The Final Choice

36

"Callie." I heard Denise's soft whisper break past my sleep induced state. "Nooo," I groaned, rolling my face in the opposite direction from where her voice was coming from. "Come on, Cal," she laughed. "It's time to wake up. Colby already has breakfast ready for you. Isn't that sweet?" 

I cracked open my eyes and turned back to face her, with a small smile on my face. "He cooked for me?" I murmured. She grinned and shook her head. "Not exactly...but he did order something that smells amazing. Whatever it is, it includes bacon. Now get up!"

She slapped my blanket covered ass and jumped off the bed. I groaned again and sat up, stretching my arms above my head. "Agghhh," I moaned, feeling my muscles release some of the built up tension from last night.

Last night. "Ah, shit," I groaned, as I fell back onto the bed, face first. On the side that Colby had been. It smelled like him. "What's wrong?" Denise asked, coming to sit back down beside me. 

"I fucked up last night," I said, my voice muffled, as I spoke into the mattress. "What did you do?" she asked, exasperatedly, as she pushed my shoulder for me to turn over. I rolled over and looked up at her. "I texted Will. I don't even want to pick up my phone. D, I really said some shit to him. It felt good in the moment, but now...I don't want to deal with the fallout." 

I sat up again, bringing my knees up to rest my elbows on. Denise sighed heavily, and I could tell that she was about to start ranting. I held my hand up to stop her. "Don't. Unless you're gonna say something that I haven't heard a million times already, don't say anything. It is what it is. I did it, so I have to deal with him. Just not right now. Fuck."

She rolled her eyes, but had a slight smile on her face. "I was just going to say that I'm proud of you. Colby already told me that you texted him and I knew you would probably be regretting it this morning. Don't regret it. He can't really do anything, but run his mouth." She shrugged, like it was no big deal. "Who cares what he has to say?" 

"Yeah," I replied, only half listening. My phone was right by me, on the gorgeous little end table. I needed to turn it back on and check to make sure Ben or my mom hadn't called me. I was going to need to call Mom soon, anyway, to remind her to take her meds. 

"Let me see it," Denise said. "Huh?" I asked, confused, when I looked back to see her holding her hand out. "See what?" "Your phone, dork. Let me see it. I'll get rid of the notification, so you can check your phone. You can check the text later, whenever you're ready too, instead of seeing it in your face. I know how hard it is not to check something, when it's right in your face. So, let me see it," she replied, motioning with her hand. 

I reached over and grabbed my phone, then passed it to her. "You'll have to turn it on. I turned it off last night, before I went to bed," I said. "Which was stupid, because what if someone at home needed me? What if there had been an emergency? I've been here for half a day and I'm already shirking my responsibilities. This place is fucking with me."

"Yeah, right," Denise scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You mean, this guy is fucking with you. It has nothing to do with the place." I cut my eyes to her, narrowing them, only to receive a smirk in return. "Shut. Up," I clipped off. "It's too early." "Cal, its almost 11 AM. It's no longer early," she chuckled. 

I watched her thin fingers deftly swipe at a few notifications on my phone. "Wait? 11?" I asked, throwing the blanket away from my body. "Shit, I'm late. I was supposed to call Mom an hour ago to tell her to take her meds. Damn it. I've never slept this late. Like ever. Not since...well, shit, I don't know. High school?"

I shook my head and stood up, looking around for my bag of clothes that should be somewhere in this damn room. "That's not the point. What the fuck? Where are my damn clothes?" I said, exasperated. "Give me my phone."