I'M NOT HERE | s.stan

013. the street cat and the golden retriever

"Do you think we'll be good together?" Sebastian asks me as he drives us to the mall. I had just taken a Physics test and really needed to take some stress out of my system. I shrug, "Haven't you asked me this question before?" I reply, rolling my eyes. He sighs and stares straight ahead at the road, "Can't remember, answer it anyways." He demands, I tut and put my feet on the dashboard, which he promptly swipes away.

"As much as I want you two together so Josh will stop ogling over her, no. I don't think so," I reply, shrugging. He turns to me with a surprised look on his face.

"Oh? Why is that?"

I knew why, but a part of me knew he wouldn't like what he would be hearing. So I simply shook my head, "Dunno."

I think they wouldn't be good together because Joane in all honesty was unstable. She would toss boys away after dating them for a few weeks simply because she got bored. I've seen her do it countless of times. To Joane, relationships are all about the chase, if it got too boring for her, she'd leave. Joane is like a streetcat, she comes and goes as she pleases. Joane used to be the black sheep of the family, of course Mom and Dad never noticed it because, well, it's Joane.

Sebastian was the epitome of what you would call a 'dream husband.' He'd be the type of man to make you breakfast in bed, or massage your feet when you came back from a tiring day of work. Joane was smart, but she was bad, too. When we were younger, she'd never get in trouble for smoking or partying simply because her grades were too high for my parents to care about any of that.

Sebastian, to me at least, was like a golden retriever. Always affectionate, always loyal and always there for you.

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"I want to watch a movie." I say, as Sebastian and I relax at a cafe somewhere. We were waiting for Josh to meet us, and he was sipping on his mocha while I just settled for a latte. "Sure, but can you pay this time? I'm not very liquid right now." Sebastian asked, a little bit of unease in his voice. I look up from my latte, "You of all people. You're broke?" I hold a hand over my mouth to stifle my giggle. He sighs, "Yeah, Joane asked me to lend her some money."

I stopped laughing, why would she need money from Sebastian? She got more allowance from my parents, and her American Express was always full with cash. "Why would she need money from you, Sebastian? She's always stacked, she has like 5 credit cards."

"Maybe cause she needed cash, Joane never pays with cash." Sebastian rolled his eyes, as if it was obvious. "Did you at least ask her what she needed it for?" I ask, I could almost scream at his stupidity sometimes. A look of fear washes over him, and I see him swallow a lump in his throat.

"Yes..."

I shoot him a daring look, knowing full well that he was lying. Sebastian closes his eyes and lets out a defeated sigh. "No."

Suddenly, a feeling of dread washed over me. "Sebastian, she only uses cash if she doesn't want mom and dad knowing what she's spending it on."

At first, he doesn't get what I'm saying, but after a moment or two his confused look shifts to a concerned one. "Exactly how much did you give her?" I ask. He forces himself to answer, "1000 dollars...?" The words leave his mouth in an unsure manner, the tone of his voice strained and unsure.

"Why would you give her 1000 bucks, Seb?!" I scold, if we weren't sitting so far away from each other, I probably would have slapped him. "I don't know. It's Joane, okay?! You've seen me, I never say no to her." Sebastian admits the last part quietly, as if he was ashamed.

"What would she be spending it on?"

I pause to think for a moment, "I'm sure it's something she's NOT supposed to spend money on. But beats me."

Sebastian opens his mouth to say something, but something was holding him back. He contemplates telling me, I can see it in his eyes. But finally he says it anyway.

"Do you- do you think she'd buy drugs?"

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