Six Years After The Bet

16. Jordan & Abby

The last couple of days have been hard and stressful. Not only have I had to worry about Dylan and Daniel, but I've also been worrying about Abby. We're in that weird place again where we're not getting along, so she has decided on ignoring me. The camping trip is tomorrow and I honestly just want to say the hell with it. Why should I spend it being miserable? Abby doesn't want me there and Daniel will need somebody to stay with him to make sure he doesn't fall apart.

I hand out the orders from Subway to the guys and we all sit down in the chairs around my pool. I haven't heard from Stephen in a while, but the last time we talked, he was busy with taking over for Daniel's dad at the job.

"I'm actually looking forward to this camping trip." Troy says.

I roll my eyes, unwrapping my sandwich. "For what? There aren't going to be any chicks there that you can get with."

"I'll have you know that when I was little, I went to a camp and we learned survival skills." He says in a matter of fact tone.

"Did you learn anything?" Ryan asks, a smirk on his face.

"I learned how to make a fire so suck it." Troy shoots him a bird and I shake my head at them before looking over at Daniel. He has a despondent look on his face and I feel bad for him. He's really going through it.

I nudge him, "Hey, you okay?"

He seems to snap out of his thoughts before looking at me. I see the dark circles and bags under his eyes, making me wish I could fix this for him. He hasn't been himself since he found out his dad was dying and I'm afraid that he might not bounce back from this.

"Um, yeah. I'm good." His voice is dead and so is his facial expression.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to." I tell him.

"If I go back there, I'll just end up crying or pretending I'm not mad. I need a break from that." He rubs his face, sighing.

I'm about to say something else, but he stands up suddenly going into the house with his food. I decide not to go after him because the last time I did that, I ended up with a bloody nose. My nose is still bruised from him punching me.

"Man, I feel bad for him." Troy has a sympathetic look on his face and I imagine I'm mirroring his expression.
"He just needs time." I sigh, turning my attention away from the door towards the pool.

"You're probably right, but what about that crack head in your house. What are you going to do about him?" Troy asks.

I throw a chip at him, giving him a dour look. "You can't say shit like that about him. He has a name, so use it."

He holds his hands up in a surrendering way. "Don't get mad at me for telling the truth. You're letting someone who's on drugs sleep in your house around your mom, dad, and little sister. He's probably already picked out what he's going to steal when you leave tomorrow."

"He's not going to steal anything. He's not like that. His lawyer said he could probably keep him from going to jail and get him into rehab."

Although I sound like I'm not worried, I still have this small ounce of doubt in me. What if he does exactly what Troy just said. I don't think I could live with myself if my mom, dad, or sister got hurt because of a bad decision I made.

"Whatever, I still think you're a dumb ass." He takes a bite of his pizza and I ignore his comment, taking a sip of my soda.

"It's hard to believe we're all back together again. In the same city." Ryan says out of nowhere, causing Troy and me to look at him.