A Glimpse of Us • Sodapop Curtis

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｔｗｅｎｔｙ-ｔｗｏ

Tori

"Are you going to say something Tori?" Eric asked.

I convinced him to drive me anywhere but in front of the Curtis house.

So, we were parked just down the street at the park.

Not very far if you ask me, but it will have to do.

"I'm not going back there." I said, playing with the zipper of my jacket.

"And where exactly do you plan on staying?"

"I don't know, I can stay with you."

"Now, you're really asking for Dallas to kill me." Eric chuckled.

"Well, I definitely don't want to be around any of them." I pouted, slouching in my seat.

Betrayal.

Hurt.

Anger.

That's all I felt as of right now.

"Well you most certainly can't stay with me." Eric said.

"Then where am I supposed to go?" I exclaimed throwing my hands in the air.

"Maybe stop being so petty and go home."

"No, I will not go home and see their stupid faces."

Eric stayed quiet, and I could bet that he was rolling his eyes at me.

I kept my eyes fixated on my zipper, listening to the rain continue to splatter on the windshield.

"Can I ask you something?" I whispered.

Eric hummed in response, and I could hear the faint tapping of his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Why do you care so much about Toni?"

I averted my eyes away from my jacket and saw Eric eyeing me carefully before shrugging his shoulders, "I guess I don't want to see him get stuck like me, or something worse to happen to him like-" Eric quickly snapped his mouth shut and then a look of aggravation washed over him before he continued again, deterring from his original statement, "Toni is a good kid, you're a good kid, you shouldn't be getting involved with anything like this."

I simply nodded my head at him, curious as to what he was going to tell me, what he was thinking about.

Neither Eric or me had anything left to talk about, and I think we both silently agreed that it was better to just sit here and listen to the rain for awhile then continue talking about anything further.

I was trying to process the earlier events that happened, trying to understand and grasp the situation, because it made no sense to me. Nothing about it made sense. I felt like I was in a bad dream, it's like everything changed in just a matter of moments.

But it's been like this the whole time and I just had no idea of it.

Every now and then I would glance at Eric, who seemed like he was stuck in his own thoughts.

He had that thousand yard stare that almost sent shivers down my spine.

And I really wanted to know what it was, because I knew it had nothing to do with my own situation.

I didn't realize how tired I was until my eyes started to flutter, but my racing thoughts about everything fought against my body's urge for rest, physically and mentally.

My thoughts began to slow, and I knew I was indeed going to pass out.

I glanced one more time at Eric, who still held that stare far off to who knows where.