Strategically Careless

Chapter 2

Blake’s POV

    “Hey, y’all ready to go?” I ask as Katie and I walk up to Collin and Colby standing on the street just outside of the building. 

    “Y’all?” Colby laughs  “You really are from the south.” 

    “Hey what’s go bad about y’all?!” I ask defensively. “And how did you know I am from down south?”

    “Nothings wrong with it. It's just funny.” Colby shrugs crossing his arms. “And Collin was telling me about Katie and said you grew up together.” 

    “You were talking about me?” Katie blushes looking at Collin

    “Well... yeah. He wasn’t supposed to say anything though” Collin says looking angrily at Colby then at Katie making him blush. Katie kisses Collin’s cheek causing me to roll my eyes, I look at Colby to see him doing the same thing.

    “Where do y’all want to go?” I ask changing the subject. I don’t like all that mushy s**t. 

    “How about Central Park?” Katie suggests looking to the group

    “I’ll go anywhere you want.” Collin flirts

    “Sounds good to me” Colby shrugs. Collin and Katie take off walking hand and hand while Colby and I stay a couple of steps back giving Katie and Collin enough space to talk and get to know each other.

    After some walking and a short subway ride, the group arrives at Central Park. It's so big. And it's not like I expected at all. I thought it would be like the parks we have back home, one big open field with nothing on it except for maybe a building for bathrooms. “This place is so cute! I love it.” I squeal and run off deeper into the park. 

    “Blake, don't wander too far! You’re going to wander off.” I hear Katie yell from behind me but I don’t listen to her. I run over to a fountain and watch as the water sprays into the air. “This place is cute though,” Katie says looking around.

    “Not as cute as you.” Collin flirts and I can’t hold back my eye roll.

    “There’s so much to do here!” I call out to the group and walk farther away.

    “Will she really wander off?” I hear Colby asks but don’t hear Katie’s answer. I’m too focused on what’s caught my attention. A little play area for children.... and me. Nobody’s on it and I haven’t played on a swing set since I was a kid.

    “Come back here you i***t!” Katie calls from behind me but again I don’t listen. I want to play on the swing set and get away from Katie and Collins awful flirting. Hopefully, Colby will follow me too and Katie and Collin to flirt to their little heart content. I run-up to the swing set right as my phone chimes. I pull it out of the pocket of my leggings and check it. Aren’t leggings with pockets just the best?

    “There you are!” Colby says walking up behind me. “I was looking everywhere for you,” Colby says sounding a little annoyed but a little bit relieved. I put my phone back in my pocket and turn to him.

    “Sorry I just didn’t want to watch them play kissy-face anymore.” I shrug. “I was hoping you would follow.” 

    “Neither did I. That's why I volunteered to find you. Wait.... you wanted me to follow you?” Colby asks shocked. 

    “Yeah. Because I know they like each other and could use some alone time to get to know each other” I shrug. “Katie thinks I get too excited and wander off so I use that to play wing woman for my girl,” I explain

    “Oh... Yeah, it looks like we will be spending more time together in the meantime.” Colby sighs.

    “Don’t judge me but I kind of wanted to play on the swings,” I say turning around to face the swings that I actually really do want to play on. “I haven’t played on a playground since I was really little.” 

    “That sounds like a great idea! Swings used to be so fun.” Colby says but I can’t tell if he is making fun of me or not. “I’ll join you” he smiles. Hmm, I guess he was being serious. I smile back at him.

    “Really? You aren’t just making fun of me?” I ask before I realize my mouth is moving.

    “Seriously. It sounds fun.” Colby says looking down at me with a smile. He really is hotter up close.

    Colby and I must have sat on those swings talking and laughing for hours. We played like little kids and it was great. It's been a long time since I’ve gotten to play like a little kid like that. And Colby’s not so bad. I’m having a lot of fun with him, he has the same weird sense of humor as me and is very sarcastic.

    After a while the skies starting to get darker and I can hear Colby’s stomach growl, we completely skipped lunch we were having so much fun acting like children. We both get off the swings and start heading back the way we came. “I have to go. My band is playing tonight and I need to go get ready.” Colby says rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

    “Oh, that's exciting! You must be really good to have all these shows.” I say excitedly. 

    “It’s just clubs and bars for right now.” Colby shrugs.

    “You want to play bigger places?” I ask

    “That's the goal. I know it's like a one in a million chances of making it big but it's my dream.” Colby blushes a little bit as he is talking about his dreams, explaining them to almost a total stranger.

    “That's really cool you’re following your dreams!” I encourage him

    “You really think so?” He asks hopefully. “Most people say it's unrealistic.” 

