Saintwood: Game Over

Summer Antics

Alex

Ever feel like life is a blur? That’s how I felt in the past three years. With so much chaos these past years, I hadn’t had time to catch my breath. Some good came out of it, such as getting engaged. Frazier got married along with Jordan, giving Elena a promise ring.

What sucked was the psycho lunatic wreaking havoc with us. You remember Ashley, Mario’s sister. I hated her in high school, and I hate her even more than ever.

Did I also mention my idiot fiancé grew a full beard? Yep, he thought, it made him more mature. It made him look like an idiot. I know most women like men with beards, but I hated how food always gets stuck in them.

It led to me chasing him with an electric razor around our room.

“Come on, Alex,” Ryan says as he stood on the other side of the bed.

“If you don’t shave it! I will!” I threatened.

“All women like beards!” He yelled.

“I don’t!” I yelled back.

“Can’t we compromise?” He asked me.

I stood there looking at him. “Such as?”

He looked at me from across the bed. “How about I trim it to a goatee?”

I gave him a look, then heard someone say, “Give the guy a break. At least he’s willing to compromise?”

I looked over to see Frazier leaning against the door frame. Oh, did I mention he grew a beard as well? What is it with these yutzes doing the same thing?

“Frazier, stay out of it, or I’ll get Marissa to shave yours,” I warned as I glared at him.

“You wouldn’t?” He asked, offended.

“I would,” I smirked.

“Bro, you’re on your own,” he told Ryan.

“Thanks, you coward,” he snapped.

“Hey, I like my beard,” Frazier mentioned. Ryan rolled his eyes.

As we had a stare-down with the razor in my hand, I heard someone say something, “All this for a beard?”

We looked at Jordan, and I rolled my eyes. “And I’m sure it will please Elena with yours?”

“She loves it.” He shrugged. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they all grew a beard.

“Be reasonable, Alex,” Ryan pleaded with me.

“Fine,” I said, tossing the electric razor onto the bed as I walked out of the room past the other two yahoos. It was one argument I would not win no matter what I tried.

“Why doesn’t she like beards?” Jordan asked.

“It’s a stupid reason,” he shook his head.

They both looked at him, and Frazier pressed it further. “What’s the reason, Ryan?”

“Well,” I said.

“Hahahaha. Are you kidding me?” Frazier was trying to catch his breath while Jordan was trying to stop laughing.

“You two are a bunch of comedians,” he grumbled.

“Dude, why don’t you trim it close and make sure you wash it before enjoying your dessert?” Jordan remarked as Frazier fell on the floor, laughing even more.

“I even offered that, but she refused it. What was I supposed to do?” He whined.

“Damn a grown man whining over whether to keep a beard.” Jordan shook his head.

“Well, if you want the pussy, then you should stop being one,” Frazier said through giggles. It caused him and Jordan to roar.

Ryan stormed past both, rolling his eyes. “You both are idiots.”

I came into the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee, and joined the girls. I finally got used to Mason’s house, only getting lost here and there.

“So,” asked Marissa.

“He offered to shave if he could leave a goatee,” I answered.

“What’s wrong with that?” Asked Elena.

“It’s a dumb reason,” I said.

“What’s the reason, Alex?” They asked.

God, why did I have to open my mouth? I hated talking about anything sexual with anyone. It took a long time to even speak to Ryan about it, and even that is sparing.

“Um, well, you know how when a guy is eating food, and it gets stuck in their facial hair?”

“Yeah,” they both said, confused.

“Well, uh, Ryan and I started making out, then he moved down, um.”

They looked at each other, and Marissa said, “Go on,” trying to coax it out of me.

“Well, I started picturing food there, you know, stuck in his beard then where it could end up.”

“Alex, what did you do?” Elena asked, concerned.

“I panicked and slammed my legs shut right on his head,” I said, hiding my face.

They both looked at each other with wide eyes, then at me. They laughed.

“Oh, my God! That is some funny shit,” Marissa howled.

“Were his ears ringing?” Elena asked while laughing.

Ugh, I wanted to crawl in a hole right about now. I put my head on the counter and started hitting it in frustration while they laughed.

“Frazier, wait until you hear what Alex told me,” she yelled as she went upstairs. Then I heard him yell back, “Is it about the leg slamming incident? I already heard it! Hahahaha!”

I raised my head, rubbing my forehead, and Elena was still laughing as she got up, trying to make her way upstairs. I’m so glad my frustration is an amusement for everyone. Then I saw two masculine hands on the counter in front of me. I looked up to see Ryan standing there, staring at me.

Yep, killed me now. I lowered my head down onto the counter. Not only was I embarrassed, but if looks could kill, I would be one dead person.

“Fine. You win,” Ryan muttered, not amused. I watched him walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, but somehow, I felt lousy about it all. I climbed off my seat and trudged up the stairs, and I could hear the electric razor walking towards the sound. When I reached the bathroom, I yelled, “Stop,” catching him before using it.

