Nineteen

Chapter Fifty

"I said that I'm going to Clark's place."

He steps in front of me to create a blockade to the door.

"Hell no, you're not."

"Don't tell me what to do!" I shout. My throat burns and I feel as if I could feel sick.

He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair, tugging at it out of frustration. "I'm tired of fighting. You're the most stubborn person I have ever met and you drive me crazy."

I cross my arms, like a child, and sit on the edge of the bed. 

"If you really want to go, then go. But I'm tired of wasting my time with you." he says.

I don't really want to go.

But I'm wasting his time.

"Okay. I'll let you keep your precious time," I stand from the bed and say.

He doesn't say anything as I walk across the floor to the door.

"I'll get Ryan to take me to Clark." 

"Damn it, just stay here. I'm sorry, but you're not going with him," he says.

"I'm not staying here if you don't want me to be here."

He huffs like he's dealing with something terrible. "I just told you to stay here, didn't I?"

Usually I would be tired of fighting, but not tonight.

"I'm going to leave." This time he is caught off guard as I open the door and start to run down the hallway to the stairs.

"Emory! Damn it!" he shouts from his room, but I'm already in the living room.

I stop in front of Ryan on the couch. "Ryan, can you take me somewhere?" 

He's caught off guard as he says "Erm, sure. Where?"

"Hell no, you're not," Collin says as he makes his way into the room.

Ryan is clearly stuck between two places, and he just looks back from Collin and myself.

"He is," I say. "If you don't want to, Ryan, I can get my friend to come here instead."

"No, I can. I'll grab my keys." 

"Did you not hear the shit I just told you!" Collin grabs Ryan by the collar of his shirt and pulls him over the couch. 

I'm sick of fighting and quiet frankly, I could be sick any moment. 

I run through the room and out the door. The night air hits my face and makes me feel a little better, but I keep running until I'm in the yard.

My phone is tucked away in the waistband of my pants and I grab it before sitting on the ground.

"Emory?" Link says after a few rings.

"Can you come get me? I'm at the frat house near the port."

"Yeah, sure. Are you okay? It's late."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need a ride. Please hurry." I hang up and put the phone back where I pulled it our from.

I had full intentions of calling Clark but for some reason my fingers found Link's name instead. He is so sweet to me. He is the same friend I remember him being. We could have been so great together.

Breaking me out of my fantasy world, Collin walks up to me.

"Get inside."

"I'm leaving. My ride will be here soon," I say as I stand.

He looks at me with wide eyes. "No, you're not leaving. Now, get inside."

"This is exactly why I'm not staying with you. You're rude and you don't like me. You're awful mannered, you don't know anything about me, and you don't treat me so much as a friend would."

I push past him and walk to the steps leading to the house and sit down. He is still in the yard when he says "Fine. Get the hell out, I don't care."

I ignore him and text Link to hurry. It can't be anymore than a ten minute drive.

Collin walks past me and slams the door to the house. I hear him yell a few times before eventually leaving the porch silent.