"Does Dorie know yet that Rick likes her?" Justin asked Jesslyn one day, watching at a distance Rick talk to Dorie about something.
"She don’t, but she will..." Jesslyn said thoughtfully.
"He says anything to keep her by him," added Justin.
"She takes what she gets," pointed out Jesslyn, talking about the gifts Rick showered Dorie with.
"And she never did flinch..." mused Justin, thinking Dorie might be taking advantage of her friend by taking all his gifts.
"No..." agreed Jesslyn.
"So...over and over.." Jesslyn thought that Dorie HAD to know Rick liked her, as she kept accepting his gifts over and over...
"Well anyone with any mind would think that’s all she gets," she thought out loud.
Meanwhile, back with Rick and Dorie....Rick tries to tell Dorie how he feels about her.
"If you want....you can get to know me well..." started Rick nervously. "We get along so...we shouldn’t argue," he stated
lamely.
"Yeah...and I don’t know..." said Dorie slowly.
"Yes?" asked Rick hopefully.
"Said I don’t know..." Dorie repeated.
"No?" asked Rick again, his face falling.
"All these feelings cloud up my reasoning...yeah..they cloud up my reasoning," said Dorie, furrowing her brow. She didn't
want to tell Rick that she only liked him as a friend, but liked Justin than more as a friend.
Rick sighed. "I know," he started, feeling the rejection. "But I still believe in ignorance as my best defense. So go on, wreck me.... it's funny how I carry on, and not be taken over.." Rick said through gritted teeth. ' I will not roll over on anyone, cuz anyone would stand up on my side,' he thought to himself, finally seeing that Dorie had been taking advantage of him.
A little while later, Dorie ran into Justin, and decided it was the perfect opportunity to tell him how she felt about him. She chose to ignore the fact that Justin and Jesslyn were sorta going out with each other. She decided to use the same speech Rick had used on her earlier.
"If you want you can get to know me well," she stated coyly. "We get along so we shouldn’t argue," she smiled up at him.
"Yeah...and...I don’t know," agreed Justin, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to another. "Yes, said I don’t know...no"
Justin stated finally, his feelings for Jesslyn coming into play.
"But all these feelings cloud up my reasoning...cloud up my reasoning.." said Dorie, frustrated.
That evening, Rick lay in his bead, listening to the voices in his head.
"You know it’s funny how sometimes, it don’t work out like you want to...No, you never get nothing at all.." the voices taunted. "Then she tells you that it’s over, boy don’t you hate it when it’s over.." the voices continued.
"But..there wasn't really anything to begin with..." Rick explained to the voices. Suddenly, he sat up in bed, convinced he was crazy for talking to himself. "I guess something just got lost...and it deeply saddens me," he mused. He walked over to his mirror and looked at his reflection, not noticing the listness in his eyes. "So, over and over, anyone, who’s anyone.." he mumbled the words, knowing they didn't make any sense and not really caring.
"If you want you can get to know me well? We get along so we shouldn’t argue? What the hell was I thinking?" he moaned. "What kind of pick up line is THAT?" He laughed bitterly. "Yeah...and I don’t know...yes, said I don’t know...no, all these feelings cloud up my reasoning...cloud up my reasoning," he said, flopping back onto his bed and rubbing his tired eyes. He consoled himself before falling into a troubled sleep, reminding himself that there were plenty of other fish in the sea. The last thought he had before completely nodding off was the odd thought of how much he enjoyed trout. He had VERY interesting dreams that night...