Heartbreak At Motel 7!

Chapter 21

My friendship with Marsha has always been easy. Effortless. Like one of your old favourite sweatshirts that always fit just right, no matter how much time has passed.

We've never had a fallout before, I never knew how I would behave if we ever did. I was surprised at how fast I would be forced to find out.

I stood in Marsha's dorm room, the air between the two of us thick with tension.
Only, I couldn't figure out why.

It just felt weird.
Off, for lack of a better word.

She barely greeted me when I entered. We had arranged to meet up to study, as we usually did. But she couldn't even look at me.

I stood awkwardly, contemplating as to whether or not I should say something.

Before I could make a final decision on opening my mouth, she walked over to her bed and fished a pair of panties out of her bedside drawer.

My panties.
The ones I left in Theo's car.
Black lace. Delicate.

Incriminating.

Marsha dangled my panties in her fingers, with the same casual disdain someone might reserve for a spider they caught in a tissue.

I eyed her facial expression carefully, frozen in place.
I couldn't tell if she was disgusted or amused.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Charlie?" Marsha asked, her eyebrow raised.

I tried to stay calm, my mind screaming at me for making such a careless mistake.
My heart thudded like it was trying to break free from my chest.

I offered her a weak laugh, "Yeah, Uh... Those are mine."
"No shit, Sherlock." Marsha spoke in a tone that was difficult for me to not perceive as her snapping at me.

Marsha and I had changed in front of each other many times before.
She knew what my underwear looked like.

It probably would have been within my best interest to catch how her eyes would slowly travel over me whenever my back was turned, drinking in glimpses of my naked body.

My voice was almost squeaky as I tried to pipe up, "I must have lost them."
"Oh, Yeah?"

Marsha's smile was sharp, but ultimately humourless. To her, nothing was funny.

"Under the passenger seat of Theo's car? That's a weird place to 'lose' your panties, Don't you think?"

She held my underwear up like it was evidence in a murder trial.

I tried to gauge her mood.
Was she upset? She sounded upset, with a strange edge in her voice that I couldn't quite place.

I racked my brain desperately as I tried to figure out what she was feeling, because she didn't seem like she was going to verbalise it.

"Marsha." I started, approaching the situation with caution, "It's really not a big deal."

What else was I meant to say?

"Not a big deal?" she repeated as she tossed the lacy fabric aside carelessly, "So what? It's just another night out for you, huh? Some fun I wasn't important to hear about?"

I was caught off guard.
I geniunely couldn't understand why she was being so hostile, so suddenly.

"Wait what?" I stammered, "Why would you care?" I scrambled for the correct words to communicate my confusion and hopefully gain clarity.

Her laugh cut like glass in response to my innocent question.

"Dude, Don't play dumb. You do weird shit all the time, you disappear without a word and come back like everything is supposed to be good." She spoke quickly, "And then, I find that."