After Class (3 page)

3

Hours pass and Taylor is a few too many drinks into the night. She is in the heart of the makeshift dance floor in the living room and is surrounded by people she doesn’t know too well. Nicole is off with her male suitor and hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the night. Chantelle and her friend are off doing body shots on the kitchen table as cheers from the crowd edge them on. It is nearly 1:00 am but by the looks of it, this party has just begun. 

Taylor is swinging her arms above her head and letting completely loose. The bass from the club music takes over and she can feel the stress leaving her body. After months of hard work and stress, she is finally letting go. She is enjoying herself. She is having fun. It is a cathartic moment for her and a necessary one. She needed this. She wanted it – bad.

At the peak of her enjoyment, Taylor can feel a vibration in her pocket. It is her cell phone going off. It snaps her out of her moment and back into reality. She pulls the phone into her dazed view. It is her boyfriend, Chad, on the other line. Taylor snaps out of her drunken haze and excuses herself outside of the house. She swipes open the phone, steadies herself and answers it. “Hey baby, how are you?” Taylor yells into the phone, sounding like the quintessential drunk college girl.

“Hello, Taylor? Where are you? What are you doing? Do you know what time it is there?” Chad asks on the other line with an underlying tone of rage and worry.

Taylor tries to calm herself and tries not to slur her words. “Hey Chad, I’m sorry. Nicole pressured me into coming out tonight and we are just on our way back to the dorm now. S - sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”

Chad falls silent on the other line. Taylor can tell that he is upset.

“Listen, we are just going to start walking back so I’ll call you when I’m in bed, okay?” Taylor waits anxiously for a reply. She is starting to teeter on her feet.

“Whatever, bye.” Chad hangs upon the other line.

Taylor, unaffected by the tiff, shoves her phone back into her pocket and heads back inside. Upon arriving back inside the home, she sees Chantelle and the brunette getting ready to leave. They are both attempting to hold the other up but fail to do so. They stumble out of the home and walk up to Taylor.

“You guys are leaving? I thought you came here to show us younglings how to party,” Taylor snarls at the two girls.

Chantelle smiles and composes herself briefly. She shifts her weight from the brunette onto Taylor. She hangs off of her and brings her lips up to Taylor’s ear. “It’s up to you now, Taylor. You hold the reigns. Make momma proud.” She breaks from the halfhearted embrace and winks at Taylor.

“Oh, you can take the reins on that woman,” Taylor says. “There’s no way I can top you.”

Chantelle taps Taylor on the shoulder and smiles. “You say that now, but if you are anything like me, we will see how long you last.” The two girls walk past Taylor and hail a cab off of the street. A few moments later, they are gone into the darkness of the night.

Taylor stands watching the cab drive down the street and Chantelle’s words ring in her head. Was it that easy? How did she get away with it? Is it something that she could do?

She shakes off any thoughts that she might have, turns and heads back into the party. Just as she is about to finally enter the house, Nicole comes bursting through the front door. It takes her a moment to notice Taylor but when she does, she grows excited and jumps on of her, nearly taking down both girls to the ground when she does so. “Taylor! I’ve been looking all over for you. Where have you been?” Nicole shouts into Taylor’s ear. She is beyond intoxicated and reeks of sex and liquor.

“Looking for me all night? Bullshit! Thanks for ditching out on me, you broad,” Taylor says to Nicole, laughing.

Nicole breaks from the drunken embrace and laughs. She grabs onto Taylor’s shoulders. “You love it. Whatever, let’s go home. I’m wiped and I can’t handle another tequila shot.”

After the phone call with Chad and the bizarre conversation with Chantelle, Taylor is ready to head home. At this point, she needs all of the sleep that she can get. She grabs onto Nicole’s waist to brace her and wraps Nicole’s right arm around her neck. “Alright, let’s get us home.”

The two girls walk across the lawn of the house and make their way back to the dormitories. The once warm spring air has now become far cooler and the wind wisps their hair and chills their skin. It is a refreshing sensation and helps them both to alleviate some of the nauseous affects from the alcohol. Taylor and Nicole both continue walking and realize that this walk might be one of the longest they will ever take together. Both of them intoxicated find humor in even the smallest things on their trek back to the dorms.

 “So… how was your night?” Taylor asks Nicole, drunk. “Is this guy a keeper? I can’t remember the last time you hooked up with the same guy twice. I think this means you’re married.”

Taylor stars humming the wedding march song and walks Nicole down the sidewalk as if walking down the aisle. The two girls laugh and Nicole shoves her weight into Taylor. “See, this is the Taylor that I love and remember. It’s good to see you let loose and actually enjoy yourself for once.”

