Trapped✔️

2

Two Years Ago

"Holden! Holden, come back!" Nina chased after her friend. "Holden, what happened?"

"Didn't you hear?" He laughed, a rueful sound.

Rueful had been one of the words in the vocabulary list they'd gotten last week in English. School felt like a thousand years ago.

"No, I didn't! So tell me, okay?" Nina walked towards him, reaching for his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Your mom - " his eyes were full of tears, and he jerked away from her. "Your mom cheated on your dad. With my dad."

"I - what?" Holden was lying. Holden never lied to her, but maybe he was lying now. Maybe her ears were lying to her, or she was dreaming, or crazy. Because that would never happen. Ever. Right?

"You heard me." He smelled weird, his eyes red. He wasn't walking straight.

"I - Holden, what are you - is that pot?" She asked as he pulled something out of his hoodie pocket.

"Yeah." He looked at her, laughing the same harsh sound. "Want some?"

"Oh my - No! Of course I don't, what were you thinking? How could you bring that here?" Holden knew what her brother had done; he knew that Harry had ended up in jail for drug possession.

"Oh, what was I thinking? What were you thinking when you ditched me on Friday, huh?" He sat down on the living room carpet, pulling his knees to his chest. How could he be in such a vulnerable position and still have the power to hurt her so much?

Nina flinched. Sure, she'd left their weekly movie night, but that was because Todd had asked her out, and he was cute, and nice, and popular.

"How was I supposed to know? You weren't even taking my calls!" Nina argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, because you frigging abandoned me when I needed you the most!" He looked up at her, eyes as open as her heart felt, raw and ripped from her chest.

The pain made her angrier. "So you turned to pot? Holden, you know getting high isn't going to solve anything."

"So what? Running to the first guy who tells you you're pretty won't solve anything either!" Holden threw the marijuana onto the coffee table, scattering green leaves across the glass.

"I didn't - " Tears stung her eyes, and leaning down, Nina slapped him. "On Friday, the world was fine. We were friends. Todd was cute. Our parents were together. And then I came home, and my mom was packing her bags. So when Todd called me, I wanted a break, okay? I wanted an escape, but at least I didn't try to destroy my brain cells!"

"Oh, so you're the better one, and I'm the loser!" He threw the words at her the way he'd tossed the bag of cannabis. It broke something open in the same way.

"No! That's not what I'm - " Finally, the tears overwhelmed her, sorrow rushing over her like a wave. She fell to the floor next to Holden. There was space between them that normally wouldn't have been there. Nina didn't know what normal was anymore.

"I know," he said softly. He put his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She sniffled. "Me, too."

:::

Present

"Want to take a break?" Holden asked her, his voice flat.