Author's Notes: I warn you all that this chapter contains some mild adult discussion. Don't read if this offends you. It's short (and I apologize for that and promise that the next chapter will be much longer), but I made it to show you all more about Ciara and Willow's relationship. Enjoy!

Chapter Three - Phone Calls

I darted down the stairs and picked up the phone. As soon as I heard the voice on the other end of the line, it took everything I had not to slam it back down.

"Heyyy, baby!" Ciara slurred, and somewhere in the background there was a burst of mad laughter. "Can you come pick me up?"

"No."

"But Willow, honey--"

"Where the hell did you go? I came home and you were gone. No, nevermind. You're stuck at a bar somewhere, aren't you? Is Greg there?"

"Yeah, but--" More laughing. "His friend's got the car."

"Idiot."

"He is not," objected Ciara, in that whiny six-year-old voice she always got when she was drunk. "Anyway, I'm at this place on Brownings Road."

"That's, like, half an hour away."

"It's called Mia's," she went on, ignoring me. "Okay? Come get me."

"No. I've got CJ. Just walk home yourself. No, wait, forget I said that - just stay there. Stay there and don't ever come back here." I hoped she would, but, of course, quite the opposite happened.

"Willowwww."

"Shut up. I'm not coming to get you." I put the phone down with more force than needed and stormed up the stairs. A second later, it rang again, but I just sank under the covers on my bed and closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew, the damn thing was ringing again. Ready to throw it out of the window, I picked it up and said sharply, "Stop calling me. I'm not going to get you."

"Don't be such a bitch," Ciara snapped. "Come on, Willow, it'll take you twenty minutes at the most."

"And if I don't come get you, will you call all night until I do?"

"Yes."

This was why I hated my mother.

"Fine. But if you pull anything like this again, I'm leaving you there to rot."

A few minutes later, I was pulling out of the driveway with CJ in his carseat in the back. I didn't know how I would be able to cram Greg and Ciara in the front, being that I trusted neither in the back with my baby brother, but I guessed I'd just have to figure it out.

The car was, quite frankly, a pile of crap. It was a surprisingly old Volkswagen Golf, breaking down about every five minutes and covering in mud and scratches from various wrecks. It took about ten minutes to start up and then would stop working the second you reached the end of the street, the most unreliable thing ever. It was the only car in the family, though, and we had to live with it. Even if that meant endless trips to the mechanic and constant problems.

It took me half an hour to get to Brownings Road, and I circled around looking for a place called Mia's for ages. There was no Mia's, I finally figured out, but there was a Molly's. I pulled up there and found Moving Guy Greg and Ciara standing in front, Ciara smoking a cigarette and Greg looking like a freak with his face all red and hair standing up all over the place. I could hear him practically shouting as he talked, something about how they should stay there for a few more hours and (of all things to announce in public, the pervert) go back to his place later if Ciara got bored. This he said by wrapping his arm around her waist suggestively, causing her to giggle. I wanted to throw something at the both of them.

Neither noticed me, even when I honked. Eventually, I rolled down the window of the passenger's seat and called out, "Am I gonna sit here all night or are you guys going to get in the car already?"

Still, they didn't turn around. I got out of the car and went up to them. Finally, Ciara glanced at me with a woozy expression and Greg stared over like he was going to eat me and serve me with soy sauce that night. It was pretty scary. People could get weird when drunk.

"So I came to pick you up. Get in the car already. I don't have all night."

Ciara said that she'd left her purse in the club and went back to get it, lighting a new cigarette on the way. This left Greg and I alone outside. I yanked open the door to the passenger seat and barked at him, "Get in."

Greg didn't move and continued to stare at me, a creepy grin spreading across his face. I stared back, annoyed, and finally pointed to the open door. "Did you hear me, Greg? I said to get in."

"Your name's Willow, isn't it?" he just about yelled. He was so loud, louder than any of the Wrestlers. God.

"No, it's not. It's Theodore Roosevelt. Get in the car right now before I hit you over the head with something."

"Willow. What a pretty name." He slid an arm around my shoulders and said, in a lower voice, "For such a pretty girl."

Freak. Freakfreakfreakfreakfreak. Of all the people I was around, tonight it had to be a pervert.

"Buzz off." I tried to shake his shoulder off but he held me closer, tighter. I stared up at him with wide eyes, wondering if he had gone insane and where the closest cop station was.

"You just don't realize what you've got in front of you, do you, girly? Well, that's okay." He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, getting beer all over my skin, "How would you like to come back to my place tonight?"

"Get your fucking hands off of me." I pushed him away and marched over to the car, wiping my ear off with one hand. Ciara came through the doors that moment, purse in hand and cigarette in mouth. "You can't smoke in the car," I said to her. "CJ's in there."

"'Course I can," she said easily, waving me off.

All patience lost, I reached over, yanked the cigarette out of her mouth, and threw it in the garbage. She raised her eyebrows and scowled.

"Get in the car, Ciara. You sit in the middle." I waited for her to climb in and then pushed Greg into the car beside her. He frowned at me and raised an arm to do whatever, but I slammed the door shut and went around to the other side of the car.

We drove in silence. I asked Greg, though secretly wanting to dump him on the side of the road, "Where do you live?"

"He's coming home with us tonight," said Ciara.

"He is not. Greg, where do you live?"

"I told you that he's coming home with us," repeated Ciara.

"Get out of the damn car, Greg." I stopped at a red light and pointed at the door. He didn't move. "Fine then, be that way," I angrily continued. "But don't blame it on me when you get bashed over the head with a flower pot in the middle of the night. Don't say I didn't warn you. Creep."

Both Greg and Ciara looked as though they wanted to punch me in the face right then. Ciara barked, "Stop being such a fucking ungrateful bitch. You need to learn how to treat adults with respect."

"You need to grow up and start acting like one," I replied.

This continued for the rest of the ride. By the time we reached home, I was seriously considering locking them in the car and throwing it off a cliff with some super strength I didn't own. I stomped up the stairs, put the somehow-still-sleeping CJ in his crib, and attempted to go to sleep myself.

This failed, of course.

"That was completely uncalled for!" Ciara shrieked, throwing open the door to my room. I groaned and put my pillow over my head. "Greg is my boyfriend and you need to be respectful around him."

"Your boyfriend? Is that what he told you? He was trying to bring me back to his house tonight, Ciara. I'm sure by now you know what that means."

"He did not! You're just making that up 'cause you're such a - such an - "

"Attention whore, I know, I know." I sat up and glared at her. "Get out of my room. I'm trying to get some sleep. You know what that word means, right?"

She opened her mouth to make some idiot comeback yet again, but I walked over to the door and slammed it in her face, locking it the second it closed. I was sick of this. The exact same thing had happened the previous night - sans Greg. How ironic.

I shut my eyes, and it took every ounce of self-control I had to keep from smashing anything valuable or shouting or crying or - or something.

Thanks alot, Ciara. Thank you so much.

Bitch.

Author's Notes: Okay okay okay, I know you're tired of all of these notes but I HAD to say something here. When I was writing this chapter, that last line came to me in a burst of sudden inspiration. I still haven't stopped laughing from it.