Broken and Screwed

“Why not?”

“They don’t want overnight guests.” I cringed at that lie. It wasn’t even a believable one.

“And what overnight guests wouldn’t they like? Me? They don’t like me now.”

I glanced around for Justin, but he was gone. Not a surprise. He had a habit of wandering anywhere we would go. “What’s the point of this? I don’t want to go to Vegas. I can’t afford it.”

“I told you. It’s a good deal.”

I sighed, “I still can’t. I have no money.”

“What about the coffee hut?”

“Minimum wage?”

She flinched. “You’re right, but that’s okay. It’s my treat. I owe you for all the years of great friendship.”

And then Justin came back in with a note in his hand. He held it up with a weird expression on his face. “Since when does date night consist of two weeks?”

My stomach hurled to the ground.

Angie’s mouth dropped open.

I hissed at him, “What are you? A ninja? Stop poking through my house.”

He shrugged as Angie threw the blanket off and snatched the note from his hand. Then she cried out, “Are you serious? Your parents left you alone for two weeks? That’s insane.”

“It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal? It’s a huge deal. That decides it. Shoo. Go pack a bag for the weekend. We’re all going to Vegas.”

I folded my arms over my chest and dug my heels in. “I’m fine being alone.”

She snorted again.

“I am. I have a whole day planned tomorrow.”

“What? Eating? Maybe sleeping? Whoop de doo, Miss-Party-Girl-That-You-Used-To-Be.”

She wasn’t far off, but I puffed my chest out and ignored the painful reminder of my old self. “No, I was going to watch Jesse’s game tomorrow. It’s being televised.”

“Well, guess what?” Her eyes gleamed at me with purpose.

I was suddenly nervous.

“You can actually go to his game. They play in Vegas, and Marissa’s already got tickets for us. She said Cord owed her and he’s on the team, so what’s your next argument with that?”

She’d beaten me. Or the idea of seeing Jesse again had done the trick. I swallowed over a knot from anticipation and tried to tell myself that I was going to pack a bag because Angie had won this argument. Then I shook my head and my heart picked up its pace. I couldn’t lie to myself. I was going to see Jesse. The idea had my hands sweating already.

“Fine.” But I said it slowly and oh-so-reluctantly.

She smirked. “And don’t even try to pretend that you’re not excited about seeing your guy again. We all know differently.”

I froze. What did she know?

Then she admitted, “I’m a little excited to see him play. He’s our hometown celebrity. Maybe we should ask for his autograph.”

Justin frowned. “I don’t like that idea.”

Angie laughed before she draped herself over him and fluttered her eyelashes at him. Then she pressed a kiss to his cheek and hugged tight. “Oh, come on. I love you, but Jesse Hunt is gorgeous.”

A small grin escaped his frown. “I have a little bit of a man crush on him. I’m man enough to admit that.”

As I went up to my room, I couldn’t hold back my smile. I was excited. I wasn’t even going to try and stuff it down. It was the first time in a long time I’d felt that emotion. When I checked my cell phone, I got even more excited. It was a text message from Jesse, but then I read it.

‘U in Vegas? Your folks are here, said they stopped in for a few days before some trip? U here? Call me.’

I plopped down on my bed.

Everything went numb. The phone fell from my hand and I couldn’t do anything. I sat there. And I didn’t know how long I was there until Angie poked her head around the door. She had a wide smile on her face, but it vanished in a heartbeat. She pushed through the door and sat beside me. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t speak.

Then she bent and lifted the phone from the floor. After she read the text message, she studied me for a moment. Her voice was so small when she asked, “You didn’t know they were going there?”

I shook my head. I still couldn’t speak.

“How long has this been going on?”

Everything in me throbbed. My heart ached. My head hurt. I couldn’t get my fingers to work, but I rasped out, “What?”

She lifted my phone. “Your parents. They upped and left you. Now they went to see Jesse and you didn’t even know. Or did you?”

I shook my head. Why did everything hurt? It always hurt.

She sighed. It was a soft sigh, one that spoke of so much emotion. “I’m sorry, Alex. I really am.”

I jerked a shoulder up. What did it matter?

Then she asked the question I’d been dreading. “How long have you and Jesse been texting?”

My eyes closed.

She watched me. I felt her gaze. And I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to push that button. And she expelled a ragged breath. “Okay. I’ll leave that one alone, but I’m going to ask you later. You know I will.”

I nodded as I bit my lip. Even that slight bit of pain was welcomed. It distracted from the other pain inside of me. I was helpless against that form.

One of Angie’s hands caught the side of my head and she pulled me against hers in a side-ways hug. We stayed there, with her arm around my shoulder and then she said, “I’m sorry, Alex. I really am for what I can’t even imagine has happened.”