Free Every Little Piece by Kate Ashton

call Carter and crawl back to Haley and beg her forgiveness.
    My phone buzzed, jarring me awake. I stumbled into the kitchen and fumbled for the phone on the counter where I dropped my keys last night.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, asshole. You up for breakfast?” Carter asked.
    “No. I’ll call you later when I wake up. Much later.” I went to press End but he called my name. “What?” I was fully annoyed at this point. He knew better than to call early on the morning after a party.
    “Graduation?”
    “Oh, shit.”
    “You coming over, or what?”
    “Yeah, yeah. Let me jump in the shower and I’ll be right over.”
    I dropped the phone. Graduation. Totally forgot. I wished I could postpone it about a week. With all their drama, my parents probably didn’t even remember.
    My phone buzzed again. I sighed with annoyance ready to ream Carter out. I got the point. I was coming. The caller ID popped up with Carly. Shit. I ignored it. The last thing I needed was to confront her or find out what happened between us last night. If I kissed her, she was doing the morning after call to try and hook up today or see if it would turn into more. If my memories were correct, and I walked out with her, there must be some mistake. No way would I have left with her on my own.
    After showering and forcing down dry toast, I headed outside. Carly called four more times. I ignored all of them. She must’ve been desperate. When I got to the top of the driveway, I froze. My mom’s minivan. The front end was completely smashed. I rolled my neck. Maybe my headache and body aches weren’t due to just a hangover. I shuffled forward, filled with regret. I didn’t remember getting in an accident. How could I forget something like that?
    The bumper and grill looked like some monster clamped down on it with fierce and sharp jaws and took a bite. I got home last night so it must still be drivable. I shrugged. It would have to come out of my measly college fund, which I wasn’t counting on anyway. This day was turning out to be crap.
    On the way over to Carter’s, Carly called three more times. I was tempted to pick it up and tell her where to go, but it was better to not play her game. I parked down the road instead of in his driveway, because I didn’t want the comments or questions about the van, especially since I didn’t remember. I plastered on a smile and tried not to act like I wanted to crawl into a cave.
    Carter took one look at me and smirked. Walking through the breakfast buffet his mom set up, he whispered. “You look like hell.”
    “No kidding.” I bit back the questions. Carter had to know about last night. I hoped.
    Over breakfast, his parents peppered us with questions about our future, about the day, until Carter gave his mom the signal to quit it. Then they turned the conversation to all the memories of us getting into trouble. It was relaxing and for a few brief moments, I forgot. About everything. If that had been their goal, then it had worked.
    A loud rapping at the door interrupted our walk down memory lane. Carter’s mom left the table.
    “It’s probably Jamie,” Carter joked. “He was supposed to be here.”
    I mustered up the energy to join in. “We’ll save the dishes for him.”
    There was a commotion in the entranceway. Carter’s mom sounded flustered. And above her voice was Carly’s. Shit. I hadn’t answered the phone, so she followed me here? Stalker. I pushed back from the table and stormed over to the door.
    “What’re you doing here?” I demanded.
    She was frantic and ran to me, clutching my shirt and shaking me. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all morning!”
    I pushed her away in disgust and scolded her in low tones so Carter’s family couldn’t hear. “Listen, I don’t know what happened last night but I was drunk and it didn’t mean anything. So you can go home.”
    Tears streaked her cheeks. “You’re an asshole, you know that. I’ve been to your house, Jamie’s and