Shuffle

Chapter 3

"Now I'm heels over head, I'm hanging upside down. Thinking how you left me for dead... California bound." -Boys Like Girls "Heels Over Head"

It was hard to believe that after being together since freshman year that she was leaving me.

"Josh, you know that it's for the best. This acting program is exactly what I need to get my career jumpstarted!"

"I know..." That was all I said before I hung up. It was going to hurt to lose her. She was everything to me.

Let me explain who she was. Her name was Sarah. She was gorgeous, talented, and intelligent. I felt inferior standing next to her, yet she always seemed to find me different, and stayed with me all through high school. However, Sarah, being Sarah, got accepted into some acting program out in California. So, she was leaving me in two weeks to live in California for however long. If everything went as she planned... She wasn't coming back to Compton to graduate.

Whatever. I needed to stop thinking about it, because I might have started crying... and guys don't cry.

I threw my cell phone at the wall in anger. Why were women such bitches? Why the hell do they get your hopes up only to shoot them down with their own selfishness?

Furious now, I ripped open my bedstand drawer and pulled the little box out. I opened it up. Inside was the ring that I had bought last month. So much for proposing on graduation. I pulled the silver ring out of the box and held it to the light. It seemed to sparkle. I wasn't sure if it was just that shiny, or if I was tearing up. It was the latter.

I wiped my face and put the ring gently back into the box. Every so slowly, I placed the box back into it's rightful place in my bedstand and closed the drawer. I walked over and picked up my phone. The battery had been knocked out on impact... Damn. This was like the fourth time it had happened. I examined my wall... more dents next to the plaster mark. The plaster was there from when I was a Sophomore. I got pissed off at Aaron when he took Sarah down to the dugouts and tried to fuck her. He would get her hands off of her, even when she said no. Aaron's an ass.

"Joshua James Hynd! Get your ass downstairs right now!"

My mom must have heard me throw my phone at the wall. Shoving my phone under my blanket, I prayed that she was just going to yell at me for not washing the dishes or something. I casually strolled into the kitchen.

"Yes?"

My mom sighed and pulled her messy hair into a messy bun. She put her soapy hands on her hips and looked at me. My mom was actually quite beautiful for being almost 40. I had friends who thought she was hot, which I thought was totally gross. She was my mother for crying out loud. "What was that thump I heard? Are you throwing things again?"

"Uh...no?"

"Don't lie to me."

"KInd of..."

"Why?"

"It's complicated, mom. Hey, I need my car inspected soon, do you think you could take it in for me?"

"Josh... don't change the subject. I want to know what's going on in your life. You never talk to me about anything..."

"It's nothing. It's about Sarah, that's all..."

"Did you get her pregnant?" She dried her hands on the dishtowel on the counter and then picked up Muffins, her cat she got after dad moved out.

"No!"

"You are using condoms, right?"

"Mom, we aren't using condoms because we aren't having sex!"

"You don't need to lie to me. I know that boys your age have certain... urges. It's completely understandable because I know how long you two have been together and--"

"MOM! I don't want to talk about this with you. Can I go back up to my room?"

She puffed out an air of anger. "Whatever."

I turned to leave.

"Leave your keys on the table."

"Alright. I will." I went back up to my room and lied down on my bed. Maybe she'd figure out how much she loved me whenever she got there... Then she would come back and confess her love...

That ring would get a finger.