The Worst Choice

"Wait, wait, wait," Jenn said, waving her hands. "You're talking to Colin again? Seriously?"

"I mean, not really," I said, focusing on the Capri Sun in my hands that I was currently folding back and forth. "I just forgave him. "

She snatched the plastic out of my hand, throwing it across the room. "That is an awful idea, Ashlyn," she said.

"How so?" I questioned. "It's not like we're gonna fuck or even become best friends. My feelings for him were forever ago. I have Nash."

She shook her hand vigorously. "I don't mean that you still like him or anything," she said. "Think about it. What happens when Nash finds out that he's the guy that you made out with?"

"I actually wasn't planning on him finding that out..."

"I thought so," she said. "But he most likely will eventually because I mean, hello, when do they not? And it'll look even more sketchy if you kept it a secret."

I frowned. "So I'm supposed to hold a grudge against Colin forever?" I asked.

"No, just..." she sighed. "I don't want to see things between you and Nash get fucked up. I saw how you reacted when he stopped talking to you- and that was just for a week. I can't imagine how messed up you'd be if you guys weren't together for good."

"You won't have to," I told her. "I'm doing the right thing, Jenn. I know I am."

"Whatever you say..." she said. "So, you wanna play Mario Kart or what?"

Nash.

"Is she pretty?" Eric asked me over the phone once I was done telling him I had a girlfriend. We haven't talked much lately and when we did, I let him just talk about whatever he wanted to.

I smiled. "Very," I said.

"Ooh! Can I meet her?" he asked.

I bit the inside of my mouth until the taste of blood reminded me that I needed to answer him. "One of these days you will," I finally said.

"My birthday's next week, ya know," he said.

I chuckled. "How can I forget? You've been reminding me since the day after your last birthday."

"'Cause I don't want you to forget!" he said, giggling. "Will you visit me for my birthday?"

I hated having this conversation with him. Every year we'd have this conversation when his birthday came around. He'd ask if I would see him, I'd say I'd try, and I wouldn't show up, ending up in a call where he cries and makes me feel like shit. I sighed. "Eric, I-"

"Auntie Carrie says it's dinner time, so I have to go,” he interrupted me. “You’ll call me soon, right?"

"Of course," I said. We said our goodbyes before hanging up. "Mother fucker!" I exclaimed, throwing the phone against the side of the pay phone stand. People were giving me looks, but I didn't care. This was all my dad's fault. Why the fuck would he bring two kids in the world that he couldn't take care of? Why the fuck would he kill the only person taking care of the said kids?

"I need a fucking drink..." I mumbled to myself, as I dug through my pockets for more change. I put the phone to my ear, making sure it still worked. When I heard the dial tone, I put the money in and quickly dialed Levi's number.

"Yo." I heard a groggy voice answer the phone.

"Yo dude, I need you to pick me up," I said.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"At the pay phone near the liquor store," I said. "I'm also gonna need to crash at your place tonight."

"Why?" he asked. I heard shuffling from the other end and I assumed he was getting up. Or at least I hoped he was. "Why don't you stay at Ashlyn's?"

"Because I won't be able to go home, and Ashlyn will flip shit if she finds out my intentions," I said.

"What are you gonna do, get high?"

"I don't have any weed on me right now, so no," I said. "But I have enough money and if you bring your fake ID, I'll buy enough alcohol so we can both get drunk tonight."

"Jas is here," he told me. "And what happened?"

"I can get enough for her too, I don't give a fuck," I said. "And nothing, now hurry down here."