The Road Trip

Chapter 11 - Confrontation

Chapter 11

Confrontation

I had to tell Trent about Josh and Alexandria. It was the right thing to do. But every time I tried to open my mouth, it was like some invisible force clamped my lips together. Where was I supposed to begin?

“Are you alright?” Trent asked, making me jump. I looked at him with wide eyes. “You look like you’re about to crap your pants.”

If it wasn’t an accurate description of how I was feeling, I would’ve punched him.

“I-I’m fine,” I stuttered, biting my lip.

He rose an eyebrow suspiciously. “You sure?” I could tell he didn’t believe me, but I nodded anyway. I was such a chicken. Trent, of all people, deserved to know! His best friend and girlfriend had disappeared at the same time. It had just about destroyed him. What kind of person would I be if I held on to that type of information?

Finally, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Josh and Alexandria are still alive!” I blurted, jumping to my feet. Josh’s head snapped to me, eyes narrowing.

He was clearly confused, but my words had been clear. “What did you just say to me?”

I hesitated, but once again the words just fell from my mouth like verbal diarrhea. “I said, Josh and Alexandria are still alive. You know, your ex-best friend and ex-girlfriend?” Once I started talking, I felt like I would never be able to stop. “I saw Josh the other day at-”

“Addie, where did you go?!” Lilly called, running into the living room. When she saw me, her shoulders dropped with relief. “Oh, thank God, there you are! I-”

I’ve never seen Trent react so quickly in his life. In a split second he was on his feet, pointing to the door. “Out, now.” He growled. His back was facing me, but I could tell by his tense shoulders that he was angry.

Lilly paled slightly but did what she was told without question. For a split second I wished she had stayed, but then Trent turned to face me, and I was glad she left. This didn’t involve her, and it wasn’t any of her business. Plus, I didn’t want her to witness the anger of Trent Daniels.

Slowly, he turned to me. My heart was racing, but I wasn’t scared. I felt bad for him; there’s no good way to hear that your best friend and girlfriend had run off and had a kid together. “They’ve been gone for years,” He said, clenching his teeth together. “Where did you see them?”

“I just saw Josh,” I explained, “He was at the hospital when you were. His mom has leukemia, and it doesn’t look like she’ll get better, so he was-” Before I could finish Trent spun on his heels and stalked towards the door, scooping his keys out of his pockets. “Trent, wait!”

“Addison, what’s going on?” Lilly asked, grabbing my shoulder as I ran through the house. I shook her off and kept after Trent, but he was already in his truck. “Addison!”

“I’ll be back later,” I yelled over my shoulder, waving Lilly off. She was not my top priority. I sprinted through the yard and yanked open the door to Trent’s truck, throwing myself inside.

He gave me a hard look. “Addison get out of my car. I have to deal with Josh.”

“Like hell you do,” I scoffed, closing the door behind me. “Let me come with you. Let me drive!”

For a long moment, he chewed on his bottom lip, silent. He stared at me, one hand on the steering wheel and one and on the keys in the ignition. Without another word, he turned the key and peeled out of the driveway, breaks screeching. I sucked in a breath, heart pounding. He should not have been driving.

“Tell me what happened,” Trent growled. I shivered.

“According to Josh, he was depressed and about to kill himself when Alexandria found him,” I paused, assessing his temper before I continued. He looked at me expectantly. “Do you remember him being depressed or anything?”

“Honestly, Adds, I’m too pissed right now to care,” Trent hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Then you’re not going to like the rest of this story,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

“What?” Trent snapped, glancing at me. We ran a red light, narrowly missing a car on our right.

I squealed, “Trent, be careful!”

“I’ll be careful when you tell me the rest of the goddamn story!” He yelled, yanking the steering wheel. We turned a corner, swerving into the other lane as we turned.

“Fine, he got her freaking pregnant, okay?!” I screeched, throwing my hands in the air. “They ran away to get Josh over his depression or whatever the hell it was, he banged her, and I guess he forgot to wrap it before he tapped it. Is that what you want to hear?!”

I realized a second too late that I had not said the right thing. Trent slammed on the brakes, and we came to an abrupt stop. The seat belt snapped, stopping my head inches away from the dashboard. I breathed in, finding it hard to breathe at all.

“He what?” Trent deadpanned, looking at me with a blank expression. It was like he had forgotten how to feel. That, or he had one hell of a poker face.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. Wringing my hands together, I looked at my feet. It was silent for a full minute before Trent cleared his throat and we were moving again, this time at the speed limit. I swallowed, feeling like a horrible human being. I had definitely not handled that situation correctly.

But in my defense, there wasn’t exactly a textbook for this sort of thing.

When we pulled into a parking space at the hospital, I reached for the door handle, but Trent grabbed my wrist. “Stay here,” He told me, narrowing his eyebrows.

“You’re kidding, right?” I scoffed, yanking my wrist out of his grip. “Trent, you’re not even supposed to be driving. You just got out of this same hospital for god’s sake! I’m coming with you.”

