MESSED UP - completed!

23- Nothing good happens after 2am

"Oliver..." I want to say something to comfort him, but my phone vibrating in my hand cuts me off.

He waves his hand. "It's okay. Take it."

"I'm sorry." The same unknown number. I take the call while my heart still aches. "What?"

"Why don't you answer me?" a man says on the line. "Where are you?"

"Who's this?"

"It's Jon. Where the hell are you?"

"Jon?"

"I'm coming to get Liz."

"What are you talking about?"

"Give me the address."

"Liz is not with me. Are you high?"

"You better not be lying."

"Bite my ass!" I hang up. Smith is looking at me with a smirk. "What?" I ask.

"Did you just say, bite my ass?"

"I meant something like fuck off."

"I'm learning new curse words from you."

"I'm happy to help."

"You're losing the 'hooking up' bet we had. You know you need to be gentler with men to seduce them."

"I already know I'll lose the bet. I'd give you my virtue, but that ship sailed long ago."

"The bet was on one hundred dollars."

"Was it?" I say, and he shakes his head as he smiles.

Zoey is drunk, and the guy she was flirting with has already moved on to another woman. We call it a night and decide to head home. "My place," she mutters, and we head there. The place seems nice. Too nice to be accurate. I open the door as Smith is holding her.

We get inside, and it instantly feels crowded. A whole crowd of adults shouts and cheers as we enter. They look at us and stop cheering. A man approaches me in a rush and looks at Zoey's face. "Zoey?" He asks with a scowl on his face.

"Yes? Who are you?" I ask.

He fixes his clothes and whispers to me. "Get Zoey dressed properly and bring her here before everyone leaves."

"It's thoughtful of you to throw a surprise party for her. I'm sure she would be thrilled to see you guys. But as you can see, she's drunk. And it's three am. If you excuse us, I will put her on the bed."

He glares at me and moves closer. "I said, get Zoey here." His voice is warning me. "Pour some water in her face or slap her."

"Whoa! Easy there, Chris Brown," I say out loud, and he gets shocked.

Smith stands between us, putting a distance and shielding me. "She can't even open her eyes," Smith says. "Thanks for coming, but she won't be able to greet you guys. So help yourselves with the cake and then see yourselves out."

I don't waste a second and help Smith move Zoey to the bedroom. She throws up on her clothes. I take her to the bathroom to help her shower. Smith and I put her in the bed. Smith lies against the drawer, crossing his arms.

"We should go," he says, "I don't think her sugar daddy wants us here."

"Ugh. I don't want Zoey's rough buddy here either," I say, drying my hair and clothes, which have got wet a little. "What would he do if we hadn't dropped her off? Would he slap her?"

Smith runs a hand in his hair. "I don't know. Just let's go."

The crowd is gone, and the man is on the couch with a cigar between his lips. "I think you should also leave," I state as we enter the living room.

He squeezes his cigar in his glass and gets up from the couch, moving toward me. "Zoe was supposed to be home early. Neat and clean. Not like this!" he glowers, almost attacking me.

"Get it together," Smith says, trying to shield me again.

I step back from him and fix my hair. "I understand Zoey ruined the surprise party, but hold yourself cause God knows I can throw a fit if you're gonna act like this." Whoever he is, he can't make her feel bad just for having fun on her birthday. He shakes his head and leaves.

"What if he has a key?" I ask Smith.

"I don't think he will get back here. We made our point. Now let's go home."

***

Something pounds, and my eyes open. The light pierces through the window into my room. It's already nine am. I look around to see where the pounding sound came from. It comes from the living room. I crawl toward the door as the pounding gets louder and open the door. An angry Zoey is standing right in front of me.

"Hey," I greet her, my voice low. She barges in with her fists on her sides and sunglasses on her eyes. "What happened?"

"What happened? What happened, Mia? Really?" She shouts.

"Shh! Calm down. Smith's asleep."

"Calm down? No, I can't calm down. Not after what you've done!"

"What I've done?"

"You ruined everything!"

"Can you please calm down and tell me what happened?"

"You fucking let me sleep and ignore the people in my living room!"

"Wait. You're mad about this?"

"Yes!"

"You were drunk. You couldn't have possibly lifted an arm, let alone walk."

"I had to wake up! It's all your fault!"

"Excuse me?"

"You insisted on taking me out on my birthday. Just because you wanted some fun. It's always what you want. Isn't it? Always the things that you choose for everyone else!"

"I don't wanna argue with you cause you're still hungover, and you'll regret this."

"Please! What can you argue about? The way you screwed up your whole life, getting knocked up and acting as if everything's fine?" I stand silently, my jaw clenching so hard and my teeth aching. "My dad and the whole family were waiting for me!" she says.

"Your—Your dad?"

"Yes!" she shouts.

Smith comes out of his room. "What's going on?" He asks with half-closed eyes.

"I'm sorry it all happened," I say. "I didn't know it was such a big deal, and even if I knew, I couldn't do anything. You were literally hammered!"

"You're sorry?" Zoey says. "My dad hates my guts now!"

"There's nothing to hate. You're a grown-up woman. You drink and suck it up, not blaming others for it."

"Oh, really?" She stands there quietly and crosses her arms. "You wanna suck it up for the choices you made?"

"I do that already."

She faces Smith. "You know, Oliver? She's pregnant."

Smith looks at me, his eyes now completely opened. "What?" he asks.

"Yes," Zoey says.

"Don't do it," I warn her, but she doesn't care.

"Your choices, remember?" she says to me.

"Zoey..." I beg her to stay quiet.

"And the father is your ex, James," she says, facing Smith.

Smith stops in his tracks and faces me. My heart beats fast.

"Two months. And you didn't even know," Zoey says, hurting him even more. Smith stands there, his eyes looking down.

"This is a joke, right?" he asks, and when I say nothing, his smile fades away, and a haunted look settles on his face. "Is that—Is that true?" he asks.

"Oliver," I say, not knowing how to confirm it, and he takes it as a yes. He stays silent for a few seconds, then moves toward the door and leaves.

"That's how you ruined things for me," Zoey says, facing me, and she leaves too.