Ozone

18

Joey

'Are you fucking serious?' I glance at my watch. 6:30? My phones dead and I've been in traffic for hours and I'm honestly thinking about parking my car somewhere and walking the rest of the way.

All I could think about was Casey. How the first day we met, she wasn't even interested. By the third week, we were friends. By a month or two I'd slept with her. A few weeks after that I asked her out. Then she hated me, and then we got back together again.

She's been here through everything. No mater how mad she's ever gotten she's always been so quick to let my back in. She's never just given up on me. So why was I pushing her away? Why was I running away from the girl that let me back into her life after I screwed her for a book.

Why was I pushing myself away from the girl that made sure I was alright every hour. The girl that let me sleep over at her house back in highschool when my and my mom got in arguments. I've been being stupid this whole time. I'm in love with Casey and that's just that.

Eventually I was free from traffic and I rushed into the house to find a few suitcases by the door making me frowns who's are these?

'Casey..?' I call out. 'In here!' She yells back. I walk over to her and see her eating pickles on toast. What a weird girl. 'Can we talk..' she looks at me placing her toast back.

Casey

'We needa talk..' I say pushing my toast to the side of me so he wouldn't see. He stands close and I search for the right words. 'I think you know that we're drifting apart.'

He flushed white and stares at me 'Are you—' before Even says it I stop him. 'No..I just.. I'm gonna go to Spain for a few months.' I can feel him get serious by the expression on his face. 'then we're does that leave us?'

I shrug 'maybe we should take a break while I'm there. It's not like you say you love me anymore anyway..'

'Cause I don't deserve your love..but I do love you Casey. I do.' He pulls my in by my waist. I say nothing 'Well.. While we're taking there's something else too..'

He nods as I go on 'I could be..I might be..' I trail off. He slowly nods and looks at me 'we can get a test—'

'Joey no..I just. I don't know right now okay?' I watch him lean in but I back away. 'You're never home this early?'

'I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for pushing you away. And you don't have to go to Spain we can work things out here.' I pull away from him and slide my phone into my pocket.

'Well just be away for two months. I'll be back before you know it..we're not breaking this off just taking a break, ok?' I slide a long piece of paper and hand it to him 'I got and extra ticket so you can come Visit me whenever you want  while I'm there.'

I could tell he was at a loss for words, but so was I, I knew we were both holding back tears but it was only two months. Only for two months, we'll be okay. Right?

'It's six, I should be catching the plane soon.' I look out of the window and see the Uber outside waiting. Why'd I leave him like this. Without any time to prepare. I knew he was hurt because he had tears streaming down his eyes. In 11 months I've never seen him cry before. He'd be alright.

I pull him into a kiss, before departing away from him and taking my stuff into the Uber.
I watched his figure get smaller and smaller as the car drew further away from the front of the house.

____

I got a test because I didn't know what to think anymore. I'd opened the box and placed it into my pocket walking into the airplane bathroom. For a second I look down at my phone.

joey— just let know that you're okay
joey— I'm sorry.
Me- don't be sorry. I love you.

I slide it back into my pocket and lock the door. I took the test out of my pocket and stared at it for a bit. If I do this now, my life might change. I put it off for too long.

I Hoover over the toilet and pee on the digital stick that says 'clear blue' on it. Once I finished, I sat it face down on the sink. just five minutes. I thought of everything in my head. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd just need to focus on myself. If I was, it would be a whole new chapter.

He and I would be parents. I'm not ready to be anyone's mom. I hardly had one. I was raised by my older twin brother. What do I know about raising a kid? I take a very deep breath In, and let it out before grabbing the stick and reading it. I quickly text joey.

Me- so...

We'll talk about it after two months. Right now I'm gonna catch my flight to Spain and have fun with my aunt and the rest of my family. This is it for awhile

——