Runaways

The rest of the week went as follows;
Lounge on the couches all day, drive Clarissa to reclaim her car that we abandoned at the bar, drive home, think too much, go to sleep, then work, work, work, until my next day off. Which wasn't until Saturday.

Some days I didn't know which was worse, being at home or being at work. Both felt equally unproductive and depressing. At least at work I got paid I guess.

I live in a small apartment with my mom and my older brother, who's 23. He desperately wants to move out, but we're kind of all afraid that my mom wouldn't be able to pay the bills without us. I help out as much as I can, but my brother Brandon has a really good paying job. He hates it though, and wants to quit and become a tattoo artist. Him and my mom fight about it all the time, and I usually get dragged into the middle of it.

I wasn't in college like Clarissa. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, and didn't see the point in taking out a loan for school just to be in debt for the rest of my life. I work full-time at a near-by convenience store. It's not the most glamorous of jobs, but it'll do for now.

"Let's all say goodbye our star employee!"

I roll my eyes at my co-worker as I clock out on Friday evening. I've worked here for about 2 years, and except for the manager, none of us take anything seriously.

"Have fun closing!"
I grin at the two employees stuck working until 11pm on a Friday. Working in this dump for so long does have its perks. I get better shifts than the newbies.

It was only 7pm when I got back to my apartment. My brother was lying on the couch with a sketch book.

"Hi Brandon."
I say, which is odd because we usually don't acknowledge each other much. He looks up at the sound of my voice, probably confused, but replies either way.

"Hi Lorraine."

We have nothing else to say to each other so I rush to my room to swap my work clothes out for something cooler, take a quick shower and then go to wait outside for Clarissa. She pulls up in front of my apartment building a few minutes later and I hope in the passengers side.

"I don't want to go to Greg's party anymore. Stephanie Rock is going to be there." She tells me, rolling her eyes at the mention of the girl who put gum in her her hair in the 8th grade.
Skipping Greg's is fine by me because I never really wanted to go in the first place. I find myself pretty eager to get to the bar and to Jacks band, because for some reason I feel like Paul will be there. All week I haven't been able to shake my feelings for Paul, despite what an awful boyfriend he turned out to be. I pull out my phone and send him a quick, stupid text.

-Hi-

Clarissa and I go and get some food, and then some gas for her car before we finally get to Main St. Bar. It's in a more quiet part of town, and since by then it's 10pm, the town seems like it's already asleep.

That is until we entered the bar. We made it just in time to hear Jacks band play their last song, a cover of Blink-182's 'Dammit'. It sounded pretty good, and I was a little bummed that we had missed most of their set.

"Thanks, we're All Time Low!"

The singer announces, before they all hop off the stage.

"I'll say..."

Clarissa rolls her eyes, as I ignore her distaste for good music.

We're just about to make our way to the back to get a drink when we hear that familiar voice.

"You guys made it!"

We spin around and smile at Jack. He's sweaty and smiling ear to ear.

"Yeah, a little late but that last song sounded really good!" I assure him. Clarissa nods, probably just to be polite.

"Thanks! Wanna meet my other friends?"

Clarissa and k exchange glances. These types of situations are usually awkward.

"We'll come find you guys after we get a drink!"
Clarissa says with a smile while I secretly applaud her quick thinking.

"Cool!"
With that Jack's gone again, hopping around the crowded room.

About ten minutes later we finally get our beers from the busy bar, and then set out on a search for Jack and his friends.

"This is stupid."
We both say at the same time. That happens more than it should.

"There!" I finally spot him in the corner with a small group.

"Yay! Ok so guys this is Clarissa and Lorraine, and this is Alex, Rian, you remember Cass from the bar last week, and Zack's over there talking to someone, he'll probably come back over here soon."

I smile at all of them, feeling much more at ease now that I'm holding a beer and can't fidget my hands out of nervousness. The history class girl, Cass, apparently, smiles wide at us.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!"
She says, and it makes me feel weird for some reason. She's very nice, but a little too smiley.

Everyone begins chatting and drinking causally, and I can't help but find myself daydreaming and scanning the room for any signs of Paul. What if Anna is here, what if their both here? I check my phone for the hundredth time that night, but there was no response from Paul. I sigh quietly to myself before joining in the conversation.

"I really liked that Blink cover you guys did."

"Yeah? Did you hear about their special tour coming up?"
The guy that was singing, Alex, asks me. I nod crazily.

"Yes! It sucks their only playing in the west coast though."

"Yeah, only California, I think."

"Man, I'd kill to go to one of those shows." Jack chimes in. We all agree, and I feel satisfied that I've finally found some people with my taste of music.

A few hours later and it's like we've all been friends for much longer than a day. Right off the bat I can tell a few things. Cass and Rian appear to be a thing. Alex and Jack appear to be best friends, just like Clarissa and I, and Zack appears to be super popular. He's been back and forth all over the bar laughing and talking to people.

At one point in the night, after the place cleared out a little bit, and after a couple of drinks of course, I noticed Jack was looking pretty bummed out. He was slumped over his phone, while ordering a drink alone at the bar. Normally I would just ignore these types of situations, but with alcohol involved, I believed I could help people as if I was Dr. Phil or something.

"Hey Jack, what's up?"
I lean into the bar next to him. He looks up at me and sighs.

"It's Anna. She wants to come out here tonight, to see everyone, and me. I just don't know what to do. I miss her so much, it's just...I think she's still seeing Paul. I don't want to see her with him. I don't know..."

I can feel my cheeks turn pink as I start to feel nervous at the thought of Anna showing up here tonight with Paul. As much as I want to see him too, I don't know that I could see them together without losing it. I take a deep breath and decide that Jack and I need to get tough.

"You know what Jack, tell her 'no.' Tell her that if she misses everyone here then that's her own damn fault because when she cheated on you she ruined not only her relationship with you but her relationship with all your friends too. Their YOUR friends, not hers!"

"Yeah, listen to her, kid!" The eavesdropping bartender cheers me on. I roll my eyes at him, but keep going on with my speech.

"I know you miss Anna, because I miss Paul so, so much too. But we can't let them win. We can't let them continue to break us. People like us deserve better."

I have no idea where this 'wisdom' is coming from, but Jack seems to be soaking it in. His eyes are wide and he's nodding after everything I say.

"Yeah...yeah you're right, Lorraine! They know they've got us wrapped around their fingers, and they can run off with other people and we'll still be here waiting for them. We suck!" Jack pounds his fist on the bar in anger, and the bartender runs over thinking that he's mad at him.

"Sorry man, just a beer." Jack hands him his money, as the bartender rushes to pour his drink.

"No, Jack we don't suck, they do! We've gotta get tough. Whenever you feel like texting Anna, don't!"

"I can't just not text her, I'll go crazy." Jack replies, taking his beer and throwing a tip on the bar top.

"Then text me!"

This is definitely alcohol talking as I invite an almost stranger to text me whenever he misses his ex. What the hell.

"You?..." Jack begins to ponder my strange idea.
"Yeah I guess that could work. Then I could get it all out without having Anna see that I miss her...yeah...and hey, you could text me instead of Paul."

That idea seems even weirder to me, but at this point if it will cheer Jack up then sure.

"Sure!" I agree, and Jack lifts his beer up for a toast.

"To getting over our shitty ex's!"

"Hell yeah!"