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“Ash? Where the hell are you? Are you insane? I hope you are still in the parking lot somewhere!” Ava fussed. I ran a shaky hand through my hair and exhaled.
“Ava, you’re going to kill me, but I need your help.”
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m not far from the bar. I hit a deer and—”
“What the hell, Ashton? Did you call the police?”
“No, and please don’t call them yourself. I’ll be arrested—”
“Maybe that’s what you need to learn that you shouldn’t do that! You could’ve killed yourself or someone else!” she scolded. I groaned and grabbed my throbbing head.
“I know, I know, but can you please help me? You can yell at me all you want, but please. I really need you guys right now,” I said.
She sighed and told Alex what happened. I could hear Alex asking if I were okay while telling Ava to tell me that I was the craziest bitch on the planet for being upset about Steve. I couldn’t expect them to understand. They’d never had their hearts ripped out of their chest and stomped on, or been betrayed by one of their best friends. They didn’t have their safety net and comfortable life stripped away from them without a moment’s notice. They had no idea how great the pain was and how hard it was to get over him.
“Fine, we’re on our way. I’ll call Jared and have him bring his tow truck to get your car. You know he won’t do this for free—”
“I’ll pay your brother. Just hurry; it’s scary out here,” I said.
“Okay. Just wait in your car and I’ll call Jared,” she said and hung up. I scurried back into the car and sank down in my seat. My head pounded from the intake of whiskey as well as the hit to the head. Turning the light on once more, I looked at my reflection and saw a purple knot forming on my head and dried up blood.
I sighed. “Thank God I don’t have to show my face to be a phone sex operator,” I mumbled to myself, slapping the mirror up and turning the light back off.
∞∞∞
Headlights appeared in my rearview mirror fifteen minutes later as a tow truck pulled up in front of my car. Jared stepped out of the truck and walked over to my window. “Wow, it looks like you’re growing a second head,” he said once he saw me. I scowled and got out of the car.
“Shut up, Jared. I’m fine, thanks for asking,” I spat. He shrugged.
“When you make stupid decisions, you get no sympathy from me,” he said as he examined the damage. I folded my arms across my chest.
“How much is this going to cost me?” I asked, shifting my weight to the other foot.
He tapped his chin as if in deep thought before saying, “$350.”
“$350?” I repeated, my voice raising an octave. Did this bastard think money grew on trees?
He chewed on the toothpick in his mouth. “Well, would you rather call the police and have them find someone to get your car out of the ditch? I’m sure $350 is a lot cheaper than a bail bond,” he said with a smirk.
I glared at him and shook my head. “Fine, I’ll pay you in the morning,” I snapped. He walked off to hook my car up to the back of the truck as Ava appeared next to me.
“Wow, do you need to go to a hospital or something? That’s a pretty bad bump on your head,” she said, reaching out to touch my forehead.
I flinched away and shook my head. “I just want to go home,” I said, walking over to her car. She talked with her brother as I got in the passenger seat of her Jeep and glanced in the backseat, noticing that Alex wasn’t there.
“Did you take Alex home already?” I asked when she got in the car. She nodded without a word as she started the engine and continued down the road.
The ride to my house was awkward and long. She appeared as if she wanted to say something, but she kept her lips in a tight line. When we arrived outside of my apartment building, she finally turned to me and frowned.
“You can’t let Steve run your life,” she said. I nodded in agreement, but said nothing else. She sighed and patted my hand. “Ashton, I can’t sit here and say I understand your pain or what you’re going through, but maybe you’ll get over it quicker if you just move on with someone else—”
“It’s not that easy, Ava. Even if I move on, I’ll be paranoid that someone else will do the same thing,” I snapped. She sat quiet for a moment, carefully thinking over her next words.
“Everyone isn’t like Steve—”
“Who said that Steve was even the problem? Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I did something wrong to mess up what we had and—”
