The sound of endless chatter and the clinking of beer bottles echoed throughout the dimly lit bar. A haze of smoke wafted in through the double doors that were propped open. The stench of cigarettes filled the air. In the corner was a local band playing what they thought was good music, however the singer had one too many vodka red bulls and was being to slur whatever song he was attempting to sing. However, that did not stop the people on the makeshift dance floor. They were drunk, grinding on one another, and were just being a plain eyesore.                                                                                 

The sound of a phone ringing pulled my attention away from crowd watching. I set down my beer and glanced at my phone. It was turned over so I wouldn't be tempted to look at it during by after work down time. I turned it over, thinking maybe it was something important, only to scowl when I saw the same.                               

Johnathan                                                                                                                                    

I denied the phone call and quickly turned the phone off before it rang again. Sarah, my best friend and drinking buddy, narrowed her eyes at me in confusion when she saw me act so flustered and fumbling with my phone.                 

"What is going on with you?" Sarah asked sweetly with her southern drawl as she set her wine down.

"Who what that on the phone?"                

"Take one guess," I mutter as I bring my bottle back to my lips to take a sip, but the unease in my stomach from the phone call made my stomach sour.                                                           

"John?" she gasped. "Do you think he's back?" 

I shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."                                                                                                  

"Clara," she gasped. "How could you possibly say that? How long did you two date?"           

I sighed. "Sarah, we broke up for a good reason. Can't you just leave it at that?"               

"But you never told me why," she stated. "What happened?"                                              

I looked up at Sarah who had pleading eyes. It had been four months since Johnathon and I broke up. We were what people called high school sweethearts. We both were young and dumb. We both fell hard and fast for each other. It was the summer of our junior year in high school. The both of us were counselors for our churches summer camp, and it progressed from there. Johnathon was the golden child. He was the son of the pastor, captain of the baseball team. He and I were even voted as best couple in our senior year. By the time we got engaged, we were twenty-five. We had our whole life planned out. We had the venue, the dress was picked out, hell we even had names picked out for all the babies we were going to have.                                         
But then something happened.         

It was subtle at first. He would stay late at work every once in a while. No big deal, we needed the money for the wedding. But once every other week turned into once a week. Then twice a week. Then three times. It was starting to be that the only time I would see him would be on Sunday mornings for church, and afterwards he would vanish. Every night he would come stumbling home, reeking like alcohol. Tasting like cheap cigarettes. At first I thought he was just blowing off steam, but my gut told me otherwise. One night on my way home from work, I ended up having to take a different way home when I passed a bar that was nearby the office that Johnathon worked at. It was pure dumb luck that I was there just he see a group walking out. I knew who they all were. They all people I knew. They all had been to my home for Sunday barbeques, I even watched a few of their kids when I got off work. However, the one that suck out to me was Johnathan. He was clearly intoxicated by the way he walked. His usually combed brown hair was disheveled. The white shirt that I ironed for him was unkempt and wrinkled. And the girl hanging off his arm, running her hand up and down his chest, kissing his neck, whispering in his ear...wasn't me. It was a miracle I didn't crash into oncoming traffic when I saw that.                  

That night when I got home, I packed what I could in my suitcase. Tears streamed down my face as I packed things I needed. It wasn't long before I had my bag in hand and my cat in his crate. Just as I was taking my ring off to place it on the mantel, the front door opened and Johnathan stumbled in.                         

I should have felt anger when I saw him, and even betrayed as well, but I didn't. I felt... indifferent. However, that goofy grin he had on his face turned to confusion when he saw my bags by the door, and then anger when he saw the ring on the mantel. Words were said by him. He screamed and screamed till he was purple. I remained silent through his rampage until I said one sentence.                                     

I saw you leaving the bar with everyone, she seems nice                                   

That was when it got physical with him.

I'm not one hundred percent sure of what all happened that night. I remember vaguely Johnathon pushing me around and into the wall. The bruises that appeared later that night confirmed that. It all happened so fast that night, I didn't remember grabbing everything and getting into my car. Before I knew it, I was halfway to my mom's house.                            

I could not tell her what had happened when I pulled into the driveway that night. I was too much of a mess to put words together, but somehow she knew. She just guided me to my old bedroom that I hadn't lived in for years. She guided me to my bed while telling me it will be alright, and I believed her.                                                                                                                                             
I hadn't seen Johnathon since that night. He's tried calling me. I've lost count to how many voicemails and text messages he sent me. He even showed up at the hospital when I was working. But I refused to speak to him. I started to skip church as well, which my mama wasn't happy with, but she understood. How can I enjoy it when he's in the first pew?                         

"We just had a fight," I told her, hoping she wouldn't press on. "A really, really big fight."    

I could tell Sarah want to press on, but she kept her mouth closed. Johnathon wasn't really a topic I wanted to get into. Three months ago, he left on some mission for the church. I'm not sure if it was to build houses or take clean water to remote villages. Either way, the last three months were bliss.

"You know you'll run into him eventually, right?" 

I shrugged. "Well, hopefully I don't."    

Sarah rolled her eyes at me. "Hey, you're off tomorrow right?"             

I look at her suspiciously. "Yeah. Why?"   

"No reason," she said as she finished her wine. "It's nice you got a weekend day off." 

"Ha yeah, like im going to be doing anything fun. I got a date with my bed after that twenty hour shift."     

"That's gross," Sarah said.            

I shrugged before hopping off the stool. It is. I feel like him going to pass out here from exhaustion. Are you good from here?"     
"I think I can manage. Tell your mama and Everett I said hello."             

Will do," I said as I hugged her goodbye and left the bar.

