Third Wheel, or Kent Tells a Tale

Tom and Lily sit on the soft sands of the beach, their images lit by the white glow of the moon. At their backs sits the fading nightlife of a city readying itself to finally turn in for the night. In front of them is the dark mysteries of the night wrapping itself around the vast emptiness of the ocean, its waves trying desperately to lick at their feet. Lily slips free from Tom's embrace to inch her way closer to the shoreline. Tom tries to pull her back to him. Both finally concede to the other and get close enough for only the most determined waters to wet their naked toes.

Kent grabs a pebble and flings it into the ocean, watching it disappear into the shadows of the waves. Tom and Lily have now become a single creature in his drunkenness, communicating in whispers and hushed voices. How many bars did we hit tonight? He looks around again. And where the hell did everyone else go? He pulls apart the Velcro of his wallet. How much did I drink?

Kent trips over the shadowy mass of Tom and Lily, planting his face firmly in the sand. He gets to his feet and dusts off what sand he can.

Tom, having taken the brunt of Kent's drunken assault and forgiving, asks, "How you doing dude?" His hands slide upon Lily's tanned arms, pulling her back into his embrace.

"You know me," Kent says with a slight sway to his stance, "just buzzing like a bee."

Lily laughs at his unconscious rhyme and so do the other two. Taking this as a cue, Kent bends into what can only be described as a drunken bow of aristocracy and begins

"The light of the moon shines upon the beach.
The lovers walk alone upon the sand.
The stars, they glow just out of reach.
The night moves just as it was planned.

"The lovers walk alone upon the sand.
The waves ebb and flow on the shore.
The night moves just as it was planned.
A classic tale since the times of yore.

"The waves ebb and flow on the shore.
He says to her and she whispers to him

"Wait, you're just repeating lines now," says Lily, what looks to be a pout upon her face.

"I think that counts more toward style than it does cheating," Kent says with a smirk on his face. He notices the tracks in the sand, his footprints, circling their little area. He tries to stand in place, at least he tries.

"Could you make your story more about us?" Tom asks and no one can tell if he's joking, not even Tom himself, but they all laugh anyways.

"Will it get me to best-man status?" Kent says, and once again no one can tell if he's joking, but he probably is.

"How about you write the best man's speech for him," Tom says, just to be safe.

"Tom and Lily were childhood friends.
Who would've thought their stories would end
With them embraced hand in hand,
Staring out to sea sitting in the sand"
Jeez that last verse is looking really bland.

"Under the stars they drunkenly dance
A simple sway as if in a trance
At each other's dishevelment they glance
And feel the feelings of romance."
I'm so drunk I can't keep one stance.

"Each glance puts into words
Neither could speak true
Since the images they paint
No words could do.

"In a minute they fall down to the floor.
Standing again feels like a chore.
Drunken bodies all out of sync
Cannot respond to the thoughts they think.

"And under Tom's jacket the two embrace,
Cementing a love time cannot erase.
He says to her and she whispers to him.
While my chances of getting home are looking grim."

"Dude, what the hell are you babbling about?"
"Yo hand me a cig. I seem to be out."
Tom tosses Kent his pack and a lighter as well.
If he wants them back, Kent's too drunk to tell.

Kent inhales once and his head starts to spin.
There's no telling now what kind of trouble he's in.
Kent sprints down the beach as his head starts to whirl.
His knees hit the water as he starts to hurl.

"Dude, are you okay," Tom says from afar.

Kent pulls his head out of the waves just long enough to respond and give the two a thumbs-up. He stumbles back to the two of them and collapses on his back without care of the sand which would follow him into the car in the morning. Through all this, Kent still continues as if possessed

"They stare at the stars,
They stare at the moon,
Knowing too well
This night will end soon.

"They embrace each other
And lock their lips
The beauty of it all
Will all but eclipse

"The majesty of the sun
Or that of the sea.
But I just wish
You were here with me.

"How the smell of your hair
Overpowers my smoke.
How you always choose Pepsi
When I only drink Coke.

"The sound of your laugh
At all my bad jokes
Especially in public
Your embarrassment it cloaks.

"The feel of your skin.
The way you drive clutch.
Its too simple to say
I miss you so much.

"Your presence in my mind
Is all that I need-"

"Yo, Kent! We still got time before last call," Tom shouts from the street, one arm around Lily's waist as his jacket hugs her shoulders.

Kent walks off the beach and dusts the sand from his clothes. Why not, he thinks as his eyes focus on the couple silhouetted against the neon lights, Maybe one day they could be us