Before He Cheats (Watty Awards 2011)

Before He Cheats - chapter 1

Before He Cheats

Chapter 1

I took a deep breath and carefully got out of my car. This was it. Tonight was the night that I was going to show my ass of a boyfriend that I was not like the rest of the girls he’d dated. He couldn’t just screw every girl in town and think that everything between us would be alright.

When I got to his front door I knocked a couple of times and waited. When he finally appeared, we hugged and I flashed one of the many fake smiles that I had been giving him lately.

"Hey babe, are you ready to go?" I asked, stepping back to take a better look at him. He was wearing his favorite dark jeans and a simple black t-shirt, yet he looked like a model. His short blond hair was slightly damp, his blue eyes beaming. A small wave of regret washed over me, but I quickly shoved it off. This wasn’t the time to second guess myself.

"Rhiannon what are you doing here? I was just leaving to pick you up…"

I tried to ignore how his voice sent tingles through my entire body. "Well, you always do that so I thought that tonight was my turn."

I grabbed his hand, grinning innocently, and pulled him out of the house.

"Okay, but we’re taking my car," he insisted, tugging to let go of my hand so that he could go to his garage but I tightened my hold on it and moved to stand in front of him.

"No, we’re taking my car." I tried to keep my voice smooth and calm, ironing out the kinks in my inflection because, truthfully, I was panicking. If I let him go into that garage, my plan was going to fall apart.

"Why?"

He frowned, looking over at my old, beat-up sedan.

"Because afterwards, I want to be able to drop you off like you always do…" I stated.

When I saw that he was still frowning, I pouted miserably.

"Please, Gray? You can even drive if you want to."

"Fine, but just this once" He smiled at me, glad on some level that he was doing me a favor, and reached over to take the keys from my hand.

***

Grayson and I met at an old Karaoke bar two years ago and ever since then, it’s been our favorite place to go to on Friday nights. It was sort of our tradition, tonight being no exception.

It was actually a cool place to hang out, and all of our friends would go there, get drunk, and sing terrible songs, in that order.

When we got to the bar, Grayson parked, got out, and came to open the door for me. I tried to smile at him but in the sight of him doing the same to other girls in the past few weeks ruined this otherwise sweet gesture.

We walked towards the bar and, just as we were about to walk in, Grayson suddenly pulled me towards him. He pulled my body against his and I forced myself to look up at him.

"I love you," he told me softly. I gazed into his blue eyes and they looked so sincere that I almost believed them. If this was two weeks ago, I would have melted on the spot, but right then, my heart was breaking.

"Good, now let’s go in." I told him quickly and pulled him into the bar. I know that he wanted me to say it back, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to say it truthfully, and he’d be able to tell. I’ve always been a terrible liar.

It was early so there weren’t many people in the bar. We sat at our usual table, which was right in front of the stage, and ordered our usual drinks. I quickly drank mine after the waitress brought them over and looked at Grayson.

"I want to sing you something," I stated plainly.

"You want to sing?" He asked, looking mildly shocked.

In the past, whenever someone would ask me to sing I’d always refuse out of shyness. Tonight, however, was a different story. I was telling myself to be confident and bold. My plan demanded it.

"Yes,” I confirmed. “I want to show you how I feel.”

I got up from my chair, kissing him passionately for good measure. I walked over to the stage and told the MC which song I wanted to sing. He gave me the microphone and told me to give him a sign whenever I was ready. I nodded my head and got up on the stage.

"Hey, everybody!" I said, my voice reverberating through the speakers. I saw some of my ex-friends in the crowd and smiled at them before continuing.

"I’m here tonight because of my boyfriend Grayson. We’ve been together for two years now, and I want to sing him a little something." I smiled and nodded my head to MC. He nodded his head back at me and after a minute, the intro to the song I had selected filled my ears.

I lifted the microphone up to my lips and began singing, looking straight into Grayson’s eyes.

“Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blond tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky...
right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink
'cause she can't shoot whiskey...

Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick,
showing her how to shoot a combo...

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his
pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats….

After I finished the song, I laughed a little at the shocked expression on Grayson’s face.

"Thank you." I said to the crowd, who were clapping and cheering for me, before stepping off the stage and making my way towards Grayson.

"I hope you liked it, baby,” I said coyly. “And by the way,” I added, as if it had just come to me, “you should probably go check on your car. Just a thought."

I smirked and walked past Grayson, who was frozen in place, and out of the bar.