Today Again: An Original Novel for steemit by dreemit Chapter Ten

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If you missed out on Chapter Nine click here

Lissa threw her head back and laughed, then doubled over her knees as Jon told the story about his friend Len, drunk at a house-party. The giant platinum blonde had a knack for telling stories, she was convinced his true calling was in Stand-Up comedy.

“Do it again man!” Aidan coaxed from his place beside her on the slate grey shale as he wiped tears out of his eyes.

Jon put his bottle of beer on the flat rock next to the running water of the creek and took a few exaggeratedly wobbly steps back, then stumbled forward taking a swipe at the bottle and missing. “Dammit,” he mumbled in a mock-slur, as he staggered back a few feet, then forward again taking another swipe and missing, “Dammit,” he stumbled backwards again and repeated this process several times while the small group hooted at his antics.

“I’m telling you, he must’ve done this a dozen times before he finally managed to grab it…only to drop it and watch in confusion as it spilled out on the ground,” Jon demonstrated this last with an exaggerated look of befuddlement, then continued “Actually I probably had about the same look on my face as I watched this whole thing transpire.”

This was the third time Lissa had heard this story and it didn’t get any less funny, in fact she’d finally met the object of the anecdote the previous night, so it was funnier now that she could put a face to it. Len with his raven black hair, great tan, and a fantastic build. She thought he was nice-looking if just a little on the awkward side. And like the rest of them he was a sweetheart. The more she got to know this crew, the better they seemed unlike the way she felt about most people which was the other way around. Although that probably said more about her history of poor choices than about people in general.

Evan laughed loudly and she turned to see him looking at his phone, his eyes crinkled up in merriment. A lot like his girlfriend, his whole face got involved when he laughed, his eyes going squinty.

“I just read your text,” he told Jon still chuckling.

“Do you have fo’ty bucks for me Ay Day?” Jon snickered.

She’d heard this three times now as well, but had no point of reference as to why it was funny. This time she decided to ask.

“So what’s the joke?”

Jon shook his head, grinning, and Evan explained, “Our friend Len-the one from Jon’s story-has a bank that’s like fifty miles away from his house and no access card for some reason, so every time Jon calls him to see if he wants to come up to Rochester-which is where I live-he always says “Yeah I’ll go..but do you have forty bucks I can borrow?” And if Jon doesn’t, he asks me.”

“Every single time for the past two years, ” Jon added. “That’s what makes it funny.”

“Ahh. Gotcha,” Lissa grinned.

“But I’d gladly pay forty bucks for Len’s company, so I don’t mind,” Evan stated and she could tell that he meant it.

“You do pay forty bucks for his company,” Jon pointed out with a laugh.

“So what’s the plan?” Aidan chimed in, getting to his feet. “We going to catch Donna’s first show?”

“Uh, if we are we better get moving,” Shane stated, looking at his watch.

Jon shrugged, “They play again at eight, right?”

Lissa listened to the back and forth knowing full well that Evan, Aidan, and Shane would go watch Donna The Buffalo where they would meet up with other friends, while Jon headed off in another direction. Because of the things she added to the conversations they were never exactly the same but the result was. So far she’d always gone with Aidan and crew but as much as she liked Donna she decided she would need a break soon, before she got tired of hearing the same set day after day.

Tomorrow, she thought, I’ll tag along with Jon.

They walked up the rocky embankment leading way from the creek in single file, then up the shoulder of the road. She'd been walking beside Aidan day after day, asking him questions about his life; this time she decided to fall in beside Shane.

“Hey,” he smiled warmly down at her from his great height.

“Hey…so what do you do when you’re not partying at grassroots?” She asked.

She listened as he spoke about his work as an environmental engineer and his great love of sports, bars, and movies, then answered his return questions. Though not in great depth since he wouldn’t remember after today anyway. He wouldn’t remember her after today. The thought caught her sideways and her brain stuttered for a moment , but she shook it off.

Someday this record has to find its way back on track, she thought firmly. She squashed the doubts that tried to surface and sped up her pace... the beer cooler was suddenly calling her name.

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