Summer 2018
It was the break of dawn, as Sharon drove Ty to this year’s second annual alleyway sale in her old brown 1993 Dodge Dakota. The only reason they took her vehicle was because they wanted to sell some of their extra items and to pick up some new furniture. Specifically they easily agreed that they would like a larger bed frame and if possible a matching dresser. They decided to move in together at some point but neither had the necessary furniture for a proper home. Sharon had a few chairs and some silverware while Ty had some college futons and a tv but they each only had a twin size bed. Those futons were now sitting in the bed of the truck ready to be sold to the first lucky freshman to walk by. If not they likely weren’t coming back. They pulled up to the garage and found it closed so they walked up to the patio to find the lights were still out.
After looking for a sign of life, Ty asked, “Do you think they remember what day it was on?”
“How could they forget about their annual bet?” Sharon answered in astonishment.
“Also the fact that they have a garage sale again that their friends want to sell stuff at,” Ty said looking back at the garage but turned around when the sliding door opened.
Rob stood there with bed head in pajamas mumbling, “Sorry, I thought Megan said she would open it today but I guess I was just too tired to remember what I agreed to.” His appearance startled both of them as they rarely saw either him or Megan so unprepared for something. He unlocked the garage and said on his way back to his house, “We’ll be ready in a half hour. After you’ve set up, come in and have some coffee.”
They did just that, only taking a few minutes to set up the futons and park the truck in front of the house. Patiently they waited in the kitchen as the owners showered and prepared for the day. Any time they felt like saying something, Megan or Rob would yell across the house and they would just give each other a look while sipping their coffee as a distraction. Earlier than expected Rob came into the kitchen after ten minutes and began making some toast, but then ran off again. Without a sigh of relief they heard some loud talking and before his toast was even done, he begrudgingly walked back in to put another two pieces of toast in. They tried to sip their coffees but failed to hold back a few giggles. Another ten minutes passed and Rob and Megan were finally prepared to start the sale. They walked out to the garage with their cold toast in one hand and lukewarm coffee in another and about what they were selling this year.
Ty asked, “Do you need either of us to watch over the sale today?”
Megan sat down her coffee and got settled into the lawn chair saying, “No, it’s fine. You guys are just getting rid of some ragged college couches anyways.”
“How are we doing the bet this year, also how much is this sweater?” Sharon asked after wondering if this was the same sweater she forgot to grab from last year’s sale. Megan would wear a sweater every Sunday morning as she cooked breakfast for the two of them in their college apartment.
Megan took a sip from her coffee for a moment and answered, “Well since Rob and I are switching places halfway through the day, it would then be unfair to compete in pairs this time. Also let's put a price limit of $50 on it this time. The sweater’s twenty because I got it from the art museum.” Sharon looked it over again before setting it back on the table.
“That seems fair, but we weren’t a pair last time-” Ty tried to correct her before getting interrupted.
“I know you can’t buy that large of a thing with $50 but there should probably be a size limit too. I don’t know, maybe like not larger than two feet squared,” Rob added unnecessarily before opening the garage door.
They all thought for a second before Sharon agreed, “Ya that seems good, it's not like any of us are going to buy a painting that’s too big for their house again. That would be dumb.”
Ty asked while Sharon grinned when she remembered how they almost tore it in two while moving, “So is that all we need to cover? Can we get started?”
“Ya that should be it. I’ll see you later Sharon," Megan responded as if addressing a friendly advisory.
Leaving before Rob was ready, Ty and Sharon got swept up in their own excitement and strolled out without another word. They started on the south side because Sharon wanted to save the artist for last. She knew she would probably buy another painting but didn’t want to carry it the whole time. As they walked down the alley, the success of last year’s sale could be seen with the ballooning crowd and with the sighting of food vendors along the streets. Sharon thought about the frail sustainability of the event as it relied solely on people in the immediate proximity having junk to sell. At the north end of the alleyway, Sharon saw the same baby clothes as last year and convinced Ty to skip ahead.
“Oh, Hey! Look it's the fish painting that Megan saw last year," Sharon exclaimed pointing in excitement as she dragged Ty over to it.
He looked it over for a bit and explained, “She thought that that pink elephant was better than this, like for real?”
“Maybe you should look at the price tag,” Sharon insisted. He looked at the back of the painting then with a straight face walked away and she followed with a laugh, “Ya, I think they had a price limit last time and didn’t tell me.”
Walking to the next sale Ty asked, “Wait, if that’s so expensive, why did you buy the other one? It was twice as expensive.”
“Well,” She said while brushing some hair behind her ear, “I knew it would win and I don’t often get a chance to beat Megan at her own games.” He smiled back at her and kissed her on the forehead. “What was that for?” She asked with a smile.
Looking over at the next sale for a second, he said, “I don’t know…” he looked back at her, “You just seemed happy to beat Megan, I know how tough her games can be.”
“Oh you do?” She asked.
“Well, clearly not as well as you. I mean you’ve known her since college,” he doggedly answered regretting his response already.
The silence ate away at him as she stared at him intently until she broke the silence with a laugh,”Sorry that was too easy, look at your red face! Come on, we gotta find our ridiculous items.” She pulled him into another sale as he stood there still registering the joke.
On their way to the sale, they agreed to start on opposite ends of each sale so there would be less confusion on who discovered what item. Every sale they would meet in the back of the garage with some items and joke about how nothing was as good as that painting. Occasionally one of them would wait on a couch for the other to join them but they never could agree to one. The closest was a plaid three cushion. Although it was comfy it was a little too used for Ty’s liking. While inspecting a set of cups, Sharon looked up to see Ty perusing some tools and decided to sneak up behind him.
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball,” She said, startling him. As he spun around to see her smile she asked, “Sorry was that too much? Also why are you looking at tools, thought you would be looking for golf clubs or something?”
