Inconvenient Flame || Billy Hargrove

3

Carly's pov
the next morning
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"Could you just have him call me when he wakes up? I wasn't even thinking about the time zones. Sorry and thank you." I said, hanging up the phone.

"Who were you speaking to this early?" My mom asked as she cracked eggs into the skillet.

"Donnie's mom. I wanted to talk to him since I haven't heard from him much since we moved."

Donnie was my boyfriend back in Arizona. I told him there would be no hard feelings if he wanted to end it because of distance, but he insisted we could work around it.

I'm not really sure how to do that, though. He never answered the phone when I tried to call.

I let out a sigh and sat at the kitchen table slightly resting my head down, zoning out.

I hated the way I felt here.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure you'll hear from him soon. Are you doing anything today?" She asked, setting out plates.

"I'm supposed to go to work. I don't really want to, but it's better than staying here with dad."

She nervously looked around to make sure he didn't hear me.

When it was evident that the coast was clear, she let out a sigh and gave me a small smile.

"I understand, believe me. You don't like the job? If you wanna quit, it's okay. Something else will come along."

"There are just these annoying girls. Not going back is letting them win. I couldn't do that." I laughed.

She came around the table and wrapped me in a hug.

It was the first time I've seen her genuinely smile in awhile.

"You've always been brave. I'm envious of it." She said.

Unfortunately, our nice moment was ruined by my father just existing.

He had came into the kitchen and tossed the paper onto the table, making it known that he was there to stay.

  "So, Carly," he started, quickly flipping the newspaper open like they do in movies, "I didn't hear you come in last night."

  "That was the idea." I said under my breath.

He stopped reading and our eyes locked instantly.

  "Sorry, what was that?" He asked in an agitated tone.

  "I got home around seven. I went straight to my bedroom and I stayed in there all night."

He gave a slight nod and resumed back to the paper.

I turned to look at my mom and she appeared to be scared shitless.

She always was when him and I would interact because the smallest things set him off in the worst way.

That was another reason I knew I had to tough out this new job. We needed to get out.

  "I think I should get going. It's kind of a long walk." I said, getting up and grabbing my backpack.

  "Alright, sweetheart. Have a good shift." My mother softly said, tinkering with my appearance.

I began my walk just like yesterday, but it was weird knowing that guy Billy was just a few houses down.

When I passed by, his car wasn't there. Nobody's car was there. He must of already been at the pool.

I heard some twigs snapping behind me as if something was right there following me, but I assumed it was just an animal or something.