Page 88 of Life of the Party

“What?” I laughed. “Where are you?”

“In my room. Let’s smoke a bowl!”

“Did you seriously just call me from your room?”

“Yes! Come on, I’m waiting!”

I hung up my phone, giggling, running down the hallway to her bedroom, clutching my cell phone in my hand. Her room was bigger, but it was just as messy as mine. The only major difference was the posters and pictures that plastered her walls, making it feel homey and lived-in, unlike my hospital/jail cell room. I made up my mind to put up some pictures or hang some art or something soon.

My favourite Tool song was playing on her stereo, “Sober.” Charlie laughed and moved over to make space for me in her bed, and I crawled eagerly under her covers.

“You do the honours, my dear.” Charlie handed me a pipe freshly packed with weed. I lit the lighter and pressed the flame to the bowl, sucking in the sweet, fragrant smoke. I held it in for a moment, passing the pipe to Charlie before I blew it out.

“What’s with you and that thing?” Charlie wondered then, pointing at my cell phone as she tapped the bowl gently with her lighter. “Can you not be separated?”

“Apparently not.” I coughed. “I’ve been waiting for Grey to call.”

“Ah, yes.” She chuckled mirthlessly. “I gave up on that already.”

“You did? Why? I’m sure Zack will call you.”

“I’m not holding my breath, Mac. I know what they’re doing up there.”

“Recording their album?”

“Maybe, a little. The rest of the time, they’re partying like rock stars. Trust me, that is all Zack talked about.” Charlie rolled her eyes. “We should be partying too. I can’t believe you’ve ditched me two nights in a row waiting for your phone to ring.”

“I know, I know…” I shrugged. “But I told Grey I’d be careful while he was gone, and I really want to hear his voice again, you know? I miss him. I can’t help it.”

“I know.” Charlie allowed. “Trust me. It’s impossible for me not to think about him, but every time I do, I picture him out partying and getting super wasted, and then I start thinking about him being with other girls and…” She shook her head, trying to clear the image. “It makes me crazy. It’s not good for me.”

“Really? Other girls?” I frowned. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. Whenever I paused to think about Grey—wondering what he was doing, who he was doing it with—I always assumed he’d be at the studio, working. Or at the hotel, sleeping. Now, I pictured the exact scenario Charlie described.

Grey, out with the guys at some club, the music loud in the background, strobe lights flashing. A girl (probably some tall, leggy blonde in a skanky dress) with her arms around him. He’s laughing and joking with her, giving hermyfavourite smirk. They’re flirting and drinking and dancing.

Then I see—crystal clear and painfully real—the moment they start to kiss, his hands moving over her body and his lips pressing against hers.

“I’m so glad you’re not a virgin,” he whispers in her ear…

I shook myself back to the present, my mind shying away from the thought, rejecting the possibility, refusing to accept it.

“No, no, no.” I refuted stubbornly. “There’s no way. Come on, Charlie, just because they’re gone doesn’t mean they’ve just like…forgotten about us.”

She sighed. “They’re guys. Guys do that kind of stuff all the time. They stick together, too. If Zack was cheating on me, I’d probably never find out. There’s no way one of his bros would tell me.”

I didn’t know if that was true or not. We sat silently for a minute as Charlie packed another bowl, both lost in aggravated thought. I bit my lip and contemplated. Grey had never given me any reason not to trust him. Just because he hadn’t called didn’t mean he was shacking up with some stranger. I didn’t want to jump to the wrong conclusions, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, I wanted to believe there was no way he could do that to me. No way he would.

I sighed heavily and took the pipe eagerly from Charlie’s hands. She gave me an apologetic smile, rubbing my arm soothingly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, it’s okay.” I gave her a brave smile. “I just can’t picture anything worse.”

“I know, trust me…but moping around the house won’t help. Come out with me next time. I mean, Grey’s out having fun, right? So why shouldn’t you?”

“Yeah.” I lit the bowl and sucked the smoke back until my lungs felt like they might burst. I could see her logic, but at the same time, I wanted to keep my promise. I didn’t want Grey to worry about me.

I blew out the waft of smoke, wincing at the new thought that struck.

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