it was, they were right on us - they had to be just outside the little alcove at that point.

"Goddamn line. I can't believe I have to piss out here in the cold." Jess's eyes widened at the sound of Dylan's voice. And then we heard him unzip his pants and drop them to the ground. Jess looked over at me and scrunched up her nose as we heard the sound of liquid start to flow in a steady stream. Thankfully, none of it got on us - regular rain showers were bad enough; I really didn't need a golden one. Jess and I stayed deathly still as we waited for him to finish his business. The seconds marched on, and the stream was still going strong - it was actually kind of impressive how long his piss session was lasting. I looked over at Jess and she did not look impressed. Eventually though, the stream began to fizzle out as Dylan finally managed to empty his bladder. That done, he pulled up his pants and started to walk off, presumably back toward the house. He was a little ways away when we both finally let out a breath. And then I realized, to my horror, that I had forgotten to set my phone to vibrate earlier like I had meant to... as I received a text message from Ryan.