Messy Sheets, Messy Life

The alarm on Joey’s phone buzzed against his nightstand, dragging him out of what little restless sleep he had been able to get. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes. Body sore, mind foggy, Joey didn’t want to be awake. He didn’t want to be in this house. He didn’t want to think about last night.

But the memories didn’t care what he wanted.

His stomach clenched. The warmth, the sensation... why had it felt so good? Squeezing his eyes shut, Joey tried to shift his mind away from the wake-up call his mother had given him, away from her touch, away from his release...

No.

No! Joey wasn’t going to think about it. He **** himself up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His sheets were a mess. He would need to change them, especially if he thought his dad might see them. He needed to get clean, to start fresh. He needed...

The sound of his phone vibrating against the wood of his nightstand shook him from his thoughts. He turned and retrieved the device.

Bianca: Hey good looking. Do you need me today?

Joey stared at the message, his thumb hovering over the screen. The answer was no. He didn’t need Bianca. Thanks to the efforts of Eliza and his mom, Joey was sated. He had never had women throw themselves at him before, nor had he ever felt so carnally satisfied, even though the circumstances were more than a little disturbing. The last thing Joey needed to do was add Bianca into the mix.

And yet ignoring her felt wrong. He wasn't sure what kind of an impact his magical alteration would have on the young waitress, but there was probably only one way to find out. And after what happened with his mom the night before, Joey wasn't sure he could trust himself being in close proximity with her. After a few seconds, he locked his phone without responding and set it down. Not knowing what to do, Joey did what he often did: ignore the situation, pretend it didn't exist. Maybe something would happen to sort it all out.

Maybe.

It was a strategy that had served him, if not well, then faithfully his whole life. Joey was well practiced in the art of pushing off panic by pretending nothing was wrong. Yes, it had led to failing grades, lost relationships, and low self-esteem, but at least it saved him from the one thing he feared more than anything: confrontation.

And so he got up and started his morning routine, trying to ignore the unease pressing down on him. A shower, brushing his teeth, getting dressed. It should have been automatic, mindless. The amount of times he had conducted each task over the course of his life usually allowed him to shut down the fearful parts of his conscious mind. But each time he tried, each time he started to relax, to allow himself to enjoy the comfort of routine, his mind started to wander to his late-night encounter, the feel of her lips...

He needed to get out of his room. Maybe being at the scene of the crime made the memory too fresh. Dressed, ready to go, Joey cracked his blinds, peering out. His mom’s car was gone. A wave of relief loosened the knot in his chest. He had been afraid to go downstairs, afraid to face her, to see if she would act like nothing had happened or worse if she would act like it had happened. Either way, he didn’t want to deal with it.

She was gone. That was enough for now.

Heading downstairs, Joey's mind drifted to the women in his life, the ones he had changed. It was a strange thing, having gone his whole adolescence not being noticed by women, now to be able to create a list of those vying for his attention. Madison. Bianca. Eliza. Mom. Four. As their names danced through his imagination, he tried to remember the changes he had enacted in each of their lives, but it was all a jumble. He should have written it down somewhere, but now so much of it had blurred together. Without knowing what he'd changed, Joey felt out of control, like he was going to be ambushed each time he saw one of the girls. Not every ambush was unwelcome...

Madison. He had always admired how confident she was, how driven, how determined. Yes, she carried herself like she was better than everyone else, but Joey had thought it might have been justified. Smart, pretty, valedictorian, Madison had earned the accolades she received, a scholastic career that would have made his own parents proud had he even come close to it. And so he had never considered that someone like Madison would even look at him, but now, suddenly, she was his. Somehow his words, his explanation, had shifted her world-view, and now the queen of South Point High wanted nothing more than to be with Joey. And even more surprising, Joey was finding himself starting to reciprocate the feelings.

And Eliza, his beautiful teacher. She'd been stern, hard, had only ever looked at him with disappointment in her eyes before. And now she treated him like a man. Her man. Eliza Matthews, the woman who had made it her life's mission to help Joey become a man, had taken him into her life, her home, her heart. He hadn’t expected to feel anything real for her, but there was no denying that he did.

Bianca, though… He barely knew her. And yet, because of him, she was ready to throw herself at him, **** to satisfy whatever need he had. Joey felt terrible. He had turned her into a sex object, something to use. That wasn’t how he wanted to see her. That wasn't how he wanted to see himself.

And his mom. His stomach twisted. He didn’t even know where to begin.

Running his hand through his hair, Joey exhaled. He needed to stop thinking. What he needed to do was to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Grabbing his backpack, he headed downstairs and out the door.

And then he froze.

Madison was waiting for him, like he expected. Her face lit up when she saw him, a smile that enveloped her entire face, her eyes shining with joy. But beside her, arms crossed, looking unimpressed, was Aynsley Cho.

Joey blinked.

Well, shit.