Forever and Always

Christmas Wrecker

I had to help prepare things for the party, even though Clarissa barely talked to me during the rest of the time. I couldn't stand that my best friend wasn't talking to me, I had to do something. As she blew off the steam coming from the freshed made chocolate chip cookies, I walked up to her slowly. She just glanced at me and turned to place the cookie tray on the counter.

"Clarissa don't be mad at me, anything I do is my choice and I'm sorry if it bothers you. Roger just reacted to my slap."

She took her mittens off and turned to me.

"Chelsea, it seems I can't get through your head that he's only causing you pain and suffering. But I'll respect your decision, just..."

Her voice trailed off as if thinking what to say next.

".....just be careful, ok?"

I nodded silently, and took a step forward to hug her. She sighed and hugged me back.

"Come on, let's finish up, the party starts at six. Oh, speaking of which, I need you to go to the store to buy some things."

She grabbed her small notebook and ripped out a page with neatly written words. I looked at the long list and cussed.

"Damn, do you think I'm made out of money?"

Clarissa laughed that hyena-like laugh and handed me two twenty dollar bills.

"Here you go, ahora andale!! Move it! We need this stuff stat!"

I groaned and texted Issac to see if he wanted to go along with me. I would also use the time to talk about what was going on with Roger and hopefully he'd give me some advice on what to do. Ten minutes later he appeared in the driveway.

"No one told me about this Christmas Party, was I not invited."

I rolled my eyes and laughed then poked his nose.

"You were told, but you were too busy playing your video game."

"What can I say, Destiny is my main priority." He said with a wink.

I laughed, hopped on the passenger seat, and turned up the radio. As we drove to the store I told him what happened with Roger. As soon as I mentioned he hit me, he hit the brakes.

"What did he do to you???…"

"He…um…" I sighed and rubbed my cheek, as the concealer weared off the bruise got darker. He stared at it for a second, then turned to the wheel and slowly began to speed up the car. We parked on a local Walmart, and sat there in silence. Finally, his voice broke the silence.

"You're breaking up with him right…"

My silence answered his question.

"Chelsea are you really going to stay with him after he hit you? Once he hits you..he's not going to stop."

I knew what Roger did was wrong but I wasn't going to let him talk about him like that.

"Okay I know what he did was wrong but everyone deserves a second chance."

His green eyes stared at my dark brown eyes with sadness as he stroked my bruised cheek.

"Chelsea your heart is so pure. You're so kind.."

He turned back to the wheel and mumbled something I could barely make out.

"Too kind …"

We walked into the store and one by one, we checked off the items from the list. I told Isaac not to worry about me, that if Roger ever did try something on me again I'd break up with him immediately. That seemed to ease his conscience. We payed for all the things and left for home. We stopped by a Starbucks to surprise Clarissa with a Frapuccino Mocca she was always complaining she wanted. We were greeted by the smell of a variety of desserts as we opened the door. But of course Isaac always had to mess around and make a smart ass comment.