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Road Less Traveled

Chapter 1

I stood at the doorway of my older brother’s large, almost mansion like, house. I could hear him and some of his teammates inside, maybe celebrating their win of the first game of the season. I turned back to look at the shabby Dodge neon I owned that was sitting at the edge of the driveway. My life and dorm room were crammed into any open space in that car and boy, was it a mess. The other cars in the driveway were expensive. Most were foreign, like the boys on the team, and showed that they were twenty something year olds with their shit together. They weren’t the same as me. 19, a college dropout and lost as all hell in the world.
I sighed and turned back to focus at the door in front of me. What if I just came back tomorrow? I thought to myself. His teammates would be gone, which would be a total plus, but then I’d have to sleep in my car in another unknown, and much colder, city. I wasn’t given too much time to weigh my options as the front door swung open. I retracted from the sudden stream of bright light, cursing under my breath. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed a tall man standing in the glow of the light. His facial expression was dumbfounded. Definitely not Mike.
“Uh, Mike? Dude, there’s some chick on your porch.” The guy called into the house.
“Some chick? I’m his sister, thank you very much.” I grunted. A hush fell over the two of us, as well a the gathering of people in the house.
“What’s going on?” A drunken Mike stammered, stumbling and laughing down the steps. “Emily, holy shit!”
He pulled me into a tight hug, crushing my ribs and dragging me out of the cold Nashville air. The man who opened the door quickly shut it, lingering near the two of us.
“Hey, Mike.” I whispered, holding on tightly to my brother.
“God, I haven’t seen you in forever. How’d you know where to find me? What are you doing here?” He asked as he let me go.
By now I noticed that there were easily 10 other guys all watching this interaction unfold. My face heated up and I looked at the ground, tugging at the edge of my sweater.
“I-I um was just, you know, driving through.” I stammered.
“But you have class, silly.” He slurred. I bit my lip and wished more than ever that the door never opened and I was sitting in my car driving far away.
“Yeah, um about that.” I whispered.
“You did fucking what?” Mike screamed at me, as close to sober as he could be. I looked at my feet, interested by the shoes I wore. Almost all of the guys had left by now, except the one who opened the door, who was James, and another one named Roman. Carrie and Isaiah had been out town visiting her family, which meant Mike was back to his bachelor ways. James sat on the same couch as me, but with a good amount of distance between us, while Roman leaned on the windowsill.
“Mike, it’s not a big deal.” I whispered, my voice laced with defeat.
“Are you actually saying those words to me? This is a huge deal, Emily! You were at the top school for criminal justice and literally threw it all away. Does mom even know you did this?” He roared. I threw my head back onto the cushion behind me and closed my eyes. Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes and threatened to fall.
“You didn’t even tell mom? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I’m going to, I just don’t know how!” I promised, but it fell on deaf ears.
“Mike, man, just calm down and hear her out.” James spoke up, moving closer to me and flashing a reassuring smile.
“Stay out of it, Nealer. God, Emily. I didn’t know you could be so stupid. What do you plan on doing with your life now? You sure as hell aren’t staying here forever.” Mike was now pacing back and forth. He had sobered up a considerable amount, but I could tell that there was still alcohol in his system, and that’s why he was acting the way he was. “I have a wife and a family. I can’t take on a teenager too. Jesus.”
“I’ll figure out a plan. I just need some time. And I’ll be 20 in two weeks, if you didn’t forget.”
“God, Em. I really can’t look at you right now. Jesus Christ. Do you have a place to stay? We’ll talk more tomorrow.” Mike whispered before sauntering off to his room. I glued my eyes to the floor in front of me. Roman had walked over to give me a promising pat on the back, and left quickly. I stood up, storming out of the house and leaving James on the couch.
“Emily, wait.” James called as I ran to my car.
“James, I can’t. I have to go find somewhere to stay now and also pray to god that Mike doesn’t tell my mom before I do.” I begged.
“Stay with me tonight. Tomorrow morning, we can come back and talk to Mike together, okay?” James offered, a light smile pulling at his lips.
“That seems like a bad idea. He’s already mad enough I’m here. I’m sure the last thing he wants is to find out I was sleeping at his teammate’s house.” I reasoned, growing more upset with myself. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
I turned away from James and walked past my car to sit on the curb. Digging into my pocket, I pulled out the rundown box of cigarettes I had for almost six months. I never smoked, seeing as only two sticks were missing from the container. Fishing the lighter out, I lifted the cigarette to my lips and lit it. Silent tears began leaking out of my eyes as a bitter blast of wind pulled my hair and the smoke into different directions.
“Don’t do that, please.” James pleaded, sitting next to me. He reached for the cigarette and I let him take it. My head dropped onto his shoulder and I focused on the foot that stomped it out. I whispered an apology and felt Marco wrap his arm around my body. He was the only warmth I felt seeing as I wore a flimsy t-shirt and ripped jeans. I pushed myself into his touch, inhaling his cologne and letting the harsh fibers of his beard scratch against my skin.
“Just come to my house tonight. I have a couch or a guest room, whatever you’re more comfortable with.” James asked one more time. I nodded, agreeing to his offer.

Notes

Comments

Update!! :)

Janine Janine
3/29/17

I can't wait to see what happens in this love it so far :)

Stacey_cakes1 Stacey_cakes1
11/18/16

I'm very intrigued!!

Mel13 Mel13
10/27/16