    “Well, I’m not most people. And yeah I think it's really cool.” I tell him honestly. “I’ve never had a dream to chase but if I did I would go after it with all I had. Just like you’re doing.”

    “You never had a dream that you wanted to chase?” Colby asks crossing his arms turning to look at me.

    “No not that I remember at least,” I say kicking the dirt under my shoes. “Normally I just focus on what needs to be done today to survive.  I guess you could say going to college was my dream but that was more of a way to get out of my hometown.” I shrug.

    “New York is the place where dreams come true. We should find you a dream that you can chase.” Colby smiles at me. He has cute dimples. “Just not today, I’m late to chase my own dream,” Colby says checking the time on his phone then shoving it back in his pocket.

    “Ok. I’ll walk back to the apartment with you. I don’t know where we are right now.” I admit. Directions have never been my strong suit.

    Colby and I head back to the apartment making idle small talk. Once I get back to the apartment I find it empty. Katie’s probably still with Collin. Plus she has to be up early tomorrow morning for her first day of work so I guess I’m on my own for entertainment tonight. What should I do tonight? I don’t know anyone else in the city but I really don’t want to stay in. I know. I’ll go back to the club I went to yesterday. Hopefully the cute guy I met yesterday, what was his name again? Liam, I think he said. I don’t know it was loud in there. 

    I throw on a black spaghetti strap crop top and a light blue skater skirt and some black heels. Nothing too fancy just enough to blend in. Yeah, this is as good as it's going to get so I head out the door. If you can’t have a good time with yourself you then who can you have fun with, am I right?

    There aren’t many people at the club when I first get there. Just the bartenders and a few guys standing around looking grumpy. Oh well. I’m getting a drink. I don’t need anybody else to have fun. The bartender slides my drink across the bar and I turn around to see Colby walking up to me.

    “Hey. What are you doing here?” I ask taking a sip of my drink.

    “We are performing here,” Colby says looking around. “Are you here alone? Where is Katie?” He looks at me again and looks concerned or worried. Chill dude. I’m fine. I don’t need other people to take care of me. I realize I am glaring at Colby. I need to stop. If my roommate is going to be hanging out with his roommate we might run into each other I need to keep it civil.

    “Oh, I didn’t realize it was at this club again,” I say changing the subject so I can hide the obvious glare on my face. “And yeah I’m alone. Katie is with Collin still and I didn’t want to sit at home alone.” I shrug as casually as I can manage.  “Do y’all always play here?” 

    “No, we play other places too. But mainly here. The owners a cool guy and likes our music so he keeps booking us.” Colby explains.

    “Oh, that's cool that you’re friends with the owner!” I tease while wiggling my eyebrows. “He has to be some big shot to own a place like this,” I say looking around the club that is getting pretty crowded.

    “You met him. The guy you were drinking with last night.” Colby points out.

    “Liam? Liam owns this place?” I gasp. He’s so young how does he own a place as big as this?

    “Yeah he inherited it from his parents a few years back,” Colby explains

    “Ohhh cool. I wonder why he didn’t tell me yesterday.” I shrug. I feel like that's the kind of thing someone would use to brag about especially since he was flirting as much as he was last night.

    “From what I saw you were not doing a lot of talking,” Colby smirks. “It was mostly taking shots and some dancing. And from what I heard you almost outdrank him too. Some of the guys were pretty impressed by that.” Colby says leaning against the bar smirking stupidly. 

    “Thanks... I think.”  I shrug. “After the shots though I decided to go home and he offered to walk me. We got lost and ended up walking and talking for hours. He could have told me.” 

    “Is he the reason you came here tonight? Alone?” Colby asks looking down at the ground then back up at me.

    “No.....” I lie.

    “Just be careful with him.” Colby sighs

    “I thought you said he was cool.” 

    “Yeah, he is a cool guy for continuing to hire us. But there are rumors though that he can be......... trouble.” Colby says with a sad smile. “He has a tendency to cause problems with people and get in fights,” Colby explains

    “Oh.” I can’t help the disappointment in my voice. “Ok.” I sigh. I’ve had enough of people that have a tendency to cause problems and pick fights. 

    “Just be careful ok?” Colby says with a tight-lipped smile looking directly in my eyes like he is searching for something. “I have to go. We start in a couple of minutes.” Colby sighs

    “Break a leg.” I wave as he walks away. I turn around and face the bartender. “Shots please,” I order before downing the rest of my drink in one go. The bartender pulls out a shot glass from under the bar and fills it. I throw it back without hesitation enjoying the burn it leaves. 

