Sell Your Soul

The car was awkwardly silent as Matt drove to Red Lobster. Charlie sat behind him with Dillon and Jay in between him and Cali. George sat in the passenger seat, his eyes hanging over Charlie in the rearview mirror. Cali rested her forehead against the window and sighed.

"So..." said Dillon. "Anybody wanna play a game?"

No one said anything.

"Alright, no games," Dillon said. "Well, what about we talk about something, at least?"

"Dillon, shhh," said Jay. "We'll be there soon."

Dillon shrugged back in the seat, and he nudged Charlie with his arm. Charlie glanced over momentarily.

"What?" he said.

"Cheer up, buttercup," Dillon replied. "I miss having Charlie around. He's somewhere under this emo kid named Jordan."

Charlie snorted, "I haven't changed, Dill."

"Sure fooled us," George interrupted.

Matt pulled the car into the parking lot, and he parked up front. Charlie and Cali were the first ones out of the car, but Matt quickly got in between them. They glanced only a second at each other, but they immediately turned away.

Kyle looked up as a group of familiar faces entered the restaurant. He smiled at first, but seeing Cali, he frowned. She wasn't smiling or holding Jordan like she normally was. In fact, the pair were walking as far away from each other as humanly possible.

Kyle sat them in a booth near the bar, and he noticed Jordan taking a seat by the wall and Cali on the opposite side on the other end of the table. He said nothing at first, thinking maybe it was just a fight they'd had in the car, and he smiled politely.

"Hey, guys," he said. "Nice to see you back. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Bud," said George, and Dillon and Jay got one as well.

"I'll just have some water," Matt said.

"Rum 'n' Coke," Charlie mumbled.

"Kyle, just bring me something hard," Cali sighed. "I don't care what it is, don't even tell me what it is. Just get me something."

Kyle nodded. He left the table, and Cali noticed him say something to the bartender- Maria. Cali planted her forehead on the table, landing with a loud thud. Jay looked between Charlie and her, and he frowned. Last time they'd been here, they could barely keep them off each other. Now...

Kyle returned with the drinks, and he then took their orders. He collected the menus, but he didn't leave right away.

"I'll get these in for you, guys," he said. "Cali, can I talk to you?"

Cali slowly got out of the booth and followed Kyle away from the table. He set the menus down and took her arms.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Cali replied.

"Don't tell me nothing," Kyle said. "You guys were head over heels for each other, and I haven't seen you speak to each other since you got here."

"Charlie...he cheated on me."

"Wait- what?"

"With Maria."

"Okay, as bitchy as Maria can be, I don't think she could do something like that."

"Well, she did."

"Holy fuck, are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Is there any detail you might be missing?"

"You tell me- apparently Maria did this to turn my attention to Matt because he likes me."

"That's just messed up. I'm sorry, but it is. You want my opinion?"

"Might as well..."

"I knew he was trouble. I couldn't see you with a guy like him, and I think it's good you guys broke up."

Cali shrugged and left him standing there. She was heading over to the table when she spotted Maria watching her. Instead, she turned and walked toward the bar. Maria didn't smile, and neither did Cali. They just sat there. Cali looked up at Maria.

"Can we talk?" she said.