Runaways

FIVE

Two days had passed since Clarissa and I went out to see Jack's band. I had almost forgot about my weird, drunken pep talk that night, until my phone beeped with a new text message. I didn't recognize the number but my heart began to pound as I read it to myself.

-Hi Lorraine, sorry I didn't text you back the other night. I got a new phone, lost my old one in the lake, lol. How are you? I miss you.

My eyes were wide and I couldn't help but grin. It was from Paul, of course. It had to be. I knew it was stupid to be feeling this excited, but I didn't care as I continued to daydream about Paul missing me. Flashbacks from the other night at the bar poured into my mind. I had texted Paul a simple hi out of drunken boredom. I thought about what to write back. Something clever, not too desperate. My thoughts were interrupted when my phone beeped again. My heart nearly stopped until I realized it wasn't Paul this time.

-Hey Lorraine, it's Jack, what's up?-

I sighed in relief, and typed out a quick reply.

Lorraine:
-Hey Jack, not much here, what's up with you?-


I played it cool because Jack and I weren't exactly best friends. We were more like really good acquaintances...if that even makes sense. I couldn't see myself hanging out with Jack alone. We'd probably be forever drinking buddies, meeting up at random bars with our own groups of friends in tow.

His text message reply was quick and unexpected.

Jack:-I'm alright. Don't wanna sound stupid but I'm thinking about texting Anna and I thought about what you said the other night. So I'm texting you instead..-

Ugh, goddammit. I wasn't prepared for these types of situations. How the hell was I supposed to talk to Jack and distract him from his ex, while I was over here practically drooling over mine. I stared blankly at my phone for a solid minute, not knowing what to say to either of them.

I suppose I could take my own advice, and tell Jack the truth. Maybe it would be good for me to ignore Paul after all. I sighed again, rolling my eyes at the ridiculous situation I was in.

Lorraine:- yeah, same here...- I wrote back to Jack. A few seconds later my phone was ringing.

"Hello?" I answered. I could almost hear Jack's goofy grin on the other side.

"Hey. Um, just thought talking would be easier than texting. Since we're in the same boat here..."

I mentally cursed myself for ever telling Jack to text me instead of Anna. We were only in the same boat because we both got dumped into it. I didn't really have anymore relationship advice for Jack now that I was sober. I hated to admit it, but things would probably be much less stressful for me if he just gave in and kept talking to the girl who broke his heart. I was being bitchy and selfish, but I couldn't help it. My stomach was still in knots over the boy who was slowly breaking my heart as well.

"Yeah, Paul texted me, and I haven't really come up with a clever reply yet..." I mutter back to him, probably sounding like an ultra bitch.

"Why do you have to reply at all? You should ignore him."

It was clear that I had made some sort of impact on Jack with my intoxicated preaching. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"Look, Jack. I know I said all that stuff to you about not talking to our ex's, and I really would like to help you forget about Anna and move on...but I don't know how. I'm not too good with advice when I'm sober... And I'm not really ready to move on from Paul. I'm not ready to ignore his texts or talk to someone else instead..."

I trail off, feeling stupid. I can feel my cheeks turn pink and I mentally rejoice that this isn't a face to face conversation.

"I understand, Lorraine...But I really think you were right. I think we have to let them go. I mean, I kind of lied when I said I was thinking about texting Anna. I already did earlier today. She told me all about her family camping trip. I used to go with them every year. And as we were talking, she accidentally let it slip that ...she brought Paul..."

I feel my heart sink as Jack's sad tone of voice fills my head.

"W-what?" I try not to sound so desperate but I have a feeling I fail. It all started to make sense. No wonder the idiot lost his phone in the lake, he was probably too busy focusing on that...that...

"Bitch!" I say aloud, unable to contain myself. Jack chuckles a little at my sudden outburst.

"Yeah well Paul's no angel either." He adds lightly.

"You're right Jack. And I mean it this time. We have to forget about those two. It'll never last between them, and you and I are going to be the first ones that they come crawling back to when it's over. We have to be ready."

"Hell yeah! This calls for tacos!"

"Yeah! Wait, what?"

I start to come down from my feelings of rage.

"Tacos can take my mind off of anything. Grab your posse and I'll grab mine and we meet in 20!"

I can't argue with that logic as we say our goodbyes and I call up Clarissa. I'm assuming that's who he meant by my 'posse'...
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Here's a weird short chapter for ya