I spent the night at Coraline's house. The two of us decided to stay home from work the following Monday. Tina also wanted to stay with us, but I told her to go to work; we could hang out afterwards. However, this day felt like it took forever to end.
After we arrived at Coraline's house (my car was still at Tina's), Cora and I spent hours and hours binge-watching TV shows. Terrence joined us some time at midnight, but then both him and Coraline went to bed. As soon as they had left, I started remembering things again. I was watching the images on TV, but somehow I was also watching a whole movie inside my head.
I remembered Carly's scream. My best friend Carly. The one who lied about who she was and where she lived to me. Someone whom I've known for over ten years, who I thought I could trust.
I remembered Colt's shocked expression when I caught Carly in the closet. He's been overly confident for years, but his façade got shattered within seconds. I trusted him. I loved him. And in turn, he broke me.
I turned the TV off and just sat there as the darkness of the night engulfed me. At a certain point my eyes closed, but soon enough they were open again. I didn't shed a single tear. But I knew that I wasn't alright. I kept telling myself that I could overcome this, that I could be strong.
But the reality was that I couldn't. This was just as painful as the day my mother died.
Before I knew it, a bit of light was beginning to shine through the window. I didn't get any sleep whatsoever, although I did try to close my eyes and get some rest throughout the night. Now that it was morning again, I was dumbfounded that I hadn't gotten any sleep.
I got up to stretch myself. My body felt awfully stiff. I walked over to the window and slid the curtains open. The streets were still empty, of course. But I was able to see the rising sun well enough, something I couldn't do at my house.
Colt's house.
Coraline and Terrence were well off financially. Colt's house looked like a mansion compared to theirs, but honestly, what was the point in having a big house if there was usually nobody at home? I never complained about Colt's 'job' because I knew that he was doing what he really liked to do. When we were choosing what house we would be living in as a married couple, I let him choose. When it came to decorating the house and adding furniture, Colt did everything. Come to think of it, I was constantly letting Colt make all of the decisions. The only thing I got to decide was what we would be eating that day.
I was obedient to him because I loved being a wife. In my eyes, doing household chores, hugging my husband when he came home from work, getting his clothes ready whenever he had to go out... I loved doing all of that. It wasn't a bother to me. I enjoyed being a wife, because it was something that I desired to do ever since I was a little girl. But my prince in shining armor gave me this in return.
"Hey Scarlett, you're up."
Coraline's soft voice made me turn around. I smiled at her.
"Good morning Cora," I said.
She didn't smile back. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked me.
"Would you like me to prepare breakfast for you guys?" I lowered my head. "I don't want to feel like a freeloader."
Moments later I felt a pair of cold hands on my cheeks. Coraline was finally smiling at me.
"You're my best friend, Scarlett," she said, staring hard at me, "The day I call you a freeloader I want you to cut off every single one of my fingers."
I giggled at her dark humor. "Including your toes?"
She grinned. "Including my toes."
"Deal."
"Let's cook something together, okay?"
The two of us went all out. We made pancakes, scrambled eggs, French toast... Terrence's mouth dropped when he saw us.
"You're welcome to live here if you want, Scarlett," he stated.
Coraline and I laughed.
"Of course she'll be staying," she said, "You can stay for as long as you want to, until you get settled in. Maybe we can go apartment hunting today. It'll be fun." She was trying to cheer me up, but the idea of having to move into an apartment on my own didn't quite appeal to me. Having realized she had probably said too much, Coraline gave me a nudge. "We can talk about that later. But as for now... Let's eat!"
After Terrence left, Coraline and I finally got some 'us' time. We had just finished calling in sick at work. I couldn't believe Cora did that for me.
"As far as I've known you, you've never called in sick for work," I said, sipping from a mug filled with delicious coffee. Terrence brewed the best coffee out of all of us. "You should have gone to school."
"Please, there are more important things than work sometimes," she replied.
"How long have you been working at this school?"
"Hmm... Possibly about three years."
I gasped. "And you've never called in sick?"
Coraline laughed. "Is it that surprising? I don't want my students to fall behind, so I try to push through it even when I'm ill."
"That's crazy," I admired, "You're crazy, you know that?"
"Maybe," she replied, "So... Time for the real talk. Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
I shook my head and looked away from her. "Nope."
"In that case, the very first thing I want you to do is to get some rest. Is that understood?"
I pouted. "If I could, I would have," I told her.
"Why can't you?"
I explained to her some of the things that went through my mind overnight.
"Oh honey..." Coraline frowned. "It's going to take a lot of getting used to. But you can do it."
"Can I?" I felt choked up. "Can I really get over him?"
"Yes, you can," she said determined, "Because, just as you stated before, he's not worth it."
"I was bluffing. I don't think I can fall in love with someone again."
She placed her hand on top of mine and smiled at me. "You can, and you will," she said, "You know why? Because you're a wonderful person, Scarlett. Not just as a friend. You have a big heart. If you think it's impossible to love someone the way you loved Colt, I'm sure that you'll meet someone who is much more worthy of your dedication."
