This Love

Chapter 12

SCARLETT PARKER

"Scarlett, this is your mother calling. I'd like you to please call me back as soon as possible so I can get a head count for your father's birthday dinner tomorrow night. Thank you."

"Kill me first," I delete the voicemail and toss my phone onto the bed, burying it underneath the mountain of new clothes I bought today as I dump the bags out.

I strip down to my lingerie and find the cropped Harley Davidson T-shirt I bought at one of my favorite vintage stores, ripping the tag off with my teeth to pull it down over my head. And because I have nothing else to do with my life, I start trying on all the various new bottoms until I end up in a pair of cut-off denim shorts and tall faux snakeskin boots that I figure I can break in by walking around my flat.

With Arctic Monkeys playing down in the living room, I dance around just to hear the loud clomping sound of my boots as I light a blunt that I picked up from my drug dealer yesterday, along with a few other things that I don't really feel like doing on my own. Contrary to popular belief, it's not all that fun to trip out when you're alone.

But this time, I'm planning to stay home and get high by myself. I had the time of my life waking Harry up at 3 AM to get a very late dinner or very early breakfast with me, but I didn't enjoy getting yelled at after being unexpectedly woken up by my brother. I guess I should just be grateful it was Seth and not Gabrielle like it could have been, but I guess now we'll never know who would win in a fight.

Still, it really did feel like old times when we got back to his place, minus the sex, obviously. Even though we did that quite a bit, we actually were capable of hanging out and keeping our clothes on like when I was on my period, for example. We'd binge a show, get high, and walk around campus or our respective neighborhoods once we moved out of our dorms. The sex was mind-blowing, don't get me wrong, but Harry was the first guy I had ever been with that I enjoyed doing other things with too.

But because it's currently a normal hour for those who like to sleep at night, I give Seth a call to see if he might wanna come over and share my blunt with me. We haven't been high together in ages.

"What's up, Scar?"

"Hey, what are you doing tonight? I'm getting high, come over."

"Love to, but tonight's Harry's bachelor party thing. I'm getting ready to go out now."

My heart drops as I frown down at my boots. I didn't realize the wedding was coming up so soon, but I guess I've already been home for over two and a half months now. "That's tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Hm," I inspect the blunt before taking a smaller hit. "Okay, well...have fun, I guess."

"I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?"

"Maybe, yeah," I clear my throat as the smoke makes it feel dry and scratchy. "See ya."

As I hang up, I drop my phone back on the couch and drag my feet to the kitchen and open my refrigerator to see a few bottles of water, ketchup, mustard, raspberry jam, an old cucumber, half a lemon, and a bruised green apple. My pantry holds a couple of pasta boxes, peanut butter, spices that still have the plastic seal, and a half-empty box of cereal I haven't touched since before I left with Raf.

For just a moment, I debate getting over myself and calling for takeaway, but then I remember myself as a ten-year-old asking my mom for the same exact thing.

***

"Just ask her," I pinched Seth on the couch next to me.

"You ask her," he quietly scoffed.