My first night without Ember was complete and total Hell. There have been many nights where we haven't snuck into each other's rooms to cuddle, but at least I always knew she was right down the hall. Now her own father had disowned her, and for what? A kid that's screwed up in the head.


That's pretty much all my night consisted of. Tossing and turning, occasionally drifting off to sleep, but mostly feeling like complete and total shit. It was our senior year of high school. This is the time when kids make pacts they'll never keep, about how it's supposed to be the best year ever. How could it possibly be the best year ever when everything had been going so good, and now my girlfriend is living with one of her friends because her dad doesn't want her banging her brother.


By the time the sun came up, I was an exhausted mess. I forced myself to shower, fix my hair and put on clothes. Food just wasn't an option right now, and that's a big deal coming from me. Honestly, I was just trying to find the courage to face Ember. Sure, she did this to me, but that doesn't mean she hasn't had the night to think about how much she hates me.


"Hey baby," my mom greeted me in the kitchen. I was only coming in here long enough to get a bottle of water. Talking to mom and getting the stare down from Carl wasn't really something I wanted to do all morning. "How'd you sleep?"


"Like shit," I answered honestly, grabbing the water. "You?"


"About the same, honestly. Have you talked to Ember? How is she?"


Carl perked up at the mention of Ember's name, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of staying involved in her life with no effort.


"You should call her. She'd love to hear from you."


Mom nodded her head and slumped over again. It was nice to see that she cared so much about Ember, but I was so pissed at Carl that I couldn't stick around to hug it out with her. I didn't even bother to tell either of them that I was leaving. Mom would just bitch about me driving when I'm not supposed to and Carl would probably demand that I give him the car keys. So, I slipped out quietly and slid into the car. The thought of calling Ember to see if she was awake yet crossed my mind, but I didn't want her to break up with me so soon.


I went to the only place I knew I could freely show up at and spend the day doing absolutely nothing. Alex's. He answered the door with messy hair and a yawn, confusion washing over his face when he saw I wasn't with Ember. He invited me in and let me go in his room to wait on him to tame his mop and brush his teeth.


"Dude, you're here early. What the fuck's going on?"


"So Ember and I told mom and Carl about us last night."


"Oh shit," Alex mumbled, plopping down beside me on the bed. "I'm guessing that's why she's not here right now?"


"Well. My mom supports us. Carl does not. He was going to ship Ember off, so she packed her bags and bailed."


"Do you know where she is?"


"Yeah, she's at Hayley's," I sighed, falling back on the bed. "I'm supposed to go see her today but I didn't sleep for shit today and I can't help but feel like she should hate me. I ruined senior year for her. Her dad disowned her. I just feel like such a prick."


"Dude, Ember loves you. If she didn't, she wouldn't have wanted to announce it to her freakin' dad. Don't push her away, bro."


"I've just been going through so much recently, dude. Therapy, my license, the evaluation.."


"What evaluation?"


"Uh, well. I pretty much had to go get tested to see if I'm.. Crazy."


Alex rose his eyebrows, looking at me like he barely knew who I was. That's my own fault. I've been keeping him, and everyone else, in the dark about my current condition. I had enough people worrying about me as it was.


"Like.. Murderer crazy?"


"More like emotionally unstable."


"Oh." Alex pondered on my words for a moment before he smiled, nodding his head. "I can live with that. I always told people you were crazy, anyhow."


We chuckled at each other for a moment. It was crazy to think that all of this was coming to an end. Bedrooms, parents, high school drama. If things went well, we were going to be on tour in two months. We'd be high school graduates. We'd be adults. It scared me, but it thrilled me.


"So. Are you like, crazy?"


"I won't find out until tomorrow," I forced a laugh, pulling myself back up. "It's going to be so hard without Ember there."


"Dude. Idea!" Alex jumped up, clapping his hands together. "How about you text Ember and tell her the truth - tell her that you feel guilty and you don't want to see her until the stress of this therapy crap is over - tomorrow when school is out, since you'll be missing most of the day, I assume, I'll talk her into coming to the coffee shop. Even if you're sane, it'll be like a romantic scene in a movie!"


"Alex. Dude," I stared at him, with a serious face. "You seriously need to get laid."


"Hush. I'm just trying to help. You seem really bummed and I don't want it to get in the way of you and Ember. You're really happy with her."


"All right, have it your way," I smirked, pulling out my phone to text Ember. "I just hope to God she won't hate me for bailing on her."


"She won't hate you."


She's going to hate me.

Notes

Poor Jack feel like the world is out to get him. ):