Man, It's So Loud in Here

Krissy's eyebrows raise. She had a feeling that Josh was about to spill the beans about something they had been not only keeping from Scott, but Roger as well.

"Hey man, if it's about you sleeping with Krissy a week before she and I first had an affair, it's all right! Trust me, I already know!" says Scott.
Josh and Krissy look surprised.
"H-how did you know that, Scott?" asked Krissy, having no memory of saying anything to Scott.
"That time in the tavern, just a couple of days before you invited me over to (ahem) watch movies the first time, babe," replies Scott. "You were pretty drunk that night."

Krissy blushes at the memory. It was not a good night. She and Roger had a knock down, drag out argument about the time he was spending away from their condo, as well as the suspicious text messages she had found on his phone from someone named "Andrea". She just wanted to forget her problems after Roger angrily left for the airport for another cross country business trip, but she and two girlfriends ended up engaging in a drinking contest. By the time that Scott strolled in, Krissy was quite blotto. She and Scott retreated to a dark corner of the bar, and she babbled endlessly about Roger, this mysterious "Andrea", as well as the one-night stand she had with Josh in the staircase room just a few nights before. Scott wasn't angry, since he was still in the dark about his true feelings about Krissy, and besides, he also had a few one-night stands himself during that time.

"Guys, I'm really sorry," says an unusually remorseful Josh. "I know that I've done a lot of horrible things to a lot of people in the past eight years, ever since I woke up on the side of that rural highway, but the one thing I never consciously did was mess with someone else's girl."
"But wait!" exclaims Scott. "You fucked Krissy before I did! This was way before she finally dumped Roger!"
"Okay, okay, you got me," replies Josh. "I guess I'm feeling bad about it because deep down, I've always wanted Scott to find happiness with somebody, instead of night after night after night of sleeping with a bunch of strangers, never to talk to them again the following morning. Granted, Roger is a Grade-A prick, but if I had known that you two were going to end up together, I never would've invited Krissy over that night."
"Well, at least when we got together, Josh, we didn't have a whole lot of weird things spoiling the moment like Scott and I did the first night after we first made love [45256]," Krissy says.
"God!" cringes Scott. "I don't even wanna think about it. Things just got crazy, and I thought I had blown it."
"I think we were both kinda acting out of character late that night!"

After that, everyone shuts up.

"While we're confessing things, Josh, I've got something to tell you," says Scott, breaking what seemed like an unbearable silence. "You probably remember Beth, don't you?"

Now it's time for Josh's eyebrows to raise, as the name Beth sends a chill up his spine, and gives him that empty feeling in his stomach.

"Ummmm, yes, Scott. This isn't going to lead where I'm afraid it's going to lead, is it?" asks a suddenly nervous Josh.

They had been friends for years, but during their senior year of high school (1995), they started growing a little closer. One warm Friday night during spring, Josh and Beth were both at the same house party and after a couple of underage brewskies, Josh jokingly proposed that they "take a midnight swim" at Miller Indoor Pool, adjacent to the high school. Josh worked part time at the pool, and he had forgotten to leave the keys to the building at home before he arrived at the party.

So, Josh and Beth left the party and walked the mile to Miller Indoor Pool, with Beth (a bit tipsy) practically beside herself that they were going to take a midnight dip. It was a risky thing to do, but at the moment, any consequences were as far out of their minds as it could be.

Thirty minutes later, Josh and Beth were inside the building and at the side of the pool. The pool was an average size one. "I think we forgot our swimsuits, Beth, and I don't think that you want to skinny--hey!"

Josh was stunned by Beth's running dive into the deep end, without removing a single item of clothing, or wiping off her makeup. He had to admit that she looked pretty good soaking wet. He also had to outdo Beth's dive, so after putting his wallet, watch, and keys on a bench, he climbed up to the tallest platform and cannonballed in. It was going to be tough to explain the drenched clothes and shoes in the morning, and even tougher to explain why two people were fully clothed in the pool well after normal business hours, but Josh and Beth didn't care at that moment. They swam for about an hour, before having sex for a few hours next to the entrance to the locker room. It was about 4:30 in the morning when they both locked up the place and left.

Unfortunately, any potential new relationship was derailed shortly after graduation when Beth endured several personal emergencies that prompted her to leave town for quite a while. Josh was hurt, understandably so. He had fallen for Beth, and he was looking forward to starting college with her. They fell out of contact, and Josh didn't hear about her again until he ran into her by chance in a bar in Boston five years later. They promised to stay in touch, but somehow, it never happened.

By this point, Josh was sitting on a large rock with his face in his hands. All he could think about was that night at the pool with Beth, how fate derailed what promised to be a wonderful long-term relationship, and the idea that Scott Childers had probably made Beth ("My baby Beth!") one of his thousands of sexual conquests over the years. Finally, Josh raises his head up and looks straight at Scott. He didn't hear what Krissy had said.

"Okay, Scott, I'm just going to ask: when and where? I can't believe you'd do such a thing!"

Scott actually looks offended. "Josh! Relax, man! I didn't sleep with Beth at all! In fact, I was going to tell you that Krissy and I ran into her at a mall right before we all ended up in Scotland. She still looks great. She was also asking about you, too!"
"Really?! What did you say?"
"I told her that you always wondered what happened to her, so Beth gave me her contact information. She misses you, too. So, with that said, you'd better go find a place to either call or email her."
Krissy hands Josh a small note. He opens it up, and as he recognizes Beth's distinctive handwriting, a huge smile crosses his face.

"Aw guys, you totally just made my day," Josh finally says.

1. Suddenly, enter Beth.
2. Suddenly, enter Roger.
3. Sara and Jasper show up.
4. Same as above, but Scott and Krissy have apparently been in contact with their lost loves, as well.
5. Twelve years after the fact, Josh is arrested for being in the pool after business hours.

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