ELEVEN
Tuesday. 10:50am. Sucking it up.
I take a deep breath and get back on the bus. Ike and Zac are still where I left them. I know they were talking about me. Would you, if I had a random outburst on you like I just had on them?
Feeling guilty, I look at them. They look at me. "Uh, I'm gonna jump in the shower," I say.
They both nod their heads. "Okay," Ike says.
"So, uh, we're cool, right?" I ask.
Zac nods. "You already apologized. It's cool."
"Good. Okay. Cool."
I sneak past the two of them and gather the stuff I need to use the tiny shower.
_______________________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:20am. Common area.
She hasn't texted me, but I know to expect her in at least twenty minutes. I've told Ike and Zac that I'm gonna run an errand in a little bit. They seem cool about it. Still acting weirded out by me. That's okay. They'll be over it by the time I get back.
As I sit and wait, I can't help but check my social media. I start with the app. To my surprise, she's posted. "On my way to have coffee with a very special friend! Excited!"
This makes me smile. Part of me wishes she could tell everyone it's me. Part of me wishes I could respond to her post. I can't help it. I text her. "So you're excited, huh?"
She texts back faster than I expect. "Of course I am."
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"Text me when you get here."
"Already planned on it."
I can't wipe the goofy grin I know I have off my face. Thankfully nobody's paying attention to me right this second.
Trying to kill time, I catch up on other social media while I wait. Nothing much going on on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. I go back to the app again. A few of her friends have replied to her post. I wonder if they know? I wonder if they know that I watch? I wonder if they know that I wait? I wonder if they know that I depend on her? Somehow I doubt that she's told them.
__________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:40am. She's here.
My text alert goes off at exactly 11:40. She said an hour. She's quite punctual. "I'm parked on the other side of the venue," she texts.
I stand up and let my brothers know I'm leaving for a few. Ike taps his watch. "Don't forget to be back here by two to prep for the walk."
I furrow my brow. "I know our schedule."
Then my eyes land on a prescription bottle on the table next to where I'd been sitting. At the same moment, Zac says, "Did you take one?"
I look at him, confused. "What? Why would I, they're not mine. I mean, I took the one for my headache the one time the other
day--"
"Put one in your pocket just in case."
"What the--? No. Whose are they? Why are you trying to give me random pills?"
"Tay, we're just concerned about you, that's all," Ike says.
"You guys! Seriously! I'm not allowed a little moment of temporary insanity? I mean, we all have our moments!"
But I look at Zac and something about the look on his face makes me take a pill from the bottle and drop it in my shirt pocket. I don't know how much crazier this morning can get. Maybe I'm dreaming. When is it time to wake up?
But I don't want to be dreaming. Because SHE is waiting for me around the corner. And I want that to be real. Which is actually kind of funny because once upon a time, I didn't want any of this to be real. Now that it is, I can't get enough.
With that, I bound off the bus and head behind the venue.
_________________________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:45am. Coffee. Or lack thereof.
I knew they would be watching me out the bus windows, so I didn't want them seeing me turn the corner in front of the venue. If they weren't suspicious enough then, they would surely follow me after that.
Besides, who in their right mind walks right in the middle of a growing group of fans anyway? I was lucky enough they didn't see me get off the bus.
On the other side of the venue, there's only one car in the alley way. It's white with four doors. A Lexus. Not sure the year. Don't really care.
She doesn't get out of the car to meet me, so I get in the passenger side. We smile at each other. She looks great in a simple pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. She must like white. And she should. She's been tanning and her skin glows in contrast with her clothes. The intoxicating scent of her hair fills the car. I want her now. But I have to behave.
"So where to?" she asks. "There's a really good coffee shop a few blocks away."
"It's a bit late for coffee, don't you think?"
Judging by the look on her face, I've caught her off guard. "I thought it was never too late for coffee for you?"
I look at her blankly, at a loss for words. After a moment, I find them. "Um, that's generally true, but--well it's just so warm outside--"
"Iced coffee?"
"I'm not all about coffee, you know," I hear myself snap all of a sudden. I immediately regret my tone. "I'm sorry--"
"It's okay," she says simply. "I know where to go."
_______________________________________________________
Tuesday. Noon. Middle of nowhere.