He looked at me. “You don’t have to shave. I give up. You win.”

With that, I felt defeated. I turned around and walked away, leaving Ryan confused. I walked into the bedroom, sitting down on the side of the bed, and sighed.

I felt the bed dip next to me, and he grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers. “Alex, if it’s that important to you, I can shave it.”

“But it shouldn’t be my decision what you do with your beard since it’s your body. Plus, I shouldn’t force you to change because I have a little hang up.”

He put the finger on my chin, pulling it, so I was facing him. “Yeah, but it isn’t a little hang-up for you. Alex, I get it. Trust me, I do. It would be the same if you had hairy legs,” he said, making a shivering noise.

I laughed. “Um, no, thanks to you, I need not feel like a hairy ape.”

“But I get it. I do. I’ll shave. Okay?” He offered.

“Okay,” I agreed, and he gave me a small kiss on the lips.

“But not before I take care of something.”

I looked at him, confused. “What are you going to do?”

He got up from the bed, walking towards the door, “Paybacks, a bitch.”

We girls were in the living room when we heard Frazier yell, “This is absolute bullshit! Why the hell I got to shave because your girl hates facial hair?”

“Shut your yap and shave, will you?” Jordan yelled back at him.

“Fine! But if it forces me to destroy any dignity I have left, I’m doing it my way!”

“What dignity?” Ryan asked him.

“Fuck you, Ryan!”

“No thanks, I don’t swing that way, unlike some people I know!”

We couldn’t help but laugh at them.

“Ladies, we are with idiots, and I’m married to the biggest one,” Marissa rolled her eyes.

“Can’t dispute that,” I said, taking a sip of coffee.

Ryan and Jordan came down shaven, and Marissa looked at them. “Where’s Frazier?”

“Wait until you see what your idiot husband did,” Jordan smirked.

“What did he do?” I asked Ryan.

“Wait for it.” Ryan shrugged. Marissa decided not to wait for him to come down and ran upstairs. Then we heard it, “What the fuck, Frazier? Oh, hell, no!”

I looked at Ryan, “Wait. It’ll get better.”

“Why not?” Frazier asked her.

“You are not wearing a Fu Manchu! Shave that shit!” She demanded.

“He did not,” I whispered to Ryan in disbelief.

Ryan shrugged, and Jordan added, “Oh, the idiot did. We told him it would piss her off, but he told us he didn’t care.”

“If you don’t shave, you can sleep with Ryan!” She threatened him.

We snapped our heads at Ryan with mouths dropped. “Oh, hell no,” he said, running up the stairs.

We waited until we heard, “Ryan, for fuck’s sake, what are you doing?”

“There’s no way I’m sleeping with you! Now, shave that shit, or I will!”

Jordan, Elena, and I all laughed. Threaten Ryan with sleeping with Frazier, and all bets are off. The three of them came downstairs with Frazier, grumbling.

“Oh, stop your bitching, Bucky,” Ryan said.

“I still think it’s unfair,” he muttered.

“Dude, it’s gone. It’s time to get over it and let it go.” Jordan shrugged.

Frazier mimicked Jordan and stuck his tongue out at him as Jordan glared at him, threatening to kick his ass. Yes, my friends are nuts.

Later, I was lying on the bed on my stomach reading when I felt someone hover over me. I turned over and looked at him and reached up, touching his smooth face. “Much better.”

“You know, at some point, we will have to compromise about that.”

“I kind of figure. I’ll tell you what, the next time you can make it a goatee, keep it close and clean, and I’ll work on my hang up,” I offered.

“Deal,” he agreed.

He leaned down, kissing me and me, pulled him to me. Things started getting intense when we heard someone clear their throat. We looked up to see Frazier and Jordan standing in the doorway.

Ryan dropped his head, whispering into my ear. “Shit, I forgot to lock the door.”

He climbed off me, and we sat up. “Can we help you with something?” I asked them.

“We’re heading to the movies,” Jordan said.

“Then go on ahead. You don’t need us with you,” Ryan said.

“Nah, uh, the girls won’t go unless Alex comes. So I guess you two jackrabbits will have to wait,” Frazier smirked.

Ryan groaned, and I got off the bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind me. He stopped and looked at Frazier as Frazier said, “Paybacks are a bitch.”

Ryan glared at him. “Oh, how right you are. Run.”

Frazier took off with Ryan hot on his heels. Jordan looked at me. “You know those two are idiots, right?”

I nodded in agreement. “Yep,” I said.

We went downstairs, joining the others as Ryan and Frazier dukes it out. I got Ryan to give up, and we all went to the movies.

While we enjoyed our summer fun, we knew that the lunatic was still loose in the back of our minds. Things were about to get interesting.