“Something just caught my eye but it was just an old compass,” He said, setting down the compass and then asked, “Have you ever played golf?”
Sharon looked back at him and rambled, “Well I’ve played mini golf and I just assumed with all of these people selling clubs all the time that they like weared out. I guess that still wouldn’t make sense because why would you want to buy a worn out club.”
“Hey, that reminds me. Do you think Megan and Rob are doing okay? They seemed kinda tense this morning,” Ty asked with a slightly concerned look.
Sharon answered while contemplating the durability of golf clubs, “I mean it didn’t seem that bad why? Does this relate to golf clubs?”
“Well, the last time I went golfing Rob seemed stressed, and he didn’t really want to talk about normal guy things,” Ty explained doggedly.
“So Megan’s worn him out in bed,” Sharon answered for him adding, “Ya that sounds like Megan.”
Ty gave Sharon a look that said please elaborate but still asked, “That sounds like Megan?”
“I’m not saying she wasn’t monogamous, but let's just say the walls rattled regularly in our apartment,” Sharon elaborated while walking away. Ty followed her as she said, “So what breaks first the golf club or the ball? Does the outer layer of the ball just crack when it breaks or does the interior lose elasticity first?”
Ty answered, “I’m not sure, I always lose them.”
Sharon gave a chuckle and they continued on with their great search. A few more sales and a few more couches later, finally they found a sale that would get them their items. They had found an estate sale where people’s most treasured items are for sale, items that their family might find frivolous and unnecessary. The first floor seemed barren as the only things left were silverware and pieces of furniture. Quickly they both moved down to the basement even though there was only a bed frame and a dresser to look at. Across the main room they could see the previous owner’s collection of nerdy merchandise and at the top of the shelf was a hand carved wood Darth Vader bust.
“Dibbs!” Ty shouted as Sharon’s gleeful face sank.
As Ty ran over to the shelf filled with Star Wars memorabilia, Sharon wandered into the basement bedroom. There was a guitar in the corner, a twin sized bed and dresser, and a small collection of VHS tapes next to an old CRT TV. Spending a few minutes looking through the collection, Sharon saw Ty enter the room with the bust and the grin plastered on his face.
“Wow this thing is crazy. They must have hand painted this and there’s a lot of detail. You don’t even notice its wood from a distance,” Ty complimented his find infront of Sharon as she looked through the closet.
Looking deeper into the closet, Sharon said, “I’m sure that I’ll find something sooner or later.”
Ty walked around the room and said, “Did you see this guitar?”
“Yes, of course I saw the guitar, it's a cheap hundred dollar guitar that you would get from a labor day sale,” Sharon answered with an aggressive tone towards the end.
After picking up the guitar, Ty sat on the bed and asked, “Is everything alright?”
Sharon came out of the closet and sat next to him and answered quietly, “I’m just a little upset that you found that Darth Vader but then you came over just to hold it over me.”
Nodding along Ty apologized, “Ya you’re right that was kinda of a dick move,” He leaned against her, “I’ll help you look for your item now.”
“That would be nice,” Sharon answered with a slight grin as Ty strummed a few muted strings, “Hey do you want to learn a quick song?” She had taught him a few chords over the past few months, but nothing crazy so Ty reluctantly agreed. “Okay you just need to know E minor, D, C, and B7, okay?” Sharon asked, watching his hands. Tapping her leg, Sharon let Ty know the timing.
After a few verses Sharon began to sing Happy Together by the Turtles. He stopped playing after the first verse because he was still having trouble with the B7 chord and she reassured him, “It’s okay. That’s a hard chord to get.” She leaned over and kissed him after he still looked frustrated.
Ty leaned back after the kiss and playfully asked, “How do I know that you don’t do that for every cute guy?”
“What type of stories is Megan telling you,” she said, putting her hand on his leg.
“Well just the one with Link and Zelda at a college party,” Ty answered, pulling the guitar strap over his head to set the guitar next to the bed.
She fell into the bed annoyed by his response, “Oh that one. She just loves to tell the stories where she gets the credit for finding me a boy.”
Confused, he looked back at Sharon and asked, “How many times has she done that?”
“Oh let me see,” Sharon said looking at a non-existent watch , “Everytime!”
Falling back on the bed to join Sharon, Ty replied, “Really?”
She rolled over to look at his confused face asking back, “Ya, every time, Why did you not see that blind set up coming?” Watching him remain just as confused, she rolled over on top of him and whispered in his ear, “You are so clueless all of the time, no wonder you needed someone to set you up.”
“Hey I think I pick up on some things rather quickly,” He whispered back.
“Ya? Like what?” She whispered back in a seductive tone.
He stared into her eyes for a moment and gave his best answer, “Well for starters, we never closed the door.” Immediately she rolled back over and grabbed the nearest pillow to cover her face. “Hey if you get to shatter my fantasies, I get to shatter yours, “ He tried to explain to her.
Muffled through the pillow Sharon responded, “Those are not the same thing. Can you please just tell me next time I’m being a fool?”
“Yes I’ll tell you as soon as I notice next time,” He said getting up from the bed. He grabbed his Vader bust and asked, “Did you want to get the guitar?” But she held her hand up and silently waved the idea away, so he informed her, “I’m going to head up stairs now. Just join me whenever you’re ready.”
A few moments after he left she got up from the bed and continued to look through the closet to see if there were any weird coats like maybe one of those pastel coats that looked like an early 90’s taco bell. She went back to the vhs collection noticing a familiar character. There it was an old VHS Godzilla collection with a shot of Godzilla spread across the five tape set. She knew it probably wouldn’t win but she knew it was her item. She remembered that she had gotten a VHS tape last year but misplaced it, but this one wasn’t going to leave her sight.
