If I were You (Based on a True Story)

Chapter Two

Todd

I took another drag of my cigarette then strummed on my guitar, ignoring my mobile buzzing on my bedside table. I knew it was Lucy. I just couldn't bring myself to answer it. Maybe I never would. Maybe I could be a coward and never leave the house to avoid telling her I wanted us to split up.

I wasn't in the mood to have to care about someone else right now. I needed time alone, some space. I needed to figure out if sound engineering was the course for me, whether I wanted to stay in Manchester, or live on the street of London if I had to. I just needed change, and Lucy wasn't a part of it.

Besides I was only twenty. I didn't need to be tied down to one girl. I could play the field, see who else was out there. Staying with a girl I had been dating since I was sixteen wasn't being adventurous, it was playing it safe. It was being boring and past a purpose. Apart from liking heavy metal music we had nothing else in common. And from what I'd heard, I wasn't all that bad looking. I mean girls often told me I was handsome, that I could easily be on the front cover of a rolling stones magazine. So what was stopping me?

My bedroom door flung open. Lucy was standing there, her purple/black hair dripping wet and streaking down her face. She looked pissed off, and why wouldn't she? I was a spineless twat.

"Why are you ignoring my calls?" Her voice was whiny and the way I had grown to hate. Mascara left a trail down her cheeks, staining her white t-shirt.

"Who let you in?" I muttered, avoiding her livid gaze.

"Your mum." She stepped closer. I strummed on my guitar. I didn't know what else to do. Why hadn't my mother given her an excuse like I told her to? She probably wanted me to face my problems, not run away from them. Easier said than done.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," Lucy yelled.

I played my guitar even louder.

"Fuckin look at me."

Suddenly I was drenched. She'd poured my bottle of Guinness over my head. It was all over my guitar and amp. "What the ... get the fuck out!"

"What? Why? Why are you being such a bastard." She cried.

I stood up and grabbed a towel from my drawer and wiped my face. She was thumping my back. I turned and covered her face with the towel then pushed her onto the bed.

After bolting, I ran downstairs and opened the front door and stomped across the lawn. It was raining. I hadn't grabbed a coat. Fuckin hell.

By the time I got to the local pub, I was drenched and shivering. It was the middle of January, hardly the season for a jog without a coat.

"Ay yup ya misses is on ya tail," said Jimmy, the bartender.

I looked back, and sure thing, through the window I could see Lucy taking big angry strides towards the pub.

I made a run for the gents and locked myself in a cubicle. Jimmy had given me a few bottles of free beers to take in with me. I was a regular, plus he owed me for working a couple of night shifts.

It wasn't long before Lucy was mouthing off outside my cubicle, threatening to break the door down. I knocked back the last dregs of my beer before opening the door.

As soon as I did, she launched herself at me. I stumbled back and hit my shoulder on the toilet seat. She was heavy. I think I heard a few of my bones crack as she shoved me harder against it.

I managed to push her back and watched her fall on her backside. She swore and threw a full bottle of beer at my head. Everything was a haze after that. I only remembered ambulance lights and a fat face telling me to stay calm before everything turned black.