Well. Almost middle of nowhere. Curiously, she's driven us several blocks away and behind the building of an abandoned strip mall. It's odd, but I can't say this disappoints me.
I waste no time. I want nothing more than to have my hands on her again. Leaning over in my seat, I quickly, desperately, take her mouth with mine.
She doesn't object. In fact, she's already unbuckling her seatbelt and coming over the console. As I kiss her, my right hand fumbles with the side of my seat until I have it comfortably laid back. Well, as comfortably as you can adjust a seat in a car.
Within seconds, she's straddling me in the passenger seat of her car. Dammit, she smells so damn good. I feel her lips and her tongue all over my neck, sending chills down my spine as my hands drift to her ass. Her damn shorts are in the way.
I tug at the front of her shorts, signaling that she needs to find a way to get rid of them, and fast. Without a word, she follows my direction and puts herself back in the driver seat long enough to slide her short over her legs. Her small stature makes this seemingly easy for her and the fact that she opted to leave her underwear at home makes my dick harder than it already is.
It takes some maneuvering, but I'm finally able to unbutton my pants and my dick is ready for her when she comes back over to my side of the car. Within seconds, she's lowering herself onto me and she's already so wet I'm not sure I can last.
I grip her waist with one hand and slide my other hand up her shirt as she rides me. Her body is close to mine as the car roof is low, but it doesn't seem to throw off her rhythm one bit.
She breathes and moans in my ear and I now have to grip her with both my hands to keep control of myself. We don't last long. She begins to grab and pull at my shirt more and more desperately as I feel her come. As she cries out, I feel myself come right after and while it feels great in the moment, the realization of our situation comes crashing down.
I just came and she didn't move.
She looks at me and smiles, out of breath. I know I look like I'm in shock, because I am. "I, uh--I just--I didn't have--"
She runs her hand alongside my cheek. "It's okay," she smiles, breathlessly. "I can't get pregnant."
I look at her, stunned. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack."
Still, I can only look at her. Then I smile. "Really. An open relationship, AND you can't get pregnant? Well you're just too good to be true." I realize then that that is probably the worst thing I have ever said to a woman in my life. What a complete douchebag I am!
But she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she's still smiling. "Maybe I am," she responds, cryptically.
___________________________________________________
Tuesday. 12:17pm. Coffee. Finally.
She removes herself from me and we put ourselves back together. "So, uh, what now?" I ask as I adjust my seat back to its original state.
"Now we get coffee," she says.
"Now I might need it," I say.
She giggles as she pulls around the abandoned strip mall. As the sun hits my face through the window, my head begins to pound, instantly, out of nowhere. I don't understand it. It's almost unbearable.
As we ride down the street, she's talking to me but I have no idea what she's saying. All I can focus on is the nauseating pounding of my head.
We go through the drive-thru of the coffee shop she spoke of earlier. I have no idea what we ordered, but the cold cup in my hand suddenly reminds me of the pill in my pocket and the realization of its presence feels like salvation. Eagerly, I pop the pill and down the iced coffee in my hand. I still have no idea whose pill it is or what it's for, but something, anything, had to help this headache right now.
It's minutes before the pill starts taking effect, and before I realize we've been parked in the coffee shop's parking lot this whole time, I look at her and she's looking at me. I don't know what to say to her.
She starts. "Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you kinda...I dunno, spaced out for a minute."
I laugh nervously. "Oh, that. Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Lately I've been getting these headaches...I dunno, I'm okay now. No big deal. It's probably stress."
"Okay..."
"Seriously," I say to her. "I'm not crazy."
"I never said you were..."
"My brothers think I'm crazy," I find myself saying.
"How do you figure?"
"I just know. They way they talk. The way they look at me."
"You don't think they know about us, do you?"
I stop and think about her words. It would make sense. I mean, what if they know and are just choosing to stay out of it? Actually, that would make perfect sense..."I don't really wanna talk about that," I say.
"Then what do you want to talk about?"
"You."
She laughs. "There's not much to tell. You already know I spend a lot of time online. I'm kind of a loser that way, I guess."
"You're not a loser. You see how much time I spend online," I offer. "After all, online is how we found each other."
