“Pidge … ,” Travis began.
Shepley hit his steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “Shut up, Travis! You said you’re sorry, now shut the fuck up!”
The trip home was made in complete silence. Shepley pulled his seat forward to let me out of the car, and I looked to America, who nodded with understanding.
She kissed her boyfriend good night. “I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.”
Shep nodded in resignation and kissed her. “Love you.”
I walked past Travis to America’s Honda, and he jogged to my side. “C’mon. Don’t leave mad.”
“Oh, I’m not leaving mad. I’m furious.”
“She needs some time to cool off, Travis,” America warned, unlocking her door.
When the passenger side lock popped, Travis held his hand against the door. “Don’t leave, Pigeon. I was out of line. I’m sorry.”
I held up my hand, showing him the remnants of dried blood on my palm. “Call me when you grow up.”
He leaned against the door with his hip. “You can’t leave.”
I raised an eyebrow, and Shepley jogged around the car beside us. “Travis, you’re drunk. You’re about to make a huge mistake. Just let her go home, cool off … you can both talk tomorrow when you’re sober.”
Travis’s expression turned desperate. “She can’t leave,” he said, staring into my eyes.
“It’s not going to work, Travis,” I said, tugging on the door. “Move!”
“What do you mean it’s not gonna work?” Travis asked, grabbing my arm.
“I mean the sad face. I’m not fal
ling for it,” I said, pulling away.
Shepley watched Travis for a moment, and then turned to me. “Abby … this is the moment I was talking about. Maybe you should … ,”
“Stay out of it, Shep,” America snapped, starting the car.
“I’m gonna fuck up. I’m gonna fuck up a lot, Pidge, but you have to forgive me.”
“I’m going to have a huge bruise on my ass in the morning! You hit that guy because you were pissed at me! What should that tell me? Because red flags are going up all over the place right now!”
“I’ve never hit a girl in my life,” he said, surprised at my words.
“And I’m not about to be the first one!” I said, tugging on the door. “Move, damn it!”
Travis nodded, and then took a step back. I sat beside America, slamming the door. She put the car in reverse, and Travis leaned down to look at me through the window.
“You’re going to call me tomorrow, right?” he said, touching the windshield.
“Just go, Mare,” I said, refusing to meet his eyes.
The night was long. I kept looking at the clock and cringed when I saw that another hour had passed. I couldn’t stop thinking about Travis and whether or not I would call him, wondering if he was awake as well. I finally resorted to sticking the earbuds of my iPod in my ear and listening to every loud, obnoxious song on my playlist.
The last time I looked at the clock, it was after four. The birds were already chirping outside my window, and I smiled when my eyes began to feel heavy. It seemed like just a few moments later when I heard a knock at the door, and America burst through it. She pulled the earbuds from my ears and then fell into my desk chair.
“Mornin’, sunshine. You look like hell,” she said, blowing a pink bubble from her mouth and then letting it smack loudly as it popped.
“Shut UP, America!” Kara said from under her covers.