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It was the third night in a row that Bree had spent at Frank’s house. They had been dating for nearly two months now, and Bree thought that she had not been this happy since her father had died. She practically lived with her boyfriend, and when they were not together, they were on the phone. Tonight, they had decided to stay in with Gerard and have a few drinks while Frank’s mother was visiting her friend in New York for the night.

Gerard was splayed over Frank’s bed, a joint in hand and a beer balanced on his stomach. ‘Do you see your friend Carrie much anymore?’ Gerard asked, as his head lolled over the side of the bed. ‘I haven’t really seen her lately.’
Bree rose her head from Frank’s lap, where she had been lying, taking a sip of her beer. ‘Um, no, I don’t see her that much anymore. She’s always at school so...’
‘I keep telling you to go to school,’ Frank interjected. ‘She probably misses you.’
‘Eh,’ Bree made a non-committal noise, taking the joint from Gerard’s hand, sucking it in, and put her head back down.
‘Well, can you invite her over tonight or something?’ Gerard said. ‘I can’t ask her out if I never “coincidentally” see her.’
‘Oh, “coincidentally,” hey?’ Frank laughed.
‘Why do you wanna date Carrie anyway?’ Bree frowned.
‘I don’t know. She’s usually drunk, I’m usually drunk. I just think we’d work well.’
‘Fine.’ Bree conceded. ‘I’ll call her and ask. Babe, where’s the phone?’
‘Kitchen,’ Frank replied, lighting up a cigarette.

Bree wandered down the hall, beer in hand. Eventually she was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, dialling Carrie’s number. The phone rang four times before Carrie’s mother picked up.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Mrs Rogers, it’s Bree.’
‘Oh hello, Bree! We haven’t seen or heard from you for a while. How have you been? Too busy to come and visit?’
‘Oh, you know what school’s like. Busy, you know.’
‘Of course, Carrie tells me you’ve joined the photography club at school! That must keep you busy. It’s so good to hear you’re getting involved!’
Bree frowned. She would never join the photography club, was Mrs Rogers going senile? ‘Uh, yeah.’ She replied hesitantly.
‘Anyway, I’ll just get Carrie for you, hold on a moment.’

Bree chewed on a nail while she waited for Carrie to pick up the phone. Why would Carrie tell her mom that Bree joined a club at school?
‘What?’ Said Carrie’s flat voice on the phone.
‘Well hello to you too.’ Bree replied, feeling perplexed.
‘You expect me to act like nothing’s happened? Like I’ve heard from you sometime in the last month? Like I’ve seen you at school? What is wrong with you?’ Carrie would have been yelling, if her voice weren’t so quiet. Bree guessed that Mrs Rogers was still in the room.
‘Why’d you tell your mom I’d joined photography club?’
‘What am I supposed to tell her? “My best friend doesn’t call anymore, she doesn’t even come to school, I don’t even know where she is half the time. That’s why she’s never here anymore, Mom.” Yeah, right.’
‘Look, I’m sorry Carrie.’ Bree said earnestly. ‘I just didn’t wanna deal with school anymore, I didn’t belong there.’
‘Uh huh, and where do you belong, Brianna? In a fucking box on the side of the road? Because that’s where you’ll end up. Neither of us belonged there Bree, but we stayed, because we wanted to eventually do something with our lives. Do you even go to work anymore?’
‘Sometimes,’ Bree said, looking out the kitchen window.

There was silence on the phone. ‘Do you wanna come over?’ Bree asked.
‘Not really.’
‘Will you do it anyway?’
Bree heard a sigh. ‘Where are you?’

~

Carrie showed up on Frank’s doorstep an hour later. Bree let her in and guided her upstairs to Frank’s bedroom.
‘Hey drunk girl,’ Frank said to Carrie. ‘Haven’t seen you in a while.’
‘Yeah, well. That’s because you’ve been spending more time with my best friend than I have.’
There was a tense silence.
‘So uh, who have you been hanging out with lately?’ Gerard asked, trying to diffuse the tension from his upside down spot on the bed.
‘Jackson, mostly.’ Carrie replied.
‘Oh yeah?’ Gerard said.
Bree frowned. ‘Trying to fuck him still, Carrie? It’s so pathetic, seriously.’ She added to Frank, a smirk on her face.
‘Hey Bree, chill!’ Frank said, his forehead creasing.
‘For your information, no!’ Carrie scowled. ‘Because I’m seeing someone.’
‘Pfft, who?’
‘Mikey Way!’ Carrie yelled.
Everyone turned to stare at her. Bree was shocked. ‘Really?’ Her voice was suddenly small. She couldn’t understand what emotion she was feeling. Sadness, maybe?
‘Yeah,’ Carrie replied, just as quietly.

For a while, everyone sat in silence, processing the information. Bree said nothing, only glared at Carrie.
Gerard turned to Carrie and handed her a joint, ‘here.’
‘No thanks.’ She shook her head and watched as Bree took a hit of Frank’s joint, which he had just lit up. ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ She questioned loudly, as Bree returned the joint to Frank.
‘What’s it look like?’
‘Looks like you’re being a fuckin’ idiot.’
Bree scoffed. ‘It’s not like you’ve never done it.’
Carrie fumed as she looked around the room. ‘It’s different.’
‘How is it different, you dirty hypocrite?!’ By this point, they were yelling, and Bree had stood up.
‘Because I did it of my own accord, not just because my boyfriend told me to! You’re the hypocrite! You said you’d never do this shit!’ The two stood, facing each other, their pupils connected, and resentment plain on their faces. ‘You know what?’ Carrie said in a deadly voice. ‘I’m done. I don’t even fucking know you, and to be honest, I don’t want to anymore. Don’t call me ever again, I don’t want to see you. Fuck your life up for good, see if I care.’
‘Yeah, whatever. Fuck you.’ Bree muttered. Carrie stared at her for a moment, then turned and left, slamming the door on the way out. Frank and Gerard could only stare, worry plain on even their usually relaxed faces.

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What do you guys think?
Will Bree and Carrie make up? What are Frank and Gerard so worried about? What's going on in Bree's head?
Rate and review please! It's so helpful when you do :)