Page 32 of Another Love, Another Time
I put my phone on the nightstand and close my eyes. It doesn’t take long to fall asleep.
A little while later, I hear the door jiggle. I’m sure it’s Auggie trying to come in to talk. I figured he would do that, so I locked the door before going to bed. I don’t want to talk to him right now.
I hear him whisper-shout my name but ignore it. Then, my phone vibrates again.
Auggie: Unlock the door
Auggie: We need to talk
I hear the doorknob jiggle again.
Auggie: Come on. Let’s just talk.
Not a chance in hell. My phone vibrates yet again.
Auggie: I know you’re up. Open the door. We need to talk about tonight.
I want to scream at him; however, I need to think through what I want to say to him, and I don’t want to wake up the whole house. If he still wants to talk tomorrow, we can. But not tonight.
Auggie: Fine. Be like that.
Auggie
I haven’t spoken to River since Saturday night. By the time I woke up this morning, she and her mom were already gone, leaving me with a disappointed-looking mom. She knew something was up since River left without saying goodbye, but she also knew I wasn’t ready to talk about it.
I’m so confused right now. I know my feelings for River are real, but she wanted me to hang out with other girls. Amber had been pursuing me nonstop ever since last summer. She also did some things that made me forget about her bad attitude. I didn’t agree to be her boyfriend. She just said it one day, and I didn’t stop her. Plus, her brother plays on the same baseball team, so I didn’t really want to cause any issues with him.
When River came to visit, I wanted to show her I was doing what she asked me to do. I was so excited to see her and to have her hang out with my friends, but when we got to the bowling alley, Amber wanted all my attention. I didn’t know what to do. Amber kept getting mad whenever I tried to talk to River, and I wanted to show River that I could be a good boyfriend. Somewhere along the line, I had apparently done something wrong, and she hasn’t talked to me since. I know she’s mad at me, but I’m mad at her too; I got in trouble with my parents for not watching over River and letting her leave.
They said River wouldn’t talk about what happened with them. I’m still not sure what River was so mad about. I mean, Amber was a little rude to her, but it wasn’t like River went out of her way to be nice to Amber.
I knew I messed up when even Logan was giving me one-word answers through text. Eventually, he said he would talk to me on Monday. It’s now Monday, and I thought he might have cooled off by this morning. I was mistaken. Again.
We always meet in front of the building and walk into school together. I already sent Amber in the building so I could speak with Logan alone, but when the first bell rang and Logan still was a no-show, I figured either Logan wasn’t coming, or he was already in the building. I sent him a quick text.
Auggie: Where u at?
Logan: Meeting with a teacher
Auggie: Can we talk at lunch?
Logan: Sure
Auggie: Away from our table. I want to talk about this weekend.
Logan: I think that can wait until tonight after practice.
Auggie: (thumbs up emoji)
After baseball practice, I ask my mom to give Logan and me a few minutes. “I’ll be waiting in the van,” she responds and then walks away.
“So, I know everyone’s mad at me,” I say. “River hasn’t responded to my texts or calls all weekend. I can’t believe I got in trouble for her leaving. I didn’t tell her to leave.” I kick my shoe into the dirt while adjusting my bag’s strap on my shoulder.
“You know I hate to get in between crap with you and River, but I feel like I have to this time. I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them honestly.” He looks me straight in the eyes.
“Okay,” I respond hesitantly, not knowing what he is going to ask.
“Do you think you were a good friend to River on Saturday?” He holds his hand up before I say something. “Just listen. Do you think you were a good friend to someone who drove six hours to hang out with her best friend? That friend then agreed to hang out with you and all your friends. Then, you only said two words to her the whole night because you were too busy sticking your tongue down the throat of your girlfriend in front of a friend who you know loves you.”
