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  Greg tried to find some way to inject himself into the conversation, but nothing came to mind. He found himself lingering on the way Ben’s arms looked when he crossed them, struggling to reconcile this figure with the lanky, awkward boy he knew from before.

  “Holy shit, you were right,” Jewel said, and Greg tore his gaze away from Ben. “The dress is in here.”

  “Yeah, you’re welcome,” Ben replied. “Talk to you later. Greg, nice seeing you again.” He nodded his head toward him before leaving, heading off to his bedroom.

  Jewel held the dress up in front of her and frowned. “You know, I think Ben was right. This color really doesn’t look good against my skin tone.”

  Greg groaned as his focus was placed back on his friend.

  *

  Despite Greg’s best attempts, he found himself thinking about Ben later that night. He chalked it up to the fact that he had been single for a long time. His last relationship had gone sour two years ago and he hadn’t been with anyone since. Work had gotten in the way, leaving him not up to the task of navigating the dating pool.

  That had to explain why Ben’s sudden appearance had thrown him for a loop.

  “Are you okay?” Jewel asked, poking him with her fork.

  “What? Sorry, yeah. Long day. Between dealing with Mark and seeing… helping you with that dress,” he corrected, quickly.

  “Yeah, exhausting,” she deadpanned as she reached for her carton of Chinse food.

  “It was… weird seeing your brother again.” He tried to sound casual because Jewel had the tendency to know instantly when people were fishing for information.

  “Was it?” She sounded bored, heaping a spoonful of white rice onto her plate. “I guess it would be for you. You haven’t seen him since you moved, right?”

  “He looks different,” Greg continued.

  “Don’t be fooled. He’s all grown up and filled out but he’s still an asshole. He didn’t just move out because of school, remember?”

  He did. He was aware that Ben’s sour disposition seemed to rub everyone, including his parents, the wrong way.

  “Anyway, Mom and Dad barely talk to him. I love him. He’s my brother. But I’d just stay away from him. He’ll just stress you out.” Jewel finished and then looked up at him. “Luckily, you won’t see him very often.”

  “Well, that’s good,” he mumbled.

  “We should go out this weekend. I don’t work and it would do you some good to see what is new around here.”

  “There’s new stuff to do around here? I just assumed this place was frozen in time. Where everyone went to the ice cream store Friday nights and the movies on Saturdays.”

  “Hey, don’t be so negative. You’re back here now. You should make the best of it,” Jewel warned.

  “You’re right, you’re right. Okay. We’ll do something tomorrow night.”

  Jewel beamed. “Great. Leave it up to me.”

  He regretted agreeing almost instantly.

  Chapter Three

  The music was thumping so loudly that Greg was confident he was going to have a migraine whenever he got home. The lights flickered and then changed colors rapidly —red, blue, pink—over the dance floor.

  Next to him, Jewel let out a cheer and leaned over the bar, shouting her drink order. She was already drunk, having slammed three shots quickly before switching to mixed drinks. Greg was still clutching his beer, feeling out of place.

  Ending up here had partly been his fault. Originally, Jewel was going to take him to the gay bar twenty minutes out of town, but Greg had declined. Clubs in general weren’t his thing and he was still slightly paranoid about being completely out, here in his backwoods town.

  He had thought Jewel would have taken him elsewhere. Instead, she was clearly still dead set on a nightclub of some sorts because here he was, in a new club that had opened six months ago near the center of town.

  Greg wasn’t about to spoil his friend’s fun. For the first time in a while, she looked relaxed. When she had caught Stephen cheating on her, resulting in calling off the engagement, he wasn’t sure if she was ever going to fully recover. That had been a year ago, but he didn’t think Jewel was ready to move on yet. He couldn’t blame her. She had been with Stephen for five years. Her life had been mapped out. Now, she was struggling to find her footing in a world without him.

  So, when Jewel looked over at him and handed him a shot, he took it and swigged it down with a wince. It burned going down and he made a mental note not to finish his beer. He didn’t feel like dealing with a hangover.

