Going Nowhere

May 15, 2016

When I woke, my knees and neck were cramping from the ball I had cried myself to sleep in. Callie was in the bed next to me, still sound asleep after having stayed up all night soothing me. I stretched out, kicking the blankets off the edge of the bed and flipping over onto my stomach.

 

I unplug my phone from its charger and survey the screen for anything at all. Messages were piling on from an unknown number, I assume some sort of phone Michael had used to bombard my inbox. I deleted all of the voicemails without listening to them.

 

I flip up, crouching over the side of the bed before standing the stretch again. I rub at the knots in my shoulders. I know that Callie would wake if I made the slightest sound, so I decide to leave her to sleep. Breakfast must still be going on downstairs and seems to be the best option on leaving the room.

 

I dig through my bag to find a pair of sweatpants to slide on over my boyshorts. The tank top I had on wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that I wasn’t wearing a bra, so I throw a sweatshirt on over it. I pull my hair out of the contorted bun it was in and place it into a slightly-less-sloppy ponytail.

 

When the door shuts behind me, it barely is heard locking into place. What I could hear though, was the sound of the door down the hall nearly slamming into the threshold. My head snaps in the direction, more in anger of waking Callie than anything.

 

Ashton stands there, a grimace on his face as he touches the door with his fingertips, as if he was begging it to be quiet. I squint a bit at him in confusion. I readjust my glasses as well, making sure I am seeing him exit the correct door.

 

“Ashton?” I whisper, padding forward towards him.

 

“Morning Anna.” He weakly smiles, something that grew throughout the day. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was exiting a different room.

 

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Goodmorning… I guess the more important question is what happened last night?”

 

“Oh,” He looks at the door to Sophie and Emma’s room. “I, uh, well… I wanted to get out before Emma got back, I didn’t think she’d appreciate seeing me when she came in…”

 

Ignoring the fact that Ashton so blatantly admitted to fucking Sophie while we all slept, I focus on the more alarming news. “Emma didn’t come in last night?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Do you know when she left?” I inquire, shifting my weight.

 

“Sometime after we all came in? She said she was going to get a drink and then just didn’t come back. I figured she met someone at the bar and decided to stay with them.” Ashton shrugged, but the worry was evident. The more he spoke, the more he realized why I might be worrying.

 

I pull my phone out of my pocket, thankful that I had decided to pocket it before leaving the room. I find Emma’s phone number and give it a ring, watching Ashton’s face as the rings continued. right before I was going to hang up she answered.