November 11, 2004
My phone started ringing as I put Ashton in the bath.
"Hello?" I asked, but then heard my mom and Till screaming.
I sighed and shut the door.
"Where do you live?" Corey asked.
"Corey?"
"Where do you fucking live?"
"I live with my mom."
"What's your address, goddammit?!"
"Why do you need to know?!"
"Because I need to see you!"
"What if we just meet u-"
"No! No! Give me your fucking address!"
"I'll text it to you."
He hung up and I flinched. I texted him the address, then knocked on my mom's bedroom door.
She opened up the door. "What?!"
"M-My friend's coming over."
"Thanks for letting me know," She slammed the door in her face.
I walked back into the bathroom and watched Ashton.
"How many dinosaurs are there?" I asked him.
"One, two, three, five, six-"
"You skipped four."
"Oh, whoops, sorry," He chuckled. "One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven! There are seven dinosaurs."
"Seven dinosaurs."
I nodded my head and smiled as he splashed some bubbles.
"Mommy, where's Ville?" He asked. "I miss him."
My smile faded away. "Ville's gone, buddy."
"No he's not. I saw him on the T.V."
"Ville and Mommy don't love each other anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because we-" I choked on my words. "Sometimes, people stop loving each other."
"I love Ville, Mommy. I want to see him."
"You can't see him."
"That's not fair!"
I sighed and then my phone started ringing.
"Hello?" I answered.
"I'm here," Corey said.
"Okay, hang on a sec."
"St-Stay on the line, please."
"Okay. Ashton, I'll be right back."
"Okay," He smiled.
I knocked on my mom's door. "Mom!"
"What?" She threw open the door.
"I have to go talk to a friend really fast. Can you watch Ashton? He's in the bath."
"Gladly!" She spat at Till, then walked into the bathroom.
I wanted to know what they were arguing about, but I just walked downstairs and hung up the phone, then opened up the front door.
"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed as I saw Corey.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, but his jeans were torn. His eyes were droopy, his whole body was pale, and his hair was messy.
"I'm a wreck," He sobbed.
I shut the door and hugged him.
"What happened?" I asked.
"N-Not here."
"Your house?"
"No!"
"We could go to a hotel," I chuckled.
"I'm not going to a fucking hotel."
"Well, I don't know what to do, Corey."
He sighed. "Just sit in my car?"
"Sure."
We got into the back of his car and he sobbed. I didn't make him say anything. I hugged him and rubbed his back while telling him it was alright.
"It's not alright," He pushed me away. "I hate her! I fucking hate her!"
I nodded my head. "Why?"
"You don't even know who I'm talking about!"
"I don't need to know right now. Corey, why do you hate her?"
"She just pisses me the fuck off! I just want to fucking get away! She's so fucking annoying! I want to get away from her! I need to get away from her!"
"Corey, breathe."
"I'm fucking breathing!"
"What happened?"
"I was walking with Griffin-I had him in my arms-but then I tripped and fell and she started yelling at me, saying it was my fault and I meant to hurt him."
"Did he get hurt?"
"No."
"Did she say this after?"
"She said it after I tripped. He wasn't even crying."
"I bet he was crying."
"Just a little."
"Was it Scarlett?"
"Yes. Who fucking else?"
"I don't know, Corey. Relax!"
"Don't tell me to relax!"
"I'll tell you to relax if I want to!"
"Not if I shut you up!" He covered his mouth and I started laughing. "That's not what I meant."
"Mhm. It's fine. I know how hard it is to resist me."
"Whatever, Adette," He playfully shoved me.
"Are you alright now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
I looked in his driver seat and saw a Nightmare Before Christmas beanie. I grabbed it and put it on his head.
"There we go," I winked and got out of the car. "Go tell her how you feel."
"I'm not going back to my fucking house."
"Where are you going to go?"
"Your house?"
"I don't have a house."
"Don't be a smartass."
"This is my mom's house, Corey. Get it right."
"May I come inside?"
"Sure."
We walked inside and I heard Till and my mom yelling.
"Stay down here," I told him.
I walked upstairs into the bathroom and saw that she was drying off Ashton.
"Mom, he was taking a bath," I told her.
"And now he's done."
I put some clothes on him, then walked downstairs.
"Get the fuck away from me, Till!" She yelled.
"Are Grandma and Grandpa okay?" Ashton asked as we approached Corey.
"They'll be fine," I assured him.
"Bad timing?" Corey asked to which I nodded my head.
"Whatever!" She said, then looked at Corey. "Who is that?"
"A friend of mine," I replied.
"Stop bring your boyfriends around Ashton, Adette! Look at what happened with Ville! Ashton's fucking sad because he can't fucking see Ville anymore!"
"Mom, what the fuck?! First of all, Ashton is allowed to miss Ville. We were fucking engaged and we lived with him. Second, Corey is married, Mom! And even if he wasn't, I can bring whoever the fuck I want around my fucking son. He's not yours!"
Ashton started crying, so I picked him up and stormed outside.
"You alright?" I asked him.
He nodded his head and hugged me.
"Grandma keeps yelling," He told me. "And it's really loud."
"I know, I'm sorry," I told him, then started crying.
"Hey, you want to go somewhere?" I heard Corey ask.
I stood up. "Where?"
"I don't know-anywhere."
"Do you have a car seat?"
He shook his head, so I unlocked my car, grabbed out the car seat, then Corey put it into his car. As I was about to walk into his car, Corey stopped me.
"What's wrong?" He asked me.
"He misses Ville."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I just-Sometimes I think-I don't know-I miss him! I fall asleep to his song 'One Last Time' every single night to make me cry because I feel I need to go through the pain and humiliation I put him through-"
Corey hugged me. "Hey, don't do that. That's bad."
"What I did to him was bad!"
"It happened over a year ago."
"It feels like it was yesterday."
"Don't stress about it, Adette."
"I feel so bad."
"Do you still have feelings for him?"
"Kind of, not really. I think I like this other guy."
"Who?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Why not?"
"Because you know him really well."
"Right..." He winked, then we both got into the car.
"'Wicked Game'!" Ashton shouted.
"Corey doesn't have that song, buddy," I told Ashton.
"Dang it."
"I'll find out sooner or later who that guy you have a crush on is," Corey told me.
"No you won't," I smirked.
Little did he know that it was him.