Hell in Hampton by Megan Nettles (best big ereader TXT) 📕

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

*****

I look around at this mess I’ve made and I wonder how it could’ve gotten this bad. A tornado couldn’t make this disaster. But my mom’s always told me in situations like this… next time, check the bag on the vacuum cleaner.

College. Every single child in America gets the same stupid speech: “Go to college if you want to amount to anything.” So, after hearing this speech for what? 18 years? It’s finally my time to actually try that out. The only problem is, for the next two weeks I still live at home. So it’s understandable why I’m blowing up vacuum cleaners. Chores galore. “Let’s get as much out of them as we can,” must be my parents thinking. If only my twin brother, Bobby, would actually help.

“Bobby! If you’re done with that, I could use some help, please!” I look at him, sitting outside in the fallen tree house (if you can even call it that anymore). While I continue to clean, he continues to hit his bong.

“In a minute, Becca! As you can see, I’m a bit preoccupied.” He breaks off in the middle of his sentence in a fit of coughing.

“If you don’t finish soon, Mom will be home, and I KNOW you remember last time!” I always remind him of the time Mom and Dad walked to the back yard late one night after their “date” and caught Bobby with a blunt. They were completely wasted and half undressed, so it was a bit awkward for both my parents and Bobby. No one ever mentions it. Except me. I think my parents are in denial about Bobby’s little “habit” because they pretend as if he never steps out of line.

“Okay, okay.” He walks into the living room and replaces the vacuum bag for me. Then he cleans up the mess I made.

“Mike’s coming over in an hour so make sure you spray the stink away from yourself. I hate when you try to peer pressure him.”

*****

Tonight’s the night. Just tell her what you want. She’ll understand. She always does. Quit being a big baby. Just. Tell. Her. She probably-

“Oh! Hey Mike. Why are you standing outside?” Mrs. Thompson is always courteous. “Oh, no matter. Come on in. Becca’s just getting out of the shower. You can go wait in her room.”

*****

“Thank you Mrs. Thompson. You look lovely today, by the way.”

“I tell you every day it seems: Call me Gabby.”

“Sorry, Gabby. I always forget.” I wink at her and head down the hallway.

All the times that I’ve walked to Becca’s room, Bobby’s door has never been open. He’s always inside his room. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen Bobby other than Becca’s birthday dinner last year. How can I have dated a girl for 15 months and only seen her brother one time?

I get to Becca’s room and knock. She opens the door in her towel.

“Oh! Sorry Beck!” And I try to turn around. But she just laughes and pulls me in with her.

“I’m covered, Mr. Pastor’s Son,” She said with a mocking tone. “But I can change that very quickly… if you want,” She whispered the last three words softly into my ear.

“Becca,” I say with my serious tone. “You know how I feel about premarital sex.”

“We don’t have to do that Mikey! We can just fool around. You can even leave your clothes on!” I back up so that she sees that I’m serious.

“No Rebecca. I don’t want to,” I had to tell her. The look on her face is killing me. “I don’t want to, because I think we should take a break.”

“What are you talking about? Because I want to have sex, you want to break up?” She looked at me with those big blue eyes. I had to keep going. I had to tell her everything.

“No Becca, sweetie. I just don’t really know how things will work once I start going to Hampton-Sydney.” I look away from her. Finally done explaining. Now she realizes what I mean. She’s going to Virginia Tech and I won’t be there with her like I said I would be. I’ve been lying to her all summer. With only a week left for me, and two for her, I had to end things. And now I should probably leave.

“Why? Why did you change schools? We had everything set! We wouldn’t need to “take a break” if you were going to Virginia Tech with me! Why are you so stupid!” Becca was turning hysterical. I patted the bed for her to come sit down.

“Hampton-Sydney is my dad’s Alma Mater. I promised him a long time ago that I’d at least consider applying there.” I looked down again. “Virginia Tech wouldn’t take me anyway.” She just sat there. She wouldn’t look at me and she wasn’t saying anything. “I’m really sorry Beck. I hope we can still work things out. It’s not like we won’t be seeing each other again.” She continued to sit there in silence so I just got up and walked out.

A week later

“Come off it, Becca. You’ve been in this sloth-hole for days! You look like shit, you smell like shit, you’re basically a walking cow patty!”

“Yeah, if you minus the walking part, Lex.” Shay and Alexis, my best friends, attempt to make me feel better. Is it any surprise that they make me feel like shit?

“Guys, I just don’t really want to do anything.” They look at me as if I’m a rather disgusting piece of gum stuck to their shoes.

“Obviously, Shay, she’s in dire need of some star bucks.”

“Wise assessment, Lex. But first…..”

