My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine feeling hopelessness like that. I didn’t have much family either, Marcus was it for me. Even though he and I didn’t always see eye to eye, I couldn’t imagine having no one at all. As for friends, I was blessed in that department. Cruz had been my best friend since we were little kids, I knew he had my back no matter what. Slowly throughout school we had added his cousin Sebastian and then Aaron to our group, and even as much as I whined about Aaron’s girlfriend, Sophie, she had always been a good friend to me. Then there was Scarlett. I knew I could depend on her no matter what. The fact we had salvaged a friendship after everything we had been through was proof that we weren’t going anywhere in each other’s lives.

Bringing my attention back to the group, conversation had moved to what everyone’s favorite restaurant was. The small group hung out until it was time for lights out and then I said my final goodbyes and wished them all the best.

Before Andi walked out the door, I asked her to stay back a minute. I had never really paid much attention to her; she was tiny in stature and typically very quiet during group activities and just kind of stayed to herself. She always hid behind her long dark hair and baggy clothes. As she looked up at me, the surprise evident in her big blue eyes, I asked her, “When do you get out?”

“Whenever I want really. I’ve been here for nearly five months now. My parents just keep paying because they don’t want to deal with me. Their life is easier if I’m here.”

I visibly frowned, not even trying to hide my displeasure. “How old are you?”

“I turned eighteen last week.” Damn she was just a baby. I didn’t understand why parents would rather keep their kid locked up in here rather than at home where they could actually be parents.

“What are you in here for?”

“What am I not in here for?” She laughed nervously as she pushed her hands into her pockets.

“Don’t answer my question with a question please. I want to know what your drug of choice is,” I said sternly.

“I’ve dabbled in pretty much everything but my addiction is not alcohol or drug related. Blood is my drug of choice,” she replied as her eyes pierced mine. “I cut.”

“Oh,” was the only thing I managed to say. Her answer caught me completely off guard and it took me a minute to wrap my head around it. She stood there staring at me, with a snarky look on her face, “Any other questions Dad?”

“You don’t need to get defensive with me,” I said calmly. “I was going to tell you if wanted a place to stay on the outside, that I have a two bedroom apartment that you are more than welcome to stay at. My brother owns a bar and I could get you a job, but if alcohol was your issue, that probably wouldn’t be the best idea. I wasn’t trying to be your dad, I was trying to be your friend.”

Her face relaxed as she realized what I was offering to her. “Why would you do that for me? You don’t know me; how can you trust me?”

“You’re right, I don’t. However, if you really don’t have anyone or anywhere to go, I would hope you’re a decent enough person, that you wouldn’t screw over the one person trying to help you. Unless you really do want to live here forever…”

Before I knew it, she flew across the room and was sobbing in my arms. “You are the nicest person I have ever met. I can’t believe you just said all of that. Are you some kind of guardian angel or something?”

Laughing, I answered, “No, not even close, but I am taking notes from one. You’ll meet her tomorrow.” She pulled back and cocked her head at me confused. I continued, “If you accept the offer, one of my closest friends, Scarlett, who truly is an angel, will be picking me up to take me home tomorrow. Since you’re eighteen and have finished the program, I’m guessing you can check yourself out at any time? So I thought she could take us both at the same time.

She began jumping up and down in my arms, grinning from ear to ear. She really was a cute girl once you found her face behind all of that hair. “Yes! Yes! I will pack up my stuff tonight and discharge myself in the morning.”

“There are rules in the apartment, Andi. Absolutely no drugs whatsoever, not even pot. I can’t be around any of it. If you do decide to work at the bar, alcohol can’t become an issue; you will lose your job. Don’t steal from me; please don’t fucking steal from me. And you’ve got to continue counseling for the cutting. If I find out you’re doing it again, I will drive your ass back here in a heartbeat.” I looked at her sternly. “Are you cool with all of that?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Also, in six weeks, I will be commuting back and forth between Houston and Austin, so I won’t be there all of the time. Not that it should be an issue, but just so you know,” I warned her.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this. I promise I won’t disappoint you,” she said as she left my room, obviously ecstatic.

“I sure hope not,” I mumbled to myself. Shaking my head, I stripped off my shirt and jeans and climbed into my bed wondering what in the fuck I had just done. I had invited a strange girl that had admitted issues with cutting herself to live with me. Maybe I was taking the selfless thing a bit too far… Oh well, it was too late at that point. It truly did make me feel incredible inside to do something for her. She desperately needed someone to believe in her, like Scarlett had done with me; I just hoped it wouldn’t backfire on me.

