Caraphernelia

9 - cara

"D-did you hear that, Matteo? C-Cara, she's here, and she's with him, and I--" I'm rambling, my voice high with anxiety, as Matteo and I speed after the guy from the parlor in our van.

"Spencer, Spencer, calm down. It might not even be her." Matteo's trying to calm me down, to no avail.

"But what if it is, Matty?" I cry.

"I guess we'll just have to see."

➳ ➳ ➳

We follow the guy back from the parlor for a while before we finally reach the driveway of a small, run-down looking house, the guy's truck already parked.

"This is it, she could be here." I breathe.

"Or she couldn't. But no matter what happens in there, Spencer, I want us to remember our promise, okay?"

I just nod and Matteo squeezes my hand to let me know he's there before climbing out of the car and leading me up to the door.

➳ ➳ ➳

The first thing we notice after I throw open the door is the faint smell of cigarette smoke wavering throughout the entire house.

The second thing we notice is the moaning coming from the other side of it.

Without thinking, I tear my hand from Matteo's as something twists inside of me and I take through the hallway, shoving open every door until I reach the last one. Another loud, unnerving moan sounds from the other side of it, and I throw the door open so fast that it slams into the wall.

My eyes fall on the bare back of a girl, dirty blonde hair flowing down her back and she rocks on top of a guy with tattooed arms running down her body.

But instead of sorrow, fury streaks through my body, red as blood. "WHAT THE HELL, CARA?" I scream, making the girl scramble off the guy and underneath the covers, tugging the blankets up to conceal their bare bodies.

Shock flashes through her features, but soon drops to a stoic, emotionless expression. "What are you doing here, Spencer?"

"No, Cara, what are you doing here? Leaving to take off across the country to hook up this guy?"

Whatever snarky comment she spits next is just white noise, anger drowning out everything until I hear Matteo speak up behind me.

"You don't even care, do you? You don't feel a bit bad about this? No, of course, you don't, Cara. This boy," he takes my arm, "your boyfriend, just drove across the country for you, and you pay him back like this, and don't even care? He could do so much better than you."

Cara just scoffs, her nose wrinkling and eyes narrowing. "Like who? You?"

Matteo goes quiet, his face pale.

She continues, sneering. "Please, Matty. I know you've had a little crush on Spencer for forever. But you know what? He'll never like a guy, like you."

I see Matteo's heart fall, and I rush to catch it.

Stepping closer to him, I take his hand and lace our fingers together. Then I raise them up, showing our perfectly fit hands to Cara, who just scowls.

"Actually, you know what, Cara? He's right. You're just a selfish bitch, always have been, and I'm done with it, done with you. And for the record, Matteo is better than you ever will be." I snap in defense, then spinning on my heel with Matteo's hand in mine to leave.

Just before we make it out of the room, though, I turn and call, "By the way, Cara, I stole 500 dollars from the safe in your closet to pay for this!"

➳ ➳ ➳

I slump back into the van, exhausted. Matteo sits down beside me and lets go of my hand.

"Look, Matteo," I begin, but he cuts me off.

"No, it's okay," his voice is shaking, "I know you only did that to stand her up. I never really expected you to like me back anyway." He whispers that last part, staring at his lap.

I take his chin in my hand, tilting his head up to look at me. "Hm, well that's a shame. I actually really like you."

"W-what?"

I just smile and lean forward to connect my lips with his.