Between Two Eternities || Travis Hamonic

(33) Formidable

I wake up and hear everything.

Molly downstairs sizzling something on the stove. She's walking around in heels. Again. I can always tell by how they echo off the kitchen tile but she swears she has a "gift" of walking quietly with six inch heels on. She doesn't.

Matt is in the room down the hall, blasting his damn music. He just recently started doing that, well I don't know when exactly. But I know that he never used to. And when I came back from Wyoming, he did.

I had a rough night, barely getting any sleep.

But the ruckus those two are causing wasn't the thing that woke me from my hungover slumber. It was my cell phone that did that.

My Stefani ringtone rings in my ears, making me question why I hadn't changed it. I answer and rub my eyes with my free hand.

"Hello?" I say, trying not to sound groggy.

"Arden? You there? How'd you get home last night? I was looking all over for you!" The energetic voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me this early in the morning.

Bobby.

I sit up, suddenly feeling a surge of energy. "I took a cab. And I know you weren't looking for me, Bobby." It comes out as an angry whisper, like a supernova. I'm shocked that Jared didn't tell him that I know. But I guess Jared didn't talk to him at all because he was the one who drove me home.

"What do you mean, babe?"

I scoff, volume coming back to me. "There's a girl in your bed, isn't there?"

He's shocked. I can tell because it's the only time he shuts his mouth. In all the years I've known him - I've never gotten him to stop talking. I've never been this assertive before.

"Arden, I - it was all a mistake. I was drunk. Drunk as shit. You know how I get," he says.

I know he gets extra handsy when he's drunk. But this is no excuse. No excuse for cheating. He's only supposed to be getting handsy with me.

"That's bullshit. This is serious to me," I say and stand up from the tangle of blankets on my bed. I'm getting angry, and pacing does good for an active brain.

"It was one time! I was drunk," he repeats. I don't even cry. His true colors blind me.

"I can't believe you would do this to me, Bobby!"

Of all the people in the world, I thought Bobby would never hurt me. I've made that mistake twice.
I know he means well. He just hasn't matured since high school. He's still the same Bobby Hurd. I've held on for too long, wishing he would have wanted to change.

I guess he never will.

And I don't want to hurt him. I believe him when he says he loves me. But he's Bobby. He'll get over it. He takes it hard when I tell him it's over. He doesn't believe me at first. He thinks he can fix it.

This is going to take more than a phone call to get through to him. The last thing I say before I hang up is, "I'm coming over now. And whatever girl you slept with last night better be gone!"