“Yeah, I guess it was a fun night, but Chad called me and he sounded pretty pissed that I was out and not studying. Sometimes I feel like he puts more pressure on me than my parents,” Taylor says to Nicole as the two of them cross the street, arm in arm.

“Dump him! Seriously. Dump him. You had so much fun tonight and that is what college is all about. Maybe you need to spread your wings a bit more,” Nicole demands.

Nicole’s words cause Taylor to think briefly and to consider the thought greatly. The consideration is short lived as Taylor remembers her encounter with Chantelle. “Oh! You’ll never guess who I saw tonight. Freaking. Chantelle. Boudreau!”

“Seriously? She’s a real winner, still going to college parties even though she graduated forever ago”, Nicole says with distain. It is obvious that she doesn’t feel as positive about Chantelle as Taylor does. “What is she doing with her life anyways?”

“More like who is she doing,” Taylor snaps back at Nicole. Taylor knows that she should keep the information a secret but has a hard time hiding things from Nicole.

“What? You got some gossip tonight? Do tell!” Nicole looks towards Taylor as the two girls near their dorm.

The two girls approach the front doors to the building and Taylor stops them before they enter. She looks around her in all directions, making sure that no one is in the near vicinity. She brings Nicole in closer and spills the beans. “The reason why Chantelle got through college with an A+ in every class and a perfect 4.0 grade average, is because she nearly fucked every professor she had!”

After a brief moment of shock, Nicole bursts into laughter. “Well little Miss Perfect isn’t so perfect after all, hey? Wow! That’s hilarious. She’s such a slut.”

Taylor’s mood tanks almost instantly. She idolizes Chantelle and Nicole’s words pierce through the fact that she is not one to model a career around.

“That’s good, Tay. That’s real good.” Nicole grabs onto the front door of the dorm building and pulls herself inside. “Man, such a good night!”

 Taylor heads in after her and the two girls stumble around the lobby until they reach the elevators. They head up to their floor and exit the elevator. The two of them are desperately trying to be quiet as they make their way to their room, but no one is able to be quiet when they know they have to be, especially when they are drunk. The two of them start laughing uncontrollably in their drunken stupor, for absolutely no reason, and start running towards their room. Nicole uses her key and opens the door first. She bolts inside and Taylor follows suit.

Taylor slams the door behind her and the two girls jump onto their designated beds, laughing and enjoying themselves. Taylor stares up at the ceiling of their room. She relishes in the fun she just had and exhales deeply. In the same moment, she turns over to Nicole and catches a glimpse her desk in the corner of her eye. Her attention is then drawn to the stack of books and open laptop. She knows that she has an immense amount of work before her and the pressure starts building again.

“So, did you have fun for once?” Nicole asks Taylor.

It takes Taylor a moment to realize that Nicole is talking to her and she breaks from her focus and depressed state briefly. “Yeah, I had a blast, thanks,” she says half assed. Taylor shifts her attention back to her desk. She looks at the clock on the wall and realizes it is 2:00am. She knows she better get to work, even if her thoughts are clouded and her judgment affected.

“Alright, sleepy time for me”, says Nicole as she undresses. Nicole slips out of her party clothes and into her underwear. She slides her body beneath the covers of her bed and turns away from Taylor. She begins to pass out, makeup still on and teeth unbrushed.

Taylor fights the fatigue and intoxicated feeling. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and remembers the phone call with Chad. Not wanting to deal with another argument at this hour of the night, she opens her text message function on her phone and decides to send Chad a text.

“HEY BABE, SORRY ABOUT TONIGHT. DIDN’T WANT TO CALL AND WAKE YOU. WILL CALL IN THE MORNING. LOVE YOU. NIGHT.”

Taylor turns off her phone and places it on the bedside table. She looks at her desk again and contemplates the idea if she should read just one chapter before she heads to bed. Finally, she decides one hour wouldn’t hurt and she climbs out of bed. The rustling of papers on her desk and the glowing of the laptop wakes Nicole. She groans and snarls at Taylor. “Dude, go to bed! Your books will be there in the morning. I promise.”

Taylor breaks from her readings and whispers to Nicole. “Sorry, just wanted to catch up on something. I’ll be done soon.”

“Dude, you’re drunk! Just go to bed!” She pauses momentarily. “Maybe you should sleep with your prof and you wouldn’t have to pull this shit anymore,” Nicole snaps as she rolls back over and tries to sleep.

