Tuesday was not normally an active night for the boys of Rho Sigma Gamma house. Which is
how Clay and Porter were able to use the hundred and one inch big screen TV in
the main living room. They had started an “I’d Steal it” marathon earlier in
the afternoon and were now half a pizza and a dozen beers into arguing over
which cars they thought were more valuable as the over produced British car
show droned on about the latest batch of cars.
The ad
for the high priced luxury car finished and Porter leaned forward and grabbed
the remote. “Look Clay, as much as I’ve been missing you this semester and
everything, you’ve been crashing at the house for the last four days. Don’t you
have classes this week?” He asked gently, turning the audio down.
Clay
grabbed a now cool slice of pizza and dropped the skinny end into his mouth.
“Don’t care.” He decreed with a mouthful of cheese.
Porter
put the remote down. “Excuse me? Who are you and what have you done with Clay?”
He asked opening another beer.
Clay laid
himself out on the couch. “Seriously, I don’t care. C’s get degrees right?” He
shoved the rest of his pizza in his mouth.
Porter
shook his head. “Look, I’m all about respecting your wishes but is this girl
really worth pissing away all the work you did this semester?” He asked. Clay
Glared at Porter until Porter threw up his hands. “My bad, forget I ever said
anything.” Clay grabbed another slice and a beer from the coffee table. Porter
sighed heavily and got up from his chair and went out into the back yard. Clay listened as the door to the backyard
shut. He looked at the slice of pizza in his hand, sighed heavily and set it
back in the box and went out to the backyard.
Porter
was taking shots at the basketball hoop close to the small swimming pool. The
ball rebounded wildly after a shot and Clay picked it up, bouncing it a few
times. “I’m sorry, it’s just, a crappy situation.” He held the ball up. “You up
for a little one on one?” He asked as he tossed the ball to porter.
Porter
caught the ball and bounced it a few times. “First to 11?” He asked.
Clay nodded.
“Every point is half a beer.” He said.
Porter
shook his head. “You can barely stand up as it is, maybe we should just relax a
bit on the drinking.
Clay
shook his head. “This coming from the guy who carries a flask with him at all
times.”
Porter
bounced the ball to Clay. “All right, but when I win, you’re telling me what
the hell happened with you this semester. Horse blinders and all.”
The game
didn’t last long. Porter scored the first four points in less than a minute.
The more he moved the more Clay realized just how drunk he really was. He had
stopped the game to finish off his second beer. He put the empty can on the
ground, went to smash it flat with his foot and missed completely, lost his balance
and fell flat on his back laughing hysterically.
Porter
set the ball down and sat next to Clay. “I win.”
Clay
nodded. “Just because I can’t stand up right now doesn’t mean you won the game.”
Clay waved a hand in Porters face.
Porter
held the ball out for Clay to take. “Prove it.”
Clay took
the ball and leaned his head back until he could see the basket upside down. He
threw the ball which flew wild and went through a window in the house. Clay
relaxed and looked up at the sky “Fine, you win.” He said. “Hey what did you mean
when you said ‘horse blinders and all?’” He asked.
Porter leaned
back on his hands. “It’s the way you get into stuff. When you pledged the
fraternity you were 110% in. Everything else fell by the wayside. When you
found out that you had to take a psych class two weeks before the semester
started you bought the books and started studying like crazy and not just for
that class either, You’re life became academics. Then you met this girl and you
disappeared, which I can’t blame you, she’s fine. But she became the thing you
defined your life by. You hyper focus on whatever you’re doing. Like you got
horse blinders on.” He explained.
Clay
thought about this for a moment in the silence of the backyard. “I met her in
the Library, a few weeks into the semester, but that wasn’t the first time I
saw her. I saw her the first day of school and that’s when I, got horse blinders,
I guess.” He started. Porter nodded and listened as Clay laid out every detail
of his semester.
