I texted her back, hiding the phone from Trent's probing eyes.
I thought you were
working tonight?
She responded immediately.
Nah, I had the hangover
of all hangovers.
I could barely move
this morning, let alone be
around alcohol. So I called in.
I contemplated asking her to come over, but I didn't want her to have to babysit me.
I'm fine. I'm going to
go to bed soon. I didn't sleep
last night. I'll see you soon.
Feel better.
Trent and I finished our food in awkward silence.
“So...are you going to be okay in this house by yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah, I'll be fine. Kill hired a security company to come over tomorrow and install a system complete with surveillance cameras.”
Trent’s face paled.
“Don’t worry; it's just a precaution. The record company suggested it, since they're going to be in the spotlight soon.”
“That makes sense,” Trent replied, still looking uneasy. The color in his face raced back in full force, catching me off guard at the sudden change.
“Is that an engagement ring?” he hissed. His eyes were glued to my hand.
I brushed the ring with my finger. “No. Yes. I don’t want to talk about it, Trent. If we're going to try this friendship thing again, then you need to respect my boundaries.”
Judging by his face, he didn’t like this new rule. I was beginning to get fed up with our yo-yo relationship. I felt a connection to him since he’d been a part of our group, but my loyalty was starting to slip.
He must have read my thoughts, because after a moment, he nodded. “You're right. I'll respect your request. I guess I'll get going. Call me if you need anything. Let’s try to get together before school starts.” He got up, and I followed him.
“I will, and that sounds like a good idea. Goodnight, Trent,” I said, closing the door and locking it behind me. A huge sigh escaped my lungs.
I tried to watch TV, but my mind couldn't grasp the show’s plot. Even though I’d slept for eight hours, my body still felt exhausted. After I cleaned up, I abandoned the living room for my bed. My phone rang, just as I snuggled under my blanket.
“Good timing, Killer. I just got into bed,” I said, snuggling further down.
“Ummm. What have you been doing?”
Panic crawled through my veins, but I decided I needed to tell Kill the truth about Trent showing up. We needed to trust each other for this to work.
“Well, I slept for about eight hours, and then Trent surprised me by bringing me Chinese food.”