    “Hey, there pretty lady. Can I buy you a drink?” A voice from behind me grabs my attention. What the hell, why not. “Sure. Another round bartender.” I tell the bartender not even turning to look at the guy. 

    “Okay Yeah! So what’s your name?” He asks as I watch the bartender fill the shot glass yet again. 

    “Blake,” I say finally turning to him. Hmmm.. he’s not ugly. Looks a bit pompous with a dyed bleached blonde man bun and a muscle tee that shows some muscles. But the way he carries himself annoys me some like he is God's gift to the world. Mmmm worst-case scenario I have mediocre s*x with him. That's fine with me. 

    “Well Blake, it's nice to meet you. Want to dance?” He asks trying his best to be charming.

    “Sure.” I down my shot and lead him to the dance floor. I start grinding on this guy to the beat of the music. I watch Colby sing from the stage, it is a song I recognize from the radio but. I forget the name of it. They’re doing a pretty good cover of it. Within a few seconds, another boy walks up to us on the dance floor.

    “Way to go Ethan!” The guy high fives the one I’m grinding on.

    “Go talk to the girl over there Ryan.” The guy I’m dancing with, I guess his name is Ethan dismisses his friend. ‘I’m busy” 

    “Ok, whatever you say” his friend smiles and walks off to do what Ethan says. Poor kid.

    A few hours pass with Ethan and I dancing and drinking together. Ethan's not a good dancer but when he’s dancing he doesn’t talk to me as much which I greatly enjoy. “Hey, do you want to get out of here?” A now somewhat drunk Ethan asks in my ear while we’re dancing. 

    “Yeah let's go” 

    “We can head back to my place. It's near here.” Ethan says with a smile.

    “Ok,” I shrug. 

    Ethan leads me back to a dingy apartment with the paint peeling off the walls and piles of clothes on the floor. “So this is my place,” Ethan says. “Excuse the mess.” It's not a big deal. I’ve seen worse. I turn to Ethan and throw myself at him kissing him. 

    Ethan quickly kisses me back and pulls me closer to him. I jump up wrapping my legs around his waist never breaking the kiss. Ethan walks us over to the bed and laying me down on it and his hands run up my legs. s**t, I made a promise to Katie. I promised I’d stop using guys as a distraction. Ugh.

    “Hey hey hey” I breathe out “We should stop,” I tell Ethan patting his back signaling for him to get off me.

    “No, it's fine. I have condoms right over there.” Ethan says kissing down my neck and messing with the strap on my shirt. 

    “No I mean we should stop,” I repeat pushing him off me.

    “We can slow down some,” Ethan says still kissing me as his hands slide under my shirt. “Right?” He asks sounds angry.

    “No, I mean coming here was a mistake.” I stand up from his bed while he looks at me anger evident on his face. 

    “Nobody forced you to come back here.” He says crossing his arms and standing up. “We are here because you agreed to come here.” 

    “I’m sorry. I just-“    

    “You just- WHAT? Wasted my time? Wasted my money? Lead me on?” Ethan huffs raising his voice. “You are the one that decided to dance with me! you are the one that accepted my drink offer! You are the one that agreed to come back here!” Ethan yells clenching his fists and before I have time to react he punches me in the face. I stumble back a step but quickly regain it. I swipe my face to see blood on my finger from where he split my lip. 

    “Hey! That one is free but the next time you so much as raise your voice at me you will regret it” I warn him.

    “Yeah right! Like I would be scared of some bar slut!” He yells 

    “Ok, I warned you.” I shrug. I punch him in the face just like he did me. He punches me back this time in the cheek. He tries for a third time but I block it with my arm and hit in the ribs. He groans and I knee him in the groin. He hits his knees and I punch him again. And again. And again.

    “Ouch! Stop please stop” He begs panting trying to catch his breath.

    “Ok,” I say crossing my arms. “I’m going to leave. If you try to follow me or ever speak to me again you will regret it. Have I made myself clear?” I ask raising my eyebrows.

    “You b***h” Ethan huffs trying to catch his breath and wiping blood from his face.

    “HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!” I ask again curling my hands into fists. I hate repeating myself. 

    “Yes yes, please. Just stop” he begs. I leave. I knew he was scum but I didn’t think it would turn out like that. 

    I walk back to my building with is only a few blocks away and thankfully I find my way back easily. It is pretty late now, I think the sun is supposed to start rising soon. “Ugh. Way to go Blake. You sure know how to pick ‘em” I scold myself as I walk up to my building. “At least you found your way home tonight.” I just hope it is late enough that nobody sees me.

