Instead of Me

∆26∆

I woke up on the hard floor, an ache in my back. Sunlight shined through the hallway. I checked my watch. It was hardly eight o'clock. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up with my back against the door. In my mind, I pictured Annie in bed with Heath by her side. Maybe they were still sleeping, cuddled up against each other. Or maybe they woke up early to go at it again. Either way, there was a burning in my stomach.

The door I leaned against was swung open and I almost fell completely backwards. Katherine stormed out, dressed for the day. She didn't even look back at me.

"Kat, wait!" I stumbled to my feet and raced after her, but she ignored me. "Katherine!" I wrapped my fingers around her shoulder and pulled her back, swinging her around to face me. She was furious. Her nostrils flared and her chest rose with deep, unsteady breaths.

"What do you want?" she said through gritted teeth. Her voice was shaking with anger and her eyes watered as if she might cry. "I gave you another chance to be decent, and you blew it!"

It felt as though a rock was in my stomach, weighing me down. What she said was true, but I was trying to do the right thing. "Can I just explain?" I was desperate and she could hear it in my voice.

Katherine shrugged my hand off her shoulder. "You explained quite enough last night, Finn. Please leave." She moved out of my way, anger clearly expressed on her face. Her nose started twitching. "I said leave!" she shouted when I didn't even move a muscle. I flinched.

"Please, Kat, please let me explain."

"Leave!" Her voice was shrill and her anger was piercing. She pointed down the stairs straight at the front door.

I hesitated for a moment, but eventually I figured there was no way she would let me say anything more. With one last guilty glance, I hurried down the stairs. As I opened the door, Kat slid down, sitting on the stairs, sobbing.

I didn't have a car. There was no way for me to get home unless I called Annie, but she would kill me if she were still with Heath. There was no way I was ready to risk that. So, I walked.

The air was sharp and it hurt my lungs to breath it in. Within minutes, all feeling in my nose, fingers, and toes had gone. I tried lifting the lapels of my jacket to my ears to block the wind, but it hardly helped. The trek to Annie's took even longer because of the ice and snow covering the sidewalk. One wrong move and my ankle would be done for. It didn't help that my oxfords had no grip on the bottom to keep from sliding. A cigarette would've really helped warm me up.

As I finally approached Annie's house, I noticed her parent's cars were gone. She must have been planning Heath's escape while they were gone because she was peeking her head out the door, suspiciously looking all over the place to make sure it was safe for him to leave. She spotted me down the street and waved, a goofy grin on her face.

Yep, she just got laid.

Annie pulled Heath out. He was buttoning up his shirt still, his coat in hand. She cupped his face and pulled his face down to meet hers, kissing him hard. Heath wrapped his arms around her waist, but part of me thought it was for warmth since he didn't even have a jacket on. They pulled away and exchanged goodbyes. Heath gave her one last peck on the lips and headed up the street. They must've parked his car up at my house for safe measures.

I walked as quickly as I could on an icy surface and hopped up the stairs to her porch. Annie was still grinning. "Was Katherine not able to give you a ride, or did her parents kick you out or something?" she joked, her arms crossed to keep herself warm.

From the silent look I gave her, she realized it wasn't really a joking matter. "Kat kicked me out," I told her, shrugging my shoulders and shivering.