Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-25-

Thirty minutes later and the miserably loud silence inside the house was disturbed by a mechanical hum that he knew for a fact belonged to a familiar red truck. Dusty, yellowed headlights flickered as they tried to make a pathway of light for the truck they were attached to, to use.

Brakes squealed and squeaked, begging to be changed as they put in all their might to keep the truck from crashing into the house. Inside the living room, Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb. He could practically feel the drunkenness radiating off the truck (and owner of the Ram) from the couch.

The yellow headlights of his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's black Dodge Ram dimly illuminated the porch railing, front door and the space surrounding it. They weren't bright enough to pierce the blackout curtains he had up over the windows, however.

Riley turned the key in the ignition and pulled it out, then slipped her keys into her purse and slung it over her shoulder. She giggled to herself while she recalled the oh so wonderful night she'd had, and the lie surrounding it.

She clambered out of her truck and didn't bother to lock the doors and instead paraded up to the front door and pushed it open one-handed.

She was met by a dimly lit living room and an annoyed redhead, boiling in his own anger, remorse and misery sitting on the couch with a book he couldn't focus on in his hands. Her heart dropped-she was gonna get caught.

She didn't know she'd already gotten caught.

"Hey- hi, Ryan." Everything she said was slurred and she smelled like sex and alcohol. It didn't help her case that she also looked obviously drunk off her ass and like she'd just had the night of her life out with another man.

He only grunted as a response. She knew he didn't want her here, but miraculously didn't know why he suddenly hated her presence. "Why're you up so early?" She said casually, trying to play off her confusion as a friendly question.

He turned to look at her and rest his arm on the back of the couch. She looked horrible. Blonde waves all messed up beyond belief, straps to her shirt falling off her shoulders, shorts pushed up on her thigh on one side, the other left untouched.

"I always get up early." His tone of voice was calm, and somewhat quiet but inside his head it was anything but that.

"Oh. Yeah." She said, and slowly slipped her purse off her arm and dropped it to the floor beside her with a thud.

Ryan turned back to the way he was facing before she came back home and took in a deep breath. "Why did you get home so late?"

"I told you, I had to stay late at work again. Overtime, y'know? I needed the money."

"That don't look like your vet's uniform."

"Well, I- shit." Her last word was more less a whisper beneath her breath so he couldn't hear her. "It was uncomfortable so I changed into the clothes I had in the truck in the bathroom at work before I came home."

Yeah, and I wonder why you had those 'spare clothes' in the truck in the first place. "Alright, cut the fuckin' bullshit Riley. I saw you and Chase at sonic, and you kissed his dumb, bitchass!" A venomous tone was added to his southern drawl, the mixture of his thick as honey accent and bitter, venomous bite of a cottonmouth a deadly combination. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I haven't been to sonic at all this month, the fuck? And why would I go with him?" She asked, disgust littering her drunken, over exaggerated expression. She scrunched up her nose at supposedly the thought of him. "He's ugly."

"If he's so ugly, why did you kiss him like he was the love of your life or like you wanted to fuck him in the parking lot?"

"I didn't!" Her voice was rapidly raising with everything he said, every word accusing her of the exact thing she did. "I didn't kiss him, I wasn't with him, and I would never cheat on you!"