Heyyo!
49: The Expected Phone Call.
I woke up with a major hangover...all I wanted was pizza now. For breakfast. And a large cup of coffee. I sat up blocking the bright sunshine with my hand and rolled out of bed. Literally. Falling to the ground. I heard the bed shuffle and Lark's voice appear above me. "Marley? You okay?"
"Hmmm, yeah." I groaned pushing myself up. I grabbed onto the bed for support and pushed up some more before finally getting the top half of me onto the bed. "My head hurts,"
"Yeah well you kinda drank a little bit last night," Lark mentioned as he rolled out of the bed on the other side. The white shirt and black sweatpants blonde made his way over and helped me up and lay me back on the bed. "It's four in the morning, get some sleep for a while longer okay?"
"Hmmmm, fine...I wanna eat pizza." I muttered as my eyes drifted back to sleep.
Another three hours passed. I woke up with my headache gone, but my stomach about to vomit at any minute. I jumped off the bed and ran into the bathroom and threw up. I threw up five or six times before I felt better and flushed the toilet. I stood up and washed my hands and gazed at my reflection, seeing some dark bags under my eyes and my skin very pale. I shrugged it off and finished washing my hands and left the bathroom. Lark was gone, but a note was on the pillow his head rested on last night.
Getting breakfast at I-HOP nearby. Take out. See you around eight.
It was seven now, so me must of left minutes before I woke up. I tossed the note away before grabbing my clothes for the day and going to shower.
Leaving the bathroom in fresh clothes; blue shirt with a white skirt, and wet hair tied in a braid, I tossed my clothes into a plastic bag so they wouldn't get my clean clothes dirty. I grabbed my phone and turned it on and after three minutes it came on and began beeping like crazy, meaning I got messages and phone calls during the night.
10 Missed Calls. Ryder.
15 Messages. Ryder.
Ryder.
He called.
He's been contacting me since 11 last night, half hour after I turned my phone off.
I called back, knowing what the messages were going to say: Where are you? What happen? What's going on? Are you with Lark?
The phone buzzed twice before a panic voice answered. "MARLEY?"
"Hi Ryder."
"Oh thank God..." He sounded relief. "I thought you got kidnapped or something...are you?"
"Kidnapped?"
"Yes."
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Where the fuck are you?"
"I'm going to New York. I needed to focus on myself, didn't you get the letter?" I asked.
"Of course and I thought the kidnapper made you write it. After I thought you were either drunk or high and I went looking for you all over Lima, Cincinnati, Columbus and Westerville. I didn't get home until 11 last night and started to call you. What do you mean 'Focus on myself' Marley? The smoking habit? The drug addiction? You can't do that on your own Marley. It can get dangerous."
"Ryder I'll be fine. I can do this. I'm a strong enough person to do this." I told him.
"No. You. Can't! You can't do this alone, you need to be around people! And I mean around good people not people who you think can help you."
"Well fine! I'll check into one of those rehab places when I get there!" I yelled.
"There are a couple here in Lima! Come back and check there, at least you'll have friends around to help you out. Please, please come back. Please."
My voice dried up. I did miss him. But I couldn't go back and hurt him by being in one of those places. It'll hurt him. Tears in my eyes I said, "Bye Ryder."
"MARLEY—"
I hung up after that. He kept calling me and calling me but I didn't answer. I just ignored him. I know it hurts, but I have to do this. It's the best.
Why do I feel lousy about it?
