Page 37 of Coveted Justice

“Don’t hold your breath, asshole.”

She ended the call before he could respond. Derek had a summer internship at a financial firm run by his father’s best friend. He was hoping to get a job there once he graduated next year. Lately, it was all he wanted to talk about to the exclusion of any other topic. He simply wasn’t interested in what he considered mundane day-to-day details.

Scratch that, he wasn’t interested in anyone else but himself. Self-involved jerk. She should have dumped him before spring break.

With a sigh, she sat down on a bench in the town park and dialed up her friend Lizzie Monroe. Lizzie was practically a sister to Amanda, both of them growing up together since their fathers were best friends.

“Thank goodness you called. I almost started cleaning but thankfully the phone rang and stopped me.”

Typical Lizzie. She was funny and a bit sarcastic, and Amanda loved the way her friend answered the phone - as if they were in the middle of a conversation. In a way, they were. One giant conversation that they’d been having for years that simply stopped and started again and again.

“Aunt Misty might like you to clean something.”

Uncle Jared, Aunt Misty, and Lizzie were staying with her uncle on the family ranch just a few towns over. Every time they visited, they tackled another room in the large house, digging through old family photos and just generally combing through a few generations worth of belongings. It was hot, dusty work.

“My mom asked me to help clean out some closets. She said they’re not as bad as my closet at home. She wants me to tackle mine when we get back.”

“Do you have clothes from middle school or something?”

“Yes, but they might come back in style.”

“In twenty years. I think she might have a point. Last time I visited, you couldn’t hang anything else in the closet and your clothes were overflowing onto the floor and top of the dresser.”

“I’ll admit that it’s worse now. I may have gone shopping on spring break.”

Lizzie was absolutely gorgeous so everything she tried on looked spectacular. She had her mother’s pale blonde coloring and her dad’s height. She had, however, grown since middle school. Especially up top. Some of those clothes probably needed to go.

“If I was there, I’d help you, but I think you’re going to have to do it yourself this time. You should just get in there and get it done. Get it over with.”

“I know you’re right,” Lizzie said with a sigh. “It’s just a huge job. Once I get into it, there’s no going back. I’ll have to push on until it’s done. How about you distract me? I assume since you called and didn’t text, you want to talk.”

“I do,” Amanda admitted. Normally, she and Lizzie were like the rest of their generation. Her parents were always saying that young people didn’t like to talk on the phone anymore. “I just talked to Derek but he wasn’t all that helpful.”

“You cannot be shocked about that,” Lizzie said. “He’s never been the most sensitive dude. He’s pretty much all about himself.”

Amanda was beginning to come to that conclusion herself.

“I ended things with him.”

“Good. You should have done it a long time ago.”

“He wasn’t that bad. He had some good qualities.”

Lizzie laughed on the other end of the phone, clearly amused by Amanda’s weak defense.

“Name three. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Seriously, Derek’s okay but I’ve never thought that he’s treated you the way you deserve. You could do better.”

Lizzie had said that in the past, although not unkindly. Just in a supportive friend sort of way.

“He had some good moments.”

“It doesn’t even sound like you believe it. And he wasn’t your boyfriend, remember? Derek doesn’t like labels.”

“Labels don’t define a relationship.”

“You’re right they don’t. What matters is how a person feels for another. He couldn’t even commit to being your boyfriend. Did he care for you? Truly? Probably, but he had a piss poor way of showing it. He was never going to be the type to be by your side when the shit goes down. If there was a zombie apocalypse he’d use you - and everyone else - as a human shield.”

“That’s quite a declaration you’ve made.”

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