Please Don't Forgive Me

That morning they were three-quarters of the way through the tour. That night they would play a show in New York City. That night when Garrett called me, I wouldn’t answer my phone.

“Are you just waking up?” his voice boomed through the speaker of my cell phone as I rolled out of bed. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to be woken up so early—it was three hours later for him in New York.

“What time is it?” I mumbled, unable to read the clock without my contacts.

“In Arizona? It should be 8.” My eyes snapped open and I shrieked. “Did you oversleep again?” he laughed.

“Yes!” I pulled my hair into a ponytail and ran to brush my teeth. “I can’t believe its eight o’clock already,” I mumbled while brushing my teeth. I ran back to my room and put on concealer, blush and mascara, trying to look alive and like I hadn’t just rolled out of bed.

“Well,” he began, “soon enough you’ll have your human alarm clock back in Tempe,” he laughed.

“Great,” I said sarcastically. Just what I needed—to be woken up every morning by having water poured over my head.

“You should hurry up,” he said quickly. “You’re going to miss your bus.” I looked at the clock and gasped realizing he was right.

“Alright, alright. I’ll call you later.” I slipped on a pair of white denim jeans and a green tank top, grabbing a baggie of cheerios, an apple, my instant coffee, my cell phone, bus pass, keys and green converse on the way out. I put the pass in my front pocket, the phone, keys and cheerios in my back pocket, the converse on my feet and the apple in my mouth.

The driver pulled over and I climbed onto the bus, letting the meter scan my pass. I sat in the first row of seats and waited for my stop.

A few rows behind me, there was a baby who wouldn’t stop crying. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have annoyed me, but I had only had a few sips of my coffee. The seat behind me held a boy, Dane, who I would find out was a college student, much like myself.

Dane introduced himself and invited me out that night—an offer I wasn’t about to refuse. I think Garrett would understand if I took one night away from our House marathon-via-cell-phone. I didn’t think he’d care, and he didn’t. He was glad that I was finally doing something other than mope around without my partner in crime.

I got off the bus at work and walked in with a smile plastered on my face. I worked until four and then I had class. When class was over at seven, I rushed home to get ready for my ‘date;’ the biggest mistake of my life and I didn’t even know it.