Memory [Scomiche]

Ch. 7

Kirstie heard her phone vibrating, and looked at the sleeping boy on her lap. She got up slowly, careful to not to wake Mitch from his sleep.

Mitch sleeping those days was a... rare occasion.

She grabbed her phone and shut the door to her bedroom quietly. The contact name said 'Mom'.

Her mom wasn't exactly good with technology, so she was confused when she saw the call.

Kirstie answered the call, and walked into her kitchen so she wouldn't disrupt Mitch with any sounds.

"Kirst?" Scott's voice came from the phone. Kirstie sighed. "Goodbye, Scott." She started to take the phone away from her ear to hang up.

"No, don't go! Please." Scott pleaded. She groaned. "Fine. But how did you get my mom's phone?"

"Well, I knew you wouldn't answer mine, so I asked her to teach me bingo and I sorta kinda took her phone when she went to the bathroom."

Kirstie giggled at the thought of Scott playing bingo, but she covered it up with a cough.

"Cute story." She tried to say in a tough voice. "See, uh, I was just calling to see whether I could talk to Mitch."

"He doesn't want to see you." Kirstie said blankly. "Oh really?" "Yes." Kirstie answered strongly, even though she wasn't quite sure.

Whenever she started to bring up Scott the past few weeks, Mitch had refused to answer, either covering his ears or just acting like he couldn't hear her.

If Mitch wouldn't answer, Kirstie considered it her duty to watch out for him. It used to be Scott's role, but, well, y'know.

"I don't believe you." Scott said confidently.

"So be it." Kirstie sassed.

They both went silent.

"Come on, please? I just want to talk to him. Or could I see him? You and Jeremy must be exhausted from having him over." Scott tried to persuade her.

"Excuse you, but we're fine with taking care of our friend. Unlike you, who can't even take care of your boyfriend."

Scott grumbled in response.

"Who even was that guy?" Kirstie continued. "Just some random boy you decided to trash your relationship with?"

Scott didn't reply, and Kirstie got angry. "Seriously, Scott. I'm asking. If I have to talk to you, I'm going to ask my questions."

"Technically I didn't want to talk to you, I wanted to talk to Mitch, but." Scott muttered.

"I will hang up on you right now, Scott. Answer me." Kirstie warned, feeling her hands beginning go shake from rage.

Scott sighed. "That wasn't exactly some random boy." "Go on." Kirstie demanded after he stopped talking. "It's really not important, Kirst." He insisted.

"And the fact that I'm lactose intolerant probably doesn't seem important, but when I'm throwing up after drinking dairy milk it'll be important." Kirstie snapped.

"What?" Scott asked. "I'll ask the questions here. My point is, sometimes things are more important than they seem. Like the boy you were making out with."

"He's just- someone from my past." "Real clear, Scott. Thanks a bunch." Scott glared at the phone, even though she couldn't see.

"His name is Mark. He's sort of my, um, husband."

Kirstie screeched, and Mitch woke up immediately. Dispite his dizziness and pounding headache, he ran to where he heard the noise. "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

Kirstie glanced over at him. "N-nothing, Mitch." She stuttered. "W-why don't you take a shower?"

Mitch's eyes widened.

"Alone?" He whispered.

She smiled sweetly. "No, of course not. I'm talking to someone on the phone, but I'll be there in a minute, okay? Just wait a few minutes."

His body relaxed. "Okay!" Mitch said cheerily, and skipped back to Kirstie's bedroom. Kirstie waited until he was out of earshot and began to talk again.

"The fuck are you talking about?! You have got to be kidding me." A small part of Kirstie thought that he just joking, and she desperately hoped he was.

"It was before I met Mitch. Mark and I were both wildly into each other we and didn't want to wait, even though we'd only been dating a couple weeks. It was a huge mistake."

"No shit!" Kirstie whisper-yelled.

"I know. It only took a couple months before everything went to hell. All we did was argue. One day, he'd had enough. I woke up and he was gone. That was it."

"You're leaving out the part where you cheated on your boyfriend." Kirstie noted.

"He called me that night. I got sent home from work for being drunk, and he was in town. I got even drunker, and it just... happened." Scott struggled to explain.

"Doggie girl, are you coming?" Mitch called from Kirstie's bedroom. "Yup, I'll be there soon!" She replied.

"Scott, I have to go. Mitch needs my help." "Really?" Scott whined.

"You'll be fine. And shouldn't my mom be out of the bathroom by now anyway?" Kirstie asked.

"Um, well, you see, when she wasn't looking I took her phone, and I'm actually hiding in the bathroom right now." Scott said weakly.

"Scott!" Kirstie exclaimed. "I'll give the phone back, alright? I promise. Just- see whether Mitch will talk to me. Please."

Kirstie immediately wanted to say no, but paused to think about it a second more. She decided on an answer. "Maybe."

Scott wasn't satisfied, but figured that was the best he would get. "Thank you. I love you."

"Yeah. Me too." Kirstie said reluctantly.

She hung up the phone and wanted to take the longest nap of her life, and not have to think about any of the information Scott just told her, or think about anything at all.

But she took a deep breath, left the kitchen, and opened her bedroom door. Mitch was sitting there, playing with his hands.

"Hi." She greeted. He jumped at Kirstie's voice but smiled at her. "Will you take a shower now?" She asked.

He nodded, and went into the bathroom to start the water.

Kirstie watched Mitch fiddle with the water, trying to get it perfectly right, resembling a child while he looked at the bathtub as if it was a golden unicorn.

And she felt more than ever that it was her duty to watch after him.