Present Day

The Prompt: You still smell like my childhood.

You pick at a loose thread on your jeans while I watch. My head is down, ringing up a customer's order, but I keep my eyes on you through a curtain of hair. You look the same as you always did. Taller and stronger, but still the same. Your brown eyes stare lazily across the room and try as I might, I can't see what catches your attention. It certainly isn't me.

You take another step in line, coming ever closer and I hope you notice me. The idea is thrilling and butterflies flutter in my stomach. I take another peek, but you're still looking across the room so I take the opportunity to study you carefully. You're dressed for work, jeans and a t-shirt despite the heat. Your skin is a pale brown, tanned from your hours of work in the sun, but when you reach back to scratch your neck, I see the pale skin beneath your hem. The back of your neck is red and grass stains adorn your jeans.

I keep watching you until you reach the register. Then I duck my head down, embarrassed by my quiet observations. "A small coffee," you say, not bothering to look straight at me. I'm a nobody here, only the hands that supply coffee. "Black."

You still smell like my childhood. Freshly mowed grass. Antibacterial soap. Clean clothes. As you hand over the bills to pay, I notice the dirt under your fingernails. The smudges left on your shirt from wiping your hands. You're closer than you've been in years, yet you don't notice me. You're still staring off in the distance, a blank expression on your face. Tired and drawn. Your eyelids droop. You need the caffeine.

My hands tremble as I hand over your drink and your fingers graze mine, the slightest touch an electric shock, sending lightning through my veins. But it's over and I let go. "Thanks." You turn your back and before I have the chance to say a single word, you're out the door. You don't look back. I'm the one left staring after you, like always.

To Remember

The Prompt: “Pawn it.”

Her words assaulted my ears. She’d always been blunt, but this was too much. I held the ring in my hand, carefully, as though the slightest movement would break it. I knew diamonds didn’t break like that, but sometimes it doesn’t matter so much what you know as it does what you feel. “Jessie, pawn it.”

“I can’t.” My voice was small, hardly managing to bubble out of my throat. For a moment I thought it hadn’t, but Autumn grabbed it from my hand. “Hey, don’t!” I protested, but it was weak at best.

“If you can pawn it then the bastard did something right. Unless he gave you a fake ring. What do they call it, fool’s gold? The diamond version.” Autumn held the ring up to the light, as though she could tell the difference just by looking.

"Cubic zirconia," I told her.

“Whatever. I’m sure you could get something for it.”

“I don’t want to pawn it,” I said. I took the ring back from her rough hands and closed my fist tight around it. I needed to protect it. It was a diamond and like all diamonds, it was flawless. Just like our love was supposed to be, but wasn’t. If the ring realized that, would it crack? Shatter into a thousand imperfect pieces? It would have been poetic, but life so rarely is. “It’s mine.”

“It’s from him.” She reached for the ring again, but this time I blocked her. It was mine. “Look, you’ve got to move on. Selling the thing isn’t just for the money. It’s symbolic. Throwing your final token of his love away. Good riddance to him. It’s- what’s that word? The Buddhist thing. Cathartic.”

“It’s not Buddhist,” I told her, but she never listened.

“Whatever. Like it matters.”

Everything matters. Maybe not monumentally, maybe it won’t change your life, but everything matters. “I’m keeping it.”

“To do what? You can’t wear it. The bastard cheated and left. You can’t wear his ring.” Autumn scowled at me, her dark eyes severe and judging. No, that she was right about. I couldn’t keep wearing the ring. I didn’t want to. But I needed to keep it, perhaps locked away in some jewelry box. But I needed to know it was still here. A reminder. That’s all it was, a reminder. A reminder that at one point he had loved me. Our love had been pure, just like the diamond. Flawless. Nothing flawless ever lasts. Nothing flawless except a diamond, that is.

“Just to have,” I said. I opened my fist to see the light glinting off the tiny stone. “To remember. It wasn’t all bad.”

Nightmares

The Prompt: In this dream I was...

In this dream I was screaming. The walls of fire surrounded me, cutting off any route of escape. The heat of the flames seared my skin as they burned closer. My body felt painfully dry and tight and all I wanted was to escape. But the fire was a circle around me and there was no way out. I was trapped. So I continued to scream.

