broken//matthew espinosa

Chapter 22: your going

matthew
"You never stopped?" I ask her. She shakes her head and grabs my hand.
"There's always going to be bumps in the road, Matt. We just have a lot of bumps in our road." She laughs. I smile, and we start walking back to Stephanie's house.
"Are you...'cooled down?'" I ask her. She nods, and opens the front door. The lady sitting on the couch walks over to Stephanie and hugs her.
"Oh I'm so glad your okay!" She says.
"Uh..um yeah I'm fine." She says, clearly not 'fine'.
"Who's this?" She asks, pointing to me.
"My boyfriend, uh Matthew." She says.
"Matt." I correct her.
"Nice to meet you, Matt." She says. We follow her Aunt into the kitchen, and take a seat at the table. Her Aunt walks over to the phone and starts calling someone.
"I hope you don't mind that I'm ordering out." She says.
"It's totally fine." She says.
"You still okay?" I ask her.
"Yes, Matt. I'm fine. Really." I nod, and watch her Aunt hang up the phone. She walks into the living room and turns on the tv.
"You should start packing." Her aunt says.
"Packing for what?" She chuckles.
"Your coming with me to California!" I swear Stephanie spots out her drink.
"No I'm not!" She says.
"Then who do you expect to take care of you?" Her Aunt snaps. Stephanie sighs, and looks at me with sad eyes.
"I...I um." She starts.
"I can't go there with you!" She yells.
"I have a life here! I can't ditch it here and go to freakin California! Can't you get one of your fancy ass friends to take care of me?" She finishes. Her aunt stands up and turns towards us, hands on her hips.
"You go up stairs. Right now." She says.
"I'm not five anymore!" She says.
"Upstairs!" Her aunt yells again. I feel so awkward, just watching them fight like this. They keep yelling back and forth towards each other, so I finally grab Stephanie's waist, and lead her up the stairs. We go into her room and I close the door.
"I'm sorry about that." She says. She lays back on her bed and sighs.
"It's okay, Steph." I say to her, sitting on her desk chair.
"I can't go with her to fucking California!" She says.
"Well what should we do?" I ask her.
"Can't I stay with you?" She asks.
"I don't think that's legal." I laugh.
"Why not?"
"Because my mom can't be your guardian. That would only work if we adopted you, and I don't think my mom wants another kid." She laughs a bit.
"Yeah, I guess your right." She says. She looks down at her pink bed sheets and sighs.
"I'm...moving." She says, whispering the last part. I sit next to her and she puts her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes.
"I can't move Matt. I'm not leaving you, or Hannah, or Nash, or any of you. I can't do it." She says.
"We will figure out a way for you to stay here. Okay?" I kiss her head and she smiles. I walk towards the door and reach for the door knob.
"Where are you going?" She asks me.
"I need to talk to your Aunt." I tell her.
"Fine. But don't get her pissed." She sighs. I walk downstairs and see her aunt reading the paper, doing some sudoku or whatever they call that. I sit in the seat across from her, and she puts down her newspaper.
"What do you want?" She says, as she continues to look at the paper.
"I can't let Stephanie go." I say.
"That's cute honey. But she's coming with me." She laughs.
"Do you know what he has been through the last 2 months? She needs me."
"She doesn't need you. She needs me."
"WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE NEED YOU?" I yell.
"To take care of her, and make sure she has a house?"
"Have you ever thought about her feelings?"
"Yes. She'll be happier in California."
"No she won't. Let her stay here, with me. With everyone."
"That's really sweet of you to try to make you change my mind, but I'm not changing it. She's moving to California."
"SHES NOT FUCKING MOVING! I ALREADY LOST ONE GIRL TO SOMETHINH STUPID I DID, IM NOT GOING TO LOSE ANOTHER!" I yell at her. She looks up at me, wide eyes. She stands up from her chair and looks me dead in the eye.
"She's going to California with me." She says sternly. I walk away from her, and walk up the stairs and into Stephanie's room. I kick the wall and sit next to her.
"Your going to California."