University of South Carolina Libraries
Quote of the Day ‘Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.’ - Franklin P. Jones A New York Love Story Part I ** , A Gamecock fiction by Ann Marie Miani, Clayton Kale, Brad Walters, Mackenzie Craven, Brandon Larrabee, Todd Money, Brock Vergakis, Pete Johnso-n, David Cloninger, Kevin Langston, Kristin Freestate, Kenley Young, Rebecca C r o nic a n Gamecock Stake There she was, sitting on her couch crying her eyes out. Why did this always happen to her? Why did she always fall in love with men who wanted to change her? She had been sitting there for the past three hours, staring at the New York City skyline and drowning her sorrows in a bot tle of brandy. She just kept repeating these ques tions in her mind, but came up with no answer. Carrie usually loved the city in the spring, but she wanted to leave it now. She couldn’t drive any where; she was too drunk. For her, the city reeked of memories. Memories of her and James in Cen tral Park and of the two of them riding around the city in horse-drawn carriages. Memories that were making her cry, memories she wanted to forget. She refilled her glass and walked over to the mirror in the hallway. She stared at her reflection and realized that people had been lying to her all her life. She wasn’t beautiful. Her dark brown eyes were bloodshot from the alcohol and from crying, and her dark hair had fallen from the clip that had fas tened it. Her normally smooth, golden skin was puffy and red. No, she wasn’t beautiful. Disgusted, she turned from the mirror and walked back to the win dow. The radio was softly playing love songs in the background, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn the dial. The phone had rung seven or eight times, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer it. The on ly thing she could do was sit there and stare out the window, crying. The ringing of the phone made her jump. This time, she decided to answer it. “Hello?” Carrie said “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been wor ried sick!” Laura said. “I’ve been here,” Carrie said stoically. “No, you haven’t. I’ve called like eight times, and there was no answer.” “I just wasn’t answering the phone.” “Oh. Are you Ok, sweetheart? James called me like two hours ago and told me you two had a huge fight. What happened?” Laura asked in a much calmer voice. “NO! I am not Ok. James and I did have a huge fight, and I told him I was sick and tired of him complaining, and he said I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore and hung up on me. Now he hates me.” “You don’t know that Carrie, I mean, once he cools down, you two will be fine again.” “Did he happen to tell you why we fought?” Car rie asked, her speech beginning to slur. “Let me guess, your drinking,” Laura said. “How did you guess,” Carrie said. Then her thoughts turned to James. She wondered where he was, what he was doing, who he was with. After about 15 minutes, she hung up the phone and walked to ward the kitchen and poured herself another drink. C*> ♦> «> ames sat on the bench in Central Park thinking about everything that had transpired that night. Why did I hang up on her, he thought. Why can’t I call her back? We’ve been through worse times than this. Why am I so scared now? He sat deep in thought, with his elbows on his knees,* and his chin resting on his hands. He stared blankly at a blade of grass in between his feet. Some how, this blade of grass managed to escape the rape of the weed-whacker and grew tall enough to bear seeds. James contemplated this, and wondered if his relationship with Carrie could withstand this lat est fight to bloom into what they both wanted, but were both too afraid to ask. James wanted Carrie to stop drinking, and Car rie wanted James to stop telling her that. I could have told her that I only worry because I care. I could have told her that I want to help her. “Why did I hang up?” James said aloud, as his anger with himself grew and boiled over. He wrapped his fingers around the tall blade of grass and stood quickly, ripping it, roots and all, from the ground. He walked toward the pond a few feet from the bench, looking at his reflection in the still water, and dropped to the grass, distorting his face. He turned at the sound of footsteps coming to ward him. It was his best friend, Mike. “Hey, buddy, are you OK?” Mike asked. “Not really I think my relationship with Carrie is over. We had a huge fight,” James said. “Hey, I know something that might cheer you up. There is a party out on Long Island tonight. Want to go?” Mike asked. “OK, I guess. It might cheer me up.” Carrie was alarmed to hear the knock on the door, even though she’d been expecting Lau ra since they’d hung up the phone about 15 minutes ago. She blinked the remnants of her tears away and threw her hair back in one fell swoop before opening the door. “Hey, girl,” Laura said, embracing her best friend in the doorway. “You doin’ all right?” Carrie sighed. “What do you think? My boyfriend of two years just effectively dumped me. I’m not . what you’d call the most excited person in the world.” Laura took one look around the apartment “What!?!” Carrie exclaimed, momentarily sober ing her up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This guy she just met was talking shit about the man she loved. Oh hell no. “Would you mind re peating that, please? “I said that guy is such an bastard.” “That’s what I thought.” Carrie said calmly. With her hands at her side, she made a fist, cocked her arm back and punched Ryan in the right eye. The impact of her punch made him stumble back and fall to the