Cleave

A week before my 18th birthday, I couldn’t help but feel excited. I was finally going to be an adult. I was finally going to be able to make my own decisions and I was finally going to be able to do whatever the hell I wanted with my life, not that I really knew what I wanted to do with it yet. All I knew was that I wanted to move out into my own place as soon as possible to get away from my controlling mother and I couldn’t wait to start looking for places. But before that, I had to find a job to be able to pay for rent and bills and all that other fun stuff that comes with living in your own place. Dad told me that he would help me out when I needed it but I didn’t want him to pay for everything, which was why I was wandering around the new mall that had been in the process of being built for a long time but had been finished while I was away, looking for where the supermarket was that I had applied for a job online for a couple of weeks ago. I had been emailed a couple of days before, asking me to come in for an interview. I was kind of nervous. I'd never gone for a job interview before and I didn’t know what to expect. Not being able to find the place wasn’t helping with my nerves, either.

I spent so long searching for the supermarket (luckily I had given myself ages to find it, otherwise I would have been late to the interview) that eventually I had to grow some balls and actually ask someone where it was. The short, middle aged woman that I had asked smiled up at me and gave me directions, which I followed as accurately as I could, and I finally found the place.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked briskly into the store and headed directly to the front counter. Even though I was pissing myself with nerves, I knew I had to act confident.

The young woman at the counter was serving a customer when I got there, so I had to wait for a moment before I could introduce myself and find out where I was meant to be going.
After waiting for the old man to put his money back in his wallet and shuffle out of the way, I stepped up and smiled at the girl.

"Hi, I'm Micah. I was asked to come in for an interview," I said confidently. The girl smacked the gum she was chewing.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, hold on a sec. I'll call the manager," she said before turning away from me and picking up the store phone. A minute later she was off the phone and turning back to me. "It's up the back. Just go all the way down the aisle and someone will meet you."

"Thank you," I said, and did as she said, coming to meet with a tall man about 25 years old with a black moustache and a bald head.
"Are you Micah?" the guy asked.
"Yes, I am," I told him, holding my hand out for him to shake.

The guy nodded once, before he took my hand and shook. "I'm Trevor, come on through," he said, gesturing towards the 'Staff Only' door. I followed him through until we got to a small office, where he took a seat behind the desk while allowing me to take the other chair. Then, the interview started and he asked me a lot of questions and I did the best that I could to answer them to put me in the best light possible.

The interview lasted about half an hour and when I was finally dismissed, I was quietly confident that I had just got a job, but of course I wouldn’t know that until I got a phone call "in a few days". I shook Trevor's hand again as I left, which seemed to sit well with him.

Once I left the supermarket, I pulled out my phone (that had it’s data wiped clean and had a new SIM in it so I didn't have any of my old stuff on it) to check the time. There was still a little over an hour left until the shops closed in the mall, so I decided to have a look around, seeing as I hadn't been there before.

There wasn't anything that I needed to buy, so I came out empty-handed from all the shops I went into, but that was okay. There were a good variety of stores in the enormous mall and I knew that if I had needed to buy anything, I probably would have been able to find it there.

About fifteen minutes from closing, I wandered out of a clothing store with the intention of finding a place to buy a milkshake. I had seen a couple of café type places nearby so I headed towards where I thought they were located.

Somehow I managed to take a wrong turn somewhere, so by the time I actually found a place that looked promising, it was almost closing time and there was only one customer waiting for his coffee. I stood behind him and a little off to the side so I could see the menu. I wasn't sure if I would actually go through with buying a milkshake because I didn't want to be annoying to the workers, but then the small blonde girl who was behind the counter smiled at me and cheerfully asked what I wanted, so I made my order.

Once I paid for my strawberry milkshake, I moved to stand next to the guy waiting for his coffee. The barista making it (a girl with dark hair) wore a badge that said she was in training, so it was taking a bit longer than it probably should have.

It was only when the guy’s phone went off with a phone call that I actually looked at him, and my jaw dropped.

I didn't care that he was on the phone, I just needed him to confirm that I wasn't imagining things.
“Drew?” I spoke. He turned slightly towards the sound of my voice and his eyes bulged.
“Uh, yeah Sandy sorry, I've gotta call you back, bye,” he said into the phone before hanging up. “Micah.”
“Yeah, it's me,” I said with a nod.
“Shit,” Drew said, running a hand through his hair. The barista then spoke up and told Drew that his coffee was ready. He looked at her for a few seconds like she was speaking a foreign language, but eventually he worked out what she was saying and he took his coffee, thanking her. The blonde girl who served me also handed me my milkshake, looking between me and Drew with interest.

