Status: Active

Smoked Out

Get In My Bed

I knew that I shouldn’t have, given the conversation I had had with Chase, but I waited up for Talon anyway. Chase had left me at my door step at 1 in the morning and I sat there waiting for over an hour, not letting myself go inside even though the air was chilling. It was going to be winter soon. At least then I won’t have to worry about anybody wanting to ride their motorcycles to street races.

The longer I waited, the longer I had to think, and Chase was right. I had feelings for Talon, I guess I always knew that, but I also knew that I had strong feelings for Chase too. Aurora’s words about Talon and I’s weird chemistry played over in my head. Two people had noticed the feelings I continuously tried to deny and those two people made me realize I couldn’t deny them anymore.

A truck pulled into the driveway beside Talon’s pickup and I sat there in anticipation waiting for him to get out. I felt nervous and scared for how he was going to look when I saw him and I wasn’t sure he was even going to want to see me. I watched as he slowly got out of the truck, his hand immediately reaching for his rib cage when he realized he had stretched his body too far for its liking right now. He took a second, running his hand through his dirty blonde hair and taking a breath before continuing.

I stood up, immediately rushing to help him walk since he could barely hold himself up. I noticed he had gotten stitches to cover the gash on his forehead that was most likely the culprit of his excessive bleeding earlier. He hesitated to let me hold onto him so he could put his arm around my shoulder as a crutch, but he must have realized that there was no point in fighting me. “Come on,” I said, grunting through the weight of him on my shoulder. “Let’s get you inside.”

It took us a while before we made it around to the back of the house, walking into his dimly lit living room where he had forgotten to turn his lamps off. I sat on the couch beside him, fiddling with my hands now. I found it extremely difficult to sit still.

“Do you want some tea?” I asked, standing up and making my way to the kitchen behind him. I started searching through his cupboards to find a mug I could use.

“I’m okay.” He said, but I ignored him. Where did he keep his damn mugs? They weren’t where I used to keep them.

“You know, I used to drink tea whenever I got injured during skating. It made me feel better.” I started rambling now while I searched. I went on about how I sprained my ankle once during practice and how my mom took me home, wrapped me up in a blanket, and gave me tea. The story was long and elaborate and I found myself laughing even though it wasn’t that funny.

“Macy!” He shouted, finally sick of my rambling. I stopped moving and stood there. He stood up from the couch and I went to go help him but he put his arm out to warn me to stay where I was. He walked over to me, his body a little hunched as he tried hard to not limp as much. He had road rash on his arm, and I knew that his beloved leather jacket was torn. It made me sad for him. “Why are you here talking about tea?” He asked when he reached me, his golden brown eyes aligning with my blue ones. I fidgeted with the hem of my cardigan.

“You’re hurt.” Was all I said. He furrowed his brows, frustrated with my answer.

“I’m fine.” He said, leaning against the fridge beside him. There was less than a foot of space between us and I felt very anxious. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch, but I’m fine.” This time I furrowed my brows in frustration.

“You were almost killed tonight and you’re already thinking about going off and doing it again!” I shouted, immediately regretting it. If I shouted too loud it would wake up my parents and they would want to know what was going on. I hadn’t even called them to let them know where I was; they were probably going to be furious with me as it was. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

“There she is.” He whispered, his mouth rising at the side into a smirk. I threw my hands in the air exasperated. How was he not taking this seriously? “Why do you care if I’m hurt?” He asked, honestly. He seemed genuinely interested to know the answer.

“Because I do.” I felt frustrated that he was trying to make me explain myself. “Because even though you are so stupid, I care about you. Hell if I know why, but I do.” He was trying not to smile or be too smug now and it frustrated me even more. “Why are you so annoying?!”

“Why can’t you just admit that there’s something between us?” He said, frustrated. I turned my face away from him, but he took his hand and gently moved it back so I was looking at him again.

“Why can’t anybody understand how serious it is that you are hurt right now? You just flew off of a motorcycle! How are you even alive?” My eyes were watering and I was getting real sick of how sensitive I had become.

“Macy, it’s okay.” He said, gently, noticing that I had tears now. He wiped a few of them away. “I’m okay, don’t cry.” My body was shaking now and the little control I thought I had was wiped away.

“I was just so scared.” I stuttered through my tears. “You don’t understand how scared I was.” I placed my hand over my chest, my heart feeling like it was going to burst with all of the sickening feelings it had been carrying.

He reached his arms out and pulled me into his embrace, still using the fridge to lean on for support. It was the first time I had ever hugged him and it stirred up a whirlwind of emotions inside me. We stood there for a long time, with him rubbing my back, trying to make me feel better. I felt like a terrible person. Here I was crying all over him and having him take care of me, when it was him that needed the care more.