Upstairs Ty was still bartering for the bust when Sharon came up the stairs. There was a smile across his face when he looked over to see her approaching and he excitedly asked about the VHS tapes. Unfortunately he agreed with her that it probably won’t win but still loved her find. They headed back to Megan’s house to drop off their items in her truck. Along the way they stopped at one of the food vendors and bought some funnel cake in which Ty recounted a story about his friend who won a challenge at the state fair. His friend had beaten the previous challenger in eating his funnel cake in under a minute and fifteen seconds, winning the funnel cake he had just eaten. Sharon enjoyed the story but felt that the prize undercompensated for such a feat. After they finished their cakes, their items were thrown into the cab of the truck before they headed back to the garage to meet up with Rob and Megan.
As they entered the garage Megan greeted them, “Hey! How’d it go? Did you find some interesting items?”
“It went well. We didn’t find a couch but Ty found the most ridiculous item,” she proclaimed, resetting a hand on his shoulder in pride.
“I guess we’ll see,” Megan said leaning back in her chair. “Rob should be back soon and then me and you can go find our parties winning theme,” She said pointing at Sharon.
Sharon answered, “Oh sure, but before we go, is your house unlocked?” Megan nodded and Sharon jotted off to the house.
Ty wandered around the sale for a bit before he asked, “Did that cute sweater already get sold? I wanted to buy it for Sharon.”
“Uhm… yes I think it was sold about an hour ago,” She answered, still leaning back in her chair. Ty went back to searching through their sale until Rob came back but through the garage door instead of the back door. Megan knew immediately that Rob hadn’t found his item and asked, “Did you need more time dear?”
Rob answered while running his hand through his hair, “It seems like it. Do you mind waiting a bit longer?”
“Well lets see, I haven’t gotten to see my best friend Sharon all day, so yes I do mind,” Megan snapped back in frustration. As they glared across the garage at each other Ty nervously caved.
“I can hold down the fort if you need more time Rob, it’s no problem,” Ty said, darting his head between the two trying to gauge their responses.
After an unnerving moment Megan broke the silence, “I guess that’ll work.”
Heading back out Rob assured Ty, “Don’t worry it should only be an hour.”
“What should only be an hour?” Sharon asked, entering the garage to see the tailend of the argument.
While Ty tried to figure out what just happened, Megan answered her, “Ty’s gonna stay back and wait for Rob to find his item, but don’t worry we’ll still have our fun.” As Sharon thought for a second, Megan stood up and grabbed her hand pulling her out of the garage.
As Sharon looked back at Ty in confusion, he tried to comfort her, “I’ll see you in a while. Try to have fun!”
“I will!” She shouted back while waving goodbye. A few houses down and Sharon asked, “Hey, you know the painting I got last year? Well I heard that the artist only lives a few blocks down but we didn’t make it last year so can we make sure that we make it there?”
Megan answered quickly, “Sure why not, we have plenty of time.”
Over the next hour, the two of them caught up as they saw less of each other over the last year because of their relationships. Sharon helped her look through potential items as she told dorky stories of her and Ty.
Megan held back her comment until after her final story, “Wow, This must be the longest you’ve ever seen someone.”
For a second she almost told Megan about how she forgot to shut the door early but was still too embarrassed to say anything. Instead she quipped, “Well maybe the right person hasn’t come around.”
“Well, look who made him come around,” Megan claimed while pointing both fingers back at herself.
“Oh so just like last time?” Sharon insisted.
A little defensive Megan clung to her little victory, “I’m just trying to take credit.”
“Well… What if I’m just trying to give it to you?” Sharon asked.
Blushing Megan announced, “It’s taken,” before continuing on with the sale.
A set of decorative presidential trays caught Megan’s eye but was told that it would be a shame to separate even a single one. At the next sale Sharon let Megan get ahead as she inspected a decent leather couch. She could see Megan looking at some animal shaped mailboxes.
“Hi Sweetie,” Josephine greeted her by surprise while she once again stared at Megan from afar. Sharon tried to collect herself but Josephine continued, “Have you gotten any of that yet?”
Set aback by her bluntness once again, Sharon tried to answer the best she could, “No! Uhm… Well she’s just a friend.” Josephine gave her a sly smile so she panicked more saying, “Also I have a boyfriend and stuff.”
Josephine quickly came back with,“You don’t seem so confident about that deary.”
Before Sharon could even think about correcting the situation, Megan asked, “Hey is that old lady that caught you staring at me last year?” Sharon sank into the couch and set her head in her hands as she refused to answer anymore questions due to embarrassment.
“Oh yes, did you overhear us last time?” Josephine asked politely.
Megan with her hand on her hip answered, “It was kinda hard not to, She was kinda loud before she almost fell into that table.”
“She’s cute when she blushes isn’t she?” With a wide smile Josephine asked while patting the top of the couch.
“Thanks,” Sharon groaned, still hiding her face in her palms.
Leaning over to Josephine, Megan confided, “You know I hadn’t noticed since she’s always so cute.”
“You heard that deary!” Josephine said, setting her hand on Sharon’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
Sharon looked up to glare at her with her bright red face pleading, “Please, stop.”
“Okay deary,” Josephine giggled while leaving Sharon with a wink as she continued shopping, “ I’ll get going. Besides, it doesn’t seem like you need my help any more.”
As Sharon awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact with her, Megan gave her some space, “I’m gonna check out, so I’ll be back in a minute.”
She nodded, still looking away. She thought about how dumb she was looking at her friend that way. If a complete stranger could tell, of course Megan could tell. But eventually a thought crossed her mind, she thought about how Megan never asked if she had gotten those psyduck glasses. There were two options either Megan knew it was a lie and sent her out just to spend more time with Ty or She didn’t know that the Jars were a lie and just forgot about them later in her excitement. Sharon was lost in thought until Megan came back with one of the largest mailboxes they had. This was a handmade pig shaped mailbox with carved legs and a springtail all coated with an enamel pink paint.
Megan looked at Sharon who seemed lost in thought so she started by explaining, “Hey I know you want to see the artist down the street and I know that we haven’t gotten far, but I don’t want to carry this around.”
