Chapter 26: Backslide

"I can not believe I am here at the library on a Friday afternoon," said Jessie.

"I know. Pretty depressing, isn't it?" said Karen Laskovich

"I feel like that preppie boyfriend of mine," grumbled Jessie.

"So, how is Crash?"

"Crash is great. It's just too bad I won't get to see him this weekend. He's got some sort of family thing tomorrow, won't make it to Nickie's party."

"So," Karen smiled, "after all the shit you've given Sophia, how's it feel to have bagged a preppie of your own?"

"Don't remind me," Jessie grimaced. "Luckily, my preppie and Sophia's preppie are two very different people."

"How so? They're best friends."

"Yes, they are. And there are a lot of similarities on a basic values and attitudes level, but their personalities are very, very different."

"How are they such good friends, then?"

"I dunno, but they are a howl when they get together, I can tell you that. Crash and I double with Warren and Soph, and Crash and Warren keep us in stitches. But, good friends don't have to have identical personalities. Look and me and Sophia. Despite all the shit she's been through, she is far more open and vulnerable than I am. She's sweeter. She's more emotional. The differences between me and Soph are a lot like the differences between Warren and Crash."

"Ah. I always wanted to ask you, how did you react when Warren and Sophia hooked up?"

"I put on a happy face, not trying to make Soph defensive or anything, but I worried. Boy did I worry. Now, remember what had just happened-I was thrilled Sophie had found a guy that wasn't going to hurt her-and I knew instinctively that Warren wasn't going to hurt her. But I worried. I worried about how the gang was going to react, I worried that it would blow up in Sophia's face. I just worried, because I couldn't see them ever working. I mean, my first impression of Warren was that he was a complete dork."

"You never said anything to Sophia?"

"No. Look, I knew this wasn't Scott Revisited. I warned her about Scott, because I just got vibes from him that he was bad news right from the beginning. My worries about Warren were different. She was very vulnerable. Going out with someone like Warren was a complete 180-degree turn for her. I didn't worry that she was going to get killed, like with Scott, but I worried that he was going to get hurt, emotionally, moreso than she ever had. She really opened herself up emotionally when she started going out with Warren. It was almost a bit scary."

"Is that why you gave them shit all the time?"

Jessie smirked, "No, I gave them shit because I give everybody shit." Karen giggled. "If I hadn't given them shit, Sophie would've suspected something. Heck, I still give them shit. And I do not worry about them anymore."

"You don't?"

"Naaah," Jessie smiled. "The more time I spend with them, the more I realize I've got nothing to worry about. That relationship works, in every possible way. I never woulda thunk it, but it really, really works. And I realized something else-Warren is one of the most admirable people I have ever had the pleasure to know. And if you repeat that, I'll kill you-it'll ruin my rep."

Karen laughed. "Maybe you at least ought to tell Sophie."

"Oh, Sophie knows. So does Warren. I don't have to tell them how I feel about him, and them together. They know."

"What about you and Crash?"

Jessie sighed. "Now I've got a whole new one to worry about."

"How so? Things not going well?"

"Just the opposite. Except for the fact that he lives too damn far away and I don't get to see him enough, things are going remarkably well. Too well."

"Too well?"

"I keep waiting for the inevitable explosion. We hardly ever even argue-once in a while, but nothing serious. He laughs at all my jokes, I laugh at all his. When we get together, it's like we never left one another's side. It's so comfortable, it amazes me. This has got to blow up in my face, sooner or later, doesn't it?"

"Maybe it doesn't, Jess. Maybe Crash is the guy."

"I've thought of that. Now that is really scary. I don't know if I'm in love yet, but it's getting there in an awful hurry."

"Wow."

"I keep waiting for a fight. I keep waiting for a big blow out, to see how we react to it."

"You don't necessarily need that. Sophia and Warren never fight."

"Yeah, I know. And that's the one thing left that does worry me about them. What's gonna happen if they have a big fight?"

"What do you mean, you can't go to Nick's party??" Sophia yelled.

They were in her house, up in her bedroom. "Well, I have this horrible Chemistry exam on Monday. I'm going to be studying most of the weekend. It was either give up the party, or not come here tonight, and I figured you'd rather have me here for our Friday night tryst," Warren grinned.

Sophia was not happy, "Yeah, right. You just wanted to have sex. That was more important than going to a party that's important to me. As long as you get your roll in the hay, right?"

That one hurt. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Sophia. I'll go now, if you'd like."

"Fine. GO! Who needs you?"

Warren left, leaving Sophia in tears.

The next night, Sophia walked into Nick's party, grabbed a beer, and plopped down next to Jessie.

"Yo, Soph? Where's loverboy?"

"He had to study. He told me last night. He had enough time to come over my house to have sex last night, but not to come to the party. We had a huge fight. I kicked him out."

"What?"

"Yeah. Fuck 'em. If he didn't know how important Nick's parties are to me, than fuck him."

"Soph, did you tell him how important Nick's parties are to you?"

"He should know."

"Soph, this is not like you, and blowing off something that's important to you, if he knows about it, is not like Warren."

"Ah, fuck it." She downed the beer, and reached for another.

"You're pounding that beer pretty hard," Jess commented.

"What are you, my mother? Or Warren?"

"Forget I said anything." Jess snorted, and got up off the seat.

Three hours later, Jessie was watching with increasing dismay. She was talking to Karen about it.

"It's like it's the old Sophia, only worse."

"Have you tried to get her to stop?"

"I've tried, Nick's tried, Missy's tried. She's completely trashed, and, the way she's acting around the guys at this party, she's going to end up getting laid and not even remember it."

"I know."

"There's only one person who can get her to stop." Jessie stood up and went over to the phone. "And I don't know his number, but I know where to get it." She dialed a number, and it rang. "Oh, I hope his family thing is over. Please, Crash, be home, pleasepleasplease..."

"Hello."

"CRASH! Thank God you're home."

Crash just laughed. "Well, she-devil, it's nice to hear your voice, too."

Jessie smiled. "Normally, yes, I'd just be happy to hear that sexy voice of yours. But not today. Jason, I've got a huge emergency on my hands. I need Warren's phone number."

"Sure. 274-9806."

"Thanks, Jason. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you what went on. And you can recite more love poetry."

"You got yourself a date, she-devil. Ciao."

She hung up and dialed. "Hello."

"Warren?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Jessie. I need your help. You know where Nick lives, where the party is, right? I need you go get down here."

Warren sighed. "Jess, Sophie and I had a huge fight last night. I'm not quite sure I want to come down there. She was not particularly nice to me last night, I didn't deserve it, and I was going to let the weekend go by before I tried to talk to her."

"Warren, she's backsliding.'

"What?"

"She's drunk off her ass, won't stop drinking, and won't stop flirting with every guy at the party-including a few that will not take no for an answer if she pushes it too far. She's completely out of her mind. I can't get her to stop, Nickie can't get her to stop, Karen can't..."

"I'm on my way."

Jessie hung up the phone. "He's coming."

He burst in a few minutes later. Jessie and Karen were waiting for him. They pointed him to a seat, where Sophia was all over Greg, one of the less-savory members of the gang.