I sat up and sniffled, wishing I could pull Toby through the phone to hug him.
�Thank you.�
�You�re welcome, baby. I wish I could be there.�
�No, you don�t.�
He chuckled in my ear, and I felt some of my fear melt away. Boys� voices grew louder in the background.
He�s at the Blue October/The Rocket Summer/Taking Back Sunday show I�m missing!
�Oh! Toby, I forgot about the show! You were probably busy, weren�t you?�
�Kara, it�s okay. I�m glad you called. I don�t ever want you to be alone when you�re upset. I was just roaming around anyway.�
I smiled for the first time in hours.
�Tell Bryce and everyone I said hi and I�m sorry I�m missing the show.�
�Will do. I�ll see you tomorrow then?�
�8:15?�
�Yes, ma�am.�
�I�ll be there.�
�Alright. See ya then.�
�Yeah, see ya.�
Turning off my phone, I sat up and wiped the tears off my cheeks while I tried to catch my breath.
He has to come back. I�m in his house. There�s going to be a wedding here in a few days, so he has to come home. But where did he go now? I don�t like the idea of him driving around angry.
*
I wouldn�t affect Kara so much if she hadn�t let me in. She wouldn�t have told me about her step dad. She wouldn�t look at me the way she does - like she�s afraid of what I think of her - if she hadn�t let me in. Even if she hasn�t let me in these last two days, she did in January. I still remember her looking up at me like I was the only person in her life she trusted or like I was holding her world up.
They did this to her. They want to crush her. She�ll let me in, but she doesn�t want to. They lie to her and yell at her and insult her and now she won�t consciously trust me. I was getting somewhere this afternoon though, and now� what the fuck did Matt do to her?
I intend to find out.
Angry driving is a dangerous thing because it will almost always end with a speeding ticket. Strangely enough this wasn�t one of those times.
Coming to a screeching halt in the parking lot of the same restaurant Kara and I had left not even an hour earlier, my frustrated anger pulled me out of my Escalade and back into the restaurant. I watched Aaron�s eyes get big as he saw me approach the table, probably red-faced and scowling. My presence went unnoticed by the rest of the party as I walked around the table so I stood behind Matt.
�What the hell did you do to her?!�
�Nick?�
Mike�s head snapped in my direction and he tried to stand up before I put my hand on his shoulder and slammed him back down into his chair.
�I have no business with you. I need to talk to your punkass brother.�
�Nick, she�s not worth this.�
�What the hell did you do to her, Matt?!�
Matt looked up at me like I was crazy while everyone else except Mike looked on in confusion.
�When did you become her bodyguard? Didn�t you just meet her yesterday?�
Aaron turned away, making weird faces as he tried to keep from saying anything.
�I know her a hell of a lot better than you do.�
�Damn it, Nick! Just because you fucked her in your tour bus once doesn�t mean you know her! You don�t. We�re the ones who�ve been living with her for��
I stared down at Mike, not hearing half of what he said.
�What?! Where the hell did you get that from?!�
�Mike, what are you talking about? You already knew Kara, Nick?�
Angie didn�t know?
�Come on, Nick. She�s just a girl. A girl much too young for you at that. Why do you even care so much?�
I bit my cheek in hopes it�d prevent me from screaming out how much I�m in love with her.
�I don�t see where you people get off. You constantly put her down and tell her she�s worthless. Are you trying to destroy her? Because you�re doing a damn good job. She barely sleeps, she doesn�t eat, she spends half of her time crying� Angie, you�re the one who told me that, and I�ve seen it all in one day. It�s because of you idiots that she�s this way. I don�t know who the hell you think you�re seeing, but it sure as hell isn�t Kara!�
I could feel other people in the restaurant staring at me as my voice grew louder, but I�d reached the point where I really didn�t care.
I can see the message board subjects now - Nick bitched at his friends over some unknown female.
�Nick, calm down.�
I could feel tears threatening to enter my eyes.
Why is this all so damn frustrating?
�No, Aaron, I�m not going to calm down. Of all the people here, you�re the only one who knows what happened between me and Kara. You know where I�m coming from. I�m not going to calm down!�
�You already knew that little bitch?!�
My hands balled into fists and I didn�t even bother turning to Brittney.
�The only bitch I seemed to have been in contact with is you, so don�t even fucking start with me.�
One of the other girls tried to smother her laughter to Brittney�s indignant reaction.
�Nick��
I turned back to Matt.
�Keep your hands off of her. I don�t want to see you or Matt anywhere near Kara. And as for you, Brittney, I don�t want you anywhere near either of us.�
I glanced over at Aaron.
�I�ll see you later, Air.�
He nodded and I walked back out, ignoring the dirty looks the other patrons shot at me.
Now to go home and try to make up to Kara for yelling at her and leaving her alone when she was so upset.
�I�m standing here all alone
Wishing that I could�ve known
That you just can�t walk away
From the damage