Jaded

I tied my hair back out of my face and took a good, hard look at myself in the mirror. "Scuzzy bitch...” I growled at my reflection, beginning the tedious task of scrubbing off my make-up.

My roommate and best friend Stacy came in to the bathroom and maneuvered around me so she too, could use the mirror. Only she was putting ON her make-up.

"Y'know Stace..." I said, only half-teasing, "Some of us have to WORK to look good."

She laughed, and flicked water at me off her fingers.

"Somebody's cranky!" She teased, "Long night at the office?"

I groaned and splashed water on my face; "You try serving drinks to ungrateful alcoholics all night and tell me how you feel when you get back!"

Stacy made a sympathetic face, and then went back to applying her make-up, "Why don't you call J for a little TLC?"

I rolled my eyes back in my head, and pulled myself up so I was sitting on the bathroom counter along side the sink. "Unless he's been reading the dictionary lately, I doubt J knows the MEANING of the words..."

I had been dating Justin for just under 6 months...He was everything that a woman could want in a man...good-looking, and charming as hell...but lately he had been going through something of a transformation. It was all about sex to J...or so it seemed. He would call, usually right after I got home from work, and we would shoot the breeze for a few strained minutes before he finally came out with something like, "So, can I hit it baby?" Or something equally as demeaning.

Don't get me wrong...sex with Justin was not BAD...In fact, it was the best sex I had ever experienced...but too much of a good thing can go bad sometimes, and unfortunately, it was putting a strain on our relationship.

"Trouble in Paradise?" Stacy asked, noticing the distressed look on my face.

I laughed, "Well...I don't exactly see YOU getting ready to go on a date with YOUR man either..."

Stacy scowled. I knew that her relationship with her boyfriend, Lance wasn't going much better than mine with Justin was. Oh sure, they cared about each other...but, it seemed that she was in the complete OPPOSITE situation from me.

"He absolutely REFUSES to have sex sometimes, Sam!" She had confided in me a few days prior, in between classes. Stacy and I both attended acting classes at UCLA.

"Well...have you asked him why?" I asked her, leaning my head back to allow the California sun to kiss my face, hoping secretly to gain some color.

She sighed plaintively, "Yeah...he says that our relationship means more to him than that...blah blah blah blah blah..."

I laughed. "But a girl needs to get some sometimes, right?"

"OHKAY?!!?!?!?!" She cried, agreeing with me.

"And you wanna know something else that bothers me about Lance?" She asked, her tone lowering somewhat.

"Sure." I said, an amused smile on my face.

"He only likes...” She looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "Missionary..."

I snickered...and then burst into hysterical laughter from the disappointed look on her face alone.

"What!?!" She demanded, "It's not that funny!"

"You should see your face..." I laughed, containing myself, "You look like someone killed your puppy."

"I LIKE SEX, SAM!!!!" She cried, causing a few people scattered around us to look at her strangely, she blushed slightly, which only made her MORE beautiful, and looked back at me sheepishly, "That was loud..."

I nodded, bursting into laughter again..."Yeah...it kinda was."

I finished watching her get ready to go clubbing with some other girls from the Theater department, and wished I had the nerve to go with them...Actually, I wished I had the ENERGY to go with them.

"C'mon Sammy," She said, calling me by a name that only SHE could get away with, "You know as well as I do that Justin will end up over here tonight while I'm gone...and I'll have to sleep on the damned couch."

I groaned. "I hope you're wrong." I said, "I'm dead tired...and all I want to do is SLEEP!"

She scoffed, "Damn girl...I wish I had your problem! My boyfriend would rather give me a damned MASSAGE than sleep with me!"

I laughed, hopping off the counter and starting out of the bathroom toward the bedroom, "Then I wish I had YOUR problem!" I said over my shoulder.

I heard her coming before I felt the hand on my shoulder, spinning me around to face her.

"Sam...what did you just say?" She said, the strangest look on her pretty face.

"I said...I wish I had YOUR problem...” I repeated, realizing how that must have sounded, I started to correct myself, "Stace, I didn't mean I wish I had your BOYFRIEND..."

She cut me off.

"But what if I said you could have him?"

I looked at her, dumbfounded.

"What the hell???" I demanded, "You're offering me your boyfriend!?!?"

"Only if you give me yours...” She said matter-of-factly.

"Stace!" I cried, "That's crazy!"

"Okay Sam, I KNOW how this must sound...but think about it...” She said, pulling me into the room with her. She sat down on my bed, and motioned for me to sit with her, which I did...still scratching my head confusedly. She turned to me excitedly and expanded on her brilliant idea.

"You say that Justin is giving you TOO MUCH sex, right?" She said, "Like the man is constantly horny?"

I nodded, "I suppose that's one way to put it...but I'm still not following you..."