"I can't believe that out of all those girls, you singled ME out," she smiles.
"Well it's not like I set out to find a girl. You just kinda--jumped out at me. I never once thought I'd meet you. I guess I kinda took a needle-in-a-haystack approach to it. Guess I never really realized how small the world actually is."
She nods in agreement. "Yes. The world is small."
"So what do you do for a living? What do you do when you're ignoring me online?" I flash a smile to let her know I'm teasing.
She smiles and I'm relieved she gets it. "Um, my mom owns a flower shop. Well, sort of a flower and gift shop. I help her run it."
"And that's it?"
"That's it."
I sip my coffee in thought. "Hm. So you're not a nurse or a teacher or have any kind of career like that?"
"Nope. That's it. I lead a relatively simple life. Nothing too grand or too lavish."
"Not like your traveling surgeon fiancée?"
"Or your wife's traveling musician husband."
"Touche."
"I like my life. It's not too complicated. And I like working with my mom. I can make my own hours when need be--"
"So you can follow your favorite band around."
She smiles. "It helps."
"So tell me about your fiancée."
"Why do you keep asking about him?"
"Because I wanna know."
"What's to know?"
"What's he got that I don't?"
She looks at me, incredulous. "Well, he's not married. That helps. He doesn't have kids. And most importantly, he got to me first."
"Wow, you are the queen of vague."
"Well I don't know how you expect me to answer such an impossible question."
"If I weren't married and we had already met, would you have said yes to him when he asked?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Why won't you answer?"
She sighs. "Tay, I don't know. I try not to bother myself with things that can't or won't be. I don't see the point in stressing over it."
"Maybe you're right," I finally agree, defeated. She IS right. Why do I keep asking? Do I really need my ego stroked that badly?
"But hypothetically," she continues, surprising me. "If the circumstances were different, then yeah. I'd have hesitated with him. I like you. If I didn't, I wouldn't be sitting here watching you inhale that coffee like it's going out of style."
I look at my nearly-empty cup, then back at her. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes this stuff is nothing but a thing to me."
And then I smile. She's said what I needed to hear. For now.
__________________________________________________________
Tuesday. 1:57pm. Release.
Release seems like a bad word to use here. Final. Permanent. I don't want to be released by her. Not right this second, anyway.
She pulls her car in behind the venue, as close to the bus as possible without attracting attention. When I see the growing number of fans surrounding the venue, it dawns on me. "Wait, aren't you coming to the show? Surely you're not going home now."
She laughs. "Well I need to go get cleaned up."
"But the walk starts at three. You'll miss it."
"So what if I miss it? I'll still donate my dollar."
"Well that's not the--I mean--"
"Tay. It'll be fine. I'm not gonna say I'm not gonna try to make it back in time, but if I don't, it's no big deal. I'll be at the show."
"But not in front. Not now. These girls are vultures."
She nods. "Yeah, I'm aware."
"What if I don't see you?"
"We just saw each other."
"Yeah, but, I think--I need to see you. More."
"Tay..." she says with a warning tone.
"I know. I know. Just--let me put you on the guest list Or the meet and greet list! They won't know the difference!"
"That's not fair--"
"It's plenty fair. It's my band, my website, and my meet and greet. If I want to put you on the list, I can. This is the only way I can get you up front without raising any eyebrows."
"I don't understand--"
"There's nothing to understand. Just be in the meet and greet line at six."
"What do I tell the friends I'm meeting up with?"
Shit. I haven't thought about that. And truth be told, I don't really care. But she does. "How many are there?"
"Three."
"Um..." I will surely be killed for this. Maybe I can finagle it without Ike and Zac knowing. "Text me their names, I'll put them on the list, too."
She shakes her head in disbelief. "This is impossible--"
"I told you. I can do whatever I want. I'll make it look legit, don't worry."
"My friends will die..."
"So text me their names. And their email addresses for good measure. Tell them to keep a check on their inboxes."
"This is the craziest thing I've ever been a part of."
I look at her, skeptical. "Really? The craziest thing?"
With a parting scoff, she unlocks the door and I dash out of her car and onto the bus. Curious faces await me again and this time I ignore them and head right back to the shower for the second time today.
Tuesday. 10:50am. Sucking it up.
