Flannel
They sat together in his car, parked outside of Five Guys. He had just bought her dinner, but the silence he just suffered through made him regret that purchase almost instantly.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
“I told you to leave me alone.” She said.
“How am I supposed to leave you alone? You’re in my car.”
“Take me home.”
“Seriously-?”
”-Fucking take me home.”
“Fine.”
He started the car (it took a few tries, the car wasn’t in the shape it used to be) and he drove her home. On the way, they passed a sign for Swenson’s. He smiled and thought about better times with friends. Times when things weren’t so fucking complicated, back when the world seemed to make a little more sense and people seemed to give a few more shits. She broke through his thoughts.
“You know you’re a fuck up, right? You fuck up everything you touch. I asked you to do something very simple, I asked you to leave me alone. I asked you not to check in on me and you couldn’t even do that right.”
He didn’t say anything for a while, he just thought about her words. He thought about what he had been through only a few months earlier. He never wanted this to begin with, and he wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t pestered him into dating her. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he pulled into her driveway.
“At school on Monday, I want my flannel back.” He said, coldly.
“What?!”
“You and I are fucking done. At school on Monday, I want my flannel back. That’s my favorite flannel, no way I’m letting you keep it.”
“Is that seriously all you care about right now?”
“You literally just told me how I’m a huge fuck up. What do you want me to say- thank you? Get out of my car.”
She scoffed, exited the car and slammed the door, flipping him the bird as she stormed into the house. As he drove away, he couldn’t help but smile. It felt like the world had been living on his shoulders and it finally decided to move somewhere else.
On Monday, he found his flannel on the floor in front of his locker. He never lent it to another soul.