"Erin!"
I turned around from my locker. "Hi."
Jason had a sad look on his face. "About yesterday-"
I cut him off. "I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything. I'm sorry for leaving. I just couldn't handle seeing her."
He smiled. "It's fine. I'm just glad you're not mad at me." He leaned in to kiss me but I stepped back.
"I need to talk to you about something though." I paused. "I want to break up."
Suddenly his smile faded and his expression turned to heartbreak. "What? Why?"
"Because seeing Carolyn yesterday brought back so many memories of my brother. I feel guilty. He was a great guy and deserved to be happy. It wouldn't be fair for me to be happy while he's probably heartbroken wherever he went."
"It's not your fault. You deserve to be happy too. Everyone deserves to be happy." He stepped closer to me but I backed up again.
"I'm sorry. I can't do this." I turned around and ran away. When I reached a bathroom, I ran inside and locked myself in a stall. The tears fell from my eyes.
"What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this?" I asked myself. But somehow I already knew the answer. I'm in love with Jason.
After school, Alexa and Riley came over to me while I was at my locker. "Hey," they said.
"Hey," I said.
"We haven't hung out in a while and we were wondering if you wanted to have a girls' night out tonight," Alexa asked.
"Sure. Sounds like fun." I grabbed my backpack and shut my locker. "So who's house is the sleepover gonna be at?"
"Mine," Riley answered.
"Okay. Cool." We walked out of the school. "I gotta go. What time should I come over?"
"Well we were gonna go get manicures at five so sometime before then, I guess?"
"Okay. See you guys then."
"See you," they said.
I headed to my car. I was about to open the door but Jason came and blocked me. "Erin..."
"Jason, move." He didn't. "Please?"
"No. I need to talk to you. You've been ignoring me since you broke up with me this morning."
I tried to push him away so I could get in my car and avoid this conversation. Unfortunately he wouldn't move.
"I'm not leaving."
"Jason, please." I gave him a pleading look.
"No. I'm in love with you and I don't want to lose you. Please don't break up with me."
"You're acting like Noah. And my decision is final. Now move out of the way." I pushed him out of the way and quickly got into my car before he could stop me.
I was on the road for a few minutes before my cell phone rang. I reached into my pocket, grabbed it, and pressed talk.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hey," Jason said.
I rolled my eyes. "Bye."
I was about to hang up but before I could he said something. "Don't hang up! Just hear me out! Please?"
"I already know what you're gonna say. You don't want me to break up with you."
"You're right. I don't want to break up with you. I'm in love with you. Please don't do this to me, Erin. Don't do this to us."
"Jason, I'm sorry. But I can't."
"Please? I'm begging you."
"Just stop. I can't date you. Just accept that." I hung up. I pulled into my driveway, got out of the car, and went inside and up to my room.
"Manicure time!" Riley said cheerfully as we walked out of her house. She hopped in the driver's seat of her car.
Alexa looked at me. "Do you want the front?"
"No. You can have it," I said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." She opened the door and slid in. I slid into the back seat.
The ride to the manicure place was... interesting. Alexa and Riley were singing along loudly and off-key to the music on the radio.
"Guys, you're so out of tune," I said laughing.
"That's the fun of it," Riley said.
"You should join us," Alexa said. They started singing loudly again. I continued to laugh at them. A few seconds later I decided to sing annoyingly too.
Finally we got to the manicure place. I jumped out of the car and we went inside. A while later we were seated. I chose to get my toenails painted purple and my fingernails painted blue.
"Whoa!" I said when I looked at Riley's nails once we were all done. She had gotten her fingernails painted orange with pink, black, and yellow polka dots. It looked so cool.
Alexa had gotten hers painted red. Like me, she didn't have any designs.
We already paid when we first got here so we just left and went back to Riley's house.
"Let's watch a movie," Riley said. She flopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote to the tv. She clicked on demand and searched through the movies.
All of a sudden my cell phone rang. "Hang on," I told Riley and Alexa. I went into the kitchen and pressed talk. "Hello?"
"Hey," I heard Gina's voice. It sounded like she was crying.
"Hey. What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
"I-I have to get away from my house for a while. Do you think I could come over?"
"Um... Hang on." I covered the phone speaker with my hand went into the living room. "Could Gina maybe stay the night too? She doesn't want to stay home right now."
"Yeah, sure," Riley said.
"Okay." I put the phone back to my ear. "I'm hanging out with Riley and Alexa, but you can come over to Riley's."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks. I just need to get away from my family right now."
"Yeah. No problem. See you soon then."
"Alright."
I hung up and went back to the living room. They had turned off the tv. "Aren't we watching a movie?"
"No. We decided just to talk," Alexa said.
"Okay."
We talked about different stuff for a couple minutes. "So I was thinking about asking someone out..." Riley said.
I laughed. "Of course you are. You date a different guy every week. I'm surprised you didn't have a boyfriend at all this month." She glared at me. "Sorry. Who are you planning on asking out?"
She hesitated.
"Tell us!" Alexa demanded.
She sighed. "Ryan."
My eyes widened. "What? Seriously?"
"Yeah. I really like him. I have for a while actually. I'm just scared of what he's gonna say. I know I date a different guy every week, like you pointed out. But it's different with Ryan. I like him a lot. I don't want to just stay friends with him."
"Well that's great! You should totally ask him out!" I said happily.
She looked shocked. "Really? I thought you would be mad at me. You know, since I only last a week with a guy and you wouldn't want me to hurt him if he says yes."
"I'm not mad." Maybe if she goes out with him he could move on from his crush on me, I thought to myself.
She smiled. "Okay. I'll do it. I'll ask him out." I smiled back. Just then, there was a knock on the door. We all stood up from the couch and walked to the door. Riley opened it.