    I make my way thru the empty lobby and to the elevator only to see Colby in the elevator coming home. s**t. Just be quiet. He’s looking at his phone maybe he won't notice me. I walk into the elevator carefully hoping he won't notice but when I go to press the button for my floor he glances over at me then back to his phone. I let out a sigh of relief but Colby does a double-take and looks at me and his mouth falls open.

    “What the f**k happened to you?” He asks concerned. 

    “Nothing,” I say turning away from him and hiding my face behind my hair.

    “Its sure as hell doesn’t look like nothing.” He argues.

    “I’m not in the mood.” I sigh

    “Seriously?” Colby grabs my arm turning me around to face him. I can see the concern written all over his face. “Are you ok? You’re bleeding.” He says much softer.

    “Don’t. You don’t have to do this.” I shrug. “It's not a big deal.” 

    “Do what?” He asks sadly taking his eyes off the bruise that's forming on my face and looking me in the eyes.

    “Act like you care.”

    “Blake I do care.” Colby sighs. “At least let me help you clean up the cut.” 

    “I was actually going to ask if I could borrow your bathroom before I went home. I don’t want Katie to see me. She would be mad.” I explain.

    “Yeah! Most people would.” Colby nods. 

    We get to Colby’s apartment and he leads me to the bathroom without saying a word. “So what happened?” He finally asks turning to me.

    “It's not a big deal. Just a fuckboy.” I shrug

    “Did that guy you were with do this?” Colby says with clenched fists.

    “I’m fine. And don’t worry about me. I can handle a few hits.” I say resting my hand on his arm to help calm him down. “It's not a big deal and now he knows to leave me alone.”     

    “Sit,” Colby says pointing to the bathroom counter. I do what he says and sit on the counter as Colby starts digging thru the cabinet. 

    “Your band was really good tonight,” I tell him.

    “Ha! That's what you want to talk about right now? Ok.” Colby says sarcastically. 

    “What? Y’all were good.” I shrug.

    “Really? You didn’t smile one time tonight.” 

    “You were watching me?” I ask leaning back some.

    “Yeah. I always find the prettiest girl in the club while I’m on stage” Colby shrugs grabbing a towel and running it under cold water.

    “Yeah right. There were definitely hotter girls there.” I roll my eyes.

    “I didn’t see any,” Colby smirks. “I didn’t see any last night either.” 

    “You’re just saying that because you feel bad that my face is bleeding.” I dismiss him

    “No, I’m not.” Colby shakes his head. 

    “Shut up. You’re just making fun of me.” I say crossing my arms. Colby dabs the wet towel on my face wiping away the blood.

    “I’m not making fun of you.” Colby denies. “This might sting a little.” 

    “It always does.” I lean back preparing myself. Colby dabs the medicine on it cleaning the wounds. “Ever notice how cleaning a cut hurts worse than getting one. Like when you use hand sanitizer and you have a paper cut. Or when you put hydrogen peroxide on a cut. Somehow that always hurts worse than how you got the cut to begin with.” I talk as Colby works.

    “I guess you’re right to a certain extent,” Colby says after he finishes up.

    “Thanks for letting me borrow your bathroom” I smile awkwardly. “I don’t want Katie to see me before she goes to work. It's her first day at her dream job and I don’t want to give her any reason to worry.” 

    “No problem. Just don’t make a habit of it. I don’t want to see you hurt.” 

    “Yeah, I really know how to pick him,” I say as I hop off the counter landing on the floor. “Really, please don’t say anything. It's fine now.” I beg looking up at him.

    “I won't. Isn’t she your best friend? Don’t you tell each other everything?” Colby asks 

    “She is my best friend and I will tell her..... eventually. She’s stuck with me thru enough stupid things, so I don’t want to worry her with something as unimportant as this.” I explain.

    “If she has stuck with you through everything, won't she stick with you through this?”

    “Yeah, I hope so. But she doesn’t like when things like this happen. I guess not telling her is my way of protecting her and our friendship.” I shrug.

    “Do you really think she ever would stop being friends with you?” Colby asks looking me over to make sure I’m ok one more time.

    “I think in the long run it would be better for her. But I don’t want her to. She has been there for me through everything. Even when she didn’t know I needed someone she was always there to help.” I answer truthfully.    

    “Well, let's hope that she is still asleep then.” Colby gives me a sad smile. “Please. be careful.” 

    “Thanks again. I’ll see you later.” I say before turning and walking out of the bathroom.

    “Ugh. That girl is a tornado.” I hear Colby say to himself as I walk away.

    I ride the elevator back down to my floor and make my way to the apartment. As quietly as I can I open the apartment door and sneak in. I quietly close the door behind me and turn around just to see Katie standing in the living room with her arms crossed dressed and ready for work. Dammit.