“Peyton, wake up already!”

I jolted up in my bed and stared at my roommate with shock on my face. When the realization sunk in, I reddened from embarrassment. “Sorry,” I muttered, wiping the sleep from my eyes. It was early afternoon and all I had wanted was a quick nap since I hadn’t been sleeping well at night. I’d been plagued with nightmares for the past two weeks and the circles under my eyes showed it. I needed some restful sleep.

“You okay?” Michaela asked. “That sounded…rough.”

I hadn’t thought it was possible, but my face got even redder. I’d been screaming in the dream, I remembered that much, but I sincerely hoped I hadn’t actually been screaming. “Was it really that loud?”

“Uh…” Michaela seemed hesitant to answer. “I’m sure no one could hear you outside of the room.”

Great. That was just what I needed. For our entire hall, scratch that, entire floor to know I was a psycho with nightmares all the time. I’d have to figure out some way to stop them. Just bloody brilliant. Exactly what I needed the week before midterms.

“You gonna be okay?” Michaela asked. She sounded worried and I nodded, plastering a smile on my face.

“Sure. Just have to study. All this stress is playing with my head.” That might have even been true. I’d never really had nightmares before, but it was my first set of midterms in college ever. Maybe it really was just the stress. If I spent more time studying and worried less the nightmares might go away. That made perfect sense.

“I think I’ll go to the library,” I said, ignoring Michaela’s questioning look. “Quieter. Better for studying. Have to ace chem..”

“Right.” She nodded.

I packed up my bag, grabbing both lab books and textbooks for the library. I didn’t really prefer studying in the library, but I also didn’t want see Michaela anymore. I was too embarrassed to be around her. This was the second time in a week that she’d woken me up screaming from a nightmare. I sincerely hoped it would be last, but I couldn’t face her now. Going to the library was just an easy excuse.

“Good luck,” she said. “You know, with the studying and stuff.”

After two months we still weren’t close friends and a bit awkward around each other so I ducked my head. “Yeah, thanks.”

“And uh, it’s okay, you know. About the nightmares and stuff.” My faced burned. “Yeah, I know. Just—studying calls. Gotta hit the books.” I stumbled out of the room red in the face and closed my eyes in relief. I had to find a way to make the nightmares stop. Somehow.

Letting Go

The prompt: You come home late at night, after a hard day. The message light on the answering machine is blinking. You press play and listen. "Dumping you on graduation day was the worst mistake of my life. Terry and I didn’t work out—Terry—was the second worst mistake. I will be at La Petite tonight at eight. I asked the chef to prepare a lemon soufflé, and to put white tulips—your favorites—on the table. Please, please, come."

I froze, my hand hovering over the phone to delete the message. It had been years since I’d heard from Lynn. We hadn’t spoken since graduation day itself which had been one of the worst days of my life. And now to have it all coming back three years later, after I’d moved on and made a new life.

“So..” Anna stood in the doorway, the dark shadows obscuring her face. I looked at her in surprise. None of the lights had been on in our apartment and I hadn’t known she was standing there until she spoke. I hoped she hadn’t heard the message, or at least all of it.

Lynn hadn’t been her favorite person back when she and I were a couple, but after she’d broken up with me at graduation Anna’s feelings had grown stronger. “Hey!” I said, pasting a smile on my face. If Anna hadn’t heard I wasn’t going to tell her. It would only make things worse between us.

She frowned and glanced at the machine. My stomach churned. “Are you gonna go?”

So she had heard the whole thing. Or at least enough of it to get the gist. “What? Things with Lynn aren’t- I mean we haven’t spoken in-” I stumbled over my words trying to find a way to tell Anna what I was thinking. It was especially difficult considering even I didn’t know what I was thinking. Everything happened so quickly. I hadn’t had the chance to process yet. And Lynn, I’d been in love with Lynn. It was all those years ago, but I couldn’t quite shake the strength of what I felt for her.

“You’re going to go, aren’t you?” Anna sounded sad, not upset but resigned to the fact that it was out of her control.

