The Broken Pieces Left Behind

Chapter 2

There was nothing so bad in my life, and to be sure there were a lot of moments that two things, ice-cream -vanilla to be exact - and Ed Sheeran's voice, couldn't make better. That was where I sought refuge after a brief but strained dinner with my mother, who was mostly preoccupied with the disaster that was her and Damon's relationship. I wan't even going to try and figure that one out. 

I was in my room with a small tub of ice-cream listening to Ed croon lovingly in my ear about kissing someone. Sara could drive me crazy anywhere but here, it was my safe haven.

Lying on my belly humming along to the song I skimmed over my homework; most of which was already done, when I was alerted to a Face Time request. Erin Carter's avatar flashed across the top of my screen. I smiled removing a side of my earphones before accepting the call.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" she greeted in concern.

I looked into the eyes of my best friend on the screen. We looked alike a little - at least that's what most people said. We were both brunettes with willowy frames, except where my eyes were brown hers were a lively, vivid green. She also had a smile that was a lot easier than mine. 

"What makes you think there's something is wrong?" I asked sitting up and leaning against the headboard of my bed cradling the laptop on my legs.

"Ice-cream," was all she said and I followed her pointing finger to where the empty container now sat in plain view "And I'm willing to bet that Ed is in your ear right now."

I smiled. Sometimes it was a good and a bad thing to have a best friend that knew you so well. Most days I would say good, others I would say bad, today however I wasn't sure which it was. There were no surprises when it came to us. We were closer than sisters and knew practically everything about each other. The good, the bad, the ugly and embarrassing. Erin was the only person I was completely comfortable around, the only person I was truly myself around.

"It's nothing," I tried to brush off, but the look she sent me told me she was not buying it. I waited a beat before saying "Mom and Damon are no longer exclusive. I came home to a huge mess that made me want to put myself up for adoption," A bubble of laughter came from her "Hey do you think your mom will adopt me? I'm house trained, I don't take up much room and I already have a job."

"As much as my mom loves you I don't think she would," the screen tilted a little as she adjusted her position and was now lying on her stomach, "The twins are driving her nuts. This morning they glued their hands together, mom had to rush them to see Dr. Miller to take it off. Honestly if they wanted to glue something together, they could've glued their lips shut." 

I let out a hearty laugh. Erin had younger twin siblings Jacob and Jordan and while she constantly complained about them her love for them was unadulterated. They were also the cutest, most energetic four year olds on the planet; with messy blonde hair, much like their dad and intensely green eyes that twinkled every time the flash their very mischievous smiles.

 Somehow or the other they always managed to get themselves into the world of trouble. They just reminded me of Fred and George from Harry Potter.

"Wait, which one is Damon again?" wondered Erin pulling me from my thoughts.

"Boyfriend who looks like a creep," I replied thoughtfully. 

I don't even remember when we began giving Sara's boyfriends these nicknames but after we had labeled one 'Boyfriend with the bad teeth' we had somehow managed to find and give these names to every guy that came after him. 

"Right, he was after 'Boyfriend who looks like an Italian gigolo'," she giggled and we both dissolved into a fit of laughter.

 Okay so maybe there were precisely three things that could make me feel better, Ed, Ice-cream and Erin.