Sharon replied worn out by their previous encounter “But-”
“Look I have a surprise that I’ve been dying to give to you all day and come on this thing is heavy,” Megan continued demonstrating its weight to further sway her.
Getting up from the couch Sharon said with a light grin, “Alright, but we better go to the artist right after.”
This great surprise had distracted her from her previous dilemma at least for a moment. After passing a few sales the only surprise she could come up with would be that she left that TMNT VHS tape at Megan’s house last year and she recently found it and had just remembered to give it back. Approaching their house she recalled her dying question.
She looked over to Megan and asked, “Why didn’t Rob ask about the psyduck jars last year?”
“You’re right I completely forgot about those. I guess he must have forgotten,” Megan answered quickly while looking down at her pig and blushing.
This stonewalled her search. She knew that Megan was lying because she always looked at her when answering her questions. Megan was always too quick on her feet, so Sharon began thinking through her next line of question more carefully. Before she could dig any deeper they were already inside Megan’s house. Distracted by her thoughts Sharon stood outside Megan’s room as she put away her item. After a while Sharon was only slightly concerned but kept hearing boxes being moved around so she just thought that her hiding spot was deep inside her closet.
Finally she heard Megan’s voice from the bedroom, “Can you help me with something?” She thought for a second that this must be a ploy to surprise her with the tape.
Walking in she saw Megan standing in front of the bed wearing that cute sweater from earlier. She asked point at her, “Hey I thought you were selling that?”
Megan slowly walked towards her, softly explaining, “Well, I heard someone wanted it.”
“I mean it-” Sharon stopped mid thought as she felt Megan’s hand around her waist.
Looking up towards Megan’s face their nose hovered millimeters apart as she stared into Sharon’s eyes. Sharon tried to keep thinking about the sweater, but then Megan leaned and kissed her as if to quell her wandering mind. This answered so many of her day dreams of Megan seeing her blushing from across the room but she quickly remembered Ty and Rob. As she went to pull away from Megan’s embrace, Megan wrapped her arms around tighter bringing Sharon’s face into the sweater.
The sweater smelled like those Sunday mornings in college where Megan would cook breakfast. Sharon would sit at the table working through homework while Megan cooked bacon and pancakes while only wearing that sweater. Occasionally Sharon would look up and smile as she watched Megan until she would turn around and see Sharon still working on the same problem. Sharon thought about how she wouldn’t get much homework done those mornings as she would dream about holding Megan with her head on her shoulder as she cooked.
Lifting her head off of the sweater she had always dreamed of smelling, Sharon had to ask, “Why did you set me up with Ty?”
Softly holding Sharon’s hand against her bare ass, Megan leaned towards Sharon’s ear and regretfully whimpered, “I didn’t want to.” Without a second thought Sharon reached over and shut the bedroom door.
With their clothes sprawled across the bedroom Megan held onto Sharon, dreaming of those sunday mornings for as long as she could. Megan’s eyes opened as she heard the swish from the sliding door close in the other room. Rob had gotten back from shopping with his item, but she remained nestled in her forgotten dream until she heard the door to the basement open.
“You need to get going,” Megan whispered in Sharon’s ear while she ran her hand along her side.
In a panicked yet quiet motion Sharon launched from the bed, Softly yelling, “Shit!” She tried to get dressed as fast as possible but couldn’t find her underwear.
Seeing her desperate search, Megan quietly instructed, “Just take some from the top drawer.” There she saw the TMNT tape that she had left there a year ago tucked away and poorly covered in the back.
She was about to leave but realized that she didn’t know what the right move would be so she asked, “Where should I go?”
“Just go get your items from your car, I’ll take care of the rest,” Megan said, tossing her the sweater as Sharon ran out the door.
Again Megan was two steps ahead. By the time Sharon got to the backyard, the others had already gathered with their items which led Ty to state with his dorky smile, “I see you got it, thanks.”
“Ya, no problem,” Sharon replied, handing the Darth Vader bust over as covertly as possible as Rob and Megan stood with their items poorly hidden behind their backs. After a sad attempt at a countdown, they displayed their ridiculous items.
Seeing Sharon’s item, Megan blushed but knew who the winner had to be so she quickly announced, “Well it seems clear, Ty won it!”
Ty put his arm around Sharon in excitement. Sharon gave Megan a look that begged for an easy out. This year's party was going to be star wars themed with that bust at the center of it. Rob was still impressed with Megan’s find but only after arguing about its practicality as a mailbox. Ten minutes after finishing the discussions, Ty and Sharon packed up their junk and drove away in her truck.
Still adjusting in his seat, Ty asked, “Well that was pretty fun. Are you excited for tomorrow?”
“Uhm… Ya, I think so,” She answered with some hesitation trying to just look ahead.
Ty still couldn’t sit still as he kept adjusting his position, and continued to inquire, “So you know that estate sale we went to?”
Sharon paused trying to think of the house but then answered, “Ya?”
“Well I talked to the owners while you were down stairs and they said the house would be for sale soon-” Ty continued until Sharon stopped him but he finally reached behind his seat to find something balled up behind his seat.
“Can we just talk about this tomorrow? It's been a long day,” Sharon asked as Ty examined the wad of fabric he had pulled out.
As he unfurled it, he asked suspiciously, “How did you get this sweater?” Her heart dropped as the road warped into a channel dry of any excuse she could give.
She gave out the only excuse she found, “I bought it.” The bumps on the road regulated her heart beats as they imperfectly measured the passage of time. Between bumps there was nothing but agony.
“Megan said it was sold when we were out,” Ty said as if accusing her of something he couldn’t have known. She looked at the wheel and waited for another crack in the road to tell her what to do.
She looked over and gave the answer she thought he was looking for, “I stole it.”