That made my decision. “She dumped me at graduation, left me with mascara streaks on all my pictures and a summer that was suddenly too open. I’m not going back to her. I wouldn’t ever leave you for her.”

Anna took a step closer to me, coming out of the shadows and looked up into my eyes. “I don’t want to keep you from her if she’s going to make you happy. I don’t want to be that girlfriend, to guilt you into staying.”

“You’re not!” I burst out. I calmed myself and continued in a lower tone. “I want to be with you and I made that decision a year ago. I didn’t choose you as my backup.” In an attempt to convince her I pushed the delete button on the answering machine, clearing away Lynn’s voice for good. “There, see? It’s all gone.”

Anna smiled gratefully and her face relaxed for the first time that evening. I was glad that she was happy, but I couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge. For so long I had wanted nothing more than to receive a phone call like that, for Lynn to beg my forgiveness. It wasn’t what I wanted anymore, but still hard to let go completely.

I pushed these thoughts out of my head and matched Anna’s smile with my own. That was all in the past. I was happy here and now with Anna. That was all that mattered.

Prompt #12

The Prompt: There’s a reason why I can’t look you in the eye anymore.

I feel betrayed. We were never close, but I trusted you. I trusted you more than I did the rest of them. I thought you were safe. I try to avoid you as much as I can. It’s hard when I have to sit in the same classroom with you for an hour a day.

I keep my head down, sprint out the moment the bell rings. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can’t stand to be in your presence anymore. Just that single hour in class makes me feel physically ill. You don’t have to say a word and already I want to run far away. I would skip, but I haven’t got anywhere to go and I’m too afraid that would draw me to your attention.

Instead I sit there, your desk not more than fifteen feet away from mine. Everyone else is working busily on their assignments hoping to fall into your good favor. I can’t focus. They don’t know anything. It’s supposed to be a secret. I’m not supposed to know either.

But she told Dana and Dana told me. I don’t know why Dana told me. I never asked to know. It would have been better to live happily in ignorance. But in a way I’m glad I know. What if I had gone on idolizing you? I feel dirty just remembering the way I used to think about you.

And even worse when I think about what you did with her. It wasn’t a onetime thing. It went on and on for weeks, maybe even longer. There were feelings involved. That almost makes everything worse. Feelings.

I glance up at the clock. This assignment carries over as homework so not focusing isn’t going to get me any unwanted attention. Ten minutes left. Ten minutes until I can escape.

Ten minutes is forever in the same room as you.

It’s hard to believe there was ever a time I looked up to you, idolized you even. I can’t imagine going back to that now. It’s hard enough knowing I have to continue to see you every single day when I come into school and pretend that nothing has changed.

I was never an actress. I’m not a part of the theater department. I can hardly tell a lie without being called out immediately. I don’t handle secrets well at all. And this is a huge one. I can’t think of anything else and it makes me wonder about all kinds of things.

Why you did it, for one. Why would you take such a risky chance when it could ruin your whole life? We have the excuse of being teenagers for our stupidity, but you’re an adult. You’re supposed to be mature and rational. You’re supposed to stop things before they go too far.

It all comes down to you. Maybe she made mistakes too, but you’re the adult. That’s why I can’t stand to be around you anymore.

People begin to pack up and I check the clock again. Three minutes. Oh god, please let it be over. Please let me be out of here. It’s a Friday so I know I won’t have to suffer the hour of class again until Monday.

“Lyssa?”

I freeze as you say my name. You can’t want to talk to me. It’s Friday. I’ve just got to get away from you.

But you’re a teacher and I can’t just openly disrespect you. I shuffle over to your desk where you’re grading our essays from last week. You smile up at me, but I look away. Keep my gaze on the ground. Talking to you makes my stomach roll over uneasily so I keep my mouth shut.

“I know I’m not handing the essays back until Wednesday, but I wanted to get yours to you early. Congratulations.” You offer me a paper from the side of your desk and I stare at it a moment before realizing you mean for me to take it. Accepting anything from you seems wrong now, even if it’s only a paper.

I grab it quickly and yank it from your grasp so we won’t both be touching it at the same time. I don’t want any kind of connection with you. The cursive A at the top of the page would have pleased me just a few weeks ago, but now all I can think is that you wrote that A and what else you’ve done with those hands. What else you could be thinking as you graded it.

