"He's an ASS! I've been telling you for the longest!" I tell my friend, Taylor, as she paints my nails. "Seriously just DUMP HIM before he breaks your heart!"
"You're being dramatic! Sure, he's not the best, but, he isn't THAT bad." She insists. "I can fix him!"
"Oh my GOSH girl- if you have to 'fix him', then he was already broken! Ergo, NOT READY FOR AN ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP! Especially with someone like you!" I tell her. She continues trying to explain how "He isn't a bad person" and "Its just how he releases stress", but I zone out before the bull crap pours in.
You most likely don't know who I am. Of course you don't. I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Dani Morrison, a sophomore on her much needed winter break. Right now, I'm trying to convince my dense-as-rock best friend that her deadbeat "boyfriend" just isn't worth it.
Of course, she won't listen. "Best friend!" I say, cutting her off before she goes any further with her rant. "You know I love you, right?"
"Duh! We've been friends since middle school!" She says.
"Right. And you know I only want the best for you, mhm?" I continue.
"Yeah, I know!" She says, moving on to my left hand.
"Then listen when I tell you that HE. IS. A. HOE! He's a sleep-around! It's practically the only thing anyone knows about him!" I tell her. "I hate that you go around calling him your boyfriend when he's in a new person's bed every other day! You deserve better!"
Taylor sighs. "I guess you're right."
"Listen, babes, I know you love this man, and you want to be with him for awhile, so let's make a deal." The word "deal" catches her ear. "I'll let you keep dating him AS LONG AS you and him have a long talk about his unsavory actions. And if he keeps it up, then I'll have to step in. M'kay?"
"M'kay! I promise I'll call him as soon as you leave!" Taylor says, and we shake on it.
"Thanks, babes!" I say. I look at the clock on her wall and see how late it is. "Ah! Girl, I gotta go! I told dad I'd be back, like, 5 minutes ago!"
"Oop! That's not good!" Taylor says. "Want me to drive you home?"
"Oh my gosh, YES! Girl, you're a life saver." I say, and she gets up and grabs her keys. We slip on our shoes and head downstairs. Taylor let's her parents know she's dropping me off, and I wave goodbye. "Bye, Dani! Come back soon!" Taylor's mom says as we run out the house. We climb into her car and back out the driveway.
On the drive, I decide to turn on the radio, and my favorite song comes on. Taylor turns it up, and we start singing at the top of our lungs. We're so off-key, and our lyrics are so wrong, but even still, we're having the time of our lives. She's honestly just a giant ray of sunshine, and she always brings light to my life. It's no wonder we've always been friends.
She pulls into my driveway, and I thank her for the ride. We part ways and I pull out my keys, quickly unlocking the door. Inside, all the lights are off. At first, I think dad's just pulling that cliche "Sit in the dark and wait" crap, but then I remember he's horrible at sitting quietly for more than a few minutes. I let out a sigh of relief and head up to my room.
I change into something more comfortable and start scrolling through Instagram. Nothing new, just stupid memes. As I start drifting to sleep, I hear a random loud noise from the backyard. "What the hell!?" I shout, startled. I begin getting up to investigate, but decide to not become the first victim in this obvious horror movie situation.
I lay myself back on my bed, but quickly sit back up when I hear a pained whine. "That sounded like a dog..." I say to literally no one. I try to stop myself, but I can't help but to go see what that was. I love dogs too much to just let a hurt one whine to death in my backyard. I go downstairs and reach into the garage, grabbing the steel bat from against the wall.
I go to the back door and pull the curtains back. It's really dark outside, but once my eyes adjust, I can see a huge, black mass laying in the grass. It's not moving, but another whine comes from it. "What the hell is that??" I say, once again to LITERALLY NO ONE. Another whine.
Hearing it sound so hurt pains my heart. I can't just let it die. I slowly open the sliding door and step onto the grass. I have my bat in hand and a cautious step.
Really, what's the worst that can happen here?