He looked back at the sweater and began to tell her about how bad stealing was and her heart let out a sigh of relief but never rose. Every response she gave solidified her guilt layer by layer. She was stuck in this reality now of arguing and resentment with only the occasional bump in the road reminding her that time still existed. When they reached the highway, the quiet road let her drift away from the arguments. She remembered that tape which now resided in the corner of her mind loosely covered in a drawer waiting for her at the end of this road.
After looking for a sign of life, Ty asked, “Do you think they remember what day it was on?”
“How could they forget about their annual bet?” Sharon answered in astonishment.
“Also the fact that they have a garage sale again that their friends want to sell stuff at,” Ty said looking back at the garage but turned around when the sliding door opened.
Rob stood there with bed head in pajamas mumbling, “Sorry, I thought Megan said she would open it today but I guess I was just too tired to remember what I agreed to.” His appearance startled both of them as they rarely saw either him or Megan so unprepared for something. He unlocked the garage and said on his way back to his house, “We’ll be ready in a half hour. After you’ve set up, come in and have some coffee.”
They did just that, only taking a few minutes to set up the futons and park the truck in front of the house. Patiently they waited in the kitchen as the owners showered and prepared for the day. Any time they felt like saying something, Megan or Rob would yell across the house and they would just give each other a look while sipping their coffee as a distraction. Earlier than expected Rob came into the kitchen after ten minutes and began making some toast, but then ran off again. Without a sigh of relief they heard some loud talking and before his toast was even done, he begrudgingly walked back in to put another two pieces of toast in. They tried to sip their coffees but failed to hold back a few giggles. Another ten minutes passed and Rob and Megan were finally prepared to start the sale. They walked out to the garage with their cold toast in one hand and lukewarm coffee in another and about what they were selling this year.
Ty asked, “Do you need either of us to watch over the sale today?”
Megan sat down her coffee and got settled into the lawn chair saying, “No, it’s fine. You guys are just getting rid of some ragged college couches anyways.”
“How are we doing the bet this year, also how much is this sweater?” Sharon asked after wondering if this was the same sweater she forgot to grab from last year’s sale. Megan would wear a sweater every Sunday morning as she cooked breakfast for the two of them in their college apartment.
Megan took a sip from her coffee for a moment and answered, “Well since Rob and I are switching places halfway through the day, it would then be unfair to compete in pairs this time. Also let's put a price limit of $50 on it this time. The sweater’s twenty because I got it from the art museum.” Sharon looked it over again before setting it back on the table.
“That seems fair, but we weren’t a pair last time-” Ty tried to correct her before getting interrupted.
“I know you can’t buy that large of a thing with $50 but there should probably be a size limit too. I don’t know, maybe like not larger than two feet squared,” Rob added unnecessarily before opening the garage door.
They all thought for a second before Sharon agreed, “Ya that seems good, it's not like any of us are going to buy a painting that’s too big for their house again. That would be dumb.”
Ty asked while Sharon grinned when she remembered how they almost tore it in two while moving, “So is that all we need to cover? Can we get started?”
“Ya that should be it. I’ll see you later Sharon," Megan responded as if addressing a friendly advisory.
Leaving before Rob was ready, Ty and Sharon got swept up in their own excitement and strolled out without another word. They started on the south side because Sharon wanted to save the artist for last. She knew she would probably buy another painting but didn’t want to carry it the whole time. As they walked down the alley, the success of last year’s sale could be seen with the ballooning crowd and with the sighting of food vendors along the streets. Sharon thought about the frail sustainability of the event as it relied solely on people in the immediate proximity having junk to sell. At the north end of the alleyway, Sharon saw the same baby clothes as last year and convinced Ty to skip ahead.
“Oh, Hey! Look it's the fish painting that Megan saw last year," Sharon exclaimed pointing in excitement as she dragged Ty over to it.
He looked it over for a bit and explained, “She thought that that pink elephant was better than this, like for real?”
“Maybe you should look at the price tag,” Sharon insisted. He looked at the back of the painting then with a straight face walked away and she followed with a laugh, “Ya, I think they had a price limit last time and didn’t tell me.”
Walking to the next sale Ty asked, “Wait, if that’s so expensive, why did you buy the other one? It was twice as expensive.”
“Well,” She said while brushing some hair behind her ear, “I knew it would win and I don’t often get a chance to beat Megan at her own games.” He smiled back at her and kissed her on the forehead. “What was that for?” She asked with a smile.
Looking over at the next sale for a second, he said, “I don’t know…” he looked back at her, “You just seemed happy to beat Megan, I know how tough her games can be.”
“Oh you do?” She asked.
“Well, clearly not as well as you. I mean you’ve known her since college,” he doggedly answered regretting his response already.
The silence ate away at him as she stared at him intently until she broke the silence with a laugh,”Sorry that was too easy, look at your red face! Come on, we gotta find our ridiculous items.” She pulled him into another sale as he stood there still registering the joke.
On their way to the sale, they agreed to start on opposite ends of each sale so there would be less confusion on who discovered what item. Every sale they would meet in the back of the garage with some items and joke about how nothing was as good as that painting. Occasionally one of them would wait on a couch for the other to join them but they never could agree to one. The closest was a plaid three cushion. Although it was comfy it was a little too used for Ty’s liking. While inspecting a set of cups, Sharon looked up to see Ty perusing some tools and decided to sneak up behind him.
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball,” She said, startling him. As he spun around to see her smile she asked, “Sorry was that too much? Also why are you looking at tools, thought you would be looking for golf clubs or something?”
“Something just caught my eye but it was just an old compass,” He said, setting down the compass and then asked, “Have you ever played golf?”
Sharon looked back at him and rambled, “Well I’ve played mini golf and I just assumed with all of these people selling clubs all the time that they like weared out. I guess that still wouldn’t make sense because why would you want to buy a worn out club.”
“Hey, that reminds me. Do you think Megan and Rob are doing okay? They seemed kinda tense this morning,” Ty asked with a slightly concerned look.
