Carnell~
It was 3:26...o scratch that 3:27. I'd been staring at my phone, daring it to ring. Daring Gabrielle to call me with some type of bad news. I'd kill him, I swore I would. I didn't sleep at all the night before. She consumed my thoughts completely. Nothing else mattered. Not Jorelys, not my smashed PS3. Nothing.
I gave in and dialed Gabi's number, it rang twice before she answered.
"Yes Carnell?" She answered in a groggy voice.
My shoulders dropped as I let out a huff of air that I hadn't even realized I was holding in. "You're okay."
She let out a dry laugh and lowered her voice to a whisper, "Trent was high, faded out of his mind."
I pressed my lips together, trying to refrain from saying something I knew she didn't wanna hear.
She sighed, "What now Carnell?"
I shook my head "Nothing, I didn't say anything...I'm just wondering why you're so d*mn stubborn."
"Stubborn?"
"He's obviously no good for you-"
"Not this again."
"Why not? I'm just trying to help you!" My voice gradually raised to a shout. "I'm tired of walking up in the middle of the night so that you can stay here, and fall asleep in my arms, and then leave before I get up in the morning! If you don't leave him he's going to kill you! Don't you understand? I'm tired of this!"
There was a long pause, I heard her breathing on the other end; but that was all I heard. I'd hurt her feelings, but I didn't regret anything I said. I told her the truth. That's what 'Best Friends' do.
"What do you mean 'you're sick of this'? What exactly is it that YOU'RE going through ?"
I took a deep breath in attempt to calm myself down. I squeezed my eyes shut and spoke through clenched teeth,
"I mean...one of these days you're gonna call me and I wont answer. "
"...I just wont call you anymore, okay? I'll make it without Mother and I'll make it without you."
Click.
I sat in the same spot, dumbfounded and staring off to space. It felt like she'd just punched me in the gut. She chose him over me.
If it came down to Jorelys and Gabi, I'd choose Gabi, no question. But it wasn't the same for her; it never was. It never would be.
"I'm going to Noelle's," I heard Jorelys voice from behind me.
"See you," I turned to her as she sat two black suitcases on the floor. I eyed them and looked back up at her. "What's this?"
"Carnell, you're obviously not feeling this anymore. I'll just save us both some trouble."
I rolled my eyes, both of them were just determined to piss me off. "You know that's not true," I said making my way over to her.
"Why can't you tell me the truth? I'm a big girl."
I stood in front and looked down into her eyes. "I am telling you the truth, Jorelys." I slipped my hands around her waist and gently pressed my lips to hers; she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and melted against me.
I cringed on the inside, poor girl was so easy to feel. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't doing it to hurt her; I never wanted to hurt her. But anyone that gives you their love, deserves love in return. I knew how it felt being loved by the one you love most. I knew how it felt not being loved by the one that you love most. Jorelys' hands crept up my shirt, until I finally threw it off. I scooped her up in my arms and made my way to the bedroom.
Gabi
My right eye creaked open, my left eye didn't budge, it was swollen shut. Blood left a dry and crusted trail from my nose to the shiny white tiled floor. My whole body ached with an annoying throbbing pain.
I pushed myself off of the kitchen floor and grabbed a sponge from the sink. The only thing I cared about was cleaning up the blood. I wiped at the dry pool of blood, crossing over it several times. When none of it came up I scrubbed harder until I could feel each individual tile through the thick sponge, the blood was still there.
Tears seeped out of my eyes; I threw the sponge and pulled my knees to my chest. Trent was gonna get upset. People would ask questions. I got up and stumbled to the bathroom. I grabbed the bottle of Windex and closed the cabinet. I caught a glimpse of my swollen face in the mirror, I couldn't stop staring. I didn't even recognize the person looking back. Swollen black eye, bleeding nose, busted lip. Then all of a sudden...
It clicked.
It all made sense.
Trent didn't care, he never cared. Trent didn't love me, he never did. He promised he'd stop, he never would. It was so clear to me, I wondered how I never saw it before.
I ran to the living room and searched the couch for my phone. I pulled it from in between two cushions.
I called the first person on my speed dial, hoping he wasn't too upset. I knew what I'd said, but I said it out of anger. He knew that right?
The phone rang.
And rang.
And rang.
"Yo, this is Carnell..." his voice mail played out.
"No," I whispered. I hung up and tried again. No answer. "Carnell...don't do this to me," I wined as his voice mail mixed in with my voice. It felt like my heart split right down the middle. Carnell had given up on me. I'd lost the last person that really cared for me.
I stumbled into the bedroom, and pulled a huge black duffle bag from the closet and began stuffing it with whatever I could get my hands on.
I was leaving, just like Carnell begged me to for the longest time. I was finally listening. I dug in the top drawer of my dresser and pulled out $500 Mother had given me. It was more than enough to get me to wherever I was going.
Hopefully, I wouldn't even need it. This is all just a misunderstanding. I'll show up at Carnell's door, and he'll be glad that I left and take me in right away. Right? Right.
