I stood up and raised my hand over my eyes straining to see who would be coming to my house this late. I got excited thinking it might be Nick…my heart started pounding in my chest and my temples were throbbing so hard, that all I could hear was my own heartbeat. I felt a little dizzy, so I decided to take a seat, even if it was Nick. I didn’t want to fall and make myself look like a klutz in front of him. The car pulled up behind mine and I hear the car door slam. I looked in that direction and saw the outline of a figure approaching me. I strained even more so to see who it was, but the more I strained, the less I saw.
“Nick?” I called out, taking a guess.
“Nope, guess again,” my best friend’s familiar voice said through the darkness.
“Shay!” I smiled, starting to stand up. I lost my balance and fell back down almost before I got up.
She ran over to me, trying to catch me before I fell.
“Have you been drinking?” she asked, examining the bottled water in my hand.
“Nope. I don’t drink…you know that,” I said scornfully.
“Then what’s wrong with you?” she asked.
“Nothing. I just lost my balance…that’s all,” I said, patting the cement beside me for her to have a seat. “What are you doing here?”
“I knew you were upset and I know you…when you’re upset and things are on your mind, you won’t get any sleep. So, I came over to talk to you,” she smiled as I looked at the silhouette the moon cast around her.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you. I’m going to miss you so much,” I said, leaning over to give her a hug.
“You don’t have to leave, you know?” she said, attempting to persuade me.
“I know, but if I go to LA, there’s more opportunity for Tristan. Since it’s just me supporting him, a really high paying job like the one there would be nice,” I stated, having already thought this through.
“Yeah, it would. If you stay here, though, Tristan will be around people who are familiar, like some of your distant relatives and your best friends,” she said, looking at me truthfully.
“Yeah, I know. I just don’t know….” I sighed.
“Peyton, just do this. Clear your head of everything…c’mon, do it. Stop thinking about what you want to do for me, or Nick, or Tristan. What do you want to do? Do you really want to live in LA working in a medical firm? Or would you rather stay in Florida, where you all ready know everyone and all ready have a secure job doing what you love?” she asked, making me think. I hated when she did that…she was so good at it, too.
“Still, I would get to know people in LA and it would be such a wonderful opportunity to work in the medical firm. A year ago, I was going to make Craig quit his job as a lawyer here and move with me to LA if they would accept me. Now, I’m not tied down and I’ve been accepted, but I’m debating on whether to stay or go,” I said frustrated with myself for not knowing what to do.
“Well, you know what I would do. This is a decision you have to make all by yourself though,” she said softly.
“I know, I know. I hate being an adult! No wonder Nick didn’t want to be tied down with me and Tristan,” I commented. “Anyway, do you want to go in?” I asked Shay.
“Nah…I really do need to go home and get some sleep. I wanted to come talk to you first, though. Try to not think so much about it,” she said, placing her hand on my arm.
“Yeah, thanks for coming by,” I said standing up. I felt dizzy and I placed my hand on my head.
“You okay? Pey, what’s wrong?” Shay asked concerned, walking over to me.
“I feel dizzy. Everything’s spinning,” I said, squinting my eyes feeling my head spin in circles.
“Let’s get you inside. Here, take a sip of your water,” she said, forcing me to drink some.
We stumbled together into my living room and she layed me down on the couch. Everything seemed so far away and distant. I could barely hear Shay talking, even though she looked like she was yelling. She was shaking me by the shoulders, but all I could hear was a buzzing in my ear as everything went white and images of Nick and Tristan flashed through my mind.