SCARLETT

Waking up the morning I was to pick Mase up from rehab, I was excited and anxious. Proud didn’t even begin to describe how I felt about the progress he had made while there. It wasn’t that he was a different person than I once knew, he was just a new and very much improved version of it. He still had confidence but without the over-the-top cockiness and his egotism had been replaced with pure charm and charisma. Physically, I kind of liked the longer locks and scruffy facial hair, but he had already told me that he couldn’t wait to shave his head and face as soon as he got out.

I pulled up promptly at ten o’clock in the morning, just as I had promised him. Ash was none too happy that I was spending a Saturday morning doing something with Mase since he deemed that as his time, but I didn’t give him an option. I was picking him up to take him home and that was it. End of.

I hurried through the front glass doors, signing in at the front desk before heading to Mason’s room. Needless to say, I was more than surprised to find someone else in Mason’s room when I poked my head in. He and a dark-haired girl were sitting on his bed laughing about something when I entered and asked, “Are you all ready to go?”

Both of them looked up at the sound of my voice and smiled at me. He stood up and walked over to where I stood, right inside the door frame and hugged me tightly. “Morning, angel,” he said in his husky voice. “I’m so glad you’re here; I’ve never been more ready for anything.” As he backed away, he looked over at the girl on the bed and then back at me. “Scarlett, I would like you to meet Andi. Andi, this is my angel I was telling you about.”

Not wanting to be rude, even though a hundred questions shot through my mind about who this person was and why she was in his room, I walked over to her and extended my hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Andi.”

She shook my hand and smiled meekly. “Thank you so much for coming to get us,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper .

Coming to get them? Instantly my head spun around to look at him questioning what in the world she was talking about, and why in the world had he never mentioned this Andi girl before? I had been there twice a week for over a month and never once had he said her name. I felt like I was really missing something.

Mason bit his bottom lip nervously and gave me a look that I couldn’t quite read. “Scarlett, Andi is going to stay in the other bedroom at the apartment and work at Empty’s until she can enroll in school next fall. She’s coming with us today.”

A multitude of emotions flooded me at his announcement, jealousy more than anything. I knew that I had no right to feel that way, I had a boyfriend and a male roommate, so why couldn’t he have one or both? I took a brief second to push aside my selfish and unfair thoughts, and then turned back to the girl. “That’s wonderful, Andi. I’m sure that you’ll love working at the bar, it’s a fun atmosphere, and that’s great to hear that you want to get back in school. If there’s any way that I can help you please let me know.”

Still smiling at me with her bright blue eyes, she said timidly, “That is so sweet of you. He told me that you were the nicest person that I’d ever meet, and I can see why.” Her kind words made me feel like a bitch for the thoughts that had crossed my mind. I really needed to get over myself and be a friend to this poor girl. Obviously Mason had a reason for helping her out and I needed to live up to the person that he, and now she, thought that I was. Less than thirty minutes later, their bags were in my trunk, and we were pulling out of the parking lot heading to the closest McDonalds and then off to their apartment.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Story of My Life ~ Kristian Leontiou

Bittersweet ~ Ellie Goulding

ASH

Mason getting out of rehab worried the shit out of me. It wasn’t like I expected him to stay there forever, but his release seemed to happen way too quickly. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Scarlett spending time with him, at least when he was in the center, I felt like their visits were somewhat supervised. With him being back in his apartment, I really didn’t want her hanging out over there, but what could I really say at that point. I had agreed to trust her, so trust her I did.

The day she went to pick him up I was a mess, a ball of nervous energy. It was a Saturday, which was a day I usually spent in its entirety with her, so I wasn’t thrilled about giving up one of my days. Of course I woke up earlier than usual that morning, and after lying there looking at my ceiling for almost an hour, I decided to grab my long board and head to the local skate park for an early morning ride. That did help me keep my mind off of things for the couple of hours that I was there, but as soon as I was back at my house, I began wondering what they were doing. Both Jess and Meg were still asleep so I didn’t want to play the guitar; they probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken up on a weekend morning. I tried sketching for a little while, but I was just getting frustrated with that too.

I decided to go visit my mom for a bit; she always made me feel better. I stopped and got an assortment of breakfast pastries and fresh fruit before making my way to her condo. As I waited at her door after knocking several times, I thought maybe I should’ve called before showing up unannounced. Finally, she opened the door and greeted me, “Ash, son, it’s so good to see you. What brings you by this morning?” I could tell there was something off in her voice immediately.

I leaned down to kiss her on the cheek and said, “I just thought I’d bring by some breakfast and visit for a bit. I haven’t seen you in a few weeks.”