Obsession is Such an Ugly Word

Time passed quickly. Seasons changed but not much had happened between Mike and I. We were still lost somewhere between friends and a something more that I was reluctant to let happen. We hung out all the time, but I still didn’t trust him enough to be alone with him. We were always with Vic and Terra or the rest of the group.

Before I knew it, I was on Thanksgiving break, if you can call it that. With the amount of homework I had been given, it sure didn’t seem like a break. I planned on being a good student and hiding in my house until my work was done but as usual, my plan was not a reality.

I was hoping to sleep in on the first day of the break, but the repeated vibrating of my phone on my nightstand pushed all my wishes for a quality rest aside.

It must have been the fifth ring before I answered it.

“Hello?” I asked with a mix of anger and tiredness.

“Good morning to you too, sweet cheeks.” It was Jaime’s voice, and I could almost here him grinning in accomplishment through the phone.

“What do you want, stinkbug?” I groaned.

He chuckled. “Well first, I am going to ignore what you just said. Second, you are coming over.”

“But I don’t want to!” I whined.

“Yes, you do. I’m making waffles for you. Waffles! And Vic and Mike are picking you up in about 20 minutes.”

“20 minutes? Jaime!”

“Love you. See you. Bye,” was all he said before quickly hanging up the phone.

I sighed before jumping out of bed. I dressed quickly, not thinking about who I was about to see. I got ready in record time, still too groggy and tired to care what I looked like.

Soon enough, the sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. I ran to open it, somewhat surprised to find Vic on the other side when I did.

“Are you ready to head out?” he asked. I simply nodded before joining him outside and shutting the door.

As we approached the car, it became clear why Mike hadn’t come to the door as he usually did. He was slumped over in the passenger seat, asleep. I climbed into the back seat, shutting the door carefully in hopes that he wouldn’t wake up.

The car was silent as we drove, with the exception of the music softly pouring from the speakers and the occasional groan from Mike.

Eventually, we pulled into a parking lot, and Vic honked the horn. As Mike woke up, Vic opened his door and started to exit the car.

“I have to go get Terra,” he stated.

I nodded and smiled at him before he walked away. Mike then turned around in his seat, and looked somewhat surprised to find me sitting behind him. He turned back around and exited the car, leaving me alone without saying a word. I watched as he walked a ways away and lit up a cigarette.

I could feel my heart drop as he did this. I had never seen him smoke before, although Jaime told me he used to do it all the time.

A tear fell to my lap as I remembered all the times my dad would come home. He was always clearly drunk, but tried to cover up the smell with cigarettes. When he did come home, however rare that was, he never failed to cause a scene. There wasn’t a memory I had of him where he wasn’t in some form of a drunken rage.

I pushed my memories aside and wiped my tears away as I watched as Mike put out his cigarette and opened the same door Vic had gone through. A moment later, he came back outside and headed toward the car. He avoided eye contact as he hopped into the seat beside mine.

This was going to be a long ride.