::Chapter 6::
---------------------
::The Next Day::
---------------------
I finished spiking my hair and walked into the kitchen of our small
apartment where Meghan was making breakfast.
"Ooh! What's the occassion?" I asked looking at a stack of pancakes
and eggs. Before Meghan could answer, Benji stumbled into the room in
nothing but boxers.
"Nevermind." I laughed. Benji smiled cheesily at me, while I looked
back at him like he has six eyes.
"What?" I asked finally.
"Noooothing. Joel told me what happened last night." he smiled. I
felt my face start to burn. I quickly put my face in my hands.
"Are you two getting back together?" he asked as he sat in the chair
next to me. I shook my head no, while my face was still in my hands.
"No?" Benji asked, sounding shocked. I looked up at him, with sadness
in my eyes. I could see sadness in his eyes too.
"I have a boyfriend Benji." I sighed. I quickly got up from the
table, grabbing my keys and walked out the front door.
I needed to go somewhere, somewhere where Joel wouldn't be.
After driving for about 15 minutes, I pulled into a driveway. I got
out of the car, and approached the door. I rang the doorbell and
waited for an answer. The door flew open and Paul's familiar face was
standing in front of me. Usually Benji was the one I went to with
problems, well back in high school anyways. These days, I was finding
it easier to talk to Paul than anyone else.
"Erin. Are you ok?" Paul asked as he led me in the front door. I just
stood in front of him as the tears streamed down my face. He shut the
door behind us and led me over to the couch.
"What's wrong?" he asked sitting next to me. I wiped the tears from
my face with the sleeve of my hoodie.
"Joel. Benji..everything." I said choking on my tears.
"Last night Joel walked me up to my door and we kissed. And I mean
kissed Paul. And I guess he told Benji and now Benji is mad because
we're not getting back together! But I have a boyfriend!" I explained.
Paul nodded. "Yeah, but Erin you have to understand. In high school,
we all wanted to have to relationship that you and Joel had. We were
all jealous. When you guys broke up it was like, there was no hope.
And now that there is a chance of you two being together..it's just
right Erin." Paul stated. I stared at a spot on Paul's carpet, and
didn't speak a word.
"Erin?" Paul asked. I bit my bottom lip and looked back up at him.
"I don't know what to do Paul. You know, a year ago, I would've
jumped at the chance to date Joel again. And I'm sure there's
hundreds of girls out there who would think I'm stupid for not going
back with him. But I'm in a relationship." I said looking him in the
eyes.
"You haven't seen Chad in 4 days." Paul reminded me. I felt my
stomach knot up when he said that. He was right. I was in a
relationship that I was putting zero effort into. All because of
Joel. This wasn't like me at all.
"Paul." I said placing my hand on his knee. "Thank you for listening
to me cry. But I think I need to go be alone." I said. I stood up and
Paul hugged me tightly.
"You'll figure it out Erin. You always do." he smiled, kissing me on
the cheek. With that, I was off.
I left Waldorf and headed for Annapolis. I needed to be alone, well
at least away from the guys. I drove to marina and parked. I walked
down Main Street, past Acme and down to the docks.
