Splinters: Part One

Part One | 19

"I-I'm not scared."

Andrew smirked. "You gotta get that stuttering fixed, man. You're a terrible liar."

If you've still fallen for my boarding-school act, I must not be.

"Let's go!" he pushed. "You can show her how much you care about her by taking care of her."

I pressed my lips together. I knew now that he wasn't going to let it go. He was going to force me.

"Fine," I huffed, dropping the basketball.

Andrew smirked and slung an arm over my shoulder.

...

Andrew conjured up a lie to Melissa, telling her we were going to go hang out at his place. She believed him, which made me feel a little bad. I don't know how many times I've lied to her after she told me she didn't want anymore lying. I felt like I didn't even deserve to be in this family.

The guilt and the nervousness going through me did not mix well. I felt terrible about lying to Melissa and I was scared to approach Collie's house. What if her dad really did answer the door? What if she wasn't even home? How embarrassing would this entire thing be?

The smell of inside Andrew's car clouded my thoughts a little. I didn't know what it was in there, but it stunk. It got me to roll down the window, which then confused me.

"Hey, how do you know where Collie's house is?"

Andrew glanced at me. "I've known Collie since I was, like, ten, Brayden."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "So you've been to her house?"

"Plenty of times."

"Why?"

He gave me a short flat look. "She's not an angel, Brayden." To me she is. "I've lost count at how many parties she's thrown while her family was out of town."

My eyes widened. I didn't expect Collie to throw parties. I knew she went to them, I didn't know she threw them. I didn't answer him as he kept driving.

When we got to Collie's house, I let out a breath of relief. Two cars were inside the garage and one of them was Collie's which made me assume that not everyone was home. Or at least, I hope not everyone was. He parked along the curb and pulled the key out of the ignition.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, sitting back against his seat.

I glared at him before opening the door. I didn't march up to her porch right away. I was terrified. I was hoping to see Collie when she got better. She might even find this creepy, randomly going to her house without her permission.

Andrew was by my side in seconds.

"Have you ever done this?"

"What?"

"Just come to someone's house unexepected?"

He waved me off. "Oh, yeah, all the time."

I stared at him. "That's weird, Andrew."

He rolled his eyes. "Go see your sick girlfriend."

I shook my head and stepped on the porch. I looked at him and he nodded. I raised my hand, knocking three times. We waited for what seemed like forever. I was about to knock again when the door opened.

A tall boy with bright blue eyes stood before me. He had growing facial hair and spiked up hair. His build was huge and it was safe to say he could kill me just by stepping on me.

He stared at me. "Can I help you?"

I glanced at Andrew and so did he.

"Andrew?"