“Thanks,” I mumble, already heading towards the door. I don’t want to talk to you any longer than absolutely necessary.

You frown at me slightly. “Is everything okay? Anything upsetting you at home?”

The question puts me on my guard. Home. Home’s fine. You’re the one upsetting me. But I can’t say that to you. You aren’t supposed to know that I know.

At that moment the bell rings and I snatch your backpack from the floor. “Gotta go, can’t be late for class,” I say. I just can’t wait to be out of your presence.

“Anything you need, Lyssa, don’t hesitate to come to me, alright?” You stare at me sincerely and I nod jerkily before sprinting out of the room. It’s only then I allow myself to cringe in disgust.

Had you said that same line to her before things started happening between the two of you? Did you offer your shoulder for her to cry on? Or was that offer to me merely innocent, a teacher trying to help his student the way he should?

I can’t take anything you say at face value anymore. I question everything you say, everything you’ve ever said. It disgusts me, sickens me to the point where I have to run away. I know things I shouldn’t, things I never wanted to know.

I don’t know why you did it, though. I’m not sure I want to. I can’t begin to fathom what made you think it was okay. You’re not who I thought you were. Not by a long shot.

Prompt #11

The Prompt: Let me tell you a lie.

The first time I told a lie I was six. I’d just broken my grandmother’s favorite vase playing Frisbee with my brother in the house even though we were both old enough to know better. He scrammed and left me to take the blame so I did what any child would have done. I smiled at her innocently and blamed the dog.

Or maybe the first lie I told was when I was four. I was plenty old enough to eat my own food, but refused to eat anything green. Carrots were fine, green gummy bears were not. It had nothing to do with texture or health, I just hated the color green. So when my dad came home and asked if I’d been good and eaten all my veggies, I did what any self respecting four year old would have done. I gave him a big hug and told him of course I had.

But that might not be right either. What if the first lie I told was when I was twelve and for the first time failed a test. The teacher asked me why and I wasn’t about to tell her I’d been online with my friends the whole night before so I smiled innocently and told her I’d studied an hour a night for the previous week.

But is any of that important? Does it matter if I was four or six or twelve? Does the when matter? I did it, I lied. That’s all that is important. Or is the why also important? That I lied to get out of trouble, for my own good, to make people view me better. I don’t need those excuses anymore. A good lie can be for any reason at all.

None of this matters to you. You aren’t here to listen to the story of my lies. That doesn’t interest you. You’re here for a story. To be entertained. So here’s my story.

I was fourteen. A normal fourteen year old with normal fourteen year old friends. And then my life changed suddenly when my friend died in a car crash, hit by a drunk driver going home from school one evening. Everything turned upside down. Everything that felt good and right disappeared.

She was gone. She left a hole in my world. Nothing fit anymore. The puzzle that was my life wasn’t only missing a piece, but it seemed as though it had been reshaped. Tragedies like that happen all over the world, but they aren’t supposed to happen to you. Never in your life.

But they do. And nothing’s ever right again. It changes you, changes the way you view the world. Maybe that’s what made me the way I am.

Only that’s not entirely true. It wasn’t my friend, it was my sister. She was closer to my heart than anyone else in the world. She was my closest confidante and my best friend. We told each other everything. Except her one secret. She was unhappy and never told me even though I told her everything.

She took her own life and I never knew, never suspected. My own sister and closest friend and I didn’t have a clue. It broke my heart. Changed me forever.

Did you like that? Feel any tugs on your heart strings? Entertaining enough for your liking?  Were you invested in my life and my story, perhaps? I thought it might have more impact if I switched it from my friend to my sister. Was I right? Did it add more to my sob story? My poor sister. It could have even been true if I weren’t an only child.

I’m sorry, am I toying with your emotions? Do you not like being manipulated into feeling for me and my lies? Then why did you continue reading? I’m a liar. Lying is what I do. You knew that from the first sentence. I’m probably the most honest liar in the world. And you kept reading anyway. Doesn’t that say more about you than it does about me?

Think about that while you sit there feeling judging me. You want to be lied to, to hear the stories. You just don’t like the liars.