ground. “And if you thought that was bad, say another bad word about James and that will feel James contemplated this, and wondered if his relationship with Carrie could withstand this latest fight to bloom into what they both wanted, but were both too afraid to ask. and knew that Carrie, normally a meticulous clean er, had let the place go more than a few days with out care. Her work clothes were strewn on the couch along with a few pages of newspaper and some Kleenex, and there was the bottle of brandy, sit ting almost totally empty on the coffee table right beside the clock radio. It was time to get her out of there, Laura decided. “C’mon; I know what we can do to get you cheered up,” Laura said. “The boys from NYU are having a party out on Long Island tonight, and they invited us both out there.” Carrie smiled. “Is Ryan gonna be there?” she asked. Laura had been telling her about Ryan for weeks. It was a well-known fact that Laura and James didn’t get along. “Yep, Ryan’s gonna be there. The boy has a crush on you, whether you believe it or not. You see the way he dotes on you. I think his attention is what you need to get yourself out of this funk and help you forget about the asshole for awhile.” Carrie smiled and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s get the hell out of here.” As Laura and Carrie drove out to the party on Long Island, they sang along to the music on Zioo FM. Laura kept tiying to cheer Carrie up and pulled out two smokes for them. Carrie began to ask ques tions about Ryan. “So, how do you know he likes me?” “Just trust me, he’s always checking you out!” Laura said. “I want specifics. I mean, come on - wouldn’t you want to know?” Carrie said as she readjusted her dark locks in a silver clip. “OK, OK, whenever he sees you, he drops his jaw and becomes speechless,” Laura said. “Fine, you made your point!” Carrie said, un derstanding her friend’s sarcasm. They finally arrived at the party, and the thick smell of pot hung in the air. People were scattered across the lawn, some puking, some talking, but it was assured they were all sitting around doing noth ing associated with school. They walked inside the heat of the party as Car rie anxiously awaited to meet up with Ryan. ' Laura pointed him out and pushed her friend toward him. “I bet you any amount of money it will turnout great!” Carrie came up with a casual line and approached him. “Hey sexy, I lost my number, so I wanted to know if I could borrow yours?” Carrie asked with a sarcastic smirk. As the two started to talk and have fun, Carrie spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. It was James. He was over in the corner drink ing a beer. As soon as he spotted Carrie with some one else, he nearly flipped out. James threw down his cup and stormed over to where Carrie and Ryan were standing. “What’s this?” he asked, suddenly confused. ‘Get away from my girlfriend!” “Look, you hung up on me,” Carrie interrupt ed. “So now it’s your turn to get the shaft!” Laura rushed over and swooped James away. “I’m not finished with you, Carrie!” James said as Laura dragged him upstairs. Why the hell was he doing this to her, Carrie thought. Her alcohol-soaked mind was reeling from what had just happened. It was then that she beard Ryan say something. “That guy is such a bastard.” like a joy compared to what I’ll do to you. Don’t mess with a girl from New York.” She turned on her heel and stormed away. She really didn’t know where she was headed, but she wanted to get away from Ryan. She had to find Laura... »>❖❖ James had come to the party to get away from the whole situation with Carrie, and now she was throwing the whole thing in his face. He’d thought about not coming here at all. He knew she might come, even thought that on a normal night she probably would. But he thought that, after all that had happened, Carrie would have stayed home. Oh, well, he thought. What was Laura saying? “... it’s all your fault that you two broke up... ” Nothing. They were standing on the balcony on the sec ond stoiy of the house. Across the water, he could see the city’s skyline. How did he get here? Mike had driven by the park and picked him up. Depressed, he’d agreed to go along to the party, if for no other purpose than to get drunk. "... so why don’t you just leave her alone for a while?” She was done. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?” he shot back. “Listen, I know you want to listen to and be lieve all of her side of the story, but why don’t you try listening to me again?” “I’ve heard both of you, and both your ‘sides,’ and I’m just sick of the whole thing,” she replied. “I just want you both to shut up about it.” “Oh, so that’s why you brought her to the par ty, right? You know she has a drinking problem. Why did you bring her to a place where there would be a lot of alcohol?” “I brought her here to cheer her up. How the hell was I supposed to know you’d be here?” she asked. “Oh, that’s right. It’s Saturday night, time for me to program my VCR,” he snapped. Fiction see page ti ^ I j&smmsMS r ©MLKK2M Featuring: • Fully furnished V1\Nn\A'' VV/I/w/? /f • Internet capability in bedrooms KKCWiE |U • Computer lab with internet rrWJVE I IN 2^ • Recreation room & fitness center 3 SPECIAL < • Indiviual leases/private bedrooms'^ $150 Security Deposit < • Full size washer & dryer No Application Fee ^ • Swimming pool & hot tub ^ -Special ends S. • Emergency alarm systems -4 Friday(4/2I)* • Free parking //\aa A A A aAK kn p\ 1 L-l ,v 800 Alexander Road Cayce, SC 29033 (adjacent to Parkland Plaza; Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6; Sat 10-4 www.capstone-dev.com