"Wanna come over?" Jerry said on the phone.

"Sure, what time?"

"Now."

"Okay."

I hung up and stepped outside.

Dad was outside with another person. I knew both of them were drunk. And angry.

This wasn't the first time I had seen this kind of thing. So I knew what it was going to be. I decided to go through the backdoor instead.

---

"How come you didn't hang with us at lunch yesterday?" Jerry asked.

I was not prepared to explain to Jerry what a jerk his crush was and how I would never hang out with her, "I didn't feel like it."

Jerry raised his eyebrows.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, ok?"

Jerry stared at me. "Wow. Chill, dude."

I looked away and didn't answer.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

I felt sick, "I—I should go," I said.

"You just got here."

"I know. I forgot—I had to do something with my Dad."

I could feel Jerry's eyes burning holes into my back as I walked away.