Tape 4, Side B
Marcus Cole

"How many of you remember the Oh My Dollar Valentines?  Those were fun, weren't they? You fill out a survey, and for just a buck you get the name and number of your one true soulmate."

"And hey, all proceeds go to a worthy cause. Cheer camp. The Dollar Valentines survey was a two-parter. Describe yourself and describe what you're looking for in someone else. And as I filled mine out, I realized I was actually describing a certain someone."

"You'd think if my answers all described one person, that person would at least appear in my top five. But no. I didn't match up to the one person who might really have been right."

"Maybe it wasn't my fault. Maybe none of us can say who we truly are. Maybe we're more than what the world sees. Or less. Maybe none of us are who we seem."

"Complete sentences, right?" Jeff questioned Clay, sitting across from him at the library table for yet another tutoring session. His hand was intertwined with Vienna's, sitting them on top of the table.

"Yeah, totally," Clay nodded, and Vienna could even hear the pride in his voice.

"I even used a semicolon," Jeff added while Vienna smiled. Jeff had been doing a lot better since their sessions with Clay started.

Vienna? Not so much. She had it during the sessions, but as soon as the test came all her knowledge went out the window. Mrs. Antilly liked to say she was a smart girl who didn't apply herself.

"I saw that," Clay nodded as Jeff grinned. "Mad props. Paragraph structure is good. Might need some fact checking?"

"Seriously?" Jeff questioned, leaning forward. "I googled everything."

Clay hesitated, staring at the couple for a moment before he continued. "Well, the founding fathers did grow and use hemp, but it wasn't weed, exactly."

"Those are different?" Jeff questioned in surprise. Vienna hadn't known they were different either. 

"Yeah, yeah," Clay confirmed. "So, James Madison probably wasn't a mad stoner,  or uh, at least not from the hemp."

"You wrote one of our founding fathers was a mad stoner?" Vienna questioned her boyfriend. Even if it were true, that probably wouldn't go well in a school paper.

"Hush up," Jeff put one of his fingers on her mouth to hush her as he let go of her hand to grab the paper from Clay.

"It's a good start!" Clay defended quickly. I marked a few other facts to recheck, sometimes actual books are more reliable for this stuff."

"Good point," Jeff muttered absentmindedly, flipping through his paper. "I'll get right on it."

Vienna rested her chin on Jeff's shoulder, pointing out certain pieces she thinks he should add. Clay looked at them with a small smile before he glanced over as Ryan left the library in a rush.

"He's really serious about the 'zine," Clay commented.

"He's serious about the 'zine, his shoes, and not much else," Tony replied. Jeff didn't take his eyes off his paper, but Vienna shot Tony a grin.

"What are you working on?" Jeff questioned Clay when the latter let out a rather loud scoff. Vienna looked at him in interest, leaning forward.

"Nothing, nothing!" Clay protested weakly. 

His protests fell on deaf ears as the couple leaned forward, taking the paper from him. It was one of the Valentine surveys. "Dollar Valentine survey?" Jeff questioned. "Dude, relax."

"How do I spend my Saturday nights?"  Vienna read off of the red paper Jeff was holding up. "You answered, 'video games.'  Favorite kind of music, 'obscure indie bands.'"

Vienna shared a look with Jeff as he read off the next question. "Favorite reading materials, 'fantasy and sci-fi?'  Dude, why not just say you watch Lord of the Rings on repeat."

"I don't do that!" Clay argued until Vienna shot him a look. "Anymore."

"You used to do that?" Tony questioned in surprise from the table behind him.

"Every night when I first moved in," Vienna answered with a laugh. "I swear I wanted to move right back out."

'We need to work on this, man," Jeff sighed in disapproval from next to his girlfriend.

"No, we don't," Clay shook his head quickly.

"Listen, dude, I needed a C average or above to play baseball. U.S history was kicking my ass," Jeff responded, trying to reason with him. "Via needed a C average to keep cheering. And we got help, right?"

"What about you, dude?" Jeff continued. "How's your dating life? C average or above?"

"Below," Clay answered with a weak shrug.

"So, you need help," Jeff nodded.

"Mans got a point," Tony added.

Vienna shot Tony a grin. "Demasiado concentrado en cierta chica." She told him. (too focused on a certain girl.)

Jeff squeezed her thigh in warning. It drove him crazy when she spoke in Spanish around him. He didn't get mad, but he was too nosy to stand it. "All these answers suck."

"Maybe I was stupid to keep hoping. Hoping for someone great. I always kind of liked Marcus. You always seemed like a good guy. Then again, they almost always do."

"Marcus, welcome to your tape. What was it? Did you want to see if the rumors were true? Or did you just want to start some new ones of your own?"

Vienna and Jeff walked up to the counter of the Crestmont where Hannah and Clay were working. "Jensen," Jeff greeted. "What's up, Clay?"

"What's up, Jeff?" Clay greeted. Jeff removed his arm from around Vienna's shoulder to do his handshake with Clay.  "Let me guess. You two are seeing Never Say Goodbye for Valentine's day."

"No, we're seeing Thirty Ways to Die," Jeff corrected.

"You're a classy date," Hannah commented.

Immediately, Vienna became defensive. "It was my decision," She informed the girl.

Hannah sighed softly. "Hey, V."

"Hi,'" Vienna replied.

"What's up with you, man?" Jeff questioned Clay, unaware of the growing tension between the two girls. "How'd that dollar Valentines work out?"

Clay froze, giving Hannah a guilty look. "I thought you said you didn't do it?" Hannah questioned the boy.

Vienna shot Jeff a look. This was awkward. "I thought you were gonna, you told me," Jeff started. Vienna squeezed his arm, hoping he'd catch on. "We're going to see our movie."

Jeff's arm went back around Vienna's shoulder as they all but scrambled away.

"I waited for you, Marcus. And I just had to sit there wondering, imagining, playing over all the different scenarios in my mind. And all the while thinking they all knew. Everyone in the whole place. That I'd been stood up on Valentines Day."

"I decided to give you one more chance. Stupid, Hannah."

"And then, you finally showed up. Except you weren't alone."

"And again, you were funny Marcus. And I thought maybe, just maybe, it'll be alright."

"I couldn't move. I couldn't get up and leave or scream. Anything would have been better than sitting there thinking that somehow this was my fault. Thinking I'd be alone for the rest of my life."

"But through it all, you want to believe there are good guys in this world. I knew there were. I believed it."

"Fun fact. I did some research on tombstones the other day. Or more specifically the epitaphs on tombstones. The best one I could find was by this writer called Henry Charles Bukowski Junior."

"On his tombstone, he has engraved the picture of a boxer. And beneath the boxer, two simple words. Don't try."

"I wonder what will be on mine."

Vienna wondered the same.