I didn't know what I'd be doing next year. Sean and I had always talked about opening up a garage, but he has been gone for so long that it doesn't even matter anymore. Not to mention, as much as I would never admit it to him, he would have been the brains behind the whole thing. I suppose I could have handled the paperwork, but when it came down to the actual fixing, I was better off as the guy who passed Sean a wrench.

I didn't want to stay at the Dot for the rest of my life. I knew all the regulars by name and as much as Spin and I tried to make it a good time, it wasn't something I was interested in for the long haul. Still, I had a feeling my future contained waiting on tables and a whole bunch of hairnets.

Dufus had signed up at the local community college a few weeks ago. Registered for classes and all of that. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I am usually the first in line when it comes to following his lead. Getting a job, back to school, and moving on out, but not this time.

We'd saved up everything we made at the Dot to get ourselves one of those oh so fancy apartments that Cameron had been living in. Everything in it was broken in one way or another, but I guess that's what made it feel so much like home. He cleaned, I cooked, we split the rent. It became harder to pay once we were back at school and not working 60 hour weeks, but the building owner usually let things slide for a while, that was if you got a pretty girl to break him the bad news.

I guess that's where I helped out. Spin hadn't touched a girl in months, never mind get close enough to her to convince her to wear something skimpy while talking to our landlord. He talked about Manny all the time, what she wore, her acting career, and his drawn out plans to get her back. She, unfortunately for him, would not give him the time of day. After he saw that sap-fest chick flick with the guy from Murder By Numbers, he started writing her letters everyday. He never showed me, but I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of "Manuela, you are the air I breathe".

"Romancing my way back into her heart," he'd tell me. Inducing nausea in my body was more like it. He was miserable; it was hard to watch sometimes.

Anyway, back to what I was saying about me helping out. I never did have the best reputation. After the gonorrhea outbreak around school, I was labeled as the number one criminal. Maybe, but I had to get it from someone too. I was more careful after that, sure you'd still see my face down in that ravine, but there was enough rubber in my pocket to make a tire. Girls weren't all that interested after that anyway. Becoming the poster child for gonorrhea wasn't a big hit with the ladies.

There was one girl, however. When I got her into my grasp, I promised myself I wouldn't let this one go. She was too good for me, most people would say. I would laugh, and she would look a little bit hurt before shrugging it off. She didn't understand that dependability like that was hard to come by. Maybe she didn't talk to me for a few months after the gonorrhea situation, and maybe I had to work harder than I ever had to get her to even look at me again, but it paid off. Emma Nelson would let me hurt her. Sometimes I don't even know if she realized she was doing it.

That's why I knew that this night was a bad idea. It was pouring outside, and every time a flash of lightning would go off, Spin would hit the lights.

"Dude, I don't want this place to blow up," he'd tell me.

"I think that may be an improvement over what we got now," I'd reply.

Lightning and thunder. My shoes were full of water. Spin's hair had turned itself into something resembling a mini Afro. We had pots spread out across the house catching all the drips. Knock at the door.

"Spin, don't get it, we didn't pay last month's rent yet," I whispered. He ducked down on the side of the couch. I crawled through all the wet spots on the floor until I could see the shoes underneath the door. Heels, ones I recognized. We'd gone Mission Impossible for nothing.

I opened the door to see my skimpily clad soaking wet girlfriend. Her face was red and I couldn't tell if it was from the cold or being upset. When she spoke, it wasn't that hard to figure out.

"My parents," she said in-between gasping breaths. I wrapped my arms around her delicate, dripping body.

"Spin, be useful, get a towel or something," I yelled before changing my tone into something softer. "What's wrong, Em? Come in, it's probably just as wet in here, but at least you can sit down."

She nodded and held my hand as I led her over to the couch. Spinner handed me a towel and I pushed her hair back before tightening it around her body. The look I shot to Spinner was one of thanks, but you need to get the fuck out now. He got the message and went back into his bedroom, closing the door.

"They want me out, Jay," she said while the tears ran down her face. "They found out. They found out about everything and there's Jack, and they don't think I'm going to be a good influence. I said I don't need them and I was leaving, and it was the most relief I've seen on their faces in months."

She stopped to catch her breath.

"I mean...they told me not to, to at least wait until the morning, but I could tell they wanted me out. They really did and now, I don't know. I mean, I can't live alone; I don't have any money or anywhere to go. I thought about going to Manny's, but I haven't talked to her in months," she trailed off. She was buzzed. I didn't smell any alcohol on her breath, or smoke in her hair. It was too hard to tell if her nose was any redder than the rest of her face, but it was the only other thing I could think of.

"Shhhh, dry off, get changed and we'll sleep it off, okay? We can talk about it in the morning, we'll figure it out, I promise," I told her.

"Jay, just...don't make me go back, please."

We'd talked about moving in together before. Spin wasn't too keen on the idea, not that I blamed him. He was my best friend, and at one point, he was all I had, so I wasn't going to do that to him. Not to mention what her living here would do to whatever chance she had left of a future. Yeah, she let me hurt her.