Wayne came to a party at my house and drank my beer. At first, he didn’t say hi to me and I didn’t say hi to him, but after a few hours of drinking he came up to me and shook my hand while swaying back and forth a little. He thanked me for having him over. I smiled uncaringly and said ‘of course.’
A few minutes later I looked across the room and saw Wayne sitting on the couch with the blonde girl I liked. It looked like maybe they were holding hands; I couldn’t tell for sure. I looked away and went up to my room where some people were smoking weed and doing coke and talking about 3D printers and virtual reality and other stupid things. Everyone at the party was doing and saying stupid things. The blonde girl I liked walked up and stood in the doorway, straddling the hallway and my room, grabbing at the top of the door with her fingers. She talked loudly and spilled her beer on the floor but didn’t notice.
Someone said something about tattoos and the blonde girl I liked became excited. She commented that she ‘always wanted a sun tattoo.’ I said ‘you mean like the Sublime sun?’ and she said ‘no’ and shook her head furiously like a small child. I said ‘I would give you a stick and poke right now’ and she rolled up her jeans and said ‘go ahead.’ It felt like a challenge. A tattoo challenge. I was drunk and ready for a tattoo challenge. I took out a pin and some ink and started poking at her ankle. She said ‘ouch’ and laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. I told her to stay still. Somewhere a disembodied voice said ‘oh my god, what the fuck is going on.’ I was halfway done with the circle and Wayne came in the room. He made a comment about how she was going to regret the tattoo in the morning and I said something mildly aggressive to him. Wayne didn’t say anything back. He just made that stupid face he always makes when he’s drunk and doesn’t know what to say. The room was quiet and I continued poking at her skin. Wayne said ‘that’s not a sun; that’s a circle.’ I said ‘what shape do you think the sun is?’ Wayne said ‘you’re an idiot’ and then said ‘dude’ over and over. I finished the circle.
My drunk focus had made me into a great artist. When I finally looked up, I realized that all the other people in my room were gone, that it was just me, Wayne, and the blonde girl I liked. Wayne took the pin and without sterilizing it, poked a few dots into his own arm. The blonde girl I liked said ‘thanks’ and stood up. She looked a little dizzy. Wayne and the blonde girl I liked said they were going to some house show down the street. They encouraged me to go with them and the blonde girl I liked made a scooping motion with her hands while saying things like ‘it’s not even that late’ and ‘come on, come on’ and ‘it’ll be soooo much fun’ and ‘let’s go you fucking piece of shit.’ I told them I was too tired and sat alone on my bed as they walked out.
One of Wayne’s friends came into my room and asked me where Wayne went. I told him that Wayne and the blonde girl I liked were gone forever. I sounded melodramatic and stupid, probably. I didn’t care. Wayne’s friend pulled out his phone and showed me his Kickstarter campaign for a swimming charity he was trying to start. The charity seemed convoluted and pointless, but I listened to the entire pitch anyway.
The next morning I woke up too early, like I always do whenever I drink too much, and started cleaning up the mess from the party. My housemates were still asleep and I listened to music through my headphones for motivation, to distract me. Then Wayne appeared. He was suddenly in the living room, standing in front of me. I asked him how he got into the house and he said ‘it’s crazy huh?’ and looked somewhere else. He picked up a broom and started helping me clean. He walked around and picked up beer cans. He asked me if I was hungover and I said ‘yeah.’ I asked him where the blonde girl I liked was and he said ‘she’s coming over to pick up her jacket.’ He asked me if i wanted to go downtown to get Pho with them and I said ‘maybe.’ I was hungry, tired, and miserable. I said ‘what restaurant are you going to?’ and Wayne said ‘ I don’t know. Where do you want to go?’ I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to keep saying things and asking questions. It was pointless. Everything was going in circles.