The weather outside was muggy and hot. I could feel my skin instantly get clammy, which was a feeling I could never get used to. I guess that living in the south that was something you were supposed to be used to at a young age, but after twenty six years, that's just something that I'll just have to give up on.                             

As I walked to my car, I couldn't help but feel as if I were being watched. The streets weren't empty, but not busy either. The bar I was at was located on the main street of Crystal Falls. It wasn't a small town, but it wasn't large either. There was roughly six hundred people living here. Most of them older. The younger population lives out towards the city that was about twenty minutes up the highway. That was where I had a house with Johnathan. That was where we planned to live. Raise kids. Grow old.                             

That turned out not so well.                                                                                                                                                       

I dug my keys out of my purse as quick as possible. The being watch feeling now graduated to hearing footsteps in the gravel behind me. Just as I had my keys in my hand, a voice came up behind me and spoke.                                                                                                                                                                                                         
"What happened to the car I got you?"                                                                                                                                          

I freeze for a moment at the voice I heard. Physically, I was fine. Mentally, I was cursing like a sailor. Slowly, I turned my head at the boy who single handedly destroyed my life in one night.                                              

Johnathan looked the same, yet different. His hair that was usually short and neatly combed was now shaggy and messy. His face which was usually clean shaven had stubble like he hadn't shaved for a few weeks. Typically he always wore neat, tucked in clothing. But now he looked like he raided a lost and found box from the bus station.                                                                                                                                                               
I sighed as I lowered my arm to my side.

"Does it matter?"                                                                                           

"I guess not," he said softly. "Is that Mr. Louis's car?"                 

I glanced over that the pale yellow Pacer that was now mine. "He died about two months ago. His wife sold it to me."                                                                                                                                                                               
"Shit," Johnathan said as he ran his hand through his hair. "What else happened when I was gone?"                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
"What do you want?" I say emotionlessly. I was tired, and I didn't want to deal with him right now.                    

He seemed taken aback by what I said. "I want to talk."                        

I couldn't help but laugh. "Talk? There's nothing to talk about."              

"Yes there is," he pressed on. "Clara, please come home."                                                                                            

"No," I told him. "Why would I do that?"                                                                                                                              

"Because we belong together," he told me as he took a few steps towards me so we were just inches apart. "We've both made mistakes but it's time to go back to how we were."                      

"Mistakes?" I shouted as I shoved him as hard as I could. Johnathan stumbled back, just barely keeping his footing. "You think I made mistakes? How? You were the one sneaking around behind my back doing god knows what. So tell me, what did I do to deserve that? What did I do to deserve you beating me that night?"                                                                                                                                               
"Well..." he started to say, but nothing was coming out of his mouth. He kept stammering around as if he were trying to justify what he had said.                                                                                                                          

"Leave me alone, Johnathan," I said as I turned around and unlocked the car. Before I got in, I turned my head slightly just enough to see him. "I don't love you anymore."                                                                      

Before Johnathan could say another word, I hopped in my car and drove away. Normally, I would have been upset. My last interaction with him left me in tears, but this time was different. I felt numb. Was that a good thing? I have no idea. Do I care? No. All I knew was that I wanted to go home and crawl into bed and forget this day ever happened.

I don't remember the drive home though. The bar was only a few minutes from home, but before I realized what was happening, I pulled into the driveway.

The only light that was on was the living room light that was in the living room that could be seen from the driveway. It was almost one in the morning. Normally, mama goes to bed around nine thirty. If she knew that I was going to be home late, she would leave that one on for me. That was most nights however. Over the past few months, I'd try to get a few extra hours working at the hospital. The jobs tedious and exhausting, but it was nice to have a distraction.

As I was walking up the front porch of the house, I glanced back to the car I parked next too. It was the one Johnathan had brought up. It was a Ford that was nearing a decade old. Back when we got it, Johnathan and I pulled some money together so I would have a way to get to work in the city. After all that had happened, I couldn't stand to drive that car anymore. There were too many memories that I wanted to forget.

Originally when Mr. Louis died, Everett was gonna buy the Pacer. He needed a car when he came back from deployment, and he barely had enough for the car. I figured I might as well give him the Ford since it was more reliable since the army base he had to drive too was double my commute to work. Besides, since i came back to live with my mom, i no longer had to worry about most of the bills I had before. I had manage to build a little nest egg that was perfect for that.

The house was quiet when I walked in. The peace was nice. The only sound that could be heard was the ticking from the grandfather clock that has pushed in the corner of the living room. As i stepped deeper into the house, I was engulfed in warmth. Over the years, the house hasn't changed much. The walls were covered in framed photos of my brother and I. From baby pictures to our very last day of school, our faces covered the wall. It was safe to say that my mother loved her kids. There were other pictures hanging up around the house too. There were pictures of both my grandparents lined up on the mantle of the fireplace. And the picture that was in the center of it all, was my father,

My father was handsome in the picture taken. He couldn't have been much older than twenty five in it. He was wearing his Army uniform in the picture, and right besides it was a folded up flag tucked away neatly in a frame surrounded by metals. My father served in Afghanistan, and he didn't make it back home.

He served in three tours over there, and did not make it the last one. From what I was told, they were pinned down by enemy fire. My father, who had become wounded during the exchange of fire, managed to pull two people who were trapped when their vehicle was overturned due to a land mine explosion. He ended up dying due to his wounds in the arms of one of his fellow service men. I guess that's why Everett joined the Army as soon as he graduated. My mother wasn't too fond of the idea when he told her that he was joking one night during dinner. I could understand why though. The already lost her husband, she didn't want to lose a son.

With a yawn, I begin to walk up the stairs. I was beyond exhausted, and there was nothing more I wanted to do than crawl into my bed. When I made it to my room, I kicked off my shoes and went to lay down. I was out before my head hit the pillows.