Falling

32

Carson Hughes

My friends could tell I was moping as I sat with my face in my hands at the table we currently occupied at the diner Crystal, Archie's girlfriend, worked at. Archie kept glancing at me as he tried to tell a story about his dream and then stopped with a loud sigh.

"Carson, I can't concentrate with you looking that that," Archie said, pointing at my face. "You look like someone just told you you have twenty-four hours to live."

"Yeah, I wasn't going to bring it up but you look super sad right now," Hadley added, taking a sip of her water.

"I am," I muttered with a sigh, my eyes cast downward at the table.

"What happened?" Logan asked from beside me. Isaac sat on my other side while the other three sat across from us.

"Vinny's mad at me," I said. "And it's my fault."

If I had just told him about my mom and Paul this would have been avoided completely. But for some reason I never felt like I had to tell him. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, but I should've known anyway.

"What did you do?" Logan asked. Dana and Hadley leaned forward in their seats, sipping on their drinks, as if they were going to hang onto every word I said.

"You guys know he came over last night," I started, all their eyes on me. "And everything was fine until my mom's boyfriend showed up."

"What?"

"My mom's dating Spencer's dad," I admitted. "And Spencer was with him. Vinny was pissed because I never told him. I didn't expect them to be there last night."

"Oh, that's fucked up," Dana said, sharing a glance with Hadley.

Hadley nodded in agreement. "If Darren was somehow connected to someone I had bad blood with and didn't tell me and they randomly showed up one day, I'd be so pissed."

"It's not that bad," Archie argued, earning glares from the girls.

"I can't believe it but I kinda agree with Arch," Isaac added.

"Isaac!" Hadley gasped.

"I know but hear me out," he said. "It's not like you knew they'd be there. You thought you'd have a chance to tell him before it would become an issue."

"But he still should've said something," Dana cut in. "Knowing it could be a possibility they would unexpectedly run into each other at Carson's house."

Logan was surprisingly quiet, eating his food as he listened to the conversation happening. I began to zone them out too.

"Logan?" Dana called out, seeming like she was waiting for him to agree with her.

He cleared his throat. "I think it'll be okay. Vinny was just shocked, but he'll get over it. Just give him some space."

Space was not what I wanted to hear, but I knew that was probably exactly what Vinny needed. He was often solitary other than when he was with me. He needed his alone time, especially with something like this bothering him.

"Think of it this way," Archie began. "If Vinny dumps you, you and Isaac can... keep each other company." The shit-eating grin on his face said that he wasn't completely serious, but also he wasn't not serious either.

"Seriously, Archie?" Isaac complained with a scowl.

"Yeah, Arch, if you're not going to say anything helpful, don't say anything at all," Hadley added. "Isaac needs his own man, or woman... or person."