  “You wanna dance?!” she shouted in his ear.

  Greg declined but Jewel didn’t seem to care. She bounded on the dance floor solo style, losing herself to the music. He was envious of the way that she could let loose like that, not being much for dancing.

  By closing time, Jewel was plastered. Apparently, she was the one who needed to burn off some steam. Greg propped her up, dragging her away from the bar where she was attempting to get one last shot.

  “Come on. Time to head home,” he said, as he tugged her along.

  “But Greggy,” she whined, using his nickname from ages ago, “I don’t want to go home.”

  “You want to pass out here then?” he quipped, as they finally stepped out of the club.

  It had cooled down considerably over the course of the night. The summer heat had faded, leaving a nice breeze cutting through the crowd that had formed outside the club. Weaving past a small cluster of people, Greg held Jewel up as they made their way to the car.

  But her heel caught on something and she pitched forward with a sudden yelp. There was a cracking noise as she landed. Alarmed and afraid Jewel had managed to injure herself, he crouched by her to make sure she was alright.

  Instead, she was crying and gesturing wildly to her foot. Greg frowned when he realized what Jewel was upset about.

  “It’s broken!” she wailed.

  Sure enough, the heel off her shoe had snapped clean off. It had gotten caught in a groove in the road. She was lucky she hadn’t sprained her ankle, but Greg bit his tongue. In her current state, something like that would be lost on her.

  “I’m sorry. Come on, let’s get you off the ground at the very least,” he said, moving to try to get her up.

  But Jewel was like dead weight. She was drunk crying on the pavement now, pointing to her broken heel.

  “Stephen got me these shoes!” she sniffed, “They were—they were the last gift he got me!” With this, she began a new round of fresh tears.

  Great, he thought as he stared at his best friend. Okay, so Jewel was the definition of hot mess tonight. He hadn’t realized how much she had been holding inside about Stephen. With a pang of guilt for having neglected his friend during his own turmoil, he grabbed onto her hands.

  “Jewel, let’s get you off the dirty ground, alright? Get you home and safely tucked into bed.”

  Her bottom lip trembled and he was worried she was going to break out into sobs again. Suddenly, from behind them came a voice.

  “Need some help?”

  Greg looked over his shoulder to see a man standing there. He must have come from the club although he was wearing a cheesy happy birthday hat that Greg hadn’t seen since he was five.

  “Yeah… thanks,” he said.

  The man hurried over and together they managed to get Jewel to her feet. With Greg on one side and the man on the other, they got to her car. Getting her safely in the passenger seat while Greg tried to comfort her since she was upset about the shoe, he managed to get the door closed and looked at the man.

  “Thanks for your help.”

  “No problem.” He held out his hand. “I’m Wayne.”

  “Greg,” he replied, shaking the man’s hand. “Should I be wishing you a happy birthday?”

  Wayne blinked and then touched the hat. “Oh God, am I still wearing this?” He yanked it off his head. “No, sorry. It was my friend’s birthday and he wanted it here. The hats s
eemed hilarious an hour ago when we were all a bit drunk. Now, it is just… embarrassing.”

  Greg laughed. “No problem. I won’t tell anyone.”

  Wayne smiled. “Well, I hope your friend is alright.”

  “She will be. I should get her home though. Thanks again.”

  There was a brief pause between the two men. It was hard to make out Wayne’s features exactly, but there was a warmth to him that Greg liked. He would have loved to talk to him for longer but…

  Jewel slammed the palm of her hand against the window and whined, “I’m hungry.”

  Whatever moment that had been brewing was quickly over as Greg replied, “Alright, I’m coming!” through the glass toward Jewel.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Wayne said.

  “Do you live here or just visiting for your friend’s birthday?”

