Soundtrack of a 90's Heartbreak

Good Riddance

There is nothing worse than being dumped.

Especially when you’re seventeen and have no clue it’s coming—and it’s a month before prom.

Which is where we find Elliott.

Gripping the phone with both hands, one on the receiver and the other around the cord, knuckles turning white, his heart raced within his chest. His normally translucent face was turning bright shades of white as the minuscule molecules of air leaving his mouth were latched to the garlic dip from his pizza dinner.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Although he tried to sound nonchalant about the question, his normally raspy voice came across as a mouse begging for its life.

“There’s just a lot of stuff going on from the past that only Kaylie knows about,” the voice responded.

The voice.

His girlfriend—for now. As in, this moment because the next one is about to drop.

“I want to know about it too,” Elliott said. “I care about you and want to be there for you, no matter what.”

While the tone was genuine, the words were a source of desperation. His last chance to show that he cared and somehow, get her to see it as well. A common, yet naive, wishful attempt at trying to convince the other person of something they may not know.

To date, it hasn’t worked for anybody.

“I just don’t think it’s the best time right now,” she said.

Tears could be heard through the receiver and Elliott knew this was the end.

“So what are you saying?” he finally asked.

There was a moment of silence as he gripped the phone to the point where the thing could break apart at the seams. That is, if it had seams and Elliott had enough strength to do it.

3…2…1…

“I just don’t think I should be in a relationship right now.”

Dumped.

“Can you at least tell me what’s happening? I want to be there for you,” he begged.

It was a desperate attempt to continue the relationship and even he knew it. Elliott had yet to learn that when a woman was telling you something serious like this, she had been thinking about it for much longer than the time it took to pick up the phone and dial the number.

“I just need to figure out a few things before I can date anybody,” was the response.

If Elliott couldn’t pick up the clue at this point the relationship was over, there was no hope for him. Luckily, he understood what it meant… almost.

“I understand what you’re saying and I hope you can work through it. You can always call me if you need anything,” he told her.

In the back of his mind, Elliott still had thoughts this relationship could be salvaged. For him, this was only a temporary pause. Perhaps the bad habit of watching Friends for too many seasons convinced him this was only a break via Rachel and Ross style.

“I know,” she sniffed.

There were still tears coming out on the other end and the conversation began to hit a new level of awkward. Rather than ending it there, Elliott decided to take it a step further in the realm of not having a clue.

“Well, as you know,” he began in an upbeat tone, “My work tonight is off to the comedy club as an event. You still want to go? I saved you a ticket and it should at least take your mind off things.”

There was a few moments of silence on the other end and Elliott could hear his heart beating.

“I invited Kate over to be with me tonight,” she finally said.

Elliott didn’t press the issue any further.

“Okay. Have a good night and can we talk again soon?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

He hung up the phone and sat there for a few moments in silence processing the conversation that just happened. In his head, he knew he got dumped, but there was a beating strand of hope floating through it.

It was the hope he held onto as he went to his work function.

***

You Oughta Know

“Where’s Amy?” Paul asked.

“She couldn’t make it tonight,” Elliott replied. “She’s working through something personal right now.”

Paul’s chin turned toward the ceiling, his black hair slicked back with enough product to glue a building down, eyed Elliott suspiciously. Even in the dimly lit comedy club with the wooden tables reeking of spilt alcohol and chattering of nonsense from the crowd, his tone was clear.

“Shouldn’t you be there, then?”

Elliott’s face went red. He was caught in a lie and would need to admit the whole truth.

“I don’t know,” he finally responded. “I think it was a personal thing with her and her friend.”

Paul kind of nodded, accepting what Elliott told him but not convinced of it. The night continued with comedians hitting their A-game, allowing Elliott to completely forget about his relationship woes and enjoy the company of his co-workers. His boss treated everyone to the first round of drinks and Elliott settled for a Pepsi with some cherries in it. Given that he couldn’t legally drink alcohol yet, Elliott’s boss also treated him to a free appetizer as well.

He would remember this as the best part of the day.

The night ended with everyone in the club giving a rousing applause. Elliott’s co-workers took to the streets and decided to walk to their workplace. The advantage of working downtown is being near the action of all things happening in the city. It also helped that he worked at an Internet and Gaming Cafe and could get away with feeding his gaming addiction by spending more time at work.

