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Chapter 22-Sara

              Sara stared at the two full sized beds. The one to her left had her best friend who passed out well before her head hit the pillow. She knew there was a reason for the binge drinking party at the club. It was Julie’s way of forgetting whatever drove her to that point. It appeared to have worked. Sara looked to her right, finding Evan laying on the second bed with the sheets pulled up over his shoulder. She knew he was pissed off. Hell, if their roles were reversed, she would’ve kicked his ass and the girl he would’ve been dancing with.

              Sara knew she screwed up. The way Evan said, “We can talk in the morning,” was cold and uncaring. She wanted to climb in the bed next to him, to be held in his arms. It was the only thing she thought about for two months.

              Sara bit her lip while her eyes jumped from one bed to another. Evan didn’t seem like he wanted her to spend the night with him. She thought she overheard him ask for two separate rooms earlier, but the setup he wanted wasn’t available. The choice was obvious, she needed to spend the night sharing the bed with Julie. At least then she could keep watch over her and make sure she didn’t roll onto her back in the middle of the night. She slipped out of the dress and underneath the sheet. She curled up next to Julie and wrapped an arm around her.

              “Hey, no funny business,” Julie mumbled.

              “It’s just me, Sara.”

              “Okay, but still no funny business.” They both laughed until Julie fell back asleep, leaving Sara to replay the night over again in her head until she finally drifted off.

              The next morning arrived in a flash. The sun filled the room with light, blinding everyone as they stumbled from the beds. To Sara’s relief, Evan was first to his feet, yanking the curtains closed.

              “Thanks,” Sara said as she lowered her hand from her face. She looked to Evan for a sign of anything but anger. When he didn’t respond to her thanking him, she knew the morning was off to a rocky start. “Can we talk?” Loud moans erupted from the opposite side of the bed which meant Julie was coming out of her comatose-like state.

              “Maybe later,” Evan replied. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to hash this out while Julie’s around and has a hangover.” They watched as Julie stumbled to the bathroom.

              Sara cringed as the Julie let out a ghastly hurl, hoping she made it to the toilet first. “What are we going to do?”

              “I’ll drive you two back to Julie’s car and follow you back to her house. We’ll drop her off and head home.”

              “And what about me? What about us?”

              “We’ll talk when we get home.”

              Sara watched Evan grab his socks and shoes from the floor. He sat on the edge of the bed. She moved towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Please, talk to me.”

              He shrugged her off. “I just need time to process what happened last night.” He leaned to the side on the bed to look Sara in the eyes. “I promise, we’ll talk when we get home.”

              Sara backed away from the bed. She was being pushed away by the man she loved over one stupid mistake.
It wasn’t like he caught me making out or having sex with another guy. We were only dancing
. She wanted to tell Evan off, to tell him what she was thinking. Maybe it would have made him listen to her, or maybe it would have made the situation worse.

              She walked to the bathroom to check on Julie, finding her passed out with her head resting on the toilet seat. Her face was pale and sweaty. Whatever she was trying to run away and forget last night, she was paying for it in spades that morning.

              Sara quickly pulled a washcloth from the rack, doused it with cold water, and applied it to Julie’s forehead. “Come on sweetie; we need to get you up and back home.”

              “Just give me five more minutes mom.”

              Sara pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing it wouldn’t be a fun ride home. “Evan,” she shouted. His footsteps came closer to the door until she saw him peak through the crack. “Is there any bottled water out there?”

              “No, but I could run downstairs and get some. How many?”

              “I’d say at least five.”

              “Alright, I’ll see what they have.”

              The door clicked as it opened. Moments later Sara heard it click closed behind Evan. “Come on Julie; you need to get up. We gotta hit the road soon.” She gently shook her, but received no response. “I see you’re gonna make me do this the hard way.” She grabbed handfuls or Julie’s dress, pulling it up over her head. She unclasped the bra and tried to help Julie to her feet, failing miserably.

              The door clicked open again. She knew Evan was back and Julie’s drunken antics would further annoy him. “You okay in there,” he asked.

              “No. She keeps passing out. I wanna get her under a cold shower, but the pain in the ass won’t budge.”

              “I’ll do it,” he sighed. The door to the bathroom opened. Sara moved to grab a towel to cover Julie up with, but was too late. Evan’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

              “Quit gawking at her tits and help me get her in the tub.”

              Evan scooped up Julie in his arms, placing her gently in the ivory white tub, and let her head rest against the old yellow tiles. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

              “Thanks,” Sara replied. They shared a smile as he exited the bathroom. It was the first time he looked at her with any affection since leaving the club. After removing the last scrap of clothing from Julie, Sara turned on the water and gradually made it colder. Goosebumps formed along Julie’s arms as she shivered from the cold. Her eyes unglued from the seal they formed the night before.

              “What the hell?” Julie tried to climb the side of the tub, hoping to escape the freezing cold water. Sara, quickly met her, bracing her arms to help Julie to her feet. “Turn that shit off,” Julie whined.

              Sara turned off the water and grabbed a bath sheet to cover Julie with. “Here, dry off and I’ll help you get dressed.

              “What happened last night?”

              “Trust me; you don’t wanna know. Let’s just say we won’t be doing this again anytime soon.”

