In This Life (Sequel to 'In Another Life')

89

I wondered if she had even been sober in the first place. I didn't know what to believe anymore. It didn't matter. It wasn't my problem. She wasn't my problem and I had to come to terms with that. The weekend came much sooner than I would've like it too, and before I knew it, I was standing outside my home with Colby dropping me off, so that he and Sam could get on the road. He hugged me tightly to his chest, while my arms went around his neck. "I'm gonna miss you," I said sadly. "I'll be home before you know it. Don't let these girls get you into trouble. Especially Denise. She's trouble." I leaned back, looking at him quizzically, ready to defend my bestie. He was looking behind me grinning. I turned and saw Denise standing there, eating a bowl of ice cream. She pointed her spoon at him. "And don't you forget it buddy," she said over a mouthful of ice cream. He chuckled and ducked his head. My heart skipped a beat, seeing that adorable smile on his face. "Okay, I gotta go. Still gotta swing back by the house and pick up Sam. I'll call you when we stop to stretch our legs. Love you," he said, then kissed me quickly. As I watched his red Corolla drive away, I had another memory of when he had driven away from me pop into my head and it made my heart hurt. "He's coming back to you T. It's just a trip," Denise said, guessing what I was thinking by the look on my face. She was too smart for her own good sometimes. "Come on, we need some girl time anyway. I've got everyone coming to the house tonight, no boys allowed," she said, putting her free arm around my waist. "Everyone? Like everyone?" She laughed and nodded. "Yup. Kat, Tara, Devyn, and Cassie too. Kenzie and Sarah are staying home. We're going to watch old musical movies, eat tons of junk food that we'll regret later, and talk about how I guys perform in bed." I laughed. "I don't think that's- wait, our guys? Like, you and Eli?" A big smile crossed her face, and she nodded. "Holy shit Neece! When?" "Um," she said, putting her finger on her chin like she was thinking. "Tuesday night, I think. I didn't come home that night. Of course, there's been so many times since then, the days are just running together." My mouth fell open, and she laughed. "I'll be damned. My little ho is all grown up," I said. She rolled her eyes. "Shut the fuck up. Trust me, it was worth the wait...well I guess I didn't actually wait that long." She shrugged. "Ah well, it was still worth it. Again and again and again." "SHUT UP!" I yelled, following her inside the house. True to her word, all the girls showed up soon after. We made popcorn, ate chips, ordered pizza, they drank a little bit but not much, and we started our night of old musicals. The first one was an all time OLD favorite of mine that not many people knew about. When it started, I screamed, realizing exactly what it was, and just stared at Denise in shock. "Where in the actual FUCK did you find this?" She shrugged and winked at me. "Bootleg. Anything for my girl." She sat back down next to me, and lay my head over onto her shoulder, to watch a very young, very HOT Johnny Depp star in Cry Baby. We followed that with Grease, Grease 2 (which I actually thought sucked, but Kenzie like it for some reason) every single High School Musical that existed, and some other one that I had no clue what it was, but I got sucked into it anyway. We sighed and squealed when young Johnny Dep or young Zac Efron started singing, and just had an amazing night. It really helped me forget that Colby wasn't around. Until my phone rang. I answered it automatically, without looking at the caller ID. "Terra, oh my God, thank you for picking up!" My stomach dropped as it registered in my mind who was on the other end. I got up and walked out of the room, into my bedroom. The girls were so wrapped up in the movie that they didn't even notice. I closed my door behind me and sat down on the bed. "Why are you calling me Amber? I told you not to call me. Forget that I ever existed." I went to disconnect the call, but her yelling on the other end, made me hesitate. "PLEASE DON'T HANG UP T, PLEASE! I NEED YOU. I DON'T HAVE ANYONE ELSE AND I'M IN A BAD WAY. I FUCKED UP." "When do you not fuck up Amber? I'm not your person anymore. I never was apparently. Because you don't treat friends the way you treated me." I heard her sob coming out through labored breathing. "How did you fuck up?" I asked against my better judgement. "I- I did something. I don't know what it was. But I thought it was coke. Just regular coke. Only it wasn't and the guy that I was with, we were in a motel room, and he started having a seizure and foaming at the mouth. Oh my God T, he DIED and I ran. I hid and watched them carry his body out on a stretcher." I closed my eyes, and pinched the bridge of my nose. I couldn't do this. "Not my problem Amber. I'm sure you'll figure out how to get out of it. You always do. Have a nice life." Then I disconnected, ignoring her tearful cries still echoing out of the phone. If I was done with her, and I was, now was a great time to learn how to stop having a bleeding heart for her. Feeling proud of myself, I walked back into the living. "Who was on the phone?" Denise asked, not looking at me, as she stuffed her mouth with a handful of popcorn. "No one important. Wrong number," I replied, then sat down next to her.