Prompt #5

The Prompt: Sometimes I wonder about you.

Where you are, what you’re doing. It’s been two months since I last saw you, nearly eight since we last spoke. No, don’t worry. I wasn’t following you around. I haven’t resorted to that yet. I saw you as I was driving by a girl’s party. Her name was Lana, I think? She had been one of your friends before we started going out.

I won’t lie, it hurts to see you with her again. I imagine you laughing at her jokes, letting her sling her arm around your shoulders. It’s like a burning coal of jealousy in the pit of my stomach. It’s wrong, I know, but it hurts to see you with someone else when you could have been with me.

Six whole months. It’s a long time to go without you, D. I never thought I would survive this long without you. It was my fault, I know, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. In some ways it hurts more than if you had fallen out of love with me. It hurts to know that you’re out there, maybe still with feelings for me, but you refuse to come back.

I’ll keep my promises this time. I will. I’ll do anything to get you back.

It’s been twenty months since you broke up with me the first time. I thought I was going to die then and there. You broke my heart and it felt like the rest of me was shattered as well. When you came back to me it was the happiest I’d ever felt.

I’m sorry for screwing things up again. I’m sorry for letting you down. Please take me back. I’ll be anything you want this time.

Twenty nine months since I met you. That was the best day of my life. I first saw you in class that first day you came to school. You were the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. I could tell you were embarrassed by the way the teacher made you introduce yourself. I was pretty pissed on your behalf, but I think I forgave him when he made you sit by me.

That class became my favorite. I fell in love with you before you even knew my first name. I don’t think you ever knew how long my feelings had lasted. To you I was just the guy you sat next to in class, I knew that.

But when we became more it felt as though my heart would burst. And the night you told me you loved me, just less than twenty three months ago, was the night I gave my full heart to you. I’ll never love another girl like I do you. You’ve taken it with you, D. I’d say you stole it, but I gave it to you willingly.

How did things turn out like this? How did we go from head over heels in love to over?

No, I don’t expect you to answer that. I know what you would say all too well. And I’m sorry. Have I mentioned that before? I’m so incredibly sorry. I never intended to hurt you. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I just got so jealous when you spent more time with your friends than me.

I love you, D. Why can’t you understand that everything I did I did out of love?

But I was wrong. I know that now. I loved you too much and you needed your space. You deserve better than me, but it’s hard when all I want is you.

Two months since I last saw you and those have been the hardest two months of my life. I never realized how empty my life was before you were in it and now all I can think of is how much worse the pain is now that you’re gone.

I love you with every fiber of my being. How did that turn out so wrong?

There’s nothing I can say to fix what we had. That’s over. You made it clear the last time we spoke that I was never to come near you again. I’m sorry for that, for that and so much else. Where did I go wrong? All I wanted was for you to love me as much as I loved you. I never meant to hurt you, to do those things to you.

Sometimes when your soft skin was marked I could hardly look at you. I never told you how much it hurt to see you that way. It wasn’t you I couldn’t stand to see, it was what I had done to you. How I had marred your perfect beauty and turned you into my own ugly creation.

It was never my intention to hurt you.

Sometimes I wonder about you, D. Do you still dream about me? I used to love when you told me all of your dreams and had me help interpret them. Am I still a comforting figure in them? Or am I the dark shadow man that makes you wake up in the middle of the night in terror?

I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for so much that you’ll never know because I was never able to explain. The more I hurt you, the more I hurt myself. It was self destructive. But I love you more than words can say.

After everything that’s happened, D, I still love you.

Prompt #3

The Prompt: It was not the birthday gift I was expecting.

I let my hands fall to my sides in surprise as I stared at Elliot beneath me. The smile on his face was so sincere and confident, as though this couldn’t go wrong. As though everything was going according to plan.

This wasn’t in the plan, not mine at least. I needed my own space. We’d only just graduated together last year. I couldn’t go from school to him so quickly.

My mouth opened and closed, but I couldn’t get any words out. What was I supposed to say? Should I be blunt? Let him down easy? And in front of everybody?

