The Choice (a Painful Past)

53

If I didn't hurry up and pay it, they were going to charge me a late fee and I couldn't afford that.

I sighed and dragged myself up to the front door. The door was locked, so I used my key to get in, and found both Will and Dusty passed out in the recliners in the living room. Will looked so cute and innocent in his sleep.

His long eyelashes cast a shadow over his dusty rose cheeks, and the light made his freckles stand out. I leaned down and kissed him lightly, then switched off the lights. It looked like I would be going to bed alone, because I didn't want to disturb him.

I changed clothes, put my tips into the bill envelope, and crawled into bed. Working night shift was really taking it out of me. Being an adult sucked.

I just wanted to have a little fun. Then I thought about Colby's offer to go to the lake. Hell, I didn't even know how to swim, but I loved hanging out by the water.

I texted him really quick, asked if he was okay, and then asked about the lake. I knew that he wouldn't answer me yet, but he had to get up soon for school. If I fell asleep, like I planned to, then I would just get the answer when I woke up.

I sighed, put my phone on charge, then closed my eyes. My body was exhausted, but my brain wouldn't stop spinning. Maybe I should try to smoke a little, just to relax my mind.

Yeah, I would do that. Since I wasn't really sleepy yet, I decided to figure out the bills, as well. I opened my little drawer beside my bed and took out the blunt that I knew was there.

I would get Will to roll me another one to replace it, when he woke up. I grabbed my bill envelop and sat crossed legged on the bed. I dumped the money out of the envelope, lit my blunt, and started to count.

The dark smoke poured from my mouth, as it burned my lungs. I wasn't about doing all of the drugs that everyone else was into, but weed was different. It helped me relax and I wouldn't sell my soul for it.

I separated the money into different stacks for each bill that I had to pay.

"For gas, for weed, cigarettes, the phone bill, then here's the light bill." I murmured. "Wait." I recounted the money all together. "That can't be right."

There was some missing. I knew how much that I had in the envelope because I kept counting it, just to be sure that I had enough for the bills. There was about 50 bucks missing.

What the hell happened to it? Great. Now, I was going to have to skip getting cigarettes and slack up on my gas, maybe lose my phone service, just to pay the light bill.

What the fuck happened to the money? No one was ever here, except for Will...and Dustin. I froze for a minute, thinking about the possibilities.

Will wouldn't take the light bill money. He knew that we had to pay the bills, plus he had never done anything like that before. Dusty...I didn't think he would do something like this.

I mean, why would he even be in my room? Someone had to take it though.

There was no other explanation, right? I checked the floor, under my bed, behind the little tables, and around my dresser. Just to be sure that it hadn't fallen out when I was putting money into it.

There was nothing though. The money was just gone. I fell back on my bed and threw my hand over my eyes.

This was going to suck. I would need more hours, just to make up a measly 50 bucks. I would ask Will if he knew anything when I woke up.

Since I still couldn't sleep, I grabbed my phone and went to my social media page. I hadn't even been online in forever. Since I wasn't that active, I didn't have many notifications to go through.

Instead, I just scrolled my feed. I saw a picture of Kat and her new boyfriend at the beach. Must be nice to be able to go on vacation.

She would be graduating this year. I wished that I could go back and change my decision about quitting school, but I guess it was too late now. I scrolled on through a few inspirational pictures, a few more people from school complaining about a test, then I saw Colby.

I stopped scrolling and looked at the picture of the boy who was such a great friend to me. He was standing in the courtyard at school, with a group of friends. I recognized Sam, the blonde kid standing next to him.

The rest were people that I had seen around school, but they were just faces in the crowd to me. There was one girl, a pretty brunette, with her arms locked around Colby's waist. She was staring up at him with a look of adoration that I recognized.

Was he dating her?

If so, why hadn't he told me? She definitely liked him. I felt a twinge of something that I didn't recognize inside my chest.

Was I...jealous? No, not of him having a girlfriend. I didn't feel that way for him.

Maybe it was just because I didn't want to lose my friend, and I knew how it was when you started dating someone. Eventually, they became the sun that your world revolved around.

This brought my mind back to Will, and I smiled. I really did love him and I knew that he loved me. Every relationship had problems, especially if you were together for a long time.

I closed out the webpage and opened my reading app. Reading was a favorite pastime for me. If I didn't have anything to do, I would read.

If I did have things to do, I would put them off to read a good book. Books were an escape from reality. Instead of using drugs, I would read and escape into a magical world, where my harsh environment couldn't touch me for a while.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sunlight streaming in through my window. I must have fallen asleep reading. My phone was face down on my chest, though I didn't remember putting it down.

"Good afternoon, sleepy head." I heard Will say.

I looked over to the door and saw him standing there, with a smile on his face.

"You look so sexy with bed head." He smirked.

I sat up and rolled my eyes.

"Morning." I replied.

He shook his head.

"Nope. It's afternoon. 1 pm to be exact. Did you sleep well?" He walked over to the bed and sat down next to me.