I take a deep breath and get back on the bus. Ike and Zac are still where I left them. I know they were talking about me. Would you, if I had a random outburst on you like I just had on them?
Feeling guilty, I look at them. They look at me. "Uh, I'm gonna jump in the shower," I say.
They both nod their heads. "Okay," Ike says.
"So, uh, we're cool, right?" I ask.
Zac nods. "You already apologized. It's cool."
"Good. Okay. Cool."
I sneak past the two of them and gather the stuff I need to use the tiny shower.
_______________________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:20am. Common area.
She hasn't texted me, but I know to expect her in at least twenty minutes. I've told Ike and Zac that I'm gonna run an errand in a little bit. They seem cool about it. Still acting weirded out by me. That's okay. They'll be over it by the time I get back.
As I sit and wait, I can't help but check my social media. I start with the app. To my surprise, she's posted. "On my way to have coffee with a very special friend! Excited!"
This makes me smile. Part of me wishes she could tell everyone it's me. Part of me wishes I could respond to her post. I can't help it. I text her. "So you're excited, huh?"
She texts back faster than I expect. "Of course I am."
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"Text me when you get here."
"Already planned on it."
I can't wipe the goofy grin I know I have off my face. Thankfully nobody's paying attention to me right this second.
Trying to kill time, I catch up on other social media while I wait. Nothing much going on on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. I go back to the app again. A few of her friends have replied to her post. I wonder if they know? I wonder if they know that I watch? I wonder if they know that I wait? I wonder if they know that I depend on her? Somehow I doubt that she's told them.
__________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:40am. She's here.
My text alert goes off at exactly 11:40. She said an hour. She's quite punctual. "I'm parked on the other side of the venue," she texts.
I stand up and let my brothers know I'm leaving for a few. Ike taps his watch. "Don't forget to be back here by two to prep for the walk."
I furrow my brow. "I know our schedule."
Then my eyes land on a prescription bottle on the table next to where I'd been sitting. At the same moment, Zac says, "Did you take one?"
I look at him, confused. "What? Why would I, they're not mine. I mean, I took the one for my headache the one time the other
day--"
"Put one in your pocket just in case."
"What the--? No. Whose are they? Why are you trying to give me random pills?"
"Tay, we're just concerned about you, that's all," Ike says.
"You guys! Seriously! I'm not allowed a little moment of temporary insanity? I mean, we all have our moments!"
But I look at Zac and something about the look on his face makes me take a pill from the bottle and drop it in my shirt pocket. I don't know how much crazier this morning can get. Maybe I'm dreaming. When is it time to wake up?
But I don't want to be dreaming. Because SHE is waiting for me around the corner. And I want that to be real. Which is actually kind of funny because once upon a time, I didn't want any of this to be real. Now that it is, I can't get enough.
With that, I bound off the bus and head behind the venue.
_________________________________________________________
Tuesday. 11:45am. Coffee. Or lack thereof.
I knew they would be watching me out the bus windows, so I didn't want them seeing me turn the corner in front of the venue. If they weren't suspicious enough then, they would surely follow me after that.
Besides, who in their right mind walks right in the middle of a growing group of fans anyway? I was lucky enough they didn't see me get off the bus.
On the other side of the venue, there's only one car in the alley way. It's white with four doors. A Lexus. Not sure the year. Don't really care.
She doesn't get out of the car to meet me, so I get in the passenger side. We smile at each other. She looks great in a simple pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. She must like white. And she should. She's been tanning and her skin glows in contrast with her clothes. The intoxicating scent of her hair fills the car. I want her now. But I have to behave.
"So where to?" she asks. "There's a really good coffee shop a few blocks away."
"It's a bit late for coffee, don't you think?"
Judging by the look on her face, I've caught her off guard. "I thought it was never too late for coffee for you?"
I look at her blankly, at a loss for words. After a moment, I find them. "Um, that's generally true, but--well it's just so warm outside--"
"Iced coffee?"
"I'm not all about coffee, you know," I hear myself snap all of a sudden. I immediately regret my tone. "I'm sorry--"
"It's okay," she says simply. "I know where to go."
_______________________________________________________
Tuesday. Noon. Middle of nowhere.