I glanced up at my friends and my sister. They watched me expectantly, more silent than I’d ever seen them before. Not one of them squealed or whispered or even giggled. They were all waiting breathlessly for my answer. Only Amie looked hesitant. Her eyes were down in her lap and she refused to meet my gaze.

If there was one person I could have chosen to speak to in that moment, it would have been her. It should have been her here instead of me. I’d known she had a thing for Elliott when we started dating, but I hadn’t ever expected things to go so far.

“Get up,” I finally managed, my voice hoarse.

He grinned at me and shook his head, remaining on the single knee. “I think the rules are I’ve got to wait until you give me an answer. Marry me?” The diamond glistened invitingly in the small velvet box he held up to me.

This should be something I didn’t have to think about. This should be instinct. And it was. I knew my answer immediately, it was just the wrong answer. I had the perfect guy bent down on one knee begging me to marry him and all I wanted to do was vomit.

“Stand up,” I whispered. This time he obeyed, but the stupid smile didn’t go away. He had no idea what I was thinking. “Can we go outside?”

“Ooh, outside,” Payton teased as we headed for the door. Any other time I would have scowled at her for the implication, but I didn’t bother. She was the least of my problems. I heard the other girls giggle and I assumed she had winked at them.

Outside Elliott tried to take my hand, interlocking his fingers with my own. I almost tore my hand away, not wanting to lead him on further. This was the first time his confidence seemed to falter. “What’s wrong, Bee?” He asked. “Don’t you know what you’re going to say?”

The way he asked it made my skin crawl. As if there was no other answer. As if I didn’t have another choice. “And what if I don’t?”

“Are you serious?” He asked incredulously.

I took a step back. Confrontations always made me queasy. If I’d some preparation for this maybe I would have been okay, but it was so out of the blue. I hadn’t even suspected he might do this. “It’s so soon,” I said, deciding honesty would be best. “We haven’t even been out of school for a year. I’m just twenty two- twenty three!”

“But why wait if something’s right?” Elliott asked, his face confused.

I glanced to the side, not meeting his questioning gaze.

“You don’t think we’re right, do you?” He demanded.

I shook my head. “It’s not that, it’s just- we’re so- this isn’t supposed to happen.” I sighed. I never was good with words when it came to people. There wasn’t anything concrete to tell them, you just made it up as you went along. I didn’t like making things up.

“You don’t think this is right,” Elliott said, shaking his head. “Two years of our lives together and you don’t think I’m worth a simple yes?”

“It’s not that simple.” I tried to defend myself, but I didn’t know what to say. Maybe things weren’t right between us. Maybe it was him, maybe it was me, but marriage? It just seemed too crazy to comprehend. Weren’t we still kids? We just graduated from college yesterday it seems, and high school the day before that. Heck, where did middle school go?

“All this time we’ve spent together and you still think I’m not good enough for you.” He scowled at me, his face twisted into an ugly sneer. “That’s great, Bee. Real great.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I protested, but he was already walking off.

“You know what?” He asked, spinning to fix me with a nasty glare. “You always think you’re better than everyone. So just screw it, let’s have it your way! Call this thing we have over and you’ll never have to see me again.”

I didn’t know what to say to make him feel better or explain what I meant. I knew I should have said something, but nothing in my arsenal of words and phrases seemed to fit this situation.

So I let him walk away.

It took me several very long minutes to gather up the courage to go back into my birthday party. I knew they’d all have questions. They’d be annoyed. They’d want to know why I turned down a proposal from a guy as great as Elliott, because he was a great guy.

The room silenced as I walked in and they all stared at me. I could feel them silently judging me before Peyton finally broke the awkward stillness. “Where’s Elliott?”

I shrugged. “Can’t you guess?” I snapped. Maybe it was a little harsh, but I wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Sorry,” Peyton said quietly.

I sighed heavily. I didn’t want her pity. I didn’t want the looks the rest of the girls were giving. I couldn’t even glance in Amie’s direction. Elliott was her friend. She’d liked him, loved him even, for all these years, even before he started dating me. What kind of friend was I to do something like that?

All of a sudden I felt awful. I wanted to throw up rather than celebrate. It was my twenty third birthday, how had this turned into such a mess?

“You want to cut the cake?” Ty asked cautiously.

