The Choice (a Painful Past)

21

Maybe that would change though.

I finally let sleep claim me. When I woke the next morning, I was anything but refreshed. My dreams had been plagued by Will accusing me of loving Harry Styles more than him, by my mother walking in on he and I making out, then telling me how disappointed she was in me.

"Oh fuck this." I groaned, as I slammed my hand down onto my alarm clock to shut off the incessant noise.

I dragged myself out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the school day. At least it was Friday. I would go to Sherri's today, then sleep as late as I wanted tomorrow morning.

Well, hopefully. My aunt and uncle weren't too happy about us sleeping past 10, but my aunt would let us, if we were up all night watching music videos. She liked to see us act like kids, because she said that we were growing up too fast.

She had even come into the living room with us, late at night, and watched us sing and dance along with our celebrity  crushes. Sometimes, she tried to join! That was probably the funniest thing ever.

The school day dragged by, as I kept my eyes on the time. I managed to chat with Derek and Johnny that day, but Johnny hadn't really spoken to me much, since the party. It felt like he was kind of avoiding me, or something.

Kat got an attitude when she found out that I was going to be spending the weekend with Sherri.

"Why wasn't I invited? I invited you both over to my house!" She exclaimed, as she pushed her short, dark hair behind her hair.

"Because, Kat. I told you. Mom doesn't want me to have company until I get this house cleaned, but Callie is family. So, it doesn't count. We can all get together next weekend, I promise!" Sherri said, trying to console her.

I couldn't stop the little smirk that crossed my lips. Now, Kat would get a little taste of how I felt when she shunned me.

"Whatever. That's bullshit." She grumbled. "It's fine though, because I'm going to go to the Lot with Mitch, then maybe park somewhere. I think it's time we took our relationship a little bit further."

She shot me a glance, with the same kind of smirk that I had given her. I just smiled back. Her being with Mitch no longer bothered me.

"Just be safe." I replied, with a shrug.

The smirk left her face, as her mouth dropped open a little, in shock. She huffed out a breath and slung her hair back from her face.

"I gotta go. Mitch is taking me home today. See ya!" She walked off without a backwards glance.

When she was out of eye and ear shot, Sherri and I broke down laughing.

"Okay, I know she's my friend, but did you SEE her face, when you didn't care about her and Mitch?" Sherri exclaimed.

I couldn't answer through the laughter that was shaking my entire body. I went home that day feeling happy and excited. I couldn't wait to spend some quality time with my cousin.

As usual, Will was waiting for me when I pulled into the yard. I passed him my bag and walked into the house. After he hugged me and asked me about my day, I took my shot.

"My day was really good, actually." I replied, smiling up at him. "I'm going to go spend the weekend with Sherri. We haven't hung out in a long time, just me and her."

His face fell and hardened a little, as his eyes held mine. He wasn't happy about it.

"Really? You're just gonna go off, having fun, while I do what? Sit here? I mean, what are you gonna do there? I know how you guys go hang out with all of those guys. And I don't like them. They're going to try and take you away from me." He replied.

"What?!" I exclaimed, pulling away from him. "No, they won't! Those guys are just my friends. Even my best friends. There's nothing between us."

"That's not true!" He said, raising his voice.

I looked around to make sure that my mom wasn't where she could hear anything.

"Yes, it is!" I exclaimed, raising my hands up, then letting them fall against my legs. "They are my FRIENDS!"

He leaned back on one leg and crossed his arms. "Okay." He said, lowering his voice. "Then why was there so much heat between you and that guy when you kissed him? What's his name? Derek? He's the one that drew those pictures for you, right? What's that about?"

"Oh my God, are you serious right now?" I asked, in exasperation. "It was A GAME! You kissed that girl you were hanging out with! It was just a game!"

"Yeah, but I'm not hanging out with her alone, am I? See the difference?" He replied, raising his eyebrows. "Then there was that other guy. The really tan one. I don't know his name, but he got mad when you said you were going out with me. That's not really friend behavior. He likes you."

I sighed heavily and sat down on the arm of the couch. "So what if he does?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders. "You should trust me. I'm with you, not them. Besides, all of this is irrelevant! We're staying at her house tonight. She can't go out."

He threw his hand up in surrender, layered with disgust. "Fine. Go. See if I care. Maybe I'll do something with my friends tonight too."

"Will, you should do things with your friends." I sighed. "We don't have to be stuck up each other's ass all of the time. It's not good for either of us."

He shook his head with an angry glare in his eyes. "I said fine. Go do what you want. Don't worry about me." He spat out.

"Are you seriously mad right now?" I asked. "I just want to see my cousin!"

"Yeah, I'm mad. Because you didn't tell me anything about this! You waited until the last minute to let me know that you were leaving. I didn't plan anything so, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here with your mom? Even Daniel is off somewhere with one of his friends!" He exclaimed. "You could've told me before now!"

"Yeah, I could've but we just planned it yesterday!" I said, hearing the annoyance in my voice. "I was going to tell you, but we got caught up doing other things and I forgot. It's not that big of a deal!"

"It is to me!" He replied.