  The corners of Wayne’s mouth quirked like he was fighting off a smile. “I live here. So, maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

  He gave a small wave before turning and walking off. Greg watched him leave with a strange feeling in his stomach. But Jewel whined again and all thoughts of Wayne were pushed out of his head as he got in the driver’s seat.

  Jewel was slumped beside him, holding her broken shoe in her hands. Her fingers were curled around it and her mascara was running down her cheeks. How had the night ended up like this? The night had been about having fun and now Jewel looked like she was on a downward spiral.

  He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Come on. We’re going to go home now, alright?”

  She sniffled, “Okay.”

  “I’ll try to fix the heel tomorrow,” Greg offered, hoping there was some way to salvage Stephen’s last gift.

  “I shouldn’t even have these shoes anymore,” she mumbled, “But I thought—I couldn’t get rid of them. I keep thinking he’ll come back.”

  Greg pulled out of the parking lot of the club and didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to dash Jewel’s hopes in her sensitive state but he didn’t want to give her false hope, either.

  However, he didn’t get a chance to reply because Jewel kept going, “I thought he’d come back. I thought—it’s been a year, Greggy. Surely he has to… whatever he had in his system is gone and he can return.”

  “Would you forgive him? If he came back and claimed he was different now?”

  Jewel fell silent, staring out the window. The streetlights bathed her face in pale lighting, and in that moment she looked like she did when Greg had first met her: scared and still trying to be brave.

  The memory came back to him quickly. She had just moved in next door and had tripped and fallen over a wheelbarrow in her haste at chasing a butterfly. Greg had been too shy to talk to her, sticking to his own backyard as he studied her. When she fell and hurt herself, she had clutched her knee and began to cry in earnest.

  Greg had hurried over to comfort her, forgetting his earlier fears of girls and cooties. That was when Jewel had stopped crying and instead bit her bottom lip hard in an attempt to look tough.

  She was biting her bottom lip now, looking out the window. Her hands were fiddling with the broken shoe. The memory faded. That was when their friendship had started. Now, he wondered if he had been there for her during the break-up as much as he should have been. Perhaps he was second guessing himself after his argument with Mark the other day.

  Finally, she spoke in a quiet voice, “I don’t know. Do you think—if he came back —could we even go back to how it was?” Her voice slurred a little at the end and her eyes closed. “I should have seen it coming. I know I shouldn’t—I should be over him but I keep dwelling on it. Catching him like that… why did he even propose? Why didn’t he break-up instead of propose? I don’t…”

  She trailed off and didn’t say anything else. Greg leaned over and turned on the radio, hoping a little noise might soak up her sorrow. He recalled the panicked phone call he had received from Jewel in the middle of the night and how she had found Stephen in the arms of another woman. He had wanted to punch Stephen in the face when he had gone over to help Jewel move out of the apartment.

  “He’s just an asshole. It had nothing to do with you. He’s a prick,” Greg said, angry at the memory of what his best friend had gone through.

  Quietly, she said, “Maybe.”

  She didn’t speak the rest of the drive.

  *

  Greg closed his bedroom door and sighed. Jewel had fallen asleep almost immediately after sinking in her bed. Now, he could feel memories closing in around him, nipping at his heels.

  But he wasn’t in the mood to face old memories. To be honest, Greg was rarely in the mood to go over the past. Instead, he sat on his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was past three in the morning now. He should be exhausted. But he found himself thinking about Jewel and Stephen.

  He had thought Jewel had made real progress in putting the break-up behind her. Yes, it had resulted in her having to move back home, but she never seemed to mind. She had jumped at the chance to become roommates with Greg when he had come back here, but it had just made sense to him. They were best friends. Living together wasn’t so odd.

  But now Greg wondered if she had been lonely at home. Should he have tried to force her to open up and talk about Stephen more? Tonight had made it clear how hurt she still was by the break-up.

  His last break-up hadn’t hit him nearly as hard. It had been a fun time together but, ultimately, Greg knew he wasn’t going to settle down with the man. His first meaningful relationship had crashed and burned a couple of years after living in the city and he had been too nervous to fall for anyone else that deeply since.