I helped him down to his room after a while, thinking the couch would have been easier for his body to reach, but knowing that he needed a good night’s rest in his own bed. He gestured for me to come lay down with him and I did, not really knowing why I was doing it, but knowing that I needed it and I didn’t care. I snuggled up to his chest, his hand playing with my hair, and my own hand drawing circles on his chest.

“Macy?” He whispered under his breath, his voice barely audible. I shifted my head so that I could see his face, his eyes were closed, but he didn’t sound close to falling asleep.

“Yes?” I answered, quietly. The room was so still, the only movement was the rise and fall of Talon’s chest as he breathed in and out.

“Promise me you’ll never do something as reckless as you did tonight ever again.” I looked at his complexion, tainted with bruises and dried blood and I knew immediately that I couldn’t make him that promise. I had zero control over my body back there and seeing him this banged up only made it more apparent that if he were ever put in that kind of situation again, I would do something insanely reckless in a heartbeat.

“You saw that, huh?” I hadn’t realized he had been conscious for that part.

“I opened my eyes as soon as Chase pulled you away from me. The only reason I had the strength to get up was to try and go after you. I may act like Gaige isn’t that big of a deal, but he’s dangerous.” He had opened his eyes now, making sure I understood how serious he was. I wanted to ask him about Serena, but I was afraid he would take me the wrong way so I stayed quiet about it.

“If somebody ever hurts you like this again, I don’t know what I’ll do.” I said, honestly. “I had no control over my actions tonight and that scares me.” He nodded, like he understood what I meant, and I really believed that he did.

“So do you think Chase is going to like that you’re lying in my bed with me?” He asked, his eyebrow cocked upward. He was trying to be smart, but I could tell he was actually just curious as to why I was so easily willing to get into his bed with him.

“He wants time apart.” I was short, trying to make it be known that I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to think about Chase at all right now. It only made me feel worse.

“Why?” He asked this genuinely, like he couldn’t understand why somebody would want to be apart from me. The way things were going for me lately and the way I had been acting, I could definitely see why.

“You.” I said, calmly, trying not to let it bother me. “Because I ran to your rescue in an agonizing panic, the kind of panic you only get when you love someone.” I felt the words catch in my throat.

“He said that?” I nodded, feeling vulnerable. “Is he right?”

“I don’t know.” I said honestly. “Maybe. I know he’s not wrong, but I also don’t know what I feel for you exactly.” He nodded, closing his eyes again, a smug smile appearing on his lips.

“I guess now is not the right time to ask you to kiss me then, huh?” I laughed, wanting to hit him with a pillow, but knowing he was in too much pain to be able to handle it.

“Probably not.” I felt my eyes begin to close, the tiredness my body felt starting to take over. I took a peak at the clock, 3:47am. I had to teach the kids at the rink tomorrow and boy was I not looking forward to it. I wanted to skip it, for the first time ever, but knew I couldn’t do that to them.

“Goodnight, Macy,” was all I heard before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up at 8 to the sound of my preset phone alarm going off. Talon shifted beside me but didn’t wake up, his arm hanging loose around my waist. I shut off my alarm quick, surprised to see that I still had 40% battery left on my phone, and slowly climbed out of the bed. I wanted to wake Talon to let him know I was leaving, but I didn’t want to actually wake him, especially since he would be feeling it way more today. I noticed he had a bottle of Tylenol 3s sticking out of his pants pocket which he must have got when he was at the hospital getting stitched up. I figured I would see him later, so I gave him one last look as he slept peacefully, and left to go to the rink.

I texted my mom and told her I had stayed over at Bev’s and that she was driving me home to get my car so I could drive to the rink. She hadn’t answered by the time I had got to my car so I knew that meant she was still asleep. It was Saturday, so my parents probably wouldn’t be up for a while. I felt like a rebellious child, pre-Talon-moving-in-Macy would have never acted this way. I had never stayed overnight at a guy’s house alone before either.

I was thankful that I hadn’t brought my skating stuff in to be washed Thursday after lessons, as gross as it was to have to put the same smelly stuff back on again. It made my morning easier now. I felt like I was hungover, my body was so tired and my head hurt. I tried to listen to Of Monsters and Men on my way down, but even that wasn’t helping. I decided to try to shake off the bad night and go on with my day, without the use of my feel good music.

I walked in to the rink to see all of the kidlits skating around and was instantly confused. They were supposed to wait for me before getting on the ice. It was a safety precaution. I noticed then that an instructor was on the ice with them and marched up to the edge of the walking path and motioned for her to come over.

“Hi,” I said, trying to be friendly despite being annoyed. “I’m Macy, this is my class.” I watched the kids look my way quickly before turning to face away from me, like they were mad at me. I clutched my skating bag that was hanging over my shoulder, a bad feeling washing over me.

“I assumed you knew,” she said, clearly confused with why I was there. “I teach this class now.” I noticed Axel in the corner, watching me, and I tried not to lose my temper.