“Why don’t you guys just leave,” I suggested. “I want to be alone.”

There were a few quiet protests, but Peyton quieted them down and ushered everyone out. I sank into a chair. This was supposed to be a day of celebration, my official birthday out of school. How had I managed to screw things up so royally?

“Bee? You okay?” A small voice asked. I jolted at the sound of someone else. I’d thought I was alone. Soft footsteps padded around my chair and Amie sat on the sofa across from me. “I don’t think I’ve seen you like this before,” she said after a moment of silence.

“What’s it to you?” I asked, knowing it was mean the moment it came out of my mouth. It didn’t seem I particularly cared about anyone’s feelings anymore. “You probably hate me now. You and Elliott-”

But Amie shook her head. “Don’t make this about me. You look sad.”

I turned away. I wasn’t worried about crying, but I didn’t like being sad. And I didn’t like that Amie knew I was sad. “I’m fine,” I said bitterly. “Just ruined the only real relationship I’ve ever been in. I’m doing brilliant.”

“It’s okay to cry if you want,” Amie said.

I snorted. Mostly I just wanted to wake up and realize this day was all a bad dream. “God, what made him propose? Did you know that was coming? It was- oh god. Out of nowhere.”

“He’s in love with you,” Amie said with a shrug. “People want to show that they love you.”

“Was,” I corrected, feeling it really sink in. “He was in love with me.” I seriously doubt he was anymore.

“Maybe,” she said and opened her mouth to continue, but the phone cut her off. We both stared at it as it rang.

Once.

Twice.

“Are you going to get that?”

“It’s probably my parents,” I said. Wanting to wish me a happy birthday, no doubt. Unless- Unless Elliott had asked Dad for his permission. “Oh no, what if they know?”

Three times.

The panicked expression must have shown in my eyes because Amie reached out and put her hand on my arm. “You don’t have to answer it now. Talk to them another time.”

Four.

I’d never screened a call from my parents before. I wasn’t that kind of girl. We had a good relationship, especially now that I wasn’t living at home. “Can I?”

Five.

“Leave it, Bee. They’ll be fine.” I nodded and we waited.

Six.

Seven.

Finally a sense of peace settled over me as the answering machine clicked on. I wouldn’t be able to avoid them forever, but for now at least they didn’t need to know. For now I could keep things to myself. “Everything’s going to be fine, Bee,” Amie said.

I wasn’t sure if this was exactly true, but I nodded anyway. Amie was always a good friend to have in a crisis. “Now come sit beside me,” she said, patting the cushion on her left. “We can do nothing at all.”

I paused, then curled up beside Amie, drawing my knees to my chest. She put her arm around me without a word. Yes, Amie was definitely a good friend to have in a crisis.

Prompt #2

The Prompt: I pushed past people, ignoring their complaints. I tripped and stumbled a couple of times, but righted myself. I could hear him shouting behind me, running to catch up.

I darted around the side of the building, panting hard. My heart beat fast in my chest as I tried to catch my breath. I could hear the sounds of the people talking and laughing as though nothing had happened.

Footsteps drew closer to where I was hiding and I held my breath, hoping it wasn’t him. He couldn’t have found me yet. A child’s laugh erupted from just a few yards away and I let out a sigh of relief. I was safe, for now.

I waited another few minutes and shakily pulled out my cell phone, texting Ike to come pick me up. I didn’t tell him what had happened because I knew he’d disapprove. I’d promised him more than once that all of this would stop. Maybe I’d even meant it at one point.

It felt like ages later before Ike arrived in his van. I could have walked in that time, but my legs were still shaking. I’d never had such a close call. My heart wouldn’t slow down and I was beginning to worry if that was normal.

I climbed in beside Ike and he frowned at me. “You alright?”

“Just bored,” I said flippantly, rolling my eyes. “There’s nothing to do in this stupid town.”

He shook his head. Ike never liked it when I complained about Seaside Haven. He’d moved here more recently than I had, but for some inconceivable reason he actually liked the place. “Whatever,” I muttered.

My heart was beginning to slow which was good because I didn’t know how much longer I could fake it to Ike.  He always seemed to know what I was thinking and feeling and lying to him was too difficult to make it worthwhile.