  In a way, he was like Jewel. Neither wanted to get hurt again.

  Greg rolled onto his side and forced his eyes closed. No more dwelling tonight. He hoped he could fall asleep soon.

  Chapter Four

  Sleep proved to be elusive, leaving Greg groggy as he made his way to his mother’s in the morning. Jewel was still asleep, although he had put some water and aspirin by her bed. He had almost left before deciding to leave a bowl there, too, in case she couldn’t make it to the bathroom to begin her vomiting.

  Hoping Mark hadn’t thrown out all the coffee in a childish fit of rage, Greg unlocked the door with the copy of the key Catherine had made for him. The house was silent.

  “Mom? Catherine?” he called out, but there was no reply.

  Weird. His mother wasn’t exactly in any sort of position to go anywhere. She hadn’t been able to drive for a couple of years now. He wandered into the living room, but she wasn’t there.

  He heard a sudden thumping noise from upstairs. Alarmed, Greg hurried up the stairs, terrified that his mother had fallen and hurt herself. It wouldn’t be the first time he had found his mother like that. There had been some serious falls when a seizure kicked in, leaving her head injured in some capacity. His mother had always brushed it off, refusing to dwell on her condition.

  And now she wasn’t the same woman she had been even a few years ago.

  Panicked, Greg was trying to keep his breathing under control, fearing the worst, and had gotten into the hallway when he almost ran into a woman he had never seen before.

  “What the–” Greg blurted out, as the woman yelped.

  He took a step back and looked the woman over. She was short and a bottle blonde, wearing a sundress and smacking on gum. She looked like a walking stereotype between the bright colors, the blonde hair, the neon pink nail polish, and her chewing gum.

  “Who are you?” he said, harsher than he had intended.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Who are you?”

  “Uhm, this is my mother’s house. So, who are you?” he demanded.

  The woman shot him a bright smile and laughed, “Oh my god! You must be Greg!” She held out her hand and all the bracelets she had on jangled, “I’m Bethany.”

  “Uh…” He shook her hand, completely lost.

  “I’m Mark’s girlfriend!” She trilled a
nd linked her arm with his, leading him back downstairs.

  “Girlfriend?”

  “Did he not tell you about me?” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “That boy!”

  “No. I didn’t know he had been seeing anyone.”

  Bethany looked to be about nineteen. His brother had never struck him as the type to go after someone younger. But this girl was a bouncy little thing, a stark contrast to anyone else that Greg had seen his brother date.

  “You know, he told me you were back in town but I didn’t know you would be stopping by!”

  “Do you know where my mother is?” he asked, impatiently.

  They were in the kitchen now. Greg gently untangled himself from her and went over to the coffee machine, suddenly desperately needing some caffeine.

  “Catherine took her to the park. Yeah, sometimes they like to go there in the mornings. I think it’s good for your mom to get some fresh air, you know?” Bethany had flung the fridge door open and was rummaging through it, her back turned to Greg as he started to make coffee.

  “I didn’t know,” he mumbled, feeling bad that he didn’t know something as simple as his mom enjoying the park.

  “Mark was by this morning. There was an issue with the water heater so he came to fix it. Dropped me off here. See, he had come by my apartment last night because my shower head was all messed up. I had no idea how to fix it.” She finally found what she was looking for and yanked it out of the back of the fridge. “Do you want an energy drink? I have an extra one.”

  Bethany held the can out toward him and Greg looked down at it. Her nails were immaculate and there was a pink ring on one of her fingers. Mark’s girlfriends had always been very quiet and bookish. Usually, they were older as well. What in the world was he dating Bethany for?

  “No thanks. I’m going to make some coffee,” he replied.

  Bethany shrugged and opened the can, shutting the fridge door. “I’m not really a coffee fan. Well, I used to be like, back in high school.”

  He resisted the urge to ask if that had been last week.