Sharon answered while contemplating the durability of golf clubs, “I mean it didn’t seem that bad why? Does this relate to golf clubs?”
“Well, the last time I went golfing Rob seemed stressed, and he didn’t really want to talk about normal guy things,” Ty explained doggedly.
“So Megan’s worn him out in bed,” Sharon answered for him adding, “Ya that sounds like Megan.”
Ty gave Sharon a look that said please elaborate but still asked, “That sounds like Megan?”
“I’m not saying she wasn’t monogamous, but let's just say the walls rattled regularly in our apartment,” Sharon elaborated while walking away. Ty followed her as she said, “So what breaks first the golf club or the ball? Does the outer layer of the ball just crack when it breaks or does the interior lose elasticity first?”
Ty answered, “I’m not sure, I always lose them.”
Sharon gave a chuckle and they continued on with their great search. A few more sales and a few more couches later, finally they found a sale that would get them their items. They had found an estate sale where people’s most treasured items are for sale, items that their family might find frivolous and unnecessary. The first floor seemed barren as the only things left were silverware and pieces of furniture. Quickly they both moved down to the basement even though there was only a bed frame and a dresser to look at. Across the main room they could see the previous owner’s collection of nerdy merchandise and at the top of the shelf was a hand carved wood Darth Vader bust.
“Dibbs!” Ty shouted as Sharon’s gleeful face sank.
As Ty ran over to the shelf filled with Star Wars memorabilia, Sharon wandered into the basement bedroom. There was a guitar in the corner, a twin sized bed and dresser, and a small collection of VHS tapes next to an old CRT TV. Spending a few minutes looking through the collection, Sharon saw Ty enter the room with the bust and the grin plastered on his face.
“Wow this thing is crazy. They must have hand painted this and there’s a lot of detail. You don’t even notice its wood from a distance,” Ty complimented his find infront of Sharon as she looked through the closet.
Looking deeper into the closet, Sharon said, “I’m sure that I’ll find something sooner or later.”
Ty walked around the room and said, “Did you see this guitar?”
“Yes, of course I saw the guitar, it's a cheap hundred dollar guitar that you would get from a labor day sale,” Sharon answered with an aggressive tone towards the end.
After picking up the guitar, Ty sat on the bed and asked, “Is everything alright?”
Sharon came out of the closet and sat next to him and answered quietly, “I’m just a little upset that you found that Darth Vader but then you came over just to hold it over me.”
Nodding along Ty apologized, “Ya you’re right that was kinda of a dick move,” He leaned against her, “I’ll help you look for your item now.”
“That would be nice,” Sharon answered with a slight grin as Ty strummed a few muted strings, “Hey do you want to learn a quick song?” She had taught him a few chords over the past few months, but nothing crazy so Ty reluctantly agreed. “Okay you just need to know E minor, D, C, and B7, okay?” Sharon asked, watching his hands. Tapping her leg, Sharon let Ty know the timing.
After a few verses Sharon began to sing Happy Together by the Turtles. He stopped playing after the first verse because he was still having trouble with the B7 chord and she reassured him, “It’s okay. That’s a hard chord to get.” She leaned over and kissed him after he still looked frustrated.
Ty leaned back after the kiss and playfully asked, “How do I know that you don’t do that for every cute guy?”
“What type of stories is Megan telling you,” she said, putting her hand on his leg.
“Well just the one with Link and Zelda at a college party,” Ty answered, pulling the guitar strap over his head to set the guitar next to the bed.
She fell into the bed annoyed by his response, “Oh that one. She just loves to tell the stories where she gets the credit for finding me a boy.”
Confused, he looked back at Sharon and asked, “How many times has she done that?”
“Oh let me see,” Sharon said looking at a non-existent watch , “Everytime!”
Falling back on the bed to join Sharon, Ty replied, “Really?”
She rolled over to look at his confused face asking back, “Ya, every time, Why did you not see that blind set up coming?” Watching him remain just as confused, she rolled over on top of him and whispered in his ear, “You are so clueless all of the time, no wonder you needed someone to set you up.”
“Hey I think I pick up on some things rather quickly,” He whispered back.
“Ya? Like what?” She whispered back in a seductive tone.
He stared into her eyes for a moment and gave his best answer, “Well for starters, we never closed the door.” Immediately she rolled back over and grabbed the nearest pillow to cover her face. “Hey if you get to shatter my fantasies, I get to shatter yours, “ He tried to explain to her.
Muffled through the pillow Sharon responded, “Those are not the same thing. Can you please just tell me next time I’m being a fool?”
“Yes I’ll tell you as soon as I notice next time,” He said getting up from the bed. He grabbed his Vader bust and asked, “Did you want to get the guitar?” But she held her hand up and silently waved the idea away, so he informed her, “I’m going to head up stairs now. Just join me whenever you’re ready.”
A few moments after he left she got up from the bed and continued to look through the closet to see if there were any weird coats like maybe one of those pastel coats that looked like an early 90’s taco bell. She went back to the vhs collection noticing a familiar character. There it was an old VHS Godzilla collection with a shot of Godzilla spread across the five tape set. She knew it probably wouldn’t win but she knew it was her item. She remembered that she had gotten a VHS tape last year but misplaced it, but this one wasn’t going to leave her sight.
Upstairs Ty was still bartering for the bust when Sharon came up the stairs. There was a smile across his face when he looked over to see her approaching and he excitedly asked about the VHS tapes. Unfortunately he agreed with her that it probably won’t win but still loved her find. They headed back to Megan’s house to drop off their items in her truck. Along the way they stopped at one of the food vendors and bought some funnel cake in which Ty recounted a story about his friend who won a challenge at the state fair. His friend had beaten the previous challenger in eating his funnel cake in under a minute and fifteen seconds, winning the funnel cake he had just eaten. Sharon enjoyed the story but felt that the prize undercompensated for such a feat. After they finished their cakes, their items were thrown into the cab of the truck before they headed back to the garage to meet up with Rob and Megan.