"You will!" She said, going on, "And Lance and I...well...we're not HALF as sexually active as you and Justin are...which annoys me to no end...right?"

"Okay..." I agreed with her.

"So, one might say that we're in the wrong relationships! We got them all mixed up! I should be with Justin...and you should be with Lance!"

My jaw was hanging so wide open I thought it would touch the bed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing...

"You want me to give you my boyfriend? Because you're not getting enough sex?" I repeated slowly, just to make sure I understood.

"Pretty much...yeah!" She said.

I shook my head, still not quite believing this...

"And how do you propose we make this big switch, Stace?" I asked her, "Just tell the guys...'HEY! Wanna break up so you can date my best friend?' It'll never work!"

"Well of course it's not gonna be THAT easy, Sam!" She chided me, "But I think with a little female persuasion...we could actually pull this off...And now that I think of it...Lance and you would be PERFECT for each other!"

"This is insanity...you know that, right?" I asked her, lying back against my pillows and looking up at the ceiling, "Someone will be here momentarily to carry us off in white coats..."

"But notice that you're not saying no?" She said with a grin, "You want a man that's gonna treat you like a princess...and I want a man that's gonna treat me like a sex slave! We each have what the other one wants, Sam...it's only natural that we switch...so we both get what we want!"

I looked at her in amazement, "That is SO fucked up...that it actually makes sense!" I said...not believing I was saying it.

"So...the next step is trying to figure out just HOW we're going to pull this off...” She said, laying along side me on the bed on her stomach. She propped her chin in her hands and got a deep, thoughtful look on her face.

Just then, the phone rang...I sighed, knowing it was Justin, and rolled over to answer it.

"Hello?" I said, flopping back against my pillows with the phone pressed to my ear.

"Hey there, baby girl." Justin said, his voice smooth, and sexy.

"Hi baby..." I said, looking over at Stacy, who was still deep in thought...she looked like she was meditating, and I stifled a laugh.

"How was work?" He asked, droning his way through the usual small talk before he dropped the bomb on me.

"Hectic...Saturday's usually are...” I said, knowing well what was coming next.

"Whatchu say I come over and take your mind of it, baby?" He said, a tilt of suggestion to his voice, making it even sexier.

"You wanna come over and watch a movie with me or something?" I asked him, praying that he would redeem himself before I decided to take Stacy up on her offer.

"Yeah...yeah...we can do that, baby...” J said with a chuckle, "But I gots some other things on my mind...if ya feel me."

SOLD! TO STACY, FOR THE PRICE OF ONE BOYFRIEND! "Y'know baby, I'm really tired from work...can we maybe put this off til tomorrow night?"

He couldn't even try to mask the disappointment in his voice, "Yeah...I guess so, Sam...” He said quietly, "If you don't wanna..."

"J, it's not that...” I said, "Like I said, I'm really tired...I kinda just wanted to relax tonight..."

"Aiight baby, I hear ya..." He said, sounding slightly annoyed, "You go ahead and relax...I'll catch ya tomorrow, aiight?"

"Alright baby...thanks." I said, "J?"

"Yeah?" He said, sounding like he really wanted to hang up on me.

"I love you..."

"Yeah...love you too...g'night Sam."

"Good..." I was cut off by the sound of him hanging up on the other end. I cussed under my breath at him as I hung up the phone.

When I looked back at Stacy, she was grinning ear-to-ear, I could tell that she had come up with an idea of how to carry forth our little plan.

"Fine...” I said quietly, feeling a twinge of regret as I said it, "I'll try it..."

The next day after class, I saw Justin outside the campus coffee shop...he was talking to some friends. I stood back, out of his view, watching him for a few minutes. Appreciating what a good-looking guy he was. I watched as he animatedly talked to his "boys", using his hands to emphasize what he was saying.

The light caught the blonde highlights in his mass of golden-brown curls, and his blue eyes flickered mischievously. I smiled as I remembered how the first time I had seen him, he reminded me of Michaelangelo's famous statue of David. As though he had been chiseled from marble, he really was breath-takingly handsome...and he knew it.

I took a deep breath and walked toward him, and his small group of friends. He smiled when he saw me, and then kind of scowled, probably remembering that we hadn't parted on good terms on the phone the night before.

I decided to act like it didn't matter to me, and simply walked up and put my arms around him. He pulled me close to him, and kissed the top of my head, which was easy for him being so much taller than I was.

"Hey baby." He said, tilting my chin up to lay a soft kiss on my lips. I kissed him back tenderly, causing his friends to let out a small cacophony of whoops and catcalls.

"I just saw you standing here and decided to come say hi." I told him, moving my backpack over to my other shoulder nervously, "I've gotta get to class, though."