              Julie toweled off and put her clothes back on. “Where are your clothes?” Sara turned and shot her a nasty look. “Don’t tell me you hooked up with someone last night.”

              “No, but you started to last night on the dance floor.”

              “Really?”

              “Yeah and his creep of a friend was copping a feel on me and wouldn’t take no for answer.”

              Julie’s hand closed around Sara’s wrist spinning her away from the bathroom door. “What do you mean; he wouldn’t take no for an answer? What the hell happened?”

              The bathroom door swung open violently as if the person on the other side heard every bit of the conversation. Evan appeared next to Sara. His eyes had an intensity of anger that rivaled the look he had at the bar.

              “I happened,” he growled.

              Julie stuttered while trying to talk. Nothing she said seemed to make any sense. Sara stepped closer to Evan. Her eyes had the pleading apologetic look.

              “I’m sorry,” she said.

              “Forget it. Let’s just go downstairs, get breakfast and check-out.” The short black dress Sara wore the night before dangled from his hand. He gave it to her before slipping out the door.

              “Fuck Sara; I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this…”

              She couldn’t help the glassy eyes from dripping tears down her face. “I know.” Sara hid her face in the dress as she slipped it over her head.

              “Let me talk to him. I’ll tell him I dragged you to the club, and that I made you dance with that creep, and…”

              “No. It’s my fault. I decided to come to Jersey.”

              “Yeah, but I talked you into going to Atlantic City.”

              “I could’ve said no. I could’ve stopped this at any time.” Sara watched Julie fold her arms over her chest and give the “come on; get real” kind of look. “You don’t think I can tell you no?”

              “You never have before.”

              “Well, I am now. Do not get in the middle of this. It is my fault and I’ll deal with whatever I have to deal with the consequences with Evan.” Sara finished putting on her dress and her heels before grabbing her clutch. “So are you ready to talk about why you went on such a heavy drinking binge last night?”

              “Stupid ass guy I was seeing broke up with me. Said I was too pushy and controlling. Can you believe that?”

              “You pushy and controlling,” Sara replied sarcastically. “No, never. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

              “Shut the hell up,” Julie joked while grabbing her shoes from the side of the bed. “I know I screwed it up. He was a decent guy and I’m a bitch.”

              They exited the room and headed down the hall. “He’s just not used to your charm.”

              “Thanks. You could’ve at least said I’m not a bitch.”

              “Oh look the elevator.” Sara grinned and took a few quick strides away from Julie.

              The girls stepped through the elevator as the doors opened. A man stood inside. They watched his eyes wash over both of their bodies before settling on Julie’s legs. They turned their backs to him, letting the doors entrap them with the man.

              “Keep those eyes and hands to yourself or you’ll lose both before we hit the lobby.” Sara was used to Julie being blunt, but seeing her threat make a man take a step back against the wall was one of the funniest things she ever saw.

              The doors opened, allowing the girls to step out first. Sara watched Julie glance back at the man as he attempted to follow them out. He flinched when he saw her eyes and hung back by the elevator doors until Sara found Evan by the front desk.

              “We’re all set,” he said with a half-smile. It was one of the forced kind, the one that tries to make everyone believe everything’s okay while the brain wants to scream and shout and curse every person that comes near him.

              “Coffee,” Julie mumbled as she showed up to the front desk.

              “Good morning to you too.” Evan cracked a full smile, a real smile as he stared at her.

              “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

              “Nothing,” he shrugged. “You ladies want breakfast before hitting the road?”

              Oh god yeah,” Julie replied. “I’m starving.”

              The trio walked around until they found the hotel restaurant. It wasn’t as nice as the bars and restaurants you’d find at the hotels and casinos that were on the boardwalk. The windows didn’t give them any sort of view, and the silverware had spots all over them. The food was served buffet style. Julie was leading the group down the line, but continued to check over her shoulder every other minute. Sara watched her, wondering who she was looking for. Then she noticed. Evan kept making stupid faces at her when she turned around. His eyes were focused on her boobs and then had a cheesy grin.

              “Will you stop that,” Sara whispered. Her backhand to Evan’s arm nearly caused him to drop the plate.

              “I’m only playing around.”

              “How’s that playing around? You’re staring at her.”

              “Yeah and?”

              “And you need to stop it.” Sara felt like she was a mother scolding her child, trying hard not to cause a scene. Although in that restaurant, there wasn’t many people they could make a scene in front of.

              Sara stopped in front of a tray with the eggs. The look and smell reminded her of the eggs they served back in high school, the ones that smelled like they had been sitting out all day. She scooped a small spoonful onto her plate and followed Julie to an empty table. Evan appeared moments later, setting down his plate full of bacon, eggs, sausage links, and toast.

              Sara watched him shovel a forkful of food into his mouth. Julie gagged as she saw some of the food fall back onto the plate. “Can you chew with your mouth closed? I don’t really wanna see what it looks like before it goes down your throat.”

              Evan sat there smiling back at Julie. It was the same smirk he gave her when they were on line getting food. “Sure,” he said slowly. He kept his eyes locked on her. “I wouldn’t want to expose you to something like that.”

              “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She waited for a response, but Evan kept eying her up. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

              Sara smacked his arm again. “Come on; quit messing with her.” She waited until he turned his head towards her before batting her eyes.

              “Okay, fine. I’ll leave her alone.”