Gus was in that same spot again; leaning out of his window, smoking a camel and feeling like shit. A knock at his door turned him around. He was going to pull it open but as walked towards it, the door swung open and there she was. Elize was standing there, with open arms and a warm smile. Then he woke up. Gus was drenched in cold sweat and he was shaking like a wet dog. He jolted up and fell out of his bed, and managed to make his way to the window. He pulled it up, and shoved his head outside. Gus then proceeded to vomit his guts out while looking helplessly at the dirt below him. He just sat there in the crisp night air after he was done puking. A long exhausted sigh escaped his chapped lips. He pulled his head back inside and went over to his dresser and pulled open the top drawer, and dug around until he found the yellow matches. He pulled one apart from the others and tried igniting it. When it lit, a small puff of smoke flew up into Gus' face. It smelled horrible, like sulfur. What else can you expect from an old match? Gus then pulled an ashy cigarette from a large mason jar lid he was using as an ashtray. He sat in his chair and took a long drag. The voice inside his head began to tell him awful things and it started making horrendous situations appear to Gus. It was all about Elize. Her, her, and only her.
"She's gone. Let it go."
He kept telling himself that. She wasn't coming back, she had no reason to and he knew that. His naivety just kept baring its teeth to the truth. Gus looked at the orange LED clock on his desk, it read 12:47 AM. Too late to call Max? Probably not, so Gus did. Max, surprisingly, picked up.
"Hello?"
"hey max"
"Are you okay? You sound terrible, do you need anything?"
"liquor and maybe a hug."
"Honey, it's midnight. Why don't you just try to sleep?"
"can't. elize is eating my brain."
"Oh. Her again."
"unfortunately."
"I'm on my way. Unlock your door for me."
Max hung up, and Gus felt like he had made her mad on accident. He sat in his room and didn't feel the need to move, as his mother left the door unlocked because of the neighborhood they lived in.
LAST CHANCE : chapter eight, cont.
He heard Max's truck as it pulled into his driveway. Then the sound of the door slamming, then the sound of his house door shutting, then footsteps and then Max's soft voice behind his bedroom door. She walked in and pulled Gus up from his chair and embraced him. He limply wrapped his arms back around Max and began crying heavily. They stood there, with each-other, just sobbing and before he knew it, Gus had fallen onto his bed and passed out. Max crawled up with him and joined him in sleep. Then, it was morning and the sun was piercing through Gus' window and straight into Max's eyelids. She arose, looked at Gus, rolled her eyes, and walked out of his room. She lead herself out of his house and back into her truck. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she began to wonder why Gus couldn't just let Elize go. What was his deal? They didn't even have anything special, it just seemed like he was being a huge crybaby about it all. Why didn't he love Max? She stood around and waited for him, she dealt with him and his emotions. She still got no recognition. Now, Max was beginning to hate Gus and Elize alike. Elize did something horrible to the Gus that Max knew. Max tried to shake off the bad thoughts. She backed her truck out of Gus' lawn and hit the street. Max pulled out her phone and sent a text to Gus.
"Sorry I left, it felt weird. See you later?"
She didn't expect an answer yet, he was probably still sleeping. Soon enough though, Max wouldn't be able to text him back even if he did respond.