Trent groaned, leaning his head back against the headrest. “I’m fine, that’s why they let me out. Or did you miss that part?”

“That doesn’t mean you’re well enough to drive, i***t,” I rolled my eyes and hopped out of the car, crossing my arms in defiance. He glared at me through the windshield for a few moments before turning off the car. Clearly, he realized I wasn’t going anywhere.

“You’re annoying,” He told me as we walked towards the building.

“The feelings mutual,” I muttered, clicking my tongue. Honestly, I was more worried about Trent than anything. He had a tendency to overreact, and this was something serious. No over reaction was needed to make this seem like a big deal.

“Where is he?” Trent asked as we walked through the doors. A cold blast of air conditioning hit me hard, and I shivered slightly.

“We don’t even know if he’s here,” I said, leading him to the reception desk. “Hi, we’re here to visit Jenny Bowman.” The lady sitting behind the desk was about middle age; she was plump, had brown, slightly greying hair, and a beauty mark above her lip. She peered at me from over her wire glasses, looking me up and down.

“Are you family?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Trent said from behind me before I could even respond. “She’s our aunt.”

Immediately, her facial expression softened into a look of pity. “You poor things. She’s in room 207, go right on up. Tell her Maggie gives sends her best.”

“Of course, ma’am,” I smiled kindly, grabbing Trent’s arm so he wouldn’t rush off. I felt him stiffen, but he didn’t run away. When we were out of hearing distance, I hissed, “If you hurry out of here, we’ll look suspicious. We’ll be there soon enough, so don’t rush.”

“I’m not stupid you know,” He growled, glancing down at me. I hated that I was so much smaller than him.

“Tell me that, if I hadn’t have stopped you, you wouldn’t have stormed out of here like you were on some sniper mission,” He didn’t respond. “Exactly.”

The elevator doors closed behind us, leaving me completely alone with Trent. There were no prying eyes or curious old folk. I leaned against the side of the elevator and looked at him. He looked back, and for the first time, I saw past his poker face. He was pissed, but also relieved. After all those years his best friend was alive; of course, he was happy, at least a little bit.

"What are you going to do?" I whispered, mentally punching myself the second after I said it. What was I thinking?!

"I'm going to punch that son of a b***h in the face for stealing my girlfriend," he said calmly. I almost choked on air, startled. Maybe I wasn't as good at reading Trent's facial expressions as I thought.

Just then the doors slid open with a ding, and Trent stormed out. He had completely disregarded my advice and was booking it towards Mrs. Bowman's room.

"Trent, think about this," I cried, speed walking to keep up with his wide gate. "This woman is sick and you're about to sucker punch her son! Is that really what you want to do?" We were in front of the closed door, the numbers 207 staring at me like an open eye. My heart was racing.

"Yes." Was all Trent said before pushing the door open. I hurried in after him, fully prepared to apologize profusely for the awful and unforgivable behavior of Trent Daniels. I was even planning on using his concussion as an excuse. But what was waiting for me on the other side of the door knocked the air from my lungs.

Mrs. Bowman was sitting in her hospital bed, head wrapped in a scarf like most cancer patients. On her lap was a small child that had the bright blue eyes of Josh, but the dark, raven hair of my ex-best friend, Alexandria. Hovering over the child was the before mentioned back stabber, a huge smile plastered on her face. She looked genuinely happy, which made me feel sick.

I had been stressing over the Trent and Josh situation so much that I hadn't even stopped to think about the possibility of Alexandria being there. Now that it was happening, my hands were shaking. Anger like I had never felt before spread through my veins and nerves, making my fingertips tingle. I was furious.

Josh was the first to recover, staring at us with wide eyes. “Trent,” He gulped. “I guess Addison told you…”

“What gave you that idea?” Trent scoffed sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Everyone was tense; there was this thickness in the air that was unmistakable. Suddenly, Trent took two steps forward and punched Josh right in the jaw. It happened so fast I barely saw it, but Josh’s head snapped to the side and he grunted in surprise.

“Trent!” I exclaimed, jumping forward. I wrapped my arms around his torso, because he looked like he was about to take another swing, and dug my nails slightly into his stomach as a warning.

“What’s going on?!” Mrs. Bowman cried, holding the toddler to her chest. Alexandria had taken a few steps back, looking frightened. “Trent, aren’t you happy to see Josh? They’re finally back!”

“It’s fine, Mom,” Josh sighed, rubbing his jaw. There was already a bright red circle covering the skin. Ouch. “I deserved that.”

“You deserve so much more,” Trent growled, clenching his fists tightly. I could feel his muscles tense and release, but I refused to let go. If I had, he probably would’ve pounced.

“What do you mean?” She asked, clearly confused. “What did you do, Josh?”

Suddenly, Alexandria decided to speak up. She stepped forward and grabbed her daughter from Josh’s mother. “This is all my fault. Don’t blame Josh.” She cried. I couldn’t help it, I actually laughed out loud. When I saw her face, I started shaking. I had never felt so angry in my life. She had abandoned me, hurt Trent, and let everyone think she was dead. Now, she was dead to me.

