“So you thought it was appropriate to borrow my boyfriend’s pants? What is wrong with you?”
A big part of my plan’s chance at success was mass confusion. It seemed to be working. I just had no idea why she was so upset about this. Did I make a habit of borrowing her boyfriend’s pants? I doubted it. “Chill.”
She glared at me like I was the devil. “You want me to chill? How about you take his pants off?”
“No. He gave them to me. And I’m cold. Actually, I’m so cold that I’m just going to go take a bath to try to warm up. I’ll leave his pants outside the bathroom door for you, psycho.”
“I’m not a psycho for not wanting you in my boyfriend’s pants.”
I laughed. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It is to me. You always do this.” Her anger was gone. It looked like she was about to cry.
What had I done to her? I suddenly actually felt cold. I tucked my hands into the front pocket of the hoodie. The more I learned about the person I had become, the more I hated her. I didn’t know how I had become this monster. All I knew was that Penny Hunter was clearly not a good person. It was just more reason to leave. “I’m sorry. I’ll take them off. Just give me a few minutes, okay?” I left the room without waiting for a response.
When I got to my room, I pulled the duffel bag over my shoulder. I was about to go hide when I realized this was exactly what a monster would do. Leaving without saying anything was harsh. I didn’t want James to worry, I wanted him to let me go. I grabbed a piece of paper off the nightstand and left a quick note.
James,
I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore. This is better for both of us. Please forget about me.
-Penny
I dropped it in front of the bathroom door and then ran out of the room. My whole body froze when I heard James’ voice from downstairs. Him being home ruined everything.Shit, shit, shit!
“I assumed you knew,” he said.
“Why would you assume that? I was completely blindsided today, James,” Melissa said. “You asked me to help her try to remember you, but how can I possibly do that when I don’t know anything about you.”
“She never told you?”
“No.” They were both quiet for a moment. “So it’s true? You’re an addict?”
“I…I’m good right now.”
“You don’t look good, James. Honestly, you look terrible and…”
“How do you think you’d look if Josh almost died? I’m dealing as best I can. And I’m not using.”
“Do you swear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because you’ll need your A-game tonight. Penny’s lost her freaking mind. She stole Josh’s pants and then pretended it wasn’t weird at all and then ran away to take a bath because apparently she’s freezing cold.”
“She never takes baths.”
“Yeah, well, she’s not exactly acting like herself. God, I barely recognize her. I’ve known her longer with you two together than I ever knew her when she was single. I’m used to you two being solid.”
“I’m going to go check on her.”
“Let me,” Melissa said with a sigh. “She used to always wear Tyler’s sweatpants when she’d come over. I may have snapped at her because it reminded me of that.”
Man of my dreams Tyler?I bet I did want to be in his pants. I almost laughed at the thought. There was no way I had tried to steal Melissa’s boyfriend. She had to know that.
James laughed. “Yeah. I hated when she’d do that too.”
“Why didn’t you tell her to stop then? You could have saved me from a huge fight we had.”
