Steffi

11:

Kevin:

As I drove Gary and Carrie back to the dorm, not a word was exchanged between the three of us. Instead, Gary was asleep with his head resting in Carrie’s lap, and Carrie was pressing a cold compress on his head. Suddenly, my cell phone started to hiss at me annoyingly.

“Hello?” I asked, in a semi-rude tone.

“Kevin, I vanted to make sure you vere alright. I heard abovt Gary,” a heavily accented voice spoke.

“Sorry for being so rude Cecil. It’s been a rough day. I’m going back to the dorm right now,” I sighed, taking a deep breathe.

“Is Gary alright?” Cecil inquired.

“Well, I guess so. He’s in Carrie’s hands. You know she’s a medicine major, she can handle it. I’ll call you tomorrow ok babe?” I mumbled. After a few minutes I pressed the END button and put the cell phone back into my jacket pocket. I glanced into the mirror and noticed that I was under Carrie’s stare. Even though she was angry at me, I decided to demolish the silent wall that stood between us.

“Carrie, listen. I’m really sorry about what happened…I know you’re pretty mad at me right now,” I uttered with hopes that she did not hold me accountable for Gary’s catastrophe.

“I’m not mad at you Kev. I’m just mad at that lunatic. I felt so useless standing there and watching it happen. I might have been able to do something,” Carrie replied monotonously. After staring out the window and observing the hustle of the city, Carrie delicately caressed Gary’s hair. However, I did not just watch as she caressed his hair-I watched in envy. Although Carrie had a boyfriend, who just happened to be one of my best friends, and I was on the verge of committing myself to Cecil, my feelings for Carrie never waned. When Cecil moved into Stanford, I thought my feelings for Carrie had disappeared. But at that moment I realized that the feelings had not disappeared, they had been hammered even further into my heart. For a second, I let those rash feelings blind my judgement and disaster struck.

“Do you really love Gary?” I questioned, without really thinking. I immediately regretted my words.

“Kevin Scott Richardson, that was totally uncalled for! I have been in a monogamous relationship with him for a full 4 months now. How could I not love him?” she screamed. The truth hurt. In the beginning of their relationship, Carrie’s act towards Gary was of Oscar worthy brilliance. However, I knew that at this intense stage of their relationship, Carrie was no longer acting. She had feelings for Gary. “What makes you think that I still love you? Cuz I don’t,” she persisted.

“You know what Carrie? It’s been eating me up inside and I’m going to tell you something I should have told you 4 months ago. I do have feelings for you. I’ve had them since you came back into my life. But I ignored them cuz I knew Gary liked you. I have never fought with a bro over a girl, but I kinda wish I had,” I confessed. After organizing my thoughts, I proceeded. “Remember that phone call the night before you agreed to be Gary’s girlfriend? You know that I set the record straight. I told you the truth. I told you that Gary was really a trustworthy guy, not the ‘player’ that the other guys made him out to be. Do you know how damn hard that was for me? To actually help the girl I love fall in love with another guy. Do you realize that? And when you said you didn’t really like him, I was a dumbass, and I didn’t tell you how I felt. Don’t think it doesn’t hurt me to see you and Gary together like that.” After my lengthy confessional, I battled to restrain the tear droplets that were forming in the corner of my eye. Again, there was another period of silence and it continued until we arrived at the dorm.

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Steffi