*****

After what Shay and Alexis called “Break Up- Make Up,” (which was actually just a really long shower followed by buckets of foundation and tubs of mousse) we headed to the star bucks around the corner.

“Can we leave now?” I ask after I inhale my frappe. “ You guys KNOW that Micheal’s house is right there.”

“Resorted back to Micheal already?” Alexis says with a smirk.

“Actually Becca, Alexis didn’t want to tell you right away -”

“We’re taking you to Mike’s.”

“Shut up.” Is this a joke?

“Well, we figured you should at least tell him bye,” Shay looked at me hopefully. “Maybe he wants to get back together but he feels so stupid that he hasn’t said anything.”

“I don’t know,” Suddenly I was hopeful too. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Whatever hoes.” Alexis doesn’t seem to want to go, now that I want to.

*****

I’ve only been to Mikey’s house about 10 times. His parent’s kinda freak me out. I mean, Preacher and Wife is not exactly what I was expecting for in-laws.

Ding dong

“Oh, hello Rebecca. Come on in. I was just putting on some coffee.” Pastor O’Neill ushered my friends and I inside and gestured for us to sit on the sofa. The little sitting room was right outside the kitchen, so I could hear the coffee brewing. Pictures adorned the walls and two hard-looking chairs sat across from the flat sofa. A small tea table sat in between with random magazines had been thrown on top to make the room seem casual. A faint ticking could be heard and with a glance to the right wall I noticed about a dozen cukoo-clocks. It was 5:06. Thankfully we shouldn’t be here long enough to hear all of the cukoos come out.

“Are all pastors this creepy?” I dug my elbow into Alexis’s ribs. “Ouch. I was just asking.”

“Pastor O’Neill, Where’s Mike? Isn’t he leaving for Hampton-Sydney today?” The Pastor walked out of the kitchen with a look of understanding.

“Yes, he did. Not my first choice. But a fine enough school. I will say I was wondering what all you girls were doing here! Not to come see the Pastor, but to come see Mike. Well, at least that makes more sense.” He came and sat in one of the uncomfortable looking chairs. “Mikey’s already left, darling. Hasn’t he said bye to you, Becca?”

“No. He hasn’t. But we aren’t together anymore so I guess I understand. He ended things a week ago.” He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him. “Wait, what do you mean not your first choice? Didn‘t you go to Hampton?” The Pastor looked at me then as if he was looking through my soul.

“Hmm. I’m not calling anyone a liar, dear, but Mikey has been out almost every night this week and he’s said he was with you each time. And I of course went to Liberty University.” He said this last sentence matter-of-factly.

Shay sat there silently, but Alexis had no problem speaking up.

“Trust me, P.O., if you went in her room, you’d know no one has been in or out of it in days. Except something dying that may have crawled in there. And your son is obviously a lying sack of- ” This time Shay elbowed her for me.

“Okay, okay. I believe you, of course. I just don’t understand why Mike would lie to me.”

“Lie about what honey?” Just then, Mike’s mother Patricia walked in.

“Well, Patty, Mike hasn’t been with Becca this week. Seems they broke up last week.”

“Micheal would never lie to me, Richard. We’re very close, you know.”

I could feel the beginning of a marriage “discussion” so I figured I should take my leave.

“Mr. and Mrs. O’Neill, thank you for the coffee. It has been a pleasure seeing you again, but my friends and I have a.. um… My mom’s making dinner so.. We’d better go.”

“Yes, yes, bye. Come anytime. Now Patty, I tell you -”

We dipped out as quickly as possible.

*****

“So what the hell, Beck?” Alexis looks at me like I’m keeping some big secret. “What’s going on?”

“Maybe you didn’t notice Lex, but I just heard the same thing you did. I know just as much as you do. I’m the one who should be asking what the hell is going on!”

“Let’s just go to your house, Lex. We can do facials and forget we even went to Mike’s house.” Even though Shay is half black, she’s usually the sugar to Alexis’s salty sass. Alexis is the shortest of our group at 5 feet even, but her attitude makes her the biggest. She’s definitely the most noticeable one as well, because she has waist length hair and huge brown eyes. I’m practically Shay’s foil. I have straight, shoulder length, blonde hair; where she has curly mocha-latte hair. We’re both 5’5 and we both love to roll our eyes at Alexis. Which, incidentally, is what Alexis is doing to us right now.

“Facials? When this kind of drama is going on? Are you two crazy?” Major eye-rolling now. “We have to go!”

“Go where? To the asylum, where you obviously left your sanity?”

“No, stupid. To get your boyfriend back! We’re going to Hampton-Sydney.”

Publication Date: 09-01-2013

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