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’ 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 falling 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 ear buds 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 ear buds 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.
“You realize people like you and Trav are going to fight, right?” America said, filing her nails as she chewed the huge wad of gum in her mouth.
I turned over on the bed. “You are officially fired. You are a terrible conscience.”
She laughed. “I just know you. If I handed you my keys right now, you’d drive straight over there.”
“I would not!”
“Whatever,” she lilted.
“It’s eight o’clock in the morning, Mare. They’re probably still passed out cold.”
Just then, I heard a faint knock on the door. Kara’s arm shot out from under her comforter and turned the knob. The door slowly opened, revealing Travis in the doorway.
“Can I come in?” he asked in a low, raspy voice. The purple circles under his eyes announced his lack of sleep, if he’d had any at all.
I sat up in bed, startled by his exhausted appearance. “Are you okay?”
He walked in and fell to his knees in front of me. “I’m so sorry, Abby. I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his head in my lap.
I cradled his head in my arms and peered up at America.
“I’m uh…I’m gonna go,” she said, awkwardly fumbling for the door handle.
Kara rubbed her eyes and sighed, and then grabbed her shower bag. “I’m always very clean when you’re around, Abby,” she grumbled, slamming the door behind her.
Travis looked up at me. “I know I get crazy when it comes to you, but God knows I’m tryin’, Pidge. I don’t wanna screw this up.”