Fall from Love

go.”
    “Holly, can I please talk to you? Just for a minute?” Carter is beside me now, yelling in my ear, wanting me to hear his pleas over the music.
    “We have to leave,” Jenna shouts to him before I can even answer.
    “Please, I just want to—” Carter begins again, totally ignoring Jenna, but before he can finish Jenna pulls me away and we make our way to the bar.
    The memories from that night are coming back at full speed. I’ve done such a great job of putting them away—far away—and now, with one look at his face and one word from his lips, it’s all coming back.
    “Hey!” Jenna yells to the bartender, squeezing in between a few people, but never letting go of my hand. “I need to pay my tab.” She turns back to check on me. “We’ll be out of here soon, okay?”
    I nod and glance around, refusing to look behind me, knowing all too well who is back there. The guy Jenna had been flirting with earlier catches my eye. He’s sitting at the bar just a couple seats down from us. With a serious look on his face, I see him shaking his head at someone behind me. Before I can even turn to look and see who it is, Jenna is pulling me again, making me feel like a rag doll as we squeeze between the crowd, bouncing off people as we fight our way to the front door. Finally, we make it outside and I feel the cold air rush over my body, allowing me to feel like I can breathe again.
    We get in the car and begin to back up when a hand starts knocking on my window.
    “He just doesn’t fucking give up, does he?” Jenna stops the car, cusses again, and then looks over at me.
    I swallow hard and close my eyes. “Just roll it down.”
    The window begins to lower and Carter is bent over, making his eyes level with mine. “Hey, it’s pretty clear you don’t like me very much.” He pauses and looks down towards the ground. “But I just wanted to see how you were doing and let you know that I’m here for you.” He hands me a napkin. “Here’s my number… Call if you ever want to talk or if you need anything.”
    I take the napkin and before I can respond, Jenna rolls the window back up and continues to back out of the parking lot.
    Call if you need anything is written diagonally across the napkin along with his name and number below it.
    “Hey, does the girl’s night offer still stand?” I ask, folding the napkin in half and stuffing it down into my purse. I need a distraction and quick.
    “Sure, whatever you need.” She looks over at me and grins, but it’s easy to see that her face holds more remorse than anything.
     
    ❧
     
    “Am I a bad person?” I ask out of the blue as Jenna and I lay opposite each other on the couch. Since we’ve been home, neither one of us has breathed a word about what happened back at Sterling’s.
    Jenna leans forward, reaches for the remote, and pauses the movie we’re watching. She turns back and focuses her full attention on me. “Of course, you’re not. Where’s this coming from?”
    “Tonight. The past few months.” I shake my head, thinking of what a crazy person I’ve been. “I feel horrible about how I’ve been treating everyone… especially you.” I look down and fumble with the blanket that’s laying across my lap.
    “Really?” she asks, her voice sounding a little too excited.
    I glance up, studying her face, and she rearranges her features to be more sympathetic. “Sorry, I’m not happy that you feel horrible, I’m just happy that you’re feeling something.” She smiles nervously.
    I pull the blanket up and cover my face. “Oh, my God. It’s true then. I’m a horrible, mean witch, aren’t I?”
    Jenna jerks the blanket away from my face. “No, you’re not. You’re sweet, caring, talented, and the best friend a girl could ask for.”
    “How can you even say that?” I shake my head, wanting to pull the covers back up and hide myself. “I’ve been horrible to you over the last few months. I haven’t been a good friend. I don’t clean up after myself. I don’t bathe on a regular basis. I’m a horrible, mean, and disgusting witch!”
    She can’t help chuckling at my outburst. She stares at me for a moment and then the smile drops from her face as she begins to give me a thoughtful expression.
    “Holly, you’ve gone through something terrible. The way you’ve been acting is just how you’re dealing with it. I don’t mind cleaning your dirty dishes and doing your laundry; I can deal with you not being a good friend,