Well. Almost middle of nowhere. Curiously, she's driven us several blocks away and behind the building of an abandoned strip mall. It's odd, but I can't say this disappoints me.
I waste no time. I want nothing more than to have my hands on her again. Leaning over in my seat, I quickly, desperately, take her mouth with mine.
She doesn't object. In fact, she's already unbuckling her seatbelt and coming over the console. As I kiss her, my right hand fumbles with the side of my seat until I have it comfortably laid back. Well, as comfortably as you can adjust a seat in a car.
Within seconds, she's straddling me in the passenger seat of her car. Dammit, she smells so damn good. I feel her lips and her tongue all over my neck, sending chills down my spine as my hands drift to her ass. Her damn shorts are in the way.
I tug at the front of her shorts, signaling that she needs to find a way to get rid of them, and fast. Without a word, she follows my direction and puts herself back in the driver seat long enough to slide her short over her legs. Her small stature makes this seemingly easy for her and the fact that she opted to leave her underwear at home makes my dick harder than it already is.
It takes some maneuvering, but I'm finally able to unbutton my pants and my dick is ready for her when she comes back over to my side of the car. Within seconds, she's lowering herself onto me and she's already so wet I'm not sure I can last.
I grip her waist with one hand and slide my other hand up her shirt as she rides me. Her body is close to mine as the car roof is low, but it doesn't seem to throw off her rhythm one bit.
She breathes and moans in my ear and I now have to grip her with both my hands to keep control of myself. We don't last long. She begins to grab and pull at my shirt more and more desperately as I feel her come. As she cries out, I feel myself come right after and while it feels great in the moment, the realization of our situation comes crashing down.
I just came and she didn't move.
She looks at me and smiles, out of breath. I know I look like I'm in shock, because I am. "I, uh--I just--I didn't have--"
She runs her hand alongside my cheek. "It's okay," she smiles, breathlessly. "I can't get pregnant."
I look at her, stunned. "Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack."
Still, I can only look at her. Then I smile. "Really. An open relationship, AND you can't get pregnant? Well you're just too good to be true." I realize then that that is probably the worst thing I have ever said to a woman in my life. What a complete douchebag I am!
But she doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she's still smiling. "Maybe I am," she responds, cryptically.
___________________________________________________
Tuesday. 12:17pm. Coffee. Finally.
She removes herself from me and we put ourselves back together. "So, uh, what now?" I ask as I adjust my seat back to its original state.
"Now we get coffee," she says.
"Now I might need it," I say.
She giggles as she pulls around the abandoned strip mall. As the sun hits my face through the window, my head begins to pound, instantly, out of nowhere. I don't understand it. It's almost unbearable.
As we ride down the street, she's talking to me but I have no idea what she's saying. All I can focus on is the nauseating pounding of my head.
We go through the drive-thru of the coffee shop she spoke of earlier. I have no idea what we ordered, but the cold cup in my hand suddenly reminds me of the pill in my pocket and the realization of its presence feels like salvation. Eagerly, I pop the pill and down the iced coffee in my hand. I still have no idea whose pill it is or what it's for, but something, anything, had to help this headache right now.
It's minutes before the pill starts taking effect, and before I realize we've been parked in the coffee shop's parking lot this whole time, I look at her and she's looking at me. I don't know what to say to her.
She starts. "Are you okay?"
"Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you kinda...I dunno, spaced out for a minute."
I laugh nervously. "Oh, that. Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Lately I've been getting these headaches...I dunno, I'm okay now. No big deal. It's probably stress."
"Okay..."
"Seriously," I say to her. "I'm not crazy."
"I never said you were..."
"My brothers think I'm crazy," I find myself saying.
"How do you figure?"
"I just know. They way they talk. The way they look at me."
"You don't think they know about us, do you?"
I stop and think about her words. It would make sense. I mean, what if they know and are just choosing to stay out of it? Actually, that would make perfect sense..."I don't really wanna talk about that," I say.
"Then what do you want to talk about?"
"You."
She laughs. "There's not much to tell. You already know I spend a lot of time online. I'm kind of a loser that way, I guess."
"You're not a loser. You see how much time I spend online," I offer. "After all, online is how we found each other."
"I can't believe that out of all those girls, you singled ME out," she smiles.
"Well it's not like I set out to find a girl. You just kinda--jumped out at me. I never once thought I'd meet you. I guess I kinda took a needle-in-a-haystack approach to it. Guess I never really realized how small the world actually is."
She nods in agreement. "Yes. The world is small."
"So what do you do for a living? What do you do when you're ignoring me online?" I flash a smile to let her know I'm teasing.
She smiles and I'm relieved she gets it. "Um, my mom owns a flower shop. Well, sort of a flower and gift shop. I help her run it."
"And that's it?"
"That's it."
I sip my coffee in thought. "Hm. So you're not a nurse or a teacher or have any kind of career like that?"
"Nope. That's it. I lead a relatively simple life. Nothing too grand or too lavish."
"Not like your traveling surgeon fiancée?"
"Or your wife's traveling musician husband."
"Touche."
"I like my life. It's not too complicated. And I like working with my mom. I can make my own hours when need be--"
"So you can follow your favorite band around."
She smiles. "It helps."
"So tell me about your fiancée."
"Why do you keep asking about him?"
"Because I wanna know."
"What's to know?"
"What's he got that I don't?"
She looks at me, incredulous. "Well, he's not married. That helps. He doesn't have kids. And most importantly, he got to me first."
"Wow, you are the queen of vague."
"Well I don't know how you expect me to answer such an impossible question."
"If I weren't married and we had already met, would you have said yes to him when he asked?"
"Why does that matter?"
"Why won't you answer?"
She sighs. "Tay, I don't know. I try not to bother myself with things that can't or won't be. I don't see the point in stressing over it."
"Maybe you're right," I finally agree, defeated. She IS right. Why do I keep asking? Do I really need my ego stroked that badly?
"But hypothetically," she continues, surprising me. "If the circumstances were different, then yeah. I'd have hesitated with him. I like you. If I didn't, I wouldn't be sitting here watching you inhale that coffee like it's going out of style."
I look at my nearly-empty cup, then back at her. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Sometimes this stuff is nothing but a thing to me."
And then I smile. She's said what I needed to hear. For now.
__________________________________________________________
Tuesday. 1:57pm. Release.
Release seems like a bad word to use here. Final. Permanent. I don't want to be released by her. Not right this second, anyway.
She pulls her car in behind the venue, as close to the bus as possible without attracting attention. When I see the growing number of fans surrounding the venue, it dawns on me. "Wait, aren't you coming to the show? Surely you're not going home now."
She laughs. "Well I need to go get cleaned up."
"But the walk starts at three. You'll miss it."
"So what if I miss it? I'll still donate my dollar."
"Well that's not the--I mean--"
"Tay. It'll be fine. I'm not gonna say I'm not gonna try to make it back in time, but if I don't, it's no big deal. I'll be at the show."
"But not in front. Not now. These girls are vultures."
She nods. "Yeah, I'm aware."
"What if I don't see you?"
"We just saw each other."
"Yeah, but, I think--I need to see you. More."
"Tay..." she says with a warning tone.
"I know. I know. Just--let me put you on the guest list Or the meet and greet list! They won't know the difference!"
"That's not fair--"
"It's plenty fair. It's my band, my website, and my meet and greet. If I want to put you on the list, I can. This is the only way I can get you up front without raising any eyebrows."
"I don't understand--"
"There's nothing to understand. Just be in the meet and greet line at six."
"What do I tell the friends I'm meeting up with?"
Shit. I haven't thought about that. And truth be told, I don't really care. But she does. "How many are there?"
"Three."
"Um..." I will surely be killed for this. Maybe I can finagle it without Ike and Zac knowing. "Text me their names, I'll put them on the list, too."
She shakes her head in disbelief. "This is impossible--"
"I told you. I can do whatever I want. I'll make it look legit, don't worry."
"My friends will die..."
"So text me their names. And their email addresses for good measure. Tell them to keep a check on their inboxes."
"This is the craziest thing I've ever been a part of."
I look at her, skeptical. "Really? The craziest thing?"
With a parting scoff, she unlocks the door and I dash out of her car and onto the bus. Curious faces await me again and this time I ignore them and head right back to the shower for the second time today.