At first, the words offend Taylor but she can’t think of anything to say in defense. Then, much to her dismay, she starts to actually consider the idea given to her from Nicole. Staring at the massive workload before her, she feels the heat and she feels like she is losing her grip on reality. The conversation she had with Chantelle is now coming forward in her mind. She looks at her email folder on her laptop and sees Mr. Zakarak’s name. She thinks to herself, what would be the harm in asking? How bad would things get if he said yes?

In her state of clouded judgment and the drunken haze, Taylor clicks on Mr. Zakarak’s name and opens a new email draft. She begins typing with furor and desperation, despite feeling the effects of the alcohol and how the room seems to be spinning. 

“DEAR MR. ZAKARAK,

I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID AFTER CLASS TODAY AND I AM WRITING TO YOU FOR SOME ADDITIONAL HELP. AFTER THOUGHTFUL CONSIDERATION, I WAS THINKING THAT MAYBE WE COULD COME TO SOME SORT OF AN AGREEMENT IN REGARDS TO MY STUDIES. MAYBE IF I WAS TO PERFORM SOME FAVOR FOR YOU, I COULD RECEIVE AN A+ IN RETURN. I DON’T MEAN TO COME ON STRONG, BUT I AM AT MY WITS END.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

SINCERELY,

TAYLOR MURRAY”

Taylor stares at the computer screen and her eyes are squinting from the bright light. She hovers her mouse over the send button and allows it to linger there for a moment. As she continues to stare at the computer, she can feel the effects of the alcohol intensifying. The room begins to feel as though it is spinning severely and her nausea is becoming more and more dominant. Before she knows it, Taylor can feel the alcohol wanting to exit her body. She instantly darts up from the desk opens the girl’s dorm room and bolts for the bathroom.

This commotion causes Nicole to wake up. “Taylor, what the hell is going on?” Nicole looks around the room and notices the door is open and Taylor’s laptop is still on. Nicole gets up, saunters over to the door, slams it shut and then stumbles over to the laptop. She trips up on the chair and her hand accidentally slams down on the mouse, pressing the send button on the email browser. Nicole composes herself, slams Taylor’s laptop shut and slides back into her bed.

4

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Mr. Zakarak’s strong right hand slams down on the buzzer of the alarm clock placed next to his king size bed. The clock strikes 7:30 am and it is time for him to wake up. He opens his eyes and looks to the other side of the bed. It is empty. He pulls himself together and swings his legs over onto the side of the bed. He sits himself upright and lingers on the side of the bed for a moment. He looks over at the bedside table and notices his wedding band sitting there. He hesitates for a moment and decides to put it on. After yawning and stretching on the bed, he heads down the stairs of his home and enters the kitchen. He puts on a pot of coffee and pulls his laptop out of his bag. He sets it on the kitchen island and waits for it to boot up. In the same motion, he checks on his cell phone charging on the kitchen counter. He has a voicemail message from his wife. He listens to it.

“Hey James, it’s me. Sorry I couldn’t get a hold of you last night. I was too busy with this gala. I’ll be sure to check in later. I love you. Bye.”

He puts the phone down and stares at it for a moment. A part of him wants to call her back to check in but he refuses. He ignores his phone, walks over to the refrigerator and looks for something to ease his morning hunger. The coffee maker brews a single cup of coffee and the aroma alerts him that it is ready for his enjoyment. He walks over to the laptop on the kitchen island with his coffee and fruit salad in hand. He sets his items down beside the laptop. He then shifts his attention to the laptop, which is notifying him that he has new email messages. After a sip of coffee, Mr. Zakarak opens up his email in a new window. He navigates through the usual junk mail, offering him products that he doesn’t need – erectile dysfunction remedies, Russian mail order brides and single hot 18 year olds in his neighborhood. He also checks a few staff emails, but nothing captures his eye. He notices that his spam folder has a (1) beside it and usually, he would disregard anything that enters that folder, but today, he finds himself curious.

After dipping into his fruit salad with a spoon, he opens up the folder and notices Taylor Murray’s name. She is the sender of the email, with no subject line. Mr. Zakarak opens up the email and reads it. His eyes trace the words across the screen. As he reads, his face grows more and more puzzled. When he finishes, he has to read it twice to make sure that he read it correctly. Shocked, Mr. Zakarak shuts his laptop, as if he was looking at something he shouldn’t have been and perhaps someone was accusing him. His heart flutters in his chest and his stomach is in knots. He stares blankly at the kitchen island, lost in a train of thoughts. He picks up his coffee mug and takes a huge gulp. “Well, that’s one way to start the day.”