Faster We Burn

her arms and stared at the ceiling. “Go ahead, you can all laugh. Our parents were drug addicts, so they were probably high when they thought of it.”
    With that, everyone lost it and we all laughed, earning death glares that rivaled Trish’s from everyone else in the restaurant.
    It broke up the moment as we all walked out, much to the relief of the staff of Caroline’s. You could almost hear the audible sigh of relief.
    “Was that what she was so pissed about?” Katie asked me as I opened the car door for her.
    “Trish really, really hates her name,” I said, hoping that would be enough to convince her, but knowing it probably wasn’t. Katie was a smart girl, and I’d been a moron to think I could fool her for long. Sooner rather than later, this thing was going to come out.
    “She looked like she was going to kill you.”
    I tried to laugh a little as I got in the driver’s seat. “Wouldn’t you if Trishella was your name?”
    She smiled and turned on the radio. “Yeah, I probably would.”
    “There you go.”
     
    ***
     
    Katie and I decided that we needed some time apart, mostly for her to try to catch up with her classwork and to have some girl time to talk about me when I wasn’t there. I headed back to my apartment to take another shower and try to figure out the best time to tell Katie about Ric. Once again, there she was, leaning against her car and waiting for me.
    Think of the devil and she shall appear.
    “Did you have fun with your little pink slut?” This time she wasn’t here to apologize. This time she was also drunk. Great. Drunk Ric wasn’t anyone I was fond of, not that I was fond of sober Ric either. The more time I spent with Katie, the more I realized how much I really didn’t like a lot of the girls I’d hung out with for so long. Compared to Katie they were almost unbearable. And Ric was at the top of that list.
    “Don’t start Ric. Did you drive here?” I put my key in the door and she followed me, stumbling up the steps.
    “Why the fuck do you care?” Drunk Ric had a mouth like a trucker.
    “Because as much as I don’t like you right now, I don’t want you to die.”
    I picked her up and helped her up the stairs. While it wasn’t completely my fault she was in this condition and also pissed at me, I wasn’t going to just leave her outside. I’d get her inside, hopefully a little sober and then take her home. She’d have to leave her goddamn car here and come back to get it, but at least she’d get home safe.
    After a little work, with her resisting the whole time, I got her to the couch and she flopped down.
    “Fuck you,” she said into the pillow. I moved her head so she wouldn’t suffocate. This could go one of two ways. I could get angry drunk Ric, or emotional drunk Ric. I wasn’t sure which one was worse at this point. Angry Ric liked to break things, but Emotional Ric liked to tell me really personal things about her past that I definitely didn’t want to know. She also had a habit of throwing herself at people, not that I hadn’t dealt with that already.
    “You already did, babe,” I said, going to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. She also had makeup smeared all over her face, like she’d been having some heavy make-out sessions.
    “Where’ve you been, Ric?”
    “None of your business, asshole.” I also wet a paper towel so she could clean up a little. “I loved you and you fucked me over.”
    “Yeah, I know. I’m regretting it more than you know.” I sat down next to her and held the glass out. “Drink.”
    She pushed the glass away. Oh, this was going to be so much fun.
    “Come on, Ric. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
    She squinted her eyes at me, but took the glass, slopping it all over herself.
    “Look, I know you’re pissed at me, and feel free to take it out on me, but leave Katie out of it. She didn’t do anything to you, so just lay off.”
    “Nice try, Stryk,” she said, nearly dropping the glass again. “But that bitch has it coming.” Ric pushed me and I snapped. I grabbed both of her arms, hard enough to bruise.
    “I swear to God, Ric, if you hurt her, I will make you wish you were never born. You remember what I used to be like, right? Well if you mess with Katie, I’ll make that guy look like a fucking boy scout. Got it?” She struggled, trying to get away, but I wanted to make sure she had the message.
    She growled and tried to lunge and bite me, but I was ready for her. She knew