Gone Girl 2

Chapter 9

He picks up the phone.

"Dominic... Derek-"

I must sound awful. My scrawny voice is cracking and I can barely form a coherent sentence.

"What happened? You are worrying me."

"It's not mine- not mine, I had, I had... cocaine in my backpack and-"

"Ronny, I don't understand anything. Calm down, tell me what happened," he speaks in his usual comforting tone.

I take a deep breath and I can feel my lower lip tremble but I speak again, "Derek was arrested and it's all my fault. The cops pulled us over and I had cocaine in my backpack but I promise someone framed us, there is no- other way. Then Derek took my blame."

"Where are you?" Dominic seems worried but doesn't show it.

"Outside of Georgia."

"Right... you were supposed to go away with him."

I gulp down hard as I realize it was the reason we got caught in the first place... maybe if I hadn't been so difficult and didn't suggest running away...

"Get a cab. I will have someone send the car back here."

After a pause of silence I tell him, "I know it's over, both for us and him. That amount of cocaine... lying it was his, the way he looked at me."

"It's not over until it's over."

A broken smile appears on my face, despite mostly not understanding really what he means, but it's so Dominic.

Now

"You look banging hot," Nicole mutters to me as I style my hair with a curling wand that I struggle to use.

"Don't make me regret this," I state jokingly.

"We are going to have so much fun, promise, this is the first party at college and it's been a month already."

"I can't even drink," I explain annoyed. Sometimes I miss drinking. So easy to escape your problems and be completely gone until the morning after when everything hits, and it hits hard.

"You don't need to drink to have fun, Ronny."

"You do if everyone else is pissed drunk." We both laugh and she tries to make a serious face but fails which makes us laugh more.

"Come on, not everyone will be drunk," she says as she grabs the mascara and walks to the small mirror we have near the closet.

"Of course, I forgot about drugs!" She snickers again and I smile. Her bright copious laughter always fills the room, it's beautiful to see her like this. To be this close again.

If I have to think about how we got to this, I'd say it's complicated.

After Derek was arrested and Dominic helped me, I went straight to Nicole's home when I was back in Georgia.

I didn't know if she would open the door but she did. I told her everything, stuttering, being a complete incoherent mess, and despite how distant we used to be... she held me in her arms as I cried for hours.