As they entered the garage Megan greeted them, “Hey! How’d it go? Did you find some interesting items?”
“It went well. We didn’t find a couch but Ty found the most ridiculous item,” she proclaimed, resetting a hand on his shoulder in pride.
“I guess we’ll see,” Megan said leaning back in her chair. “Rob should be back soon and then me and you can go find our parties winning theme,” She said pointing at Sharon.
Sharon answered, “Oh sure, but before we go, is your house unlocked?” Megan nodded and Sharon jotted off to the house.
Ty wandered around the sale for a bit before he asked, “Did that cute sweater already get sold? I wanted to buy it for Sharon.”
“Uhm… yes I think it was sold about an hour ago,” She answered, still leaning back in her chair. Ty went back to searching through their sale until Rob came back but through the garage door instead of the back door. Megan knew immediately that Rob hadn’t found his item and asked, “Did you need more time dear?”
Rob answered while running his hand through his hair, “It seems like it. Do you mind waiting a bit longer?”
“Well lets see, I haven’t gotten to see my best friend Sharon all day, so yes I do mind,” Megan snapped back in frustration. As they glared across the garage at each other Ty nervously caved.
“I can hold down the fort if you need more time Rob, it’s no problem,” Ty said, darting his head between the two trying to gauge their responses.
After an unnerving moment Megan broke the silence, “I guess that’ll work.”
Heading back out Rob assured Ty, “Don’t worry it should only be an hour.”
“What should only be an hour?” Sharon asked, entering the garage to see the tailend of the argument.
While Ty tried to figure out what just happened, Megan answered her, “Ty’s gonna stay back and wait for Rob to find his item, but don’t worry we’ll still have our fun.” As Sharon thought for a second, Megan stood up and grabbed her hand pulling her out of the garage.
As Sharon looked back at Ty in confusion, he tried to comfort her, “I’ll see you in a while. Try to have fun!”
“I will!” She shouted back while waving goodbye. A few houses down and Sharon asked, “Hey, you know the painting I got last year? Well I heard that the artist only lives a few blocks down but we didn’t make it last year so can we make sure that we make it there?”
Megan answered quickly, “Sure why not, we have plenty of time.”
Over the next hour, the two of them caught up as they saw less of each other over the last year because of their relationships. Sharon helped her look through potential items as she told dorky stories of her and Ty.
Megan held back her comment until after her final story, “Wow, This must be the longest you’ve ever seen someone.”
For a second she almost told Megan about how she forgot to shut the door early but was still too embarrassed to say anything. Instead she quipped, “Well maybe the right person hasn’t come around.”
“Well, look who made him come around,” Megan claimed while pointing both fingers back at herself.
“Oh so just like last time?” Sharon insisted.
A little defensive Megan clung to her little victory, “I’m just trying to take credit.”
“Well… What if I’m just trying to give it to you?” Sharon asked.
Blushing Megan announced, “It’s taken,” before continuing on with the sale.
A set of decorative presidential trays caught Megan’s eye but was told that it would be a shame to separate even a single one. At the next sale Sharon let Megan get ahead as she inspected a decent leather couch. She could see Megan looking at some animal shaped mailboxes.
“Hi Sweetie,” Josephine greeted her by surprise while she once again stared at Megan from afar. Sharon tried to collect herself but Josephine continued, “Have you gotten any of that yet?”
Set aback by her bluntness once again, Sharon tried to answer the best she could, “No! Uhm… Well she’s just a friend.” Josephine gave her a sly smile so she panicked more saying, “Also I have a boyfriend and stuff.”
Josephine quickly came back with,“You don’t seem so confident about that deary.”
Before Sharon could even think about correcting the situation, Megan asked, “Hey is that old lady that caught you staring at me last year?” Sharon sank into the couch and set her head in her hands as she refused to answer anymore questions due to embarrassment.
“Oh yes, did you overhear us last time?” Josephine asked politely.
Megan with her hand on her hip answered, “It was kinda hard not to, She was kinda loud before she almost fell into that table.”
“She’s cute when she blushes isn’t she?” With a wide smile Josephine asked while patting the top of the couch.
“Thanks,” Sharon groaned, still hiding her face in her palms.
Leaning over to Josephine, Megan confided, “You know I hadn’t noticed since she’s always so cute.”
“You heard that deary!” Josephine said, setting her hand on Sharon’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
Sharon looked up to glare at her with her bright red face pleading, “Please, stop.”
“Okay deary,” Josephine giggled while leaving Sharon with a wink as she continued shopping, “ I’ll get going. Besides, it doesn’t seem like you need my help any more.”
As Sharon awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact with her, Megan gave her some space, “I’m gonna check out, so I’ll be back in a minute.”
She nodded, still looking away. She thought about how dumb she was looking at her friend that way. If a complete stranger could tell, of course Megan could tell. But eventually a thought crossed her mind, she thought about how Megan never asked if she had gotten those psyduck glasses. There were two options either Megan knew it was a lie and sent her out just to spend more time with Ty or She didn’t know that the Jars were a lie and just forgot about them later in her excitement. Sharon was lost in thought until Megan came back with one of the largest mailboxes they had. This was a handmade pig shaped mailbox with carved legs and a springtail all coated with an enamel pink paint.
Megan looked at Sharon who seemed lost in thought so she started by explaining, “Hey I know you want to see the artist down the street and I know that we haven’t gotten far, but I don’t want to carry this around.”
Sharon replied worn out by their previous encounter “But-”
“Look I have a surprise that I’ve been dying to give to you all day and come on this thing is heavy,” Megan continued demonstrating its weight to further sway her.
Getting up from the couch Sharon said with a light grin, “Alright, but we better go to the artist right after.”
