A Tangled Web We Weave (Completed)

34. One Dynamite Gal

Elena

Regan smirked at me from over the hood of her car. "Girl, you have got yourself into a tangle."

I faked a smile. "I know."

She sat at the picnic table outside the little local restaurant all of the high school kids congregated at. "What're you going to do?"

I shrugged. "Leave him alone, I guess."

Hudson hadn't contacted me since that talk in the car. The sorry SOB probably realized he had revealed more than he wanted and shut down.

Three days later, I was pissed. I want to pull out all of his perfect hair and scratch at those perfect cheekbones, but I was't surprised at this twist truthfully. I knew there was going to be point at which Hudson regretted being seen with me. He's him and I'm Ellie the Elephant.

She shook her head at me. "You want to talk to him, he won't talk to you, and your solution is to leave him alone?" She waved at the waitress. "I've only ever had one real boyfriend and even I know that's not the solution."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Wanna tell me the story of your call with Tony the other day?"

She opened her mouth, shut it, and smiled at the girl from our grade who had come to take our order. "Hi, Andrea, we'll take two large fries and two medium chocolate shakes."

Andrea smiled at us and hesitated when she saw me. "Hey, y-you're Elena, right?" At my nod, she shyly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "You're H-Hudson's girlfr-friend?" 

I flinched a little. "Yeah, that's me."

She grinned. "Isn't h-he the nicest? I'm dat-" She cute herself off, shook her head. "I was dating h-his best friend, C-Cal."

Finally, the pieces clicked. "Oh, you're Cal's Andy, aren't you?" 

Her smile saddened. "I was, yes."

Regan quickly took stock of the situation. "Hey, have you had your break yet?"

Andy glanced at her watch. "No, I h-haven't. How about I bring ou-out your food and sit with you g-guys for a sec?"

After Regan enthusiastically agreed and Andy walked away, I whirled towards my best friend. "What are you doing?"

She glared at me. "That girl is dating your boyfriend's best friend. I'll bet for all her 'I was' comments, she knows something about Hudson and you probably know something about Cal to help her out." She rubbed her nose and adjusted her nose ring. "Not to mention, I don't know how many friends she has."

I rolled my eyes. "Is this your good act of the year?"

Andy came back as we play argued and set our food down, sipping out her own Dr. Pepper. 

"Alright, Andy, what happened with Cal? Spill the beans."

She flushed bright red, which made Regan itched at her neck. Poor Reg. She didn't deserve all the crap she's been served. "Basically, I have f-family, uh, problems and Cal was there for part of it. He tried be-being helpful, brought out the whole macho-cho man act, trying to rescue his damsel-in-distress." Andy rolled her eyes. "He w-was very surprised when I didn't react-act with grateful tears."

Reg laughed. "Oh no."

I chuckled too. "From what Hudson has said, Cal's always trying to rescue people."

Andy nodded vigorously, "He rescued me from my ex-boyfriend."

Reg and I leaned forward as she continued. "I was w-waiting at this restaurant for my ex to arrive. He was always ditching me, so this was like the fo-fourth time I'd been sitting alone, sipping water, trying to not look too p-pathetic. Cal said he'd saw me waiting from outside and figured that a surprise guy was better than n-no guy."

Reg sighed. "That's so sweet."

I cast my eyes heavenward. "That's so cheesy."

Andy laughed. "I thought it was sweet. I think that since his dad left, he's felt the need to take charge and be the 'man-of-the-house'. But," she paused, screwing and unscrewing the lid to her soda. "He doesn't realize that I don't need another 'man-of-the-house' bossing me around. I have enough of those in my life as it is."

Reg nodded. "So Cal was being overbearing. But you guys broke up over it?"

"I kicked him out of m-my house," she said, thinking. "Doesn't that c-count?"

I shrugged. "If you haven't officially broken up, I'd say nothing is cemented yet. I think you should talk to him."

She sighed. "But ta-talking is so h-hard." She giggled. "Especially with my stammer." We all laughed and Andy looked at me. "What about you and Hudson? I don't see him a whole lot at school anymore."

I bit my lip, wondering how much to say. "Hudson's been through some rough shit with his parents' deaths, which I only found out the extent of the other day. But we had a really good talk and had plans to hang out that night, but he never texted me. I almost just went over to his house." I shook my head. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I barely know you."

Andy smiled. "Because I already sp-spilled all of my beans."

I smirked. "Well, anyway, I haven't talked to him since that day and I think he's trying to put some distance betw-" I was interrupted by the growl of a very loud engine. I'd know that sound anywhere. 

That's Hudson's car.

The man himself stumbled out of his car, his hair sticking up every which way. As he saw me and started to walk over, I could smell the weed from where I sat.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I smiled and said, "Hello."

He touched my face, his grin faltering when I jerked my face away. "Hey, babe, what's up?"

"We were just talking about you."

He gave a little wave to Andy and turned his attention back to me. "God, you're beautiful."

"And you're high."

He shrugged. "Remember? I smoke and you kiss me."

My skin burned, from both embarrassment and anger. "Remember? You smoke and I break up with you."

He winced. "No, babe, don't say that, it's-"

I stood up too fast, hearing Regan scrambling behind me to grab our food. "If you want to light up every five minutes, fine, I don't care. I just won't stick around to clean up your messes." Smiling at Andy, I snatched my chocolate shake. "You have me on some social media, right?" After she nodded with a sympathetic look, I turned back to Hudson. "Bye."

Thankfully, Regan didn't say anything, just started the car and turned up the music. She knew I didn't like to hear myself cry.