Choosing Between My Boyfriend and that Other Guy

Chapter 1

Grabbing my purse and my boots, I walk out the front door of my house, doing my best to make as little noise as possible.  I close the door, wincing at the loud noise it makes when it clicks shut.  In reality it probably was not that loud, but at two in the morning when the entire neighborhood is asleep, everything is about ten times louder.  

After standing at the door for a few minutes to make sure my mom is still asleep, I relax and turn around just in time to see the oh so familiar black pickup stop in front of my driveway.  I walk over, taking my time before opening the door and climbing in. 

“Hey babe” Matt says turning to kiss me.  After a minute I pull away slightly. “Hey there”, I say smiling and looking into his deep brown eyes. He turns around to face the road again and pulls off of my street. 

A few minutes later we pull up in front of the busy street with people streaming in.  I can feel the music already vibrating the car even though we are still a block away.  Matt parks the car and we step out.  He walks over to me and grabs my hand, holding it in his.  We walk down the street together until we are greeted by Jake, Matt’s best friend. 

“Hey man” Matt says to him nodding his head. 

“Matt, Alexandra.  Come on in.  Drinks are on the back table.” he say nodding back at us before turning to the people behind us. 

“I’ll grab you a drink” Matt says letting go of my hand before disappearing in the crowd of people.  I turn around to go find someone I know when I see a very blond and very drunk Hannah surrounded by guys in the corner.  

“Alex!” she says when she sees me, waving me over.  “Come meet, ummm... these guys”.  She sits on the table swaying to the music with six or seven guys all looking at her hungrily.  Not that that was anything new.  Hannah was your typical blonde hair blue eyed bombshell.  She never failed to be the center of attention and always had guys fawning all over her.  

“Boys, this is my best friend Alex.” she say in a matter of fact tone before pulling me onto the table with her.  

“Hey guys” I say not really looking at any of them.   

“Want to dance?” one of the more attractive guys asks Hannah. She looks at me for approval.  “Its cool I have to look for Matt anyways” I say getting up.  The guy picks her up off the table and carries her into the crowd of dancing people, while she cracks up in his arms. 

I walk away from the group of guys, ignoring their attempts to get my attention.  I walk to the back of the room, scanning the crowd for the messy brown hair I have come to know and love.  I get to the back of the room and see Matt standing with a group of guys talking.  He had forgotten that the whole reason he was back there was to get me a drink.  No big surprise there.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Matt, but after being together for a year he had stop trying so hard to win me over.  He had relaxed knowing I was his.  Not that I minded that much, I was never into all of that romantic crap.  In fact I hated it at first until Hannah convinced me that it was just him trying to show me he cared. 

But now that we had been together for so long, we had gotten use to each other and had stopped trying to hide our flaws a long time ago. Matt was always getting distracted but I didn’t mind most of the time.  That was just how he was and it was nothing compared to shit he had to endure because of me.  

I walk over and get myself a drink.  After downing it, I grab another before making my way over to Matt.  I playfully slap his arm and glare at him.  He gives me a puzzled look.  “Thanks for the drink” I tell him, raising my glass. 

“Oh sorry babe I just got caught up”.  

“No worried.” Leaning in I whisper, “you’ll just have to make it up to me later”.  He smirks in response before pulling me into the crowd.  I grab a beer from one of the guys we pass by, already having finished the last one.  

“Whats up with you tonight?” Matt asks me.  

“I’m just trying to take advantage of tonight before the next two weeks of hell.” I say, earning a sympathetic look.

I had transferred to Mountain Lake High School sophomore year.  It was right after my parent’s divorce and my mom had decided it was a good idea to move far far away from our old house.  She said it was a work thing but everyone knew she really just wanted to get as far away as she could from my dad.  They had decided that I was going to live with my mom.  In other words she had the better lawyer.  Because my parents lived so far apart, I only ever saw my dad over breaks. And today was the last day of school before winter break, meaning tomorrow I would be shipped out to my dad’s.  

“It won’t be that bad” he assures me, as if he could possibly know.  My dad had moved after the divorce too, but because I almost never stayed with him, I never got a chance to met anyone.  So it was just me and my dad who had to work extra shifts all the time.  Meaning it was really just me and a lot of free time with nothing to fill it with.

“I need a smoke” I say, giving me a reason to walk away.  I didn’t want anyone feeling bad for me especially not Matt. He was so sweet he usually ended up feeling worse for me than I actually felt.  Matt doesn’t smoke, he says it slows him down and him being the captain of the soccer team that was oh so very important to him. So it usually gave me an excuse to get away and think.  

I make my way outside where I see a few other people lighting up.  I grab a cigarette from my purse and take a deep inhale, the burn helping to clear my mind.  As I exhale I imagine everything on my mind leaving with my breath.  I am a big believer in living in the moment, and thats what I am planning to do.  

Making my way back inside, I see Matt talking to Kara, head cheerleader and Matt’s ex.  I’m not a jealous person, I just don’t see the point and trust me I know the stupid things that being wasted makes you do.  The thing is, when your boyfriend of over a year and the Ex start making out in front of you, no matter how drunk all of you are, something inside you breaks and you can’t help but feel betrayed.  

“WHAT THE F**K MATT” I yell, grabbing everyone’s attention.  He pulls away and I can immediately see the look of regret on his face.  But honestly right now I don’t care.  I turn around and push through the sea of people all staring at me. 

“Crap Alex wait!” I hear Matt yell from behind me.  I get outside when I realize that there is no way for me to leave seeing as there is no way I am going home with that d**che bag.  My mind is clouded by my anger and all of the drinks I had.  I never think to get someone else to drive me home.  No, instead I walk back inside, grab some guy I don’t know and kiss him, making sure that Matt can see.