"In life, there are no mistakes... only lessons."

—Vic Johnson

The cab came to a stop in the middle of the parking lot, leaving some space between us and the two other vehicles. I started rummaging through my jacket pockets for the taxi fare, and asked the driver how much I owed him.

"Your fare has already been paid for," the driver said enthusiastically. "Including gratuity."

It must have been quite a decent tip, I decided, for the driver to so readily admit that. Instantly, I felt relieved and grateful to Julian, since I did not have much money to give to the driver, on my own... but that feeling of relief was short-lived.

I realized my palm was sweaty and my hand was shaking as I grabbed the handle to open the taxi door. Two figures emerged from the other vehicles, as I began to approach.

One was Laina, with a look of sheer exhaustion and distress on her face. Contrition overwhelmed me when I caught a glimpse of how worried she must have been all night. But my train of thought was halted as something—or rather someone—entered my peripheral vision.

Caleb.

Since our breakup six months earlier, this was the first time I'd actually seen him in person. His short, dull, black hair was in disarray. His eyes were noticeably bloodshot. And, most alarmingly, his voice was harsh with hoarseness as he spoke to me.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" Caleb screamed furiously. "We've been trying to call you for hours!"

Laina jogged to me, closing the distance between us, and touched my arm.

"I'm so sorry, Brooke," she said shakily, then sighed. "I didn't hear back from you for so long. I was so scared. I didn't know what else to do."

"What was he going to do to help, Laina? If you couldn't get a hold of me, what made you think he would be able to?" I snapped at her. The ruthlessness of my tone took even myself by surprise.

"I don't know, Brooke. I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm so sorry," she pleaded in a raspy tone. "I was just so afraid that something might have happened to you. I needed to tell someone. Rose and Adam aren't here to help, so he was the only one that—"

"Are you going to answer me?!" Caleb barked, effectively drawing my attention back to his seething, brown eyes.

I stared back. Silent, but composed. I hoped my composure would lead him to believe I was unafraid.

"Where were you all night?" The bitterness behind his words felt like paper cuts to my pounding ears.

"It's none of your damn business," I yelled back. "I'm just fine, so your work here is done, Caleb. Just go home."

"Not a chance!" Caleb roared back.

Why had I yelled at him? Yelling back at him never did me any good. It only ever made things worse.

The cab driver was nearing the parking lot exit then, and I was glad. Nobody else needed to hear this.

"Laina told me everything, Brooke. You spent the night with one of those scumbags in the band? Which asshole was it? I want to know who I have to kill, next time they're in town."

My eyes darted to Laina, who was standing by me with her focus on the ground, arms folded beneath her chest. She looked like a child in trouble.

"Well?" Caleb demanded.

"