This great surprise had distracted her from her previous dilemma at least for a moment. After passing a few sales the only surprise she could come up with would be that she left that TMNT VHS tape at Megan’s house last year and she recently found it and had just remembered to give it back. Approaching their house she recalled her dying question.
She looked over to Megan and asked, “Why didn’t Rob ask about the psyduck jars last year?”
“You’re right I completely forgot about those. I guess he must have forgotten,” Megan answered quickly while looking down at her pig and blushing.
This stonewalled her search. She knew that Megan was lying because she always looked at her when answering her questions. Megan was always too quick on her feet, so Sharon began thinking through her next line of question more carefully. Before she could dig any deeper they were already inside Megan’s house. Distracted by her thoughts Sharon stood outside Megan’s room as she put away her item. After a while Sharon was only slightly concerned but kept hearing boxes being moved around so she just thought that her hiding spot was deep inside her closet.
Finally she heard Megan’s voice from the bedroom, “Can you help me with something?” She thought for a second that this must be a ploy to surprise her with the tape.
Walking in she saw Megan standing in front of the bed wearing that cute sweater from earlier. She asked point at her, “Hey I thought you were selling that?”
Megan slowly walked towards her, softly explaining, “Well, I heard someone wanted it.”
“I mean it-” Sharon stopped mid thought as she felt Megan’s hand around her waist.
Looking up towards Megan’s face their nose hovered millimeters apart as she stared into Sharon’s eyes. Sharon tried to keep thinking about the sweater, but then Megan leaned and kissed her as if to quell her wandering mind. This answered so many of her day dreams of Megan seeing her blushing from across the room but she quickly remembered Ty and Rob. As she went to pull away from Megan’s embrace, Megan wrapped her arms around tighter bringing Sharon’s face into the sweater.
The sweater smelled like those Sunday mornings in college where Megan would cook breakfast. Sharon would sit at the table working through homework while Megan cooked bacon and pancakes while only wearing that sweater. Occasionally Sharon would look up and smile as she watched Megan until she would turn around and see Sharon still working on the same problem. Sharon thought about how she wouldn’t get much homework done those mornings as she would dream about holding Megan with her head on her shoulder as she cooked.
Lifting her head off of the sweater she had always dreamed of smelling, Sharon had to ask, “Why did you set me up with Ty?”
Softly holding Sharon’s hand against her bare ass, Megan leaned towards Sharon’s ear and regretfully whimpered, “I didn’t want to.” Without a second thought Sharon reached over and shut the bedroom door.
With their clothes sprawled across the bedroom Megan held onto Sharon, dreaming of those sunday mornings for as long as she could. Megan’s eyes opened as she heard the swish from the sliding door close in the other room. Rob had gotten back from shopping with his item, but she remained nestled in her forgotten dream until she heard the door to the basement open.
“You need to get going,” Megan whispered in Sharon’s ear while she ran her hand along her side.
In a panicked yet quiet motion Sharon launched from the bed, Softly yelling, “Shit!” She tried to get dressed as fast as possible but couldn’t find her underwear.
Seeing her desperate search, Megan quietly instructed, “Just take some from the top drawer.” There she saw the TMNT tape that she had left there a year ago tucked away and poorly covered in the back.
She was about to leave but realized that she didn’t know what the right move would be so she asked, “Where should I go?”
“Just go get your items from your car, I’ll take care of the rest,” Megan said, tossing her the sweater as Sharon ran out the door.
Again Megan was two steps ahead. By the time Sharon got to the backyard, the others had already gathered with their items which led Ty to state with his dorky smile, “I see you got it, thanks.”
“Ya, no problem,” Sharon replied, handing the Darth Vader bust over as covertly as possible as Rob and Megan stood with their items poorly hidden behind their backs. After a sad attempt at a countdown, they displayed their ridiculous items.
Seeing Sharon’s item, Megan blushed but knew who the winner had to be so she quickly announced, “Well it seems clear, Ty won it!”
Ty put his arm around Sharon in excitement. Sharon gave Megan a look that begged for an easy out. This year's party was going to be star wars themed with that bust at the center of it. Rob was still impressed with Megan’s find but only after arguing about its practicality as a mailbox. Ten minutes after finishing the discussions, Ty and Sharon packed up their junk and drove away in her truck.
Still adjusting in his seat, Ty asked, “Well that was pretty fun. Are you excited for tomorrow?”
“Uhm… Ya, I think so,” She answered with some hesitation trying to just look ahead.
Ty still couldn’t sit still as he kept adjusting his position, and continued to inquire, “So you know that estate sale we went to?”
Sharon paused trying to think of the house but then answered, “Ya?”
“Well I talked to the owners while you were down stairs and they said the house would be for sale soon-” Ty continued until Sharon stopped him but he finally reached behind his seat to find something balled up behind his seat.
“Can we just talk about this tomorrow? It's been a long day,” Sharon asked as Ty examined the wad of fabric he had pulled out.
As he unfurled it, he asked suspiciously, “How did you get this sweater?” Her heart dropped as the road warped into a channel dry of any excuse she could give.
She gave out the only excuse she found, “I bought it.” The bumps on the road regulated her heart beats as they imperfectly measured the passage of time. Between bumps there was nothing but agony.
“Megan said it was sold when we were out,” Ty said as if accusing her of something he couldn’t have known. She looked at the wheel and waited for another crack in the road to tell her what to do.
She looked over and gave the answer she thought he was looking for, “I stole it.”
He looked back at the sweater and began to tell her about how bad stealing was and her heart let out a sigh of relief but never rose. Every response she gave solidified her guilt layer by layer. She was stuck in this reality now of arguing and resentment with only the occasional bump in the road reminding her that time still existed. When they reached the highway, the quiet road let her drift away from the arguments. She remembered that tape which now resided in the corner of her mind loosely covered in a drawer waiting for her at the end of this road.