Slowly, I let go of Trent. For the time being, he stayed put. “Please,” I rolled my eyes. “Josh is the one with the d**k, clearly you didn’t get pregnant on your own.”

“Hey!” Mrs. Bowman exclaimed, “I do not tolerate that kind of language, young lady!”

“Sorry,” I said, not meaning it in the slightest. “Come on Trent, let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and yanked, thankful when he didn’t resist. Alexandria was looking at me with pleading eyes, which only made me even angrier. She wanted me to stay so she could explain, but as far as I was concerned, there was nothing to say. It was obvious what had happened; they had both made their decisions, now it was time to deal with the consequences.

We were halfway down the hallway when I heard two sets of footsteps following us. “Addison, wait.”

“What do you want?” I exclaimed, rounding to face Alexandria. She was running after us, Josh trailing behind. For a moment I saw the girl who used to be my best friend; young and strikingly beautiful. Big, innocent eyes that begged for everyone's adoration and approval. But then that image vanished because that was no longer the girl I had used to know.

“To explain,” She cried, finally reaching us. Up close I could see the tears shining in her eyes. “I’m, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you would just show up like this and-”

“Why does it matter?” Trent interrupted, “Are you mad that you didn’t get to plan your story ahead of time?”

She frowned. “No, it’s not like that. I-”

“Well I think it’s exactly like that,” He interrupted once again, this time grabbing my hand. “I’m not giving you the satisfaction of filling our heads with lies. Come on, Addie.” When he yanked at my hand, I wanted to follow him. I wanted to flip her off and never lay eyes on her again. But I just couldn’t.

“What were you thinking?” I whispered, glaring at her with all the hatred I could muster. My eyes started to water. “What the f**k were you thinking?” Josh reached us and came to a stop, looking desperately between us. He immediately placed a hand on Alexandria’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t,” She sobbed, wiping her eyes. Mascara was already smeared down her cheeks, and her attempt to wipe it away only made it worse. “After I got pregnant, I was mortified. I had never been that kind of girl. What would everyone think if I came home knocked up?”

“So, this was all about your dignity?” I shook my head. “God, Alex, you really are selfish. Your mom would’ve loved you. Your dad would’ve loved you. We would have loved you.”

“But I was dating Trent and I cheated on him. Ya’ll were – are - family, don’t try to tell me you would have taken my side. That’s crap Addison, and you know it.” Silence rippled through the hall. Even the nurses seemed to sense the intensity of our conversation. I was well aware of the people all around, watching us closely, but I decided to ignore them and took a deep breath.

What she was insinuating was insulting on so many levels. No matter how close Trent and I had been, I would have forgiven her. They did an awful thing, but everybody makes mistakes. I had done my share of bad things before and she had always taken my side. The difference was that she and Josh decided to continue making mistakes, well aware of what the consequences would be.

Did she really not understand? It wasn’t that hard to comprehend. The betrayal was so obvious it would’ve slapped her in the face if she got any closer. They left for years and didn’t even tell anyone they were alive. How was I supposed to trust them ever again? If I let Alexandria back in, there was no way to know that she wouldn't just up and leave. I couldn’t go through that pain, not again.

Finally, I gathered the courage to respond. “If you think for one second that any of this is my fault, you’re demented. You caused this, Alex, not me. I had nothing to do with it. So, before you say another word, take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize just how badly

messed up. Trust me, when you figure it out, you’ll be just as disgusted as I am.”

And with that, I turned and stormed out, jabbing the elevator button angrily with my pointer finger. So much emotion was bubbling up inside of me that I could barely stand still. What I had said was spiteful and mean, but there wasn’t a fiber in my body that doubted she deserved it. If I hadn’t said it, no one would, and she needed a reality check. It wasn’t my fault she was so thick headed that every life lesson had to be hammered into her skull.

The elevator doors slid open with a ding, and Trent followed me inside. When the doors closed, I slid to the ground, placing my head in my hands. The tears that I had barely held back slid down my cheeks silently as I shook.

“Hey,” Trent said, sitting down next to me. After a second of hesitation, he put his arms around my shoulders. “Don’t cry. They’re not worth the tears.”

At that, I chuckled slightly. “I know, but...She was my friend for so long, and to say those things to me. God,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. It was all so frustrating!

“I know,” He was trying to be sweet, but I could tell he felt awkward. The words seemed forced. “But for what it’s worth, you were awesome back there. You should’ve seen the look on Alex’s face.”

That time I really did laugh, and I looked at him with a smile. “I really was pretty mean, huh?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll say. I didn’t think you had it in you, Adds.” The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Trent stood up and offered me a hand, which I took readily.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” I joked, shoving him slightly. He knew I hated the nickname.

Trent shrugged. “No matter how many times you tell me, I’m still going to call you Adds, Adds.”