Summer Vacation

Chapter 8

8

Ricky

            I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I mean… I could, but I really didn’t want it to be happening to me. Again. I sighed internally as I got back into my Explorer. I rolled the windows down and started the drive back to my apartment. It wasn’t a long drive, only about fifteen minutes. In that fifteen minutes though, I had to reflect about the decisions I’ve made in my life as the movie theater faded from my rearview mirror.

            I sighed and merged onto the highway with all the other cars out this late. Roxanne has been my girlfriend for almost a year and I try my hardest to be the absolute best boyfriend I could possibly be, but she doesn’t appreciate it. This is the second time I’ve caught her cheating on me. The first time, I wrote it off as immaturity. We were both freshmen in college; we were both trying to figure out what we were doing with our lives and what to do with all this newfound freedom now that we’re away from home. She apologized the first time and swore she would never do it again and I let it go. Everyone deserves a second chance.

            But now she’s done it again.

I sighed and pulled into my usual parking spot at the apartment. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat. I realize now that she’s not ready for the kind of relationship I want. I want a serious relationship with someone. I ready to be with someone that I can potentially spend the rest of my life with and make my wife. Roxanne will never be my wife and I see that now. We’re never going to work out.

Surprisingly though, that fact doesn’t upset me. I’m not really shocked either. I’m more relieved than anything else. I shook my head and had to laugh at the situation. Ironically, it was her friend, Melissa that had called me. She sent me a picture of Roxanne kissing some other guy at the movies and then she had called me. I left the apartment to go down there and break up with her, but Melissa stopped me before I even got inside. She told me that Roxanne wasn’t worth embarrassing myself in front everyone. I reluctantly agreed with her. We sat in my car for the remainder of the movie and talked. She had come with Roxanne, but had left when she saw what she was doing. Roxanne was her friend, but she didn’t condone cheating in any way.

I gained a lot of respect for Melissa tonight.

I sat up and looked at the clock. It was almost two-thirty. I climbed out the car and took the stairs to my apartment instead of risking seeing the creepy elevator guy. I should probably tell Erica and Shaina to use the stairs from now on; I’d never forgive myself if something happened to them.

I crept into the apartment trying not to wake anyone up. Shaina was sprawled out on the couch with the TV still on. I shook my head and dropped a blanket over her before turning the TV off, going to my room and shutting the door. I turned around and saw two brown eyes staring at me from my bed.

“Woah!” I flinched and backed into the door before I realized who it was.

“Erica?” I asked. She nodded in the dark, “What are you doing in here?” I asked.

“Shaina said that we were going to sleep in here and you were going to sleep on the couch. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She whispered.

I wondered why she was being so quiet, my sister slept like a rock most times. I smirked, “I wasn’t scared. I just didn’t know you were in here. I’m used to being in here by myself so you threw me off for a second.”

“Oh.” She whispered finally taking those gorgeous eyes off of me. She had pretty brown eyes. I had no idea why she looked so sad half the time. When I saw her at the house back in high school she looked so happy just to be alive. She was like perpetual sunshine or something. I laughed to myself. I used to make fun of Shaina and call her Sunny whenever she wasn’t around. For some reason that really made Shay angry; I guess she always felt the need to protect her friend.