I twist my neck to look behind me but immediately regret it, my shoulder aching like hell from the distorted position it was in on Jake’s couch. “What the fuck happened?”
“I have no idea,” Jake answers, looking just about as bad as I feel. “I woke up to pee and found you here.”
I scramble for my phone in my pocket to check the time. It’s just after ten o’clock. “Shit!” I mutter. “I need to go.” I stand to leave when something hard and plastic crunches under my shoe. I lift my foot to find a pregnancy test. Teeny’s pregnancy test. I pick it up, further examining the dark line cutting across the little window, and last night comes flooding back to me. Teeny looking at me, her eyes filling with tears and this tangible hatred toward me. She’s never looked at me like that. Like she wishes me dead while hoping I’d somehow survive her bid. And I just sat there, nailed to the sofa while she walked away.
I rush to my car, running a hand through my disheveled hair, and buckle in, racing back home. I park my car in my driveway, seeing my mom’s car parked next to mine, and rush to Teeny’s house.
I ring the doorbell and wait as patiently as I can, fidgeting with my keys and tapping my foot against the doormat. When the door finally opens, I see James on the other side.
“Uh, hi,” I say awkwardly. “Is Teeny home?”
He eyes me warily. “She’s in her room.”
“Can I talk to her?”
He opens the door wider, and I rush past him, not bothering to appear calm. I take two steps at a time up the stairs to Teeny’s room, knowing I’m probably breaking a rule by being up here. It looks like Teeny and James are the only ones home, and it brings my nerves down a notch knowing her parents aren’t around.
When I reach her door, I find that it’s open, left slightly ajar. I knock gently before pressing a hand to it. Teeny’s there, roughly shoving some of her things into her backpack, and she watches me as I walk in. Whatever sad expression she had on her face sours into that hate and anger again.
“What do you want, Everett?” she asks coolly.
“Teeny,” I say, inching toward her only to find that I suddenly feel unwelcome. “I’m so sorry.”
“About what?” she asks, her hands moving angrily around her. “For getting drunk and cozying up with Angelica? For getting mad at me because you thought I was pregnant?” She stops what she’s doing, turning to face me. She throws a blow to my chest, shoving me a step back. “For blamingmebecause you thought I ruined your life?”
My hands loosely grip her wrists. My fingers trail her skin, skimming over her pulse point, but she pulls away before I can feel the beat of her heart. “All of it. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t care.” She zips up her bag and hooks it over her shoulder.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go to Diana’s,” she tells me, her eyes trained on the door behind me. “We’re working on a project for English that’s due after spring break.”
“Teeny, please,” I plead. “Talk to me.”
She chucks her bag on the floor, finally looking at me. It’s then I see how much last night took a toll on her. Her eyes are puffy, swollen and red from a night’s worth of tears. Her hair is all over the place, strands matted to her forehead, and she’s not wearing my hoodie anymore. She’s changed into something of her own, and of all the details of her appearance, that little bit hurts the most. “You hurt me so bad,” she finally says, her voice wavering. “And you go and embarrass me like that.”
My head hangs between my shoulders, so ashamed of my actions even as I acted in a drunken fog. “Teeny, I’m so sorry.”
“You know what those girls said to me?” she asks, her eyes growing misty. “They told me that you finally got the girl youreallywanted and led me right to where Angelica was practically straddling you. They shoved in my face that you cheated on me.”
“I didn’t cheat on you?—”
“That doesn’t matter!” she shouts. “That was so humiliating! I stood there, watching her touch you and throw herself all over you while you did nothing! All while I went and—” Her words are cut off by a sudden sob. “I went and got that pregnancy test by myself. I stood there while the cashier looked at me and judged me. And I took the test all by myself when all I wanted was for you to be there for me!” I reach for her to wipe at the tears now trailing down her face, but she leans away from me. “I needed you last night, but you…” She stops, her body sagging like she’s exhausted. “I need to go. I already promised Diana I’d meet her.”
“Teeny, please. Don’t go.”
“Just leave, Everett. I have nothing else to say to you.”
Teeny brisks past me, and I don’t stop her. When I hear the front door open and close, followed by the sound of her car starting, I leave her room. I awkwardly walk past James in the living room, giving him an uncomfortable nod, before walking over to my house.
When I see my mom in the kitchen, she’s sitting there, staring blankly at a steaming cup of coffee. She looks up when I walk in, and her face shifts to confusion. “Did you just get in?” she asks, her voice hoarse.
I nod.
“Jesus, Everett,” she says, somehow sounding even more exhausted than last night. “What the hell were you doing out all night? Were you with Teeny?”
“No.” My answer is curt as I reach for the fridge for some juice.
