Page 128 of A Forgotten Mistake

Icouldwait until Lisa gets back and tell her… Icouldgo get Abby and bring her home and make it seem like she took the bushome after getting tired of waiting for Dale. But that sounds like what a good person would do.

I guess I can pretend I’m a decent person here and there. It probably won’t kill me and might fool a few people into thinking I’m normal.

I figure out where the house is and then go out to the street where I get on the bus that will at least get me within ten minutes of the place. When I get there, I head off in the direction of the party. The moment I step inside, it sours my mood. There’s absolutely no part of this that seems up my alley.

Is Abby even worth this?

I don’t get far before one of Abby’s friends sees me. It’s the guy I think she called Carl.

“Hey, dude, I wouldn’t be showing my face around here if I was you. I heard Christa claim she’d kick your ass if she saw you again.”

“She is more than welcome to try,” I say.

The girl hanging off his arm laughs. “This party is a bit boring, so I could use a brawl. Just saying. I’ll even give you my beer if you do.”

She seems pretty unsteady, telling me someone really should take her beer from her, but it’s not going to be me.

“Abby here?”

“Abby… you gonna go suck face withherboyfriend now? Ha ha ha.” She just giggles, which makes me decide that I am done with this person.

Carl merely shrugs. “I don’t know, dude. I think she’s around here.”

“She has a boyfriend?”

“I guess. Fuck if I know. I think you think I know her more than I do.”

My eyes latch on to the guy who spiked Abby’s drink. He’s over there holding a plastic disposable cup of something, so as Iwalk by, I simply smack the bottom of his cup. It smashes into his face, drowning him in beer as I smile, pleased with myself. His buddies holler and laugh as he jumps up.

“What the fuck? What the fuck?”

I turn to grin at him, really hoping he wants a fight. The last thing I need is to explain to Lisa how I got a black eye while dutifully doing homework, but nothing sounds more fun at this moment than punching this man in the face. Honestly, punching anyone would be delightful. It’s really not limited to only him.

And I would have continued with this train of thought if I hadn’t just heard Abby. Thinking that I’m distracted by Abby’s voice, the guy comes at me, and I grab him by the back of the neck and simply throw him to the ground.

I try to pretend I don’t enjoy the yelp he makes as he sails across the room. Then I hurry farther into the house until Christa grabs my wrist.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Looking for Abby,” I say.

“You here to steal my new boyfriend?”

“Didn’t steal your last one. I merely kissed him,” I say before glancing at her new boyfriend. It’s one of the guys I’d seen at the club, but he definitely isn’t kiss worthy. Though I would do it just to annoy her. “Where’s Abby?”

“I don’t fucking know where Abby is. Is it my job to keep track of her?” she asks, obviously still peeved.

“Okay…”

I start off, but Christa grabs my wrist again. I glance down at it before looking back at her. “What?”

“Did Abby go to her father’s funeral?”

“I don’t think so. The social worker tried talking her into it and she told her the only reason she’d go would be to spit on his corpse.”

“My dad works with the police,” Christa’s boyfriend says. “I heard her dad was a pretty good guy, but she sure didn’t like him. I wonder why. I met him a couple of times and never noticed anything off with him.”

It’s because you didn’t watch him like I did. You didn’t see the way he manipulated those young women.All I say is, “People hide their true selves when they think others are watching.”

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