Librarian Blues❖Troy Barnes

the spirit of the radio - chapter 14

I woke up before my alarm went off, groaning as I realized how early it was. And how hungover I was. The older I got, the easier it was for two glasses of wine and a small buzz to give me a raging hangover.

I had a few texts from Troy, asking why I hadn't responded. I shot him a text saying I was asleep and that I'd call him on my way home so we could talk. I did feel bad about not responding to him last night.

I changed back into my bridesmaids dress, folding up Connor's clothes as small as I could so they would fit in my bag. I looked in the mirror, making sure I didn't look absolutely awful. My hair was a bit of a mess, but it wasn't anything combing through it with my fingers wouldn't fix.

I went down to the lobby and checked out, looking outside to see if the snow had begun to disappear. It looked like they had plowed their parking lot, but even then there was barely anything on the ground.

"Good morning. Are you going to brave the drive home?" Connor stepped up next to me, handing me a small paper cup. "It's just coffee, don't worry."

"Thanks. Yeah, I think I'm going to try. It doesn't look too bad and I have four wheel drive. I should be okay," I explained.

"Okay, at least text me when you get home? I'm waiting until later today to ride back with a few other people. Once more people have driven the roads," he shrugged.

"Yeah, for sure. I'll see you at work," I smiled, taking a sip of my coffee before heading to my car.

Once I got settled in, I began my drive home. As I expected, there was only a little snow on the roads. Most of it had already been driven on and turned to a weird slush, so I just took it slow.

I called Troy as soon as I had gotten out of the spotty service area.

"Hey, are you home?" he asked.

"No, I'm still about twenty minutes out. I'm having to drive a bit slower because of the roads. I'm out of the main mountain roads, though," I glanced over at the clock, sighing when I noticed I had been driving for at least two hours.

"Listen, I'm sorry I messed up the dates. Please let me make it up to you. Why don't you wear your dress and I'll borrow one of Jeff's suits again. We can have our own party at your place. Just us," he offered.

"That sounds fun. But I'm still upset. I even told you the night before, Troy. You were clearly preoccupied on the phone. What was so important you couldn't pay attention for once?" I spit out.

"Hey now, chill out. I always pay attention. We were helping Annie set up her stuff, okay? It isn't a big deal. I said I'd make up for it," he groaned.

"Oh, you'll make up for me being alone for almost the entirety of my best friend's wedding? I wouldn't have even gotten up and actually danced if it wasn't for being asked to," I laughed. I started to speed my car up before remembering that the roads were bad. I took a deep breath, letting the car slow back down.

"You danced with someone? Who?" my stomach dropped as he asked, my breath catching.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you forgot because you were too busy with little Annie Adderall," I tried to change the subject. I knew he would be pissed if I said it was Connor.

"No. Don't try to play that. Who did you dance with? Because clearly, it does matter," he demanded.

"Connor. He asked, I was going to say no, but Jess insisted that I did. He didn't do anything. It was just a dance," I stuttered out.

"After I almost get expelled, after we fought over that douche bag. You still decided to dance with him? You're joking. And you think it's okay to be upset over me helping one of my friends?"

I didn't know what to say. He was right. I had Connor's clothes in my bag next to me, and I even invited him over to my room after I got mad at Troy. I had no room to talk.

"I'll just talk to you when I get home. Bye Troy."

I didn't wait for him to respond, I just ended the call and turned my radio up. Tears tried to cloud my vision, and soon I wished that I wasn't able to cry at all. I tried singing along to the radio to calm myself down, but it didn't help.

"You're only a few minutes from home. You've got this," I said to myself. I could see my apartment building down the road, and I sped up. I just wanted to be home.

I was too busy focusing on my radio, trying to change the song, when the light in front of my turned red. I slammed on my breaks, my car sliding out and hitting the light pole on the side of the road.

I felt the impact of my airbags hitting me in the face. I pushed it out of my face as best as I could, opening my door and stumbling out into the intersection.

I went to wipe my eyes, but my hand came back red. "Oh, shit," I mumbled. I looked around, trying to see if there were any cars around me. I didn't see any, so I pulled my phone out and tried to call Troy.

Before I could hit the call button, the sound of tires screeching brought my attention away from my phone. I looked up to see- 

a/n

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