it's not love- a stand by me story

eyeball's house

It was nearly 9:30 am when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Gia. It's Eyeball. My old man's away for the week, so you can come over whenever."

I nodded, "Ok. I'll be over in ten."

As I hung up, my little brother, Teddy, came into the kitchen.

"Who was that?"

"Eyeball, I'm going over to his house."

"Why?"

"None of your business," I said, hitting the side of his head. I grabbed my jean jacket from the coat rack, checked my hair in the mirror quickly, and left, "I'll see you later, Teddy Bear. I love you."

The Chambers' house was about a seven-minute or less walk, but we lived in a dangerous part of Castle Rock, so I always carried around a switchblade in my pocket, one that Ace, my boyfriend, gave me.

When I reached the house, I knocked on the door, and Chris, Eyeball's brother, and Teddy's best friend answered.

"Chris! Hi!" I said, giving him a huge hug. I loved all of my brother's friends, but Chris was the one I always had a soft spot for.

"Alright, Chris, fuck off," Eyeball said, snapping his fingers at him.

"Hey, don't be mean!" I said, pushing Eyeball's head in defense of Chris.

"I was leaving anyway. I'm going to hang out with Gordie," Chris said, "Is Teddy around?"

"He's at home! Tell Gordie I say hi and keep my brother out of trouble."

"Can't promise the second one," Chris said with a smile on his face before leaving the door. I sighed and shook my head.

My brother was a lot to deal with. He'd jump in front of a train and dodge it at the last second, literally. He had a lot of our dad in him. Without my mom and me, I don't know if either of them would be alive. My dad had problems, but that's a story for another time.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?"

"I think you know what I want to talk about, but let's start with you. How's Isabelle?"

"She's a crazy bitch, and I need to dump her ass. But how?"

"Easy. Say Hey, Isabelle, I think you're great, but we should see other people. Something along those lines, obviously not verbatim."

"Gia, that shit is so much easier said than done. What if she goes crazy on me?"

"It's Isabelle! Of course, she'll go batshit. Do you want to get out of a relationship with her or not?"

Eyeball sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I want out. Fine, but I'm doing it in a public space, and I want you in a decently close radius."

"Why me?"

"Because I feel safer breaking up with her if you're around."

I wasn't sure what it was about me that made him feel safer, but if it made him break up with that psycho, I would do it.

"What about you? How's Ace?"

I sighed, "Ace is slowly slipping back into asshole 24/7 mode."

When he was in this said mode, he'd snap at me over nothing, show no affection, and sometimes when we finished having sex, he'd pull out and walk away. No saying I love you, no kiss, no nothing. But I put up with it because I knew these phases passed quickly, even though it hurt like hell to go through.

"How bad is it?"

"It's bad. I don't want to be around him anymore. He's making me so miserable, Rich. I swear to god," I said, using Eyeball's real name, "I know he's your best friend, but I do not want any of this repeated to him. Please."

"I won't say anything. I promise."

I nodded and put my head down on the table, "I don't know how much more I can take of this. I love him, but it's so hard."

My face started to heat up, and my lip began to tremble. I brought my head up and slowly wiped my tears, "I'm sorry."

For a few seconds, Eyeball stood there, but then he walked over and began to rub my back.

"It's alright."

As I dried my eyes, the door swung open, revealing Charlie and Billy.

"Heyo, Eyeball what's- oh, shit. Hey, Gia."

"Hey, guys," I said flatly.

"What's up with you?" Billy asked rudely.

"Not telling."

"Why not?" Charlie whined.

"Because neither of you can keep your damn mouth shut, and you'll tell everyone and their mama."

I pulled out my pack of cigarettes, took the lighter sitting on the kitchen table, and lit it. I walked outside so the smell wouldn't get in the house. I smoked more than I probably should, but it didn't matter. Ace and Eyeball smoked twice as much as me, and Teddy and his friends smoked too. Every time I caught them, I'd scold them and take the packs away. They were twelve years old, and that was too young to start smoking.

As I lit my second cigarette, Ace's car pulled up, and he got out of the car hastily, slamming the car door shut. As he came closer, I saw a bruise under his eye, and his lip was bloody.

"Ace?" I said, "What happened?"

"My old man."

I sighed, knowing I'd have to do this for the millionth time, "Come inside, I'll clean you up."