"So Claudia just broke up with me..."
The words stung. They didn't sting like they hurt. No, the sting itself felt more comforting, like something I had felt a long time ago. It was strange how relieved I felt when the news came. If anything, I should have probably felt saddened, maybe slightly disheartened by the news. But I wasn't.
For the first time in five years, my best friend was a free man. He was free to do as he liked and to be with whomever he wanted to be with. There was no more looming threat from that blazing red hair and those always frowning lips.
"Dude, what the hell happened?" I asked, leaning up against the headboard. Honestly, I didn't care what the response was, all I knew was that I was finally rid of Claudia.
I'd always hated Claudia Jones.
Well truthfully, I didn't exactly hate her. Unlike most ex-girlfriends Damien Walters had, Claudia was perhaps the best fit for him in every which way. Both of them had the same taste in movies, same taste in music, same taste in witty banter for making fun of people with. You probably couldn't have found a more perfect pair.
What I hated was everything she stood for and what she was to me. She was a brick wall, blockading everything I wanted. She was the constant reminder that perhaps I was in a doomed mindset. She was everything that Damien Walters had wanted and everything that I could not be.
And the worst part was that she knew it. She knew what she was and what she was doing and continued like it was no big deal.
"I dunno man..." the voice on the other end of the line rang. Getting up from my bed, I could instinctually hear the pain. Knowing Damien, he wasn't crying as much as he was moping around. There was a long sigh on Damien's part. "I thought things were going alright. I thought we were alright and now she's gone."
Well good riddance to her quite frankly. Maybe now things would look up.
That was a funny thought. Things never did seem to look up for me. Whenever one shred of bright sunshine came into my life, there was always the quick familiar sound of thunder that quickly followed suit. It wasn't like I hadn't tried to hold on either. Most things in life just seemed to be inescapably out of reach for me; my mother's affections, that unpaid internship at the vets office, Damien.
I paused by the doorway, slowly closing it to buy me some privacy. It would soon open again anyway. My mother never really liked closed doors or the idea of privacy. Apparently privacy meant secrets and secrets meant lying to her, neither of which were the case.
As soon as the click sounded with the door closing, I nodded. "Is she mad at you for something man?"
My mind was racing, I couldn't keep still. How could I when news like this hit. Pacing had always been my go too though; I knew this even as my hand ran along the dresser which contained stacks of shared comics.
"What do you mean?" he asked, a bit defensively.
I shut my eyes fiercely. "What did you do Damien?" Of course it would be his fault. That was the bad thing of knowing your best friend like the back of your hand. The faults were obvious and you could always pick them out.
There was silence on the other end for a moment. After that moment, he sighed again. "Graduation came and went and she think's I applied for college." Well that was kind of stupid on both their parts; stupid on Damien's part for thinking she wouldn't be pissed, and stupid on Claudia's part for not expecting this kind of asinine impulsive bullshit from Damien in the first place.
God knows I was angry at myself too. Damien and his future were always so up in the air and it seemed like that's how it was going to stay for the time being.
"For fuck sake..." I countered a low tone.
Almost as if on cue, the door flew open. It was almost enough to send anything not nailed down flying across the room. Looking round, I'm not really sure who I expected. Standing in the doorway was a fairly short woman dressed in a gown and a frown on her face. "NEWTON ROTH!" she bellowed. "How many times have I told you to keep the door open in this house..."
Rolling my eyes, I turned towards my mother. "Sorry mom, I was taking a phone call." The frown on her face grew more. "It's Damien."
Shaking her head, she left the room, stamping as she did so. I didn't know how a calm and level headed guy like my dad and her ended up together in the first place, but somehow they had managed to make it work.
"Someone's in trouuuble." Despite the fact that Damien Walters knew nothing about holding up relationships, the one thing he did know was how and when to enter and exit a conversation. "Which would suck because here I was gonna ask Newt to meet me at Prim's."
I laughed.
"Dude, you better put that offer back on the table. I could do with some food right now" I couldn't help but pipe back. "Besides, the tragedy that is your love life is something that needs the tender love of a best friend."
"Dude, that's kinda..."
"I know, but you love it really."
"That I do. Meet me at our booth in ten"