"Aiight...but we still on for tonight?" He asked, that charming smile playing about his lips, giving off the hint of the dimples in his cheeks.

I nodded, my words catching in my throat...I had never been a very good liar...and now was no different.

"Okay baby...” He said, giving me another kiss, "I'm lookin' forward to it."

I kissed him back again, and then let my fingers trail down the side of his cheek...allowing them to linger as I looked into his blue eyes. I felt like I was saying goodbye to him...and in all honesty, I was.

I turned to walk away, and had only gotten about 5 feet from the group when he called my name. I shivered, and turned back to him, trying to smile.

"Hey Sam?" He said, smiling at me.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"I love you, girl...you know that, right?"

His friends chuckled, and he shot them a warning look, causing them to stop suddenly.

I nodded; almost choking back tears..."Yeah J...I know...I love you too."

He blew me a kiss, and I started for the theater...wondering just what the hell I was thinking...

When I got to the theater, I found Stacy standing outside, talking to Lance. Lance was no bad-looking guy himself. He too, was devastatingly handsome...but in a different manner than Justin was. Where Justin's style said basketball court and wife beaters...Lance's said the symphony and polo shirts...

He, like J, had blondish-brown hair...but his was more blonde than Justin's was...and where J's was a mass of tight curls, Lance's was straight and spiky. He had a baby-face, and the most stunningly green eyes, I had ever seen. I smiled at him as I stepped up beside Stace, and he smiled back, nodding slightly.

"Hey girl...” Stacy said, hooking her arm around my waist. "I was just tellin' Lance that you're gonna join us for dinner tonight!"

I nodded, the words not wanting to come out...Damn me for being such a shitty liar, I thought to myself..."Yep...” I managed.

"Well, that's great, Sam." Lance said, his deep voice revealing what was left of a Southern Accent, "It'll be my honor to be accompanied by two lovely ladies."

I blushed, and looked away, Stacy was watching me...this proud smirk on her face...Something in me almost wanted to smack it off her.

"I have to talk to you..." I said under my breath to her, "I'll meet you inside."

She looked worried all of a sudden, and nodded at me. "Okay...I'll see you inside."

I offered Lance a weak smile and walked past, "See you tonight." I said as I passed him...finding it cynically comical that he had no idea what was going on.

“Yeah!” Lance called after me; “I’m lookin’ forward to it!”

I went into the theater and sat in one of the back rows…waiting for Stacy to come in. After a few minutes, she finally showed up, and moved in next to me, looking at me worriedly.

“You’re not thinking of bailing on this, are you?” She asked me.

“I can’t lie to you, Stace…I am thinking that…” I admitted.

“Oh god, Sam…” She said, “Why?”

“I just saw Justin…at the coffee shop…” I started, “And he was SO sweet!”

“Samantha!” She cried, once again a little too loud.

“Stacy!” I cried back at her, ignoring the curious looks of the other people scattered throughout the theater, “You can’t get mad at me just because I’m having second thoughts about switching boyfriends with you!”

“Just go to the restaurant tonight…” She prompted me, “Give it a shot…if you’re totally miserable with Lance, then I’ll call it off.”

“Oh, but by that time you’ll have moved in on Justin…and I’ll have no one!” I said, “That’s real fair, Stace.”

“If it turns out that you don’t like Lance, then I won’t pursue anything further with Justin after tonight.” She promised, “I’ll play it off as my being stupid…okay?”

“All right,” I agreed after a long moment of pondering the situation, “I’ll give it a shot…but if it doesn’t work out then things go back to the way they are…no questions asked.”

She smiled happily, and nodded. “I swear!” She agreed whole-heartedly, “No questions asked!”

“I still can’t believe you talked me into this!” I protested, allowing Stacy to take the last sponge curler out of my hair.

“Will you just shut up and look at yourself?” She asked, tossing my hair a bit to blend the curls in, “You look amazing!”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and almost gasped…That person looking back at me could not POSSIBLY be me! I thought to myself.

My normally non-descript Auburn hair was cascading over my shoulders in delicate ripples, and it was shining like a new dime. Even my eyes, which usually looked grey were showing their true color…a mixture of blue and green, which Justin had always said reminded him of the ocean…

My heart caught in my throat as I thought of him. And I swallowed it, remembering that it was only a matter of proving to Stacy what a stupid idea this was before I could go back to being with him.

“Okay girlfriend,” She said, “You have exactly an hour until we’re supposed to meet Lance at the restaurant.” She said, turning me around to face her. “Now remember, after you guys have waited for me for about half an hour or so, go ahead and convince him to order…get him talking…I know you’re good at that.”

"I suppose there's no turning back now, right?" I asked as she got ready to close the door in my face.

"Not a chance!" Stacy laughed, "Have fun!"