We're Gonna Be Great!

Chapter 21 : "Digging Up Dirt..."

Tuesday

"Okay, well, here we go! First kiss... Kindergarten... Eric VonHellen. I chased him around the playground, caught him, and then kissed him... and then promptly got sent to the office." Colby cracked up.

"They sent you to the office?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yep. but it was worth it." she said and Colby just laughed. This wasn't gonna be so bad, he thought.

Neena went on to tell him about her first boyfriend, Chris, in sixth grade and how they kissed and held hands at sixth grade camp. Then in 8th grade she met Taylor who would end up becoming her highschool sweetheart two years later. She talked about her first kiss with tongue - a friend of her cousin's named David who was DJing a roller skating rink sock-hop dance where they lock all the kids inside from 10pm until 6am when all the parents come and pick them up.

And then more about Taylor and how they got together and how they had English together - a classic literature college prep class - and how he started hanging out with her at swim meets and even joined the Drama Club with her so that she didn't have to be alone with the two assholes who tried to tie her up in the theater... She told him all about their break up and how he wanted to stay in Sacramento and she had to get out because her family drove her nuts but Taylor's family was super chill and paying his way to go to Sac State. And then two months later, right after she left for Humboldt state, he calls her up and tells her he met someone and that they'd started dating... Broke her heart all over again but in a whole new and fucked up way...

Then Neena talked about a guy she met in college, Mike, who had a girlfriend back home but they had agreed to get back together after they both graduated and that they could see anyone they wanted while they were away, as long as they never told each other anything about it. Neena thought it was weird but wasn't in the mood to go fallin' for anyone anytime soon after losing Taylor, so she agreed to a friends-with-benefits relationship which actually worked out really well. And then she talked about how it was his idea for her to move to LA and study photography and follow her dreams. He bought her a camera and everything and even sent her money every month until she found a job and a permanent place to stay besides hotels or her car.

And then there was the Sean vs. Anthony situation...

"You told me about some of this." Colby said and Neena took a deep breath. Colby could sense her awkwardness so he thought he'd try to help her out. "So you met Anthony and Sean when you first started taking classes at the Millennium, right?"

"Right." she confirmed.

"And Anthony asked you out first but you and he never were more than friends, right?" he asked and Neena made a face.

"No?" he asked, wanting clarification.

"I mean, we were only friends the whole time I was with Sean, but then Sean fucked everything up and cheated on me and then Anthony picked a fight with him and kicked his ass and they both got kicked out of the studio for a month and put on probation for like six months and I felt bad for Anthony so I like, hung out with him a lot for a while after that. It was weird... I don't even remember much of that time period. I was just like, a zombie, going through the motions of reality." Neena explained but Colby interrupted.

"Did you sleep with him?" Colby asked and Neena got a funny look on her face and then started to grin. "You did, didn't you?" he goaded. Neena smirked.

"Yeah, but I feel bad about it because he really liked me and I was too fucked up to even take notice." Neena told him.

"Ohhh... " Colby said, his reaction very telling of his disapproval of her actions."