“Um... Should we, like, go somewhere to talk?” I asked hesitantly. Drew nodded and we both moved away from the little café. I didn't know where we were headed and apparently neither did Drew because he stopped abruptly in the middle of a walkway and turned to look at me, frowning.

“He's a mess,” he told me, and I didn't need to ask to know who he was talking about. “You didn't call him, you didn't write to him, you did nothing. Not even when he saw you a few weeks ago. You were supposed to love him.”

“I do. I do love him. I couldn't call or write. I had no way to communicate with anyone,” I explained desperately. He had to understand. Drew’s face softened slightly, but he was still frowning.
“And what about a few weeks ago, huh? Angel gave you his number and you ignored him,” Drew accused.
“I lost it,” I said quietly. I didn't know if I should tell him that Max ripped it up. What if he took Max’s side?
“You lost it?” he repeated. “You lost it? How?”

I decided to just tell him. I didn't really have anything else to lose. “Max.”
“What?”
“Max. His boyfriend. I lost it because of him. He ripped it up and threatened me and Angel,” I informed Drew. His expression changed to one of anger.
“He what?” he almost shouted. I took a step away from him, afraid he would hit me or something.

I started to quietly repeat what I said but he told me to shut up and I did, while he muttered things under his breath for a minute and then pulled out his phone from his pocket.

“You're not going anywhere now, right?” he asked, and I shook my head no. He nodded, tapping on his screen a couple of times before holding his phone up to his ear. A few seconds passed and then he spoke, “Are you home tonight? … No, you need to come home … Just do it, please … Screw Max, just get home, I'll be home in ten and explain then … Good, later.”

Drew hung up the phone and shoved it back in his pocket.
“Was that…?” I began.
“Angel, yeah. Let's go,” Drew replied and then started walking. I hesitated for a second, and then jogged to catch up to him.
“What's going on?” I asked as we walked. We went through an automatic door to come out into a parking lot. Drew didn't reply to me until he clicked a button on his key fob and the lights on a sleek black VW Golf flashed brightly at us.

“We're going to my house and you and Angel are going to have a long talk,” Drew informed me as he opened the driver’s side door of the car and got in. I copied his actions and got into the passenger seat. The interior of the car was really nice, especially compared to the piece of shit Drew used to drive. The car started with a purr, the dashboard lighting up and I couldn't help but be impressed. “Nice, huh?” Drew asked, obviously noticing my look of awe.
I nodded. “What happened to the truck?” I asked.
“It's Angel’s now. I got this one cause my dad said I needed a classier car to work at his office. Good image and all that shit. I still love that truck though.”
I smiled. Of course he did.

The rest of the car trip went by in silence. I couldn't help but notice even in the way that Drew drove how much he had grown up. He no longer swerved around slow cars or took turns without indicating. He slowed at yellow lights instead of speeding through them and, most obviously, the music was no longer at a level where your ears were bleeding. It was still there, though, in the background and the style of music hadn't changed at all.

After a fairly short trip, Drew pulled the car into the driveway of a modest house and turned off the engine. He got out, me following suit, and walked up to the front door, opening it with a key and stepping inside. He allowed me to pass through before he closed the door again.

“Angel should be here soon,” he told me, and that was when nerves started to settle in. I had no idea how this was going to go. Was he mad at me? Would he take Max’s word over my own regarding the phone number? Would he, after discussing everything, still stay with Max and take me out of his life permanently? I had no idea, but I was scared. My mouth went dry and my palms started to sweat. “Are you okay?” Drew asked my, suddenly concerned. “You want a drink?”

“Yes, please,” I croaked out, ignoring his first question. Drew headed into what I assumed was the kitchen. I followed him and watched as he opened a cupboard and pulled out a glass.

“What would you like?”

“Just water, please.” He took a bottle of chilled water out of the fridge and poured me a glassful. He handed it to me and I took a big sip immediately. “Thanks.”

I leaned against the kitchen counter while I sipped on my water and tried not to panic.

I guess all I could do now was wait for Angel to get home.