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"HEY."
Ane sat in her car, hands on the steering wheel, staring at her reflection in her mirror. No. That wasn't right.
"How's it going?"
No, not that either. Way too casual.
"Hello."
What was she, a grandma?
She groaned and slammed her head on her wheel, accidentally honking it. She jumped in surprise at the noise. She was just on edge. It was like she was about to give the biggest performance of her life- in a way, she was.
She still really wasn't over what happened with Fuckshit back at the house party. Yea, time made it sting a little less, but the scene still replayed in her head every time she went to bed. She couldn't get a moment of silence without thinking about Fuckshit.
Seriously. If she wasn't, admittedly, heartbroken at his nonchalance, she was cringing at her stupidity. How could she have thought he was actually into her like she was into him? That thought was one of the many keeping her away from the other guys who used Motor as a place of refuge.
Which was fucked up, to say the least. They were her friends, too. She'd be upset if someone suddenly ditched her with little to no explanation. And for what? Some fuckboy with an alcohol problem?
She had to remind herself that she wanted to be there. She wanted to go to Motor. She wanted to see Ray. She wanted to laugh with Ruben. She wanted to listen to Stevie talk. She wanted to get over whatever she felt for Fuckshit.
With a renewed sense of passion and maybe even some determination, she turned off her car and marched right into Motor.
The words she was supposed to say slipped right out of her brain. She was so distracted by her mental pep-talk that she completely forgot the entrance that she had rehearsed. So there she was, standing at the entrance, saying nothing.
Ruben was on the couch, watching TV, but had paused it when she came in. Stevie was sitting on the floor next to him, and he too had turned his attention to the girl standing at the door. Ray was behind the counter, as usual, fiddling with his board.
Then there was Fuckshit. He had a lit blunt in his hand, but she could tell he hadn't hit it yet. Without saying a word or breaking his gaze from Ane, he passed it to Ruben, who inhaled it like it was his.
The object of all their attention, Ane, who had dodged all of them for days, ignored attempts at contact besides Ray's phone call, and had disappeared from the house party like a phantom in the night, was now standing in the shop as if she had never left.
"Ane," Ray said, coming out from behind the counter. "Long time no fuckin' see, bro." He said, hugging her. She was glad that she didn't have to speak for him to understand just what she needed, which at that moment, was a hug.
