The bad and the broken

Chapter 9

*Justin's POV*

        it was around two in the afternoon. Me and Drea were cuddled up on (Not in) her bed in our sweats, scrolling on our phones. Mary had just gotten mine and added it to our family plan that morning, so I was getting everything set up. Then the most terrifying thing happened.  I got a text from my mother.

        "Who's that?" Drea asked lazily. 

        I tried to swallow the panic back down, gripping my phone tightly. I had to read it. I had to know why she was contacting me, and how she even got my number. I looked down at Drea, who was using my chest as a pillow. 

        "No one."  I tried to say with a smile. " No one worth my time." And It was true. She could wait. If I even responded, it wouldn't be until later.

        "Alright." She sat up and went over to her desk, and started pulling curlers out of her hair. It fell to her waist gracefully. 

        "You're beautiful, you know that, right?"

        She turned around, clearly shocked. She dropped the curling iron she had been holding, and I giggled at her.

        "Do you really think that?" She turned red. 

        "Of course. And that particular shade of red really brings out your eyes." She threw one of her curlers at me and I dodged just in time. 

        "Justin, don't you think you should start getting ready?" Drea said with a hint of a smile. 

        "Ready for what? Are you taking me out? Finally, god Dread you make me feel like such a side chick sometimes." She rolled her eyes and laughed. Drea laughing was one of the best things that could happen. 

        "I have an intullectual's ball tonight. And you're going to be my date." 

        "Drea," I swallowed nervously, "aren't there usually a lot of people at those things?" My palms were getting sweaty just thinking about it. 

        Drea turned around, finished with the curling iron. She came back over to the bed, and sat on my lap. She grabbed both my hands and squeezed them, even though they were ten times as big as hers. She looked into my eyes, a supportive, sentimental demeanor radiating off her. God, sometimes she was enough to make me dizzy. 

        "Justin, I will be with you the whole time. I'll never leave your side. If we didn't have to go, if it wer'nt completely necessary, we wouldn't. But this thing has part of my future depending on it. And besides, we don't have to stay that long. I just need to go for appearances sake, so I look good to college boards, Just one more thing on my resume, you know? It will be in and out, I promise." 

        I stared into her hazel eyes, which reflected a more crystal blue at that moment. A beautiful girl was asking me to be her date to the ball. There were worse fates. But as she spoke that night, a rotten feeling crept into my stomach. She used words like future and resume. I just couldn't stop myself from thinking about the fact that her future was too bright to include someone like me.  I passed classes, but barley. And I had a court date in two months. There was no way we could ever be more than roommates, friends. I felt stupid or thinking otherwise. 

        "So, is it a yes? Because it wouldn't be the first time I went to one of these things alone." She said it lightly, but the look in her eyes suggested she hadn't been so comfortable with it. I smiled, and leaned forward to grab her waist. 

        "Of course it's a yes," I whispered into her thick hair, "how could I say no to someone so beautiful?"