My Name is Driftwood

Tim had just begun to play with his new band, they were trying to make it big while he still worked a day job, tossing boxes off a truck. Emilia had started going to the University of Nebraska in Omaha. After Tim teasing her beyond belief, she still decided to go ahead and be an English major.

"What are you ever going to do with that?" he laughed.

"I don't know, read a lot of books?"

In her heart of hearts, she wanted to be a writer. So, she worked as hard as he did. One day after class, she went over to the recording studio where Tim was working on a demo. She stood and watched her best friend as he strummed his guitar, eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he smiled at her. He finished his song and came out.

"Hey you, what's up?"

"I think I did something rash today," she said, giving him a grin.

"Oh yeah? What's that?

"I applied to do a semester in Japan."

Tim broke into a wide smile.

"That's awesome, EM!"

"You think?"

"Hell yeah! When are you going?"

"In the summer."

"Well, I'm driving you to the airport."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Emilia asked, pouting.

"Yes, I hope you'd get rid of me for an opportunity like that. If it makes you feel any better, I'll pick you up to."

He looked at her wistfully.

"Nothing's going to change, right?" she asked carefully.

"Of course," he said, pushing her playfully on the shoulder.

Little did she know, when she came back from that trip, she'd come back to a surprise. Tim had tried to play it off that he was happy, but he didn't like her leaving. Some part of her didn't want to leave, but she did it anyways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Emilia hemmed and hawed over calling Tim. They hadn't really talked in almost 6 years. The pase was haunting her daily now. She eventually decided to go through with it. The number was dialed and the phone ringing. It was answered before she could be weak and hang up.

"I was just going to call you," the familiar male voice said.

"Hey, so, about last night…" she trailed off.

"EM, why didn’t you tell me what was happening? I would have come out there and gotten you."

"Tim, you just don’t care like you used to. We have hardly even talked over the last six years."

"That doesn’t mean that I wouldn't help you."

They sat in silence for several minutes. Emilia broke it.

"What happened, Tim?"

He just cleared his throat.

"If I ever see that bastard, I'll kill him. I can't believe any guy would lay a hand on you."

She tried to make light of the situation.

"Come on, you know I am a total pain in the ass. I often speak before I think."

"Really?" he asked, "I never noticed."

"Hmmm, I wonder why?"

"What are you implying?"

She could almost see the devil's advocate expression on his face, even though they were on the phone. They both played the game well and there were these rare moments when all the tension was forgotten and they could just joke around.

"So, are you here for good?" he asked.

"I don’t know. I just know I needed to get away from that situation. And… I missed Omaha and all of you guys," she admitted.

"So, Matt is seriously worried about you."

"Which Matt?"

"Oh come on."

"Fine, yes, he is. He brought up something last night about getting back together."

"Are you going to go through with it?" he asked.

"I don’t know. Every relationship I've ever been in has gone down the shitter, including the one with Matt. I don’t think I should subject him to me again. Speaking of relationships, how is Keely?"

"Same old, same old."

"Oh, so she must not be home now, if you're able to talk to me," Emilia said bitterly.

"Give her a break, EM."

"No way! She never gives me one! I've never done anything to her. I can't believe you give me shit about being in an abusive relationship, you hypocrite."