Page 46 of Tattoo My Heart
I put my hands on the table and drop my head over them.
“I hate this so damn much,” I whisper to no one in particular. “I don’t understand how my life became this complicated. On top of that,” I lift my head to look at them. “I ran out this morning, before he was up.”
Both Carrie and James stare at me, unsure of how to react.
“You ran out of your own house?” James finally takes the reigns of this crazy conversation.
"I didn’t know what else to do!”
My elbows are resting on the flat surface of their kitchen table, hands in my hair, ready to pull it all out. I am beyond frustrated with the whole thing.
“Why couldn’t you just stay and talk to him?” James suggests. “You know, like a normal person.”
My eyes snap to his face. “What did you just call me?”
“I didn’t call you anything,” he laughs and puts his hands up in a defensive move. “But your reaction to what I said tells me everything I need to know.”
I look to Carrie. “The more I interact with your boyfriend, the less I like him.”
“You wanted to take him to that party with you,” she reminds me, sounding way too amused for my peace of mind.
“Oh shit!” I sit up straight. “That reminds me!”
Without another word, I pull my cell phone out of the back pocket of my jeans. I am shocked when I see that it’s only been a little over an hour since I snuck out of my own house like a thief in the night. Maybe James is right, and Iamcrazy after all.
“I’m going to text him and tell him I can’t see him anymore,” I announce out loud. “And if you,” I point at James, “say a word about of any of this, to him or anyone else, I will end you.”
It is obvious that he is not taking me seriously at all, not even one bit, but he decides to indulge me and nod in some sort of acknowledgement of my threat.
I open the texting application on my phone, then stop.
“Wait!” I can feel my eyes being all wide in my head, and I’m sure my hair is a mess. “I need to message the other guy first.”
Carrie looks at me like I just fell from the sky and landed right at her kitchen table. She is patting the baby on the back, trying to get him to burp.
“What other guy?”
“TheHolidatesdude.” My arms are moving around, like that’s supposed to explain it all. “I need to secure him.”
James starts laughing, but when I look at him, his laughter turns into some weird cough, fist covering his mouth and all.
I give him a dirty look. “That’s what I thought.”
With that, I ignore both of them as I open theHolidatesapp and get into my inbox. That last message from the only person interested in me is still sitting there. That’s where he laid out the terms of his agreeing to accompany me to my mother’s party on the Fourth of July.
I responded to him to say I wasn’t interested anymore, but that was when I thought I’d take Nancy’s nephew, Bass, to the party. Now I realize that taking someone from my real life could backfire in a big way. So, I am back to square one.
My fingers hover over the screen, feeling nervous all of a sudden. I look up at my friends, who are watching me with various degrees of concern mixed with amusement.
“What should I say?”
“That you want to hire his services so you can show him off to your mother,” James snickers from where he’s standing at the counter. Carrie tries to mask her laughter by burying her face into the baby’s side as he rests on her shoulder, still trying to burp after eating.
I move fast when I lean forward, grab some squishy toy-like thing and throw it at James’ head. He ducks just in time, which only serves to make them both laugh harder.
“I’m so glad I can provide such amusement for you two while my life is in shambles,” I snap at them.
“Evie,” Carrie gives me such amomlook. “Your life is most definitely not in shambles. There are people with real problems out there…”
