CHAPTER 15: NEW START
What the hell? I thought as I walked home alone that night.
As I silently closed the front door of my house, I heard Abe talking on the landline. I silently creeped up to hear the one-ended conversation:
“A competition for Carter? Don’t you think that’s a bit absurd, Blane?”
“Well, I’ll do anything for her. You just made it so much easier for me by breaking up with her, dude. You used to play defense but now its double offense, if you get my drift. One-on-one, bro. May the best man win,” Abe continued.
“Wait, does she know about the competition?”
“Dude are you retarded? That’ll ruin everything! She can’t know! She’s gonna think that everything we do isn’t for her but for the fun of the game. No, man. No game for me. I thought she didn’t know,” he said as he hung up the phone.
I hid behind the stairs and heard Abe walk up the stairs to Bennie’s room.
Bling!
A text from Blane. It read: “Carter, I’m so sorry. I let him get into my head. Please, take me back. There’s no bet anymore. Please believe me.”
I responded with, “I don’t know what to believe anymore” and turned off my phone. I was so done with him.
I walked up the stairs into Bennie’s room.
“Abe?” I called, but he wasn’t there. “Abe!” I called as noticed the window was open.
I looked out the window and noticed that if one could jump approximately 50 degrees to the left, he/she could land on the roof easily.
He couldn’t have vanished into complete air and there weren’t any bodies splattered on the floor so I prophesied that he was on the roof. I stood on the window sill and jumped. Unfortunately, I miscalculated how far I would have had to jump (I never did that) and would have fallen face down on the concrete if Abe hadn’t grabbed my hand and effortlessly pulled me onto the roof.
“It’s so nice up here,” he said.
“Thanks for saving me,” I replied smiling.
“I’ll always be there to catch you when you fall,” he said.
“Abe…”
“Shh,” he replied and just stared at the stars.
“Abe, I choose you,” I said as I kissed his cheek.
“Carter, you don’t know how much I wanted you to say those words, but I want you to be completely 100% sure. I don’t want you choosing me today and choosing Blane tomorrow. You have to understand that regardless of who you choose, I’ll be here for you. I’ll always be your friend, Carter. I’ve learned my lesson. Now, it’s your turn to figure out yours,” he said as he kissed my forehead.
He slowly laid back down on the roof leaving me to feel oddly perplexed and satisfied. That was honestly the last thing I would have ever expected from Abe.
Between you and I, Abe isn’t exactly the brightest kid I’ve ever known. I’ve always had to help him in school and in decisions (ironic since I’m the worst decision maker ever), but this was revolutionarily mature of him.
I put my head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. We cuddled while watching the night sky for what seemed like minutes but turned into hours. We fell asleep to the silence of the night…
And woke up the screaming of tomorrow.
“CARTER! ABE!” my mother screamed.
I jolted up so quickly I almost fell off if Abe hadn’t caught me instinctively.
“We’re up here!” I screamed.
Abe looked so cute with his bed-head hair and groggy eyes that it made me smile.
“What the hell! Why are you two on the roof?” my mom screamed.
“We kinda dozed off here last night,” I yelled back.
“Jesus, you had us worried sick! Come down! Breakfast is ready.”
Great, Sunday morning breakfast with the family. I’m sure Katie will love to hear how Blane broke up with me and I slept with Abe on the roof the same night. God, I was turning into such a whore. This needed to stop pronto.