“What the hell do you mean this is your class now?” I was speaking sternly, but quietly. I could feel the blood boiling in my veins. “I’ve taught this class for a couple of years now.”

“Look, I was just asked to take over by Zelda. I assumed you knew. You’re going to have to take this up with her.” Zelda did this? She bumped me out of teaching? I walked away from her and pulled my phone out, angrily dialing Zelda’s number. It rang twice before she answered.

“I just got to the rink and I’m being told my class has been handed over?” I said in the phone before she could even say hi properly. I was so mad. I knew being rude was only going to make this worse, but I couldn’t believe I was being fired without being told. I couldn’t believe I was being fired period. When did this become my life?

“Yes, Miss Crawford, it is. I’m afraid you’ve caused too much of a ruckus with a couple of parents who are not too happy with you right now.” Greta. Greta was the reason for this, it suddenly all made sense. She warned me she was going higher up, but I assumed I would get the benefit of the doubt first before being tossed aside.

“You’re the one who gave me the proposition to bump somebody out of my class so another student could join, why am I being punished for that?” A ball was welling up in my throat, but I refused to cry. I was sick of crying.

“Yes, but I’m being told you went to their house after hours and persuaded them to switch their daughter into a different level, is that correct?” I froze. Was I not allowed to do that?

“Yes…” I said, hesitantly.

“There’s a strict rule against that, Miss Crawford. I have also been notified of an argument between you and Miss Spense where you proceeded to call her names in the middle of the parking lot?” I could almost feel my body shrinking in size as she talked.

“Yes, but you don’t understand!” I pleaded, wanting her to listen to me.

“I don’t have to understand. All I know is that you have broken rules regarding privacy and harassed a fellow employee. As you are well aware, employee harassment alone is grounds for termination. You can clear out your office whenever you have time available this week, but after then everything will be disposed of so we can move somebody else into it.” I was speechless. I hung up the phone not caring about what else she had to say.

I tried to think back to the conversation between Bree and I. Yes, I had called her a bitch, but it was to her face and nobody else was around, she would have needed proof. Unless, of course, the fact that I didn’t deny it on the phone was all the proof needed. I couldn’t understand why going over to Annabelle’s parents’ house was such a big deal when we’ve had all of our community get-togethers there. I needed to look over the papers I signed when I got the job.

I walked to my office, deciding to clean it out now since I was going there to get the signed documents from my desk drawer anyway. I felt like I was doing the walk of shame even though nobody was there to see me do it. I examined my office closely once I got to it. The yellow walls that I always hated looked appealing to me now, and the messy pile of forms I had to go through for next year still sat on the top of my filing cabinet. I would never get to go through them now. I grabbed a couple of boxes I had stashed away in the cupboard for when I ran out of room to put my student’s files in the original boxes, and felt an overwhelming sadness wash over me as I realized that I had never planned to use them to pack my things up and leave.

“You hate me so much you quit?” Bree’s voice rang through the room. I looked up, annoyed and angry that she was standing there acting like she had nothing to do with why I was leaving.

“Stop pretending like you aren’t enjoying this.” I said, rolling my eyes. I had all of my things packed and was trying to figure out a way to carry them out in one trip now.

“I’m enjoying it a little, I guess. I’m just not sure why you’re leaving.” She sounded genuinely confused and it made me hate her even more because of how good of an actor she was.

“You know, you almost have me believing that you don’t know.” Crap. I fumbled with the boxes in my hand and decided that I would have to make two trips. I dropped the third box I had been carrying and walked past Bree, wishing I had the nerve to shove her over.

“Okay, what are you talking about?” She said, following me out into the hallway with my third box in her hands, shoving her body in front of me so that I had to stop to talk to her. I guess I was only making one trip. I looked back at the office one last time.

“Oh please, you had this whole thing set up because I called you a bitch in the parking lot.” I tried to continue walking but she wouldn’t let.

“Wait, that’s what this is about. You got fired and now you’re automatically assuming it’s my fault? I didn’t do anything!” I glared at her, not sure what else to do since she was standing in my way and wouldn’t let me go around her. “Look, I swear I didn’t say anything. I may not have agreed with you, but I never intended to get you fired.”

“You were the only other person in the parking lot with me, Bree.” She let me walk past her this time, but continued to follow me out to my car. I felt unaccomplished knowing that I was now jobless and my car didn’t pay for itself. Bree tried to keep up with my pace as I rushed to my car to avoid talking to her for longer than needed. I opened up my trunk and threw the boxes I was holding inside before taking the one from Bree.

“I’m sorry that you got fired, Macy, but it wasn’t because of me.” She said, seeming sincere before walking away. Part of me wanted to believe her, but the other part of me didn’t care what she had to say.

I drove home, embarrassed that I had to walk through the door and tell my parents that I, Macy Crawford, their beloved daughter, got fired.