“What’s wrong?” Shane asked. Things were
beginning to get a little awkward but Shane comforted her friend none
the less. She promised herself that at the end of all of this she would
see Carmen smile, that beautiful smile, that made Shane complete.
“Shane?” She was ready for whatever it was that Carmen was about to
tell her.
“Can you just hold me?” They slowly fell, lying on the bed. They
stayed like that till mid morning, where Carmen quickly gathered her
things, kissing Shane on the forehead before she left.

Carmen entered the house trying to make as little
noise as possible. Passing the living room, she saw someone lying on
the couch sleeping. It was Freddy. She passed by and when she reached
the stairs she knew she was clear and out of Freddy’s questions. But on
the first step, a loud crack was heard and Freddy had woken up.
“Carmen?”
“Hey, Freddy. Morning.” Carmen felt busted. But from what? She
wasn’t 16 sneaking into the house anymore and Freddy was no longer
someone who was significant, so why would it matter? But it did. She
knew somewhere inside of her that she was disappointing Freddy.

“Hey where’d you go this morning? I came up to see you but you weren’t there.”

“Umm yah, I had a friend call and she was really upset.” She waited a moment.

“She got in a huge fight with her girlfriend.” *****, Carmen thought to herself.

“You mean boyfriend?”

“Uh yah, I meant boyfriend.” Carmen turned to walk up the stairs but something compelled her to turn around.
“No wait, it’s a she. They’re a couple. It’s her girlfriend.”
“A ***** couple you mean?” Carmen stared at him blankly waiting to
read his reaction.
“Yah.” Her heart began to race. She turned once again this time feeling
confident and proud and walked up to her room. She was going to settle
back into her bed but again she was interrupted by Freddy.
“Hey Carmen?” Carmen put her pillow down and looked at him blankly. Freddy continued,
“Can I stay in your room for a bit?”
“Uh, sure.”
“I’ll take the side I always use to take.” He approached the bed and
dove in. Carmen on the other hand, felt uncomfortable, but didn’t mind
in another way. It was after all an old friend. They had shared this
bed tons of times before, but what was so wrong about this time?
“Shane belongs here.” Carmen thought. That was the problem. And
as he effortlessly wrapped his arms around Carmen, she began to
silently cry in the darkness of herself. Those arms, that smell, his
steady breathing, all didn’t belong to Shane.