Gina was standing with her pink duffel bag in her hands. Her eyes were a little puffy but it looked like she tried to fix it as best as she could.
"Hey," she said. She stepped inside and the four of us went into the living room.
"So. What happened?" I asked.
Gina looked down. "Well, you know my brother Isaac?"
"Yeah." Her brother used to be my brother's best friend. Apparently he liked me 'cause he asked me out but I said no. Why would he like someone three years younger than him, anyways?
"He came home to visit. He had just broken up with his girlfriend Melissa. My dad was mad at him because it was the only girlfriend he's ever had that wasn't a bad person. They got in a big fight and then he..." She stopped talking and cried.
"What'd your dad do?" I asked.
"He... He punched Isaac. My mom saw and called the police."
My eyes widened. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Is Isaac okay?!" Honestly, it didn't surprise me that her dad punched him. I've slept over at her house a couple times and he always seemed super strict.
"Yeah. He's in the hospital right now."
"Is your dad abusive or something?" Riley said. She's the kind of person that isn't afraid to say whatever she wants. Even if it's rude. I've known that for so long, considering she's my best friend.
"Not usually. The fight was just huge and he kind of blew up. I just couldn't be near him right now."
"So your dad isn't arrested?" Alexa asked.
"No. My mom thought about it but then she just made up an excuse that he fell down the stairs."
I gasped. "Why?! He deserves to go to jail! He beat up your brother! It's abuse!"
"I know. I thought the same thing. But she said he's not usually like this so I can't call the police. That he'll never do anything like that ever again."
"Don't listen to her! He deserves to be locked up! Even if he did only do that once! It'll turn into more. He'll turn abusive," Alexa said.
"How do you know?" Gina asked.
"Because that's what happened to my dad! He hit me once when he was drunk. When he woke up sober he apologized a million times. But then he got drunk and hit me again. Soon it turned into a daily routine. I was stupid and kept it from my mom. She found out though and called the police. He got arrested. He still is. Now it's just me and my mom."
Gina's eyes widened. "Oh my god." She picked up her phone. "I'm calling the police." She dialed the number and put the phone to her ear. She said a few things before hanging up.
"So what's gonna happen?" I asked.
"They're gonna arrest him." Suddenly she broke down crying. "I can't believe it. I just got my dad arrested! I feel so guilty!"
"Well don't. You did the right thing," Riley assured her.
"But what about my mom? She'll hate me! I got the guy she loves arrested!"
"She won't hate you. She might but mad at first but soon she'll realize you did the right thing," I said.
She looked at me. "You sure?"
"I'm sure." There was a short pause. "So can we go to the hospital to see Isaac?"
"Sure, but wouldn't it be awkward? You know, since he liked you. And I kinda think he still does."
I was shocked by that. "Why?"
"Because when he came home a few days ago, he kept asking me questions about you. And he asked if you have a boyfriend. He sounded disappointed when I said you do."
"Well I don't anymore," I mumbled.
She gasped. "What? Why not?"
"Long story."
Riley and Alexa both looked at me. "You had a boyfriend? Who?!"
"Jason," I mumbled.
They gasped. "Why didn't you tell us?!" Here we go again.
The four of us walked into Isaac's hospital room. He was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
"Wow." He looked so different from the last time I saw him. He used to have blonde hair with bangs swept to the side. Now he has dirty blonde hair that's shorter. He still looked kinda cute though. "He looks so different."
"I know," Gina said.
Suddenly his eyes fluttered open. "G-Gina? Where am I?"
"The hospital. Dad beat you up," she replied.
"Oh, yeah. I remember." He turned his head to Riley, Alexa, and me. Almost instantly his eyes stopped on me. "Erin. Is that you?"
"Yeah. It's me," I answered.
"Wow. I haven't seen you in two years!"
"I know."
Isaac looked at the other's. "Can you leave the room? I need to talk to Erin alone for a second."
They nodded. "Sure. No problem." They left.
"So how have you been?" he asked.
"Pretty good. Just a little upset."
The look on his face turned to concern. "How come you're upset?"
"Well, yesterday I saw Carolyn."
His eyes widened. "The Carolyn that Tyson killed himself over?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. I'm sorry. That must've sucked."
"It did. So what about you? How have you been?"
"I've been good. My college classes are easy so that's great." There was a short pause. "So, you know how two years ago I had a crush on you?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I still do."
I guess Gina was right. He still likes me. "But why? We haven't seen each other in years."
"I know but I've thought about you a lot. Of course I dated but I still like you." He sat up from the bed a little, wincing from the pain he probably felt, and started leaning closer to me. "If I were to ask you out, what would you say?"
"You're three years older than me."
"So?"
"You were also my brother's best friend. I don't date because of what happened, but since you were his best friend it's double. It would just be too hard. I'm sorry."
"I'm confused. Gina told me you have a boyfriend."
"Yeah, but we broke up today. And if you thought I had a boyfriend, then why'd you ask me out?"
"I didn't. I said if I were going to ask you out. Meaning someday. Not necessarily today."
"Oh. Well I'm sorry but I can't go out with you."
"Okay. I understand."
I smiled. "Thanks."
I heard footsteps enter the room. I turned around. Riley, Alexa, and Gina were walking towards us. "Hey. Are you guys done talking?" Gina asked.
"Yeah," Isaac said.
"Okay." We started telling him about his dad getting arrested and other stuff until a nurse came in and told us we had to leave.
(A/N Okay. I don't know if anyone's confused or not, but if you are, Erin started dating Noah when she was thirteen. They broke up when she was fifteen. Tyson was eighteen when he killed himself. Now Erin, Noah, Jason, and her friends are seventeen and Isaac and Carolyn are twenty. Tyson would also be twenty if he were still alive. Just to clear things up. If you're still confused, message me or comment and I'll explain.)