“What were you doing over at Juniper’s?” Ike asked, naming the flower shop he’d picked me up at. I was confused for a moment before I remembered that I’d run there after nearly being caught.

“Uh nothing. I was just bored and looking for something to do,” I lied. I didn’t know what else to say and made up for it by looking out the window. “Does everything here have to look identical?”

“Were you at the mall?” Ike asked. My face flushed a deep pink. He glanced over at me and scowled. “You were, weren’t you? I thought you were going to stop!”

I looked down at my lap, suddenly embarrassed. Ike was the only one who could do that to me. “It’s not what you think,” I muttered.

“So I’m not your getaway driver?” He snapped. I shook my head, although in reality that was exactly what he was. “This is great, Leah. You’ve practically turned me into a criminal as well.”

We rode the rest of the way in silence and once outside my house Ike slammed on the brakes. “Don’t call me again to bail you out. I’m not getting in trouble because of your little habit.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I turned away so he wouldn’t see them. “Like I need your help. I only called you because I was too lazy to walk.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know that Ike’s face was bright red with anger. The van took off with the wheels almost squealing and he was halfway down the road before I turned to look.

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and stumbled into the house before I reached into my purse and pulled out the cause for this whole mess. Two pink sparkly butterfly earrings that I’d grabbed from a display shelf in the store.

I didn’t even have pierced ears.

Prompt #1

The Prompt: I had been watching them quarrel from the window.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I’d heard it all before. They would fight about schedules, whose turn it was to keep me for the weekend, why he was late, and how dare he come early.

They would fight about money, where were those child support payments he was supposed to send and why wouldn't he help with the college fund.

They would fight about where he was living and whether it was safe enough for me to stay on the weekends and holidays.

But no matter what the subject was, it always came back to me. Everything was always about me. I remember when I was young Mama would always yell at him for being drunk. How could he do that to Kaelie? It was always me, never her.

When they finally divorced three years ago and gave me the talk, they fought about how to tell me. In the end, I found out from their screaming. This was after they stopped hushing their voices.

If it hadn’t been for their fights, I would have been shocked the day I came from school and Daddy was gone. They called it a break, but it never ended. It got longer and they ended up in court, fighting over me. I’m all they ever fight over.

Mama gestured toward the house, her eyes flashing dangerously. I ducked down so they wouldn’t see me watching. They’re not clueless, they know I know about the fighting, but they’ve never said a word.

When I glanced back out the window, Daddy was standing there alone, looking angrier than usual with his hands jammed in his pockets. The front door slammed and I immediately closed my blinds and grabbed a book from my bed.

Mama walked into my room with a scowl on her face. “Are you ready yet?” She snapped.

I nodded and grabbed my weekend bag. I already had a few things stored at Daddy’s apartment, but Mama refused to buy me two of everything. “Tell him not to feed you anymore junk food. It keeps you up at night and makes you break out.”

I nodded again. Daddy always bought us junk food. He said it was because I needed a treat when Mama wasn’t around, but I knew it was because Mama told him not too.

“Kaelie, are you listening to me? No more R rated movies, either. Not unless he wants to drive over here every night when you can’t sleep.”

“I promise,” I said, keeping my eyes on the ground. If she knew that Daddy let me watch whatever movies I wanted she might not let me go back. I didn't want them to go to court over me again.

“And keep your cell phone on.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “See you on Sunday.”

I left the house as I did every other Friday afternoon and Daddy grinned at me from his car. I smiled back. “Heya squirt. Ready for some fun?”

“I’m thirteen, Daddy,” I said, although I liked it when he called me squirt.

He laughed and my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, already knowing who it was from.

What are your plans for the weekend? –Mama

“Is that her?” He asked sounding tense.

I shook my head. “Shannon,” I lied. “A friend from school.”

He wasn’t fooled. “Tell her you’re thirteen, plenty old enough to hang out with your old man without her needing every detail.”

I nodded, but knew I’d never tell Mama that. It would only make them fight more. They did enough of that without help from me.

I found this prompt on a random plot generator here:

http://www.adammaxwell.com/writers-tools/writing-prompts-generator/