I started crying. "When was it that he stopped loving me?" I buried my face in my hands. "Did he ever really love me?"
"It doesn't matter anymore, honey." She got up and embraced me. "He's not worth it. Every rose has its thorns."
That expression couldn't have been any better. Colt pretended to be a rose in front of me, but his thorns killed me.
Coraline had showed me to the guest bedroom before, but I didn't want to sleep alone, so I told her I preferred staying in the living room. But now, my body was begging me for a nap. That same guest room that I avoided earlier became my buddy now.
By the time I woke up, Tina was standing right next to me with a grin on her face. I groaned at the sight of her chirpy attitude.
"She lives!" she exclaimed, "Get up, it's time to go out."
Go out? Was she joking? Did I look like I wanted to head out today?
"Please no..." I hid my face with the pillow.
"I know you don't want to," she said, "but you have no choice."
"A party?!" I wanted to hit her so badly right now.
Tina nodded. "A party. Just us three. What do you say?"
I snickered. "That sounds more like it," I told her, "But do we have to go out?"
"Yup," she said, "Of course we do. Staying indoors won't make you feel better. Some tequila might."
I rolled my eyes, but for some odd reason I still got out of bed.
"Before that..." Tina's grin disappeared. "There's something you need to do."
I paused and gave her a look. "What's that?"
"You... still have a copy of your house keys, right?"
I pressed my lips together. "Yeah? Why?"
"It's still early. Colt should still be at work or wherever he might be."
"So?"
Tina looked visibly uncomfortable, but she still spelled it out for me: "You need to go pack some stuff up. You have your handbag, phone and wallet, but you don't have any fresh clothes."
Right. I forgot about that. I did tell him that I was coming over tomorrow to pack up my things. If he was gone, perhaps I could still sneak in, do it and get back out before he got back home.
"Okay, I'll just grab the necessities and go," I told her and Coraline, who also appeared at the doorway.
"Terrence is on his way home," Coraline said, "Do you want him to come with us?"
Coraline's husband Terrence was also a teacher, so his working hours were almost the same as Cora's.
"Why should he?" Tina asked her, "We're going inside with her. Nothing's going to happen to her. That is, if he happens to be home."
"Terrence wanted to talk to him actually," Cora explained, "They were friends after all. But he's highly disappointed in him. He said he wanted to talk to him in person."
"He can call him," Tina argued, "Now's not a good time."
"Yeah, you're right..." she replied.
"Let's get this over with..." I said, feeling dejected.
Coraline's car pulled up in front of what used to be my house. There were no cars parked here, which meant he wasn't at home. I stared at the house key in my hands. The girls gave me my space until I told them I was ready.
We walked up to the house. Just when I was about to stick the key inside, I noticed a new alarm system at the wall. There was also a camera in the top right corner of the door. My mouth dropped open. Was Colt serious?
I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. He didn't pick up the first time. I called him four more times in a row. Colt didn't pick up. He was doing this on purpose.
"What's wrong?" Tina asked me.
"He added security to the house," Coraline said, "He probably changed the lock of the house as well."
"But he knew she was coming back today," Tina said surprised.
"Of course he knew, that's why he did it."
Colt suddenly picked up the phone.
"Wave to the camera," was the first thing he said.
"You put an alarm system to keep me out of the house?" I hissed.
"And a camera, don't forget the camera," he mused.
"Why?"
"Guess."
I glared at the camera. "Do I look like I'm up for a guessing game?"
He chuckled. "Well unless you can guess what the reason is, I'm not letting you in." And he hung up on me.
"God damn it...." I said, trying over and over to call him again.
"He's playing with you," Coraline said, "Let's just go and come back later."
"When he's home?" Tina asked, "Isn't that what he wants? He thinks he can still manipulate her."
I shoved the phone in my pocket and put the key inside the lock. I knew it wasn't going to open the door, but I had to try it regardless. As soon as I did it, the alarm went off. I kicked the door in response. Coraline instantly panicked, and Tina grabbed both of our hands and started running.
"He's the worst," I slurred, finishing the martini I was drinking.
Tina laughed. "You're so wasted. I'm going to remember this day for as long as I live."
Coraline nudged her. "It was your idea to bring her here."
"I have a high alcohol tolerance level, so of course I wanted to bring her here."
Cora laughed. "Are you sure you're her friend?" she asked her.
"What friend wouldn't want to see her best friend wasted? Isn't that how this friendship thing works?"
Their voices seemed to have faded, drowned out by the music around me. The alcohol was starting to make me sleepy.
"Do you girls want to go TP his house tomorrow night?" Tina suggested.
"Yeah!" I said, "Let's do it!"
"No, let's not," Coraline said, rolling her eyes, "We're not ten years old, and we're teachers for God's sake."
"Where am I going to find an apartment?" I asked. Somehow being drunk meant that I would ask the very first thing that popped into my head.
"We'll start searching tomorrow," Coraline told me.
"Yeah, don't worry," Tina added, "We'll find a way. Colt's not going to get away with this."