Catch me when I fall (Rúben Dias)

Chapter 7

One of my least favourite things to do is visit Abel's friends. They always make it very clear to me how little they enjoy my company, but Abel insists on me coming anyways.

"Is that my phone ringing?", I say, recognizing the familiar ringtone.

"Yes", says Abel, picking it up and rejecting the call. "Spam caller".

"At this time of the day? God, they don't rest".

I go back to the kitchen to get my drink ready. And as bad as it sounds, having at least one drink is needed when I'm around Abel's friends. It makes them slightly more tolerable. But only slightly.

They have never really liked me, for some reason. But it's not as if I have friends of my own to hang out with, so here I am again.

When I get back to the living room, they look at me and snigger. They are so weird.

"So, how is your job, Gracie?", asks Clara.

"Really good, actually. I'm going to New York soon for fashion week. It's super exciting".

"Sounds boring", says Josh, making everyone laugh. Everyone but me.

"Yeah, well...it's exciting for me", I say, looking down and trying not to let him see how hurtful his comment is.

"It just sounds like a bunch of idiots wearing stupid clothes and telling each other how fantastic they are while we all laugh at them. I mean, just a look at your Instagram proves it".

Of course, that's what they think about me. I just take a sip of my drink and put my head down, hoping they forget about me soon and move on to talking about something else.

"Abel, how do you put up with this crap?", asks Josh.

"What do you mean?"

"With Grace and her stupid job. Like I get she's hot but what do you even talk about these days? Shoes and belts? Doesn't sound like something you'd be interested in. You actually live in the real world with the rest of us."

"Well, her being so hot does help", says Abel, putting his arm around my waist to bring me closer to him and try to kiss me.

"Really?", I say, standing up.

"Oh, what's wrong now?"

"Where is my phone?"

"I took it to the room to charge", says Clara, smirking.

"It didn't need to be charged".

I see my phone on the floor when I get to the room. And definitely not being charged. And then my heart stops beating for a second. Five missed calls from Andy.

"What's wrong with all of you?", I say, when I get back to the living room. My eyes are tearing up. "My boss calls me and you lie to me and take my phone away".

"Babe, it's 9 pm. Talk about dresses can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure".

I don't even know what to say. My breathing gets faster and I can feel my entire body shaking. I don't know if I want to cry or punch all of those smiley faces that keep staring at me.

"Fuck you all!"