BROKEN AND SCREWED(Broken_Part One)(47)

The doorbell went again.
“Someone’s at the door. I’ll call you back in a second.”
“It’s me. I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Oh—” I hung up and went to the door. As I swung it open, a burst of cold air blasted me. Angie and Justin were both shivering and dashed inside. I was pushed against the wall, but when I followed them into the living room, I couldn’t hold back a smile. Angie dove for the blankets and wrapped one around her before she hurled herself on the couch. Justin gave me a slight wave as he was stomping his feet up and down and shaking his hands.
“What are you guys doing here?”
Angie rolled to her back on the couch and grinned up at me. She was cocooned like a butterfly. “Marissa called. She found another good deal. Pack your bags. Our plane leaves for Vegas in three hours.”
“What? No.”
“Come on.”

“No.”
“Yes.”
I opened my mouth, a lame excuse on the tip of my tongue, when Angie rolled her eyes and struggled to sit up. Then she made a show of looking around. I closed my mouth. I already knew where this was going. I beat her to it. “It’s date night.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. No one’s here.”
“I told you. Date night. They’re allowed.”
Her eyes narrowed. “When are they coming back?”
“Tonight.”
“Fine.” There was movement under her blanket and I guessed it was her arms crossing over her chest. “Then we’ll stay and wish them Happy Thanksgiving.”
Now my eyes narrowed. I said through gritted teeth, “They’re coming back tomorrow, but I’m not supposed to tell anybody that.”
“Why not?”
“They don’t want overnight guests.” I cringed at that lie. It wasn’t even a believable one.
“And what overnight guests wouldn’t they like? Me? They don’t like me now.”
I glanced around for Justin, but he was gone. Not a surprise. He had a habit of wandering anywhere we would go. “What’s the point of this? I don’t want to go to Vegas. I can’t afford it.”
“I told you. It’s a good deal.”
I sighed, “I still can’t. I have no money.”
“What about the coffee hut?”
“Minimum wage?”
She flinched. “You’re right, but that’s okay. It’s my treat. I owe you for all the years of great friendship.”
And then Justin came back in with a note in his hand. He held it up with a weird expression on his face. “Since when does date night consist of two weeks?”
My stomach hurled to the ground.
Angie’s mouth dropped open.
I hissed at him, “What are you? A ninja? Stop poking through my house.”
He shrugged as Angie threw the blanket off and snatched the note from his hand. Then she cried out, “Are you serious? Your parents left you alone for two weeks? That’s insane.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal? It’s a huge deal. That decides it. Shoo. Go pack a bag for the weekend. We’re all going to Vegas.”
I folded my arms over my chest and dug my heels in. “I’m fine being alone.”
She snorted again.
“I am. I have a whole day planned tomorrow.”
“What? Eating? Maybe sleeping? Whoop de doo, Miss-Party-Girl-That-You-Used-To-Be.”
She wasn’t far off, but I puffed my chest out and ignored the painful reminder of my old self. “No, I was going to watch Jesse’s game tomorrow. It’s being televised.”
“Well, guess what?” Her eyes gleamed at me with purpose.
I was suddenly nervous.
“You can actually go to his game. They play in Vegas, and Marissa’s already got tickets for us. She said Cord owed her and he’s on the team, so what’s your next argument with that?”