Nobody ever questioned why he worked so much.

“Time for some EverQuest?” Ian asked his partner Danielle.

“Sure thing. Give me a second to use the bathroom. Did you want to log me on?”

Ian and Danielle were the quintessential couple who should’ve been married years ago, but were content co-habitating. Both were bright individuals pursuing their PhDs in the sciences, but kept delaying their thesis defense. In other words, for Elliott, they were the perfect couple.

The rest of the staff logged on to the game as well, accepting the required minimum of a four hour commitment. By the looks of it, Elliott had nowhere else to be and gaming with his co-workers would be the ultimate tool to take his mind off the relationship.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Sam asked to his girlfriend. “Ian and Danielle play EverQuest together.”

“You are not going to get me to play,” she replied. “Besides, didn’t both of you delay your doctoral thesis a year because of this stupid game?”

“Not quite,” Ian replied. “There was still some more research I had to get done and needed to go through the approval process. It just so happened not a lot of writing got done during that time.”

“See!” Sam exclaimed. “And Danielle loves the game. Probably plays it more than Ian.”

Sam’s girlfriend, Christine, rolled her eyes.

Elliott always admired how Christine would just hang out while Sam played. She usually jumped on a nearby computer and played a life simulator game, then would have to drag Sam out when her people weren’t living the perfect life she set out for them.

“I have to hand it to you, Christine,” Paul jumped in. “You’re a trooper for dating Sam.”

“No kidding,” she replied. “But he’s always there to rub my feet at the end of the day.”

“Well isn’t that sweet?” Elliott said out loud. “Hey Sam, will you rub my feet?”

“You’d like it too much, sparky.”

Danielle came back from the bathroom and leaned in to give Ian a kiss and some thanks.

“Let’s not give him a medal or anything,” Sam said in response to the situation. “The man just logged you into a video game. Anybody with fingers could do it.”

“Some of us aren’t afraid to show some displays of affection in public,” she shot back. “That’s what makes this guy sweet. Never ashamed to be with me wherever we are - including this place.”

“Shouldn't it be the other way around?” Elliott asked.

“You nerds have a way of going alpha male when you are surrounded by other nerds,” Danielle responded.

The trash talking continued as they all started badgering each other about their relationships. Elliott took note that even though they were all poking fun, every couple in there seemed to be really happy with each other. Even in the way they joked, he could tell there was something deeper going on. He did his best to reply at the safest moments when people wouldn’t press the issue of why Amy wasn’t there.

Paul was the one to break the silence about it.

“Shouldn’t you go check up on Amy?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Where is she, anyway? If she’s not here, she doesn’t exist.”

Sam kept joking with Elliott that Amy was completely made up. A point that always hurt Elliott.

“She knows I’m out with you guys,” Elliott fired back. “I didn’t want to overwhelm her right away with a work function.”

The lie so easily rolled off his tongue he almost felt ashamed for saying it.

“Will we get to see a prom picture of the two of you?” Christine asked.

Elliott’s spine straightened in an instant. He completely forgot about prom. It was only a month away and while he had the tux rental and tickets bought, he may no longer have a date.

“You’ll get a prom picture of the two of us at the dance and nothing more. Did you hear that, Sam?”

Sam was now ignoring Elliott as he typed furiously on his keyboard. Being part of a clan always had its drawbacks in a video game and Sam felt it was his duty to keep random people on the Internet together as a group.

The issue was dropped and Elliott suddenly wanted to go home. He realized he was going to have a month to win back his girlfriend for prom.

What Elliott didn’t know, was his life was about to get much worse.

***

Hand in My Pocket

The next morning was a blur to Elliott. He completely zoned out first period. During second period, he looked straight ahead at the board while his teacher went on about the merits of having a background in communications technology. For many in that class, they felt they hit the jackpot with what was being said.

Not everyone shared that same view.

“Can you believe this?” a voice whispered.

Elliott shook off his gaze as he realized he had completely stopped listening to the world around him. It was his friend Kingston and it was difficult to ignore a guy who’s voice could command the attention of a galloping herd.

“Sorry, what?” Elliott asked.

“What Mr. Crink is saying. People with our skills and that industry certification we’re training for are getting paid thirty dollars an hour to fix computers. Where can you find a job like that in this city?”

Elliott looked a little stunned because he still had no idea what Kingston was talking about.

“Are you sure he’s talking about here? He might mean Silicon Valley or something.”

Kingston looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Huh?”

Elliott’s prime tactic of pretending not to hear the question in order to stall.

“Man, you’re distracted as anything right now. You don’t think I know something’s up?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Elliott said.

As soon as the teacher was done speaking and sent the class to do their work, Elliott relayed the play-by-play of what happened the previous night.

“That sucks,” was Kingston’s reply. “I told you I was never a fan.”

Elliott wasn’t sure if Kingston was trying to cheer him up, or if he legitimately hated Amy. It was tough to tell with him sometimes, but that wouldn’t stop him from relaying the next part of his thought process.

“Yeah, but from where I’m sitting, I think I have a good shot at getting her back.”

Kingston nodded his head, only half convinced of the idea he could win his ex-girlfriend back. While Elliott didn’t have a fraction of the understanding about women that Kingston did, Kingston still felt empathy for his best friend. He felt it was his duty to at least speed up the process so Elliott could move on and focus on something new.

“Tell you what,” Kingston said. “I got my ride with me today. How about we visit Amy at her school after lunch and surprise her? It’ll throw her off guard and you can have a nice chat with her about something.”

His eyes shut slightly.

“Anything but the relationship.”

The two of them continued with their morning, excited to be heading out of the school. The problem with being a senior in high school and having the freedom to get yourself out of class is it happened quite frequently and Elliott was no stranger to leaving class. He often wondered if his days absent would overshadow his percentage at one point, which would impress him because he was also an excellent student.

Lunch hit and the two of them jumped into Kingston’s car, a humble Mazda 323, which Kingston often referred to as his reliable beast. However, the irony of the nickname was the custom license plate: XD1 TIMC. They tore off to the school where Amy attended. The whole way there Kingston insisted on listening to GZA’s Liquid Swords album, which Elliott would be fine with, if it wasn’t for the fact that’s all he ever listened to in his car.

They arrived at the school and found a parking spot only a few blocks away. Elliott had been mentally preparing what he would say to Amy when he saw her. He was worried she would be thrown off by his surprise visit, but with Kingston in tow, it would appear the two were just out and about. In his mind, it would look less like an attempt to see her again and more like a visit a friend would make because they could.

“You okay?” Kingston asked.

“Yeah, great,” Elliott replied. “Just going over what I’m going to tell her.”

Kingston laughed.

“You over think things too much. Just say hi and tell her your prom ticket is non-refundable. Either she goes or offers up a friend to go with you.”

Elliott wished he had the confidence to say that to her, but also felt he really could salvage this relationship if he showed his heart on his sleeve. Or, in this case, splayed out on the floor.

The two of them approached the front doors of the school and Elliott could hear his heart racing. He felt nervous about this whole situation, but entirely hopeful. Kingston was just happy to be out of school for the afternoon and he was looking forward to saying hi to a few friends.

Elliott walked the hallways of the school, an almost familiar landscape with lockers and classroom doors looking identical to just about every other high school he’d ever seen. Even though he visited Amy here several times before, he always felt uncertain about it. Like someone trying to get away with trespassing.

When he arrived at the class Amy should have been in, he realized he couldn’t just knock on the door and ask to see her. A regular student wouldn’t be given that privilege, never mind a visitor from another school. He would have to be clever and walk by the window a few times to see if he could get the attention of anyone in the room.

He walked by the first time and took a hard look in to see the proximity of the teacher in comparison to the class. If the teacher had a good view of the door, his viewing time would be limited. Luckily, the teacher was positioned in a way that was out of sight of the door and Elliott soaked in the classroom.

At first glance, he couldn’t recognize anyone. After a closer look, he realized Amy wasn’t in her usual spot of back left—the place she sat in every classroom.

Dismayed, he wondered if she even showed up to school today. Maybe she really is going through something serious, Elliott thought to himself.

He took a walk to the school’s library, just to see if anybody was in there who could relay information to him. The library also seemed like a safe place to be because there was always a stream of students coming in and out. He would be able to blend in just fine.

Upon walking in the door, he glanced over to the couch section where students normally hung out and his heart stopped.

Amy was there.

With another guy.

Making out.