Be With Me

Chapter 9

The door cracked opened and Rafaela turned her head to look back, finding Kelly coming in. Her heart sank in dark and tremendous guilt the moment she saw Kelly coming in and then when she smiled, Things were even worse. She felt like scum.

"Hi Rafi!" She greeted her visibly in a good mood. Rafaela gave her a faded smile unable to give her more than that.

"How was your weekend?" She then found the strength to ask.

"It was alright. Well, I missed my parents a bit so it was good. How was yours?" Kelly asked throwing her body on the couch.

"It was good. Saturday was the barbecue...I went there, I want you to know that, today I just stayed home." Rafaela explained briefly. None of the rest of the weekend could be told anyway.

"You didn't go to the bar last night?"

"No..." Rafaela answered with no further explanations. She knew her voice would tremble if she did so, she was a terrible liar and Kelly knew her quite well.

"Is there anything to eat Rafi, I am kinda starving." Kelly got up and walked up to the kitchen.

"There's pizza in the oven. I didn't have it all." Rafaela shouted.

Kelly came back after a few minutes with a tray containing two slices of pizza and a beer. "Do you wanna go to the bar after?"

"No..." Rafaela answered monosyllabic again.

"Why not? Look I know what we have talked about, but come on..." Kelly laughed. "He's not your type, I was being too insecure. During the weekend I got to think about this and there's no way you two could get along in that way." Kelly smiled. "I was being childish."

Rafaela gulped and her mind span around even more. Her guilt was corroding her. "I just don't want to go." She insisted, after all, she knew Kelly would be kissing James all over and she knew at that stage of the events things would strike her even worse than before.

"Come on Rafi! Let's go have fun!" Kelly insisted with her. Rafaela shook her head. "Please...I don't want to go alone."

"You're not gonna be there alone. The group is there, James is there..."

"But I want you to come with me as well." Kelly grabbed her hand. "Come on..." Rafaela ended up nodding, though knowing she had to be strong to cope with seeing James with his girlfriend, who happened to be her best friend.

Rafaela and Kelly smoked pot before they left, it was their sort of ritual, even if to Rafaela it was more of a necessity that night. She had to have her mind taken away somehow, and kind of distant, though she knew inside that wouldn't be enough. With or without pot she knew it would hurt like hell.

Already at the bar it wasn't hard to find them. James was really tall and could be spotted from far. He was the first person Kelly saw, and secretly Rafaela too but unlike her friend she couldn't just say it and giggle at her discovery. They approached the group, Kelly walking a bit faster for she wanted to hug James tight, and she did so first thing when she got there. Rafaela stayed a bit behind watching the scene from far. Though James wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, his eyes were locked on Rafaela who approached them as slowly as she could, and the hug was short too as James broke it right away.

"Hi guys!" Rafaela waved her hand in the air greeting them all at once.

"Rafi, your eyes!" Cliff exclaimed laughing. "You've been learning some stuff uh?" James looked at her attentively. Maybe she had exaggerated, truth was the joint was really strong but she needed that. She needed her judgment to be enough clouded that night.