He turned to kiss her, “Why did you?”
She slipped around the drum kit and sat lightly on his leg. “I just came in here to tell you I was leaving.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Didn’t I tell you? Luke and I are going to the basketball game at school tonight and then to the pub crawl.”
“No, you didn’t tell me that,” he said, quietly. Why was she spending the night with Luke instead of him?
“Sorry. But yeah, that’s what’s going on. I’ll be back after midnight, I’m sure.. probably closer to two or three.. or hell, maybe tomorrow afternoon, depending on how much I drink,” she giggled, getting up and kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later. Love you” she said, giving him a little wave and walking out of the room.
Nick threw the drumsticks to the side, not in the mood to play anymore. He went up to the kitchen to get something to drink, slamming the cabinet doors. He hated this Luke guy and he’d never even met him. But he was getting all of Jourdin’s time and attention lately and that was all the reason Nick needed to hate him.
In the past few weeks it seemed like Jourdin was always at the library studying with Luke or on the phone bitching about professors with Luke or … he didn’t know what the hell else she did with Luke but he was sure he wouldn’t like that either.
He tried to think about it… was he just being jealous because Luke could be with her more – during school and going out to games and things when he couldn’t? Was he being possessive? All he knew was that it hurt, being left at home while she was out with another guy, even if she did swear he was just a friend.
~~~~
Nick came downstairs the next morning, after waking up alone, to find Jourdin sleeping on the couch, laying among the cushions in an awkward position. He knelt beside the couch, “Boo?” he whispered.
Jourdin moaned, “Huh?”
“You okay?”
She struggled to turn over and whimpered, “Now I know why they call it a pub crawl.. I couldn’t even walk straight… I threw up twice on the sidewalk…”
Nick stood up, shaking his head and carefully picked her up, taking her upstairs. He undressed her and lay her in bed, I’ll get you some Tylenol.”
Jourdin mumbled something into the pillow and was back asleep before he’d even left the room.
***
Later in the afternoon, when Jourdin finally woke up, she made tea and joined Nick on the couch where he was playing Nintendo. She curled up beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Sorry about this morning.”
“S’alright.” Nick replied. “Not like you’ve never taken care of me when I had a little too much.”
She sighed, “That was a lot too much for me. I won’t be doing that again.”
Nick paused the game, “Obviously Luke isn’t a very good date if he let you get that drunk.”
Jourdin picked up on his sarcasm, “We were both drinking.. just talking.. you don’t realize how much you’ve had.”
“When did you get in?” he asked, slightly changing the subject.
“About 5:30. I didn’t want to wake you up.. and I didn’t think I could make it up the steps, so I just crashed on the couch.”
“I saw that. What could you have possibly talked about until 5:30 in the morning?” Sure, they’d spent many nights talking until the sun came up.. but that was different.. that was them.. this was her and some other guy…
Jourdin scowled at him, “All sorts of stuff.. we have a lot of things in common besides just school.. “ She got up, not in the mood to argue with him. “I’m sorry if my having friends bothers you so much.
“I wouldn’t worry if he was just your friend.” Nick muttered under his breath as he watched her walk out of the room, then took the game off ‘pause’. He probably was being a jerk, but couldn’t she see what was happening? She promised she wouldn’t let anyone take her away from him, but that was what it felt like to him.
~~~
“Okay, Stuart Hall believes the mass media function to…” Luke began the statement, prompting Jourdin to finish it.
“To… to…” Jourdin tried to think quickly, “OH! To maintain the dominance of those already in positions of power!”
“Yep.” Luke smiled. “I do believe we know the cultural studies approach inside out now.”
Jourdin leaned back in her chair, “Inside out, upside down, backwards, forwards, sideways…”
“So you wanna call it quits for tonight? Go get some coffee or something?” Luke asked.
“Ohhhh.. cappuccino souns great!” Jourdin said, jumping up and getting her things together.
They walked out to the parking lot together, deciding where to go.
“There’s a new place out by my apartment, we could give that a try.” Luke suggested.
“Okay.. I’ll just follow you.” Jourdin said, opening the passenger’s door to her car and dropping her book bag in.
Luke walked to the other side of Jourdin’s car, waiting while she unlocked the door and got in, then closed the door for her, before jogging to his truck and climbing in.
Jourdin followed Luke a couple of blocks, pulling into the parking lot of a stucco building with a sign that read “The Magic Bean”.
Luke quickly threw his truck in park and got out, running over to open Jourdin’s door for her.
“Thanks,” she said, grabbing her purse and getting out.
They walked into the dimly lit coffeehouse, airy music drifting from the speakers. They ordered their drinks, Luke insisted on paying, and went to sit at a table in the corner, away from a group of giggling high school girls.
Luke watched as Jourdin sipped her coffee, her tongue slipping across her lips after she’d take a drink. “So, uh, what’s the boyfriend up to tonight?” he asked, wondering why Jourdin didn’t seem to be talking about him as much lately, but not particularly upset about it.
She shrugged, “Dunno. He didn’t really say anything when I left. He’s probably sitting on the couch playing some video game, and he’ll probably be in bed when I get home…”
Luke cocked his head a little, “Hell, that’s a good time..”
“Yeah, I swear we used to have a more exciting relationship.” Jourdin sighed.
“You’re just busy now.. when you graduate in a few weeks, you’ll have more time.” Luke told her. ‘Or you’ll break up with him and I’ll be there to take his place,’ he thought.
“It’s not that we don’t have time.. we make time.. or well, we used to… I’m just never home any more.. and when I am.. he just.. doesn’t pay much attention to me.. we haven’t even had sex in weeks and that is totally unlike us…” Jourdin said, trying to think when the last time they’d had sex had been. It was… before the pubcrawl.. damn that was a long time. While she was lost in her thought, she didn’t notice Luke moving in closer to her.
“He’s crazy if he doesn’t want you all the time.” Luke whispered, his hand caressing the side of her face. He tilted his head and leaned into her, his lips taking hers in a lustful kiss.
Jourdin’s heart was pounding and everything in her was saying ‘no!’ but she couldn’t stop herself from kissing him back.