Chapter 2

“So, Hannah is coming over?”

I roll my eyes. The woman has never done anything to me, but I do not like her. It’s not because her and Z have some thing going on, it’s her. She doesn’t seem to have a personality. I have tried to hold a conversation with her, but if it isn’t about makeup or food, she has nothing to add to the conversation. She is the local music scene groupie and it gets on my last nerve.

“Okay.”

“Do you want me to tell her not to come?”

I wanted to tell him to tell her not to come. That isn’t fair of me. Why do I care? He isn’t mine. We are friends. A little voice in my head tells me that I should tell him to make some reason for her not to come, but I don’t. I don’t have that right.

“If you want her to come, let her come.”

Hell, she would show up anyways and say she is there to visit one of the other roommates. Any reason to be around Z. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was down the street. Sure enough, 5 minutes later Hannah bounces in the house.

I go to the kitchen to fix another drink.

“Hannah you want some punch?”

“Sure!”

Hannah never turns anything down. What has gotten into me? She has done nothing to us and even though I am being friendly the little voice in my head is being a total bitch. Time to throw back a few shots and get to having fun!

“Hey, let’s get this shit started!” I holler. All the hells yeah are thrown back at me. We all make our way into the living room where drums, guitars with their amps, and microphones are set up. The gamestation is hooked up to the tv so we could look up karaoke songs on the internet.

Sarah is the first to pick. When she picks a song I know I jump up with her.  

“Whoop, go Ashton!” Z exclaims and I shoot him a grin. He knows how shy I am, especially around Sarah. She is beyond talented. It took me a few of these nights and plenty of drink to finally get comfortable enough to sing around everyone. He lived in a house that overflowed with musical talent. How was a girl not supposed to be intimidated?

Hours passed with everyone taking turns on the mics and various instruments. People wonder in and out of the house joining the fun or hanging in various parts of the house. It was 4 in the morning before everything started to die down. My phone suddenly dinged.

“You okay, Love?”

“I’m okay, just drunk”

He did this often privately checked on my mental state.

“You need to crash here?”

Wouldn’t be the first time I had to stay instead of driving the 25 minutes back to my place. I look up and spot Hannah hanging back. I can just feel she is waiting for me to go so she can claim a spot in Z’s bed. Oh hell no, my little voice screamed in my head. What the actual eff is that all about, since when have I cared who sleeps in Z bed. It’s not like the man was a virgin. No one ever sees him with a girlfriend, but the man had plenty of late-night company. Women would be all over him when we went out together. It never bothered me. I wasn’t in a place for that. I just wanted to hang with my friend and keep myself from spiraling.

“Is Hannah staying?”

“Think she wants to.”

“What do you want, Z?”

“You can both stay.”

“I can’t drive home like this.”

“Stay.”

A few minutes after I hit send I see Hannah head out the door with Z in tow. Curiosity got the best of me and I stepped over to the window. They were not on the porch like I expected, but it didn’t take long for me to spot them in the driveway by her car. She looked upset and I could tell by his body language he was trying to chill her out. That was Z. Always the cool head, always trying to calm people down and make sure no one was upset if he could help it.