HIM

3. Night out

CALEB'S P.O.V

That asshole.

I sure as hell remember him from high school. I just about scoff out loud to myself at the thought of Henry trying to be the perfect image of a gentleman. In the words of Cher Horowitz, as if! We didn't even attend the same school, yet I still knew about all sorts of horrible things that he did during high school.

A new girl every week.

Drugs.

Smoking.

Jail.

It makes me wonder if he still does the same things now that he's older. Because it sure as hell doesn't seem like he's changed his ways.

"Goodnight again, Mr. Emery." The building's security guard says to me as I pass.

"'Night, Bob," I say with a smile. "Have a nice weekend."

"You too!"

I push the front door open and step out into the warm-ish early spring air. I look to my right and left to make sure nobody is entering the building, but I see some guy drop his cigarette on the ground and walk straight towards me. He doesn't even bother to step on the cigarette, so it still lays on the ground, letting up a thin stream of smoke. When he steps under a streetlight nearby, I see that it's Henry. Something about him makes me feel uneasy. The way he holds himself reminds me of the type of men who sleep around behind their wive's backs, just digging for money and riches to scam off of somebody else.

I hold the door open, and since I was raised well, I give him a nod in acknowledgment.

He doesn't return the favor.

He strides right through the door, not even bothering to say thank you or anything. I let the door swing closed, frustrated, wishing that I had let the door go when he was still in the doorway so he could have been hit with it.

I held the door open for him to take it from me, not so he could strut through like an arrogant prince. Who the hell does he think he is? I look through the windows of the building and watch as Bob says hello, and Henry ignores him. What an arrogant son of a bitch he is.

As I walk down the street towards our apartment, I begin to think that I shouldn't have brought that dress for Enny and prevented her from having a good date, but I shake the thought from my mind as I realize that it's selfish of me. Of course, I want her to be happy. Bringing that dress was the good thing to do. No matter how much what Enny chooses to do bothers me, as long as it makes her happy, then I'm happy too.

When I get home, I change into better clothes. I throw on a navy blue polo shirt and dark wash jeans. I contemplate whether or not I should attempt cooking dinner for myself or to go out and get something.

I could search up a recipe online and search around the kitchen for an hour looking for all the ingredients...or I could dial a number and tell somebody else to make me food....

Pizza it is.

I call up Domino's and order a small pepperoni pizza and a bottle of Pepsi. Without Enny, it's really boring at home, and all I can think to do is watch TV or do some extra work. Work isn't fun, so that's definitely out of the picture. I plop down on the couch, grabbing the remote from the coffee table that sits in front of the couch. I flip through the different channels until I come across the movie channel, which is playing Mean Girls. I could say that I hated this movie when Enny first forced me to watch it, but I'd be lying.

The pizza arrives about 15 minutes after I've started watching the movie, and I tip the delivery man 20 dollars because why not? He came all this way to give my lazy ass a box of pizza. As I'm finishing my first slice of pizza, my phone starts ringing in my pocket. It's from my friend, Landon.

"Hey man, what's up?" I answer. I can hear loud music in the background.

"Yo! I'm down at the club? Care to join? You can bring Enny too!" He screams so loudly into the phone that I have to pull it away from my ear. I can hear some pop song playing in the background, and the sounds of other voices are so loud that I can barely pick out Landon's voice from the rest.

"Enny isn't here. She's out on a date." I tell him.

"A date? Enny? Wow, since when does that happen?" I hear him chuckle. "Well there are some pretty hot girls here, so you might wanna come check it out!"

"Nah, Dude. I'm good. Maybe another time."

"Aww! Come on, just this once! You'll be bored all night if you don't!" he yells back, "let's be real, man, you haven't let yourself let loose in such a long time. Have some fun! It's not like you've got anything better going on."

I sigh. He's right. I guess I'll have to postpone my date night with the couch. "Okay. I'll be there soon."

"Awesome!"

I hang up the phone and put the rest of the pizza in the fridge, sad that I didn't get to eat it, but I'm also really bored and have nothing else to do. The sun's just setting now, and I grab my wallet before leaving. I slip my feet into some brown dress shoes that I frequently wear since I haven't been out shoe shopping lately.

I leave a note for Enny on the fridge in case she gets home before I do, and I step out the door.

7 hours later

I stumble into the apartment in my drunken state, making out with some girl I don't know the name of. I hadn't been planning on sticking around at the club very long, but somehow Landon had convinced me to stay longer. Probably wasn't the best idea.

The girl's arms are around my neck and she bites my lip as we make our way to the bedroom. Her hands are tangled up in my hair, and my hands rest on the small of her back.

Suddenly she stops kissing me and lowers her arms, I look at her in confusion.

"Uhm..." She says looking over my shoulder.

"Baby, what is it?" I slur grabbing her waist and leaning down to kiss her again. She puts her hands on my chest and pushes me backward. I trip over my own feet and almost fall to the ground, but somebody grabs my arm and steadies me.

"You fucking asshole!" The girl shrieks, her high pitched voice ringing in my ears in a slightly painful way. "You have a girlfriend? What the hell? Why doesn't anybody decent in this world exist?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask, not sure why she's yelling at me in such a forceful way.

"Are you serious right now? Ugh. I'm leaving." Her gaze leaves mine, and she looks to something next to me. What's she looking at? The lamp? "Good luck with him."

"Thanks." Another voice says. I turn my head and see Enny with her arm wrapped around mine, holding me up.

"Oh heeeeey! How was your date?" I ask her as she guides me to the couch.

"Go to sleep, Caleb." She tells me in a calm voice, almost like how my mother used to talk when I was younger. "You're gonna be really hungover tomorrow."

"Whatever," I say, kicking off my shoes and dismissing her with a wave of my hand. "Oooooh! Want some pizza?"

"No." She tells me, draping a blanket over me. "I'll see you in the morning. Then we can eat pizza and talk."

My eyelids begin feeling heavy. "Hmm. Okay. G'night."

"Goodnight."

I watch her retreating figure as she climbs the stairs up to the second floor of the apartment, and goes into her bedroom. I have such a great friend. If only we were...

If only we were what? I can't quite place my finger on what I want us to be. More than friends doesn't feel right.

"Best friends," I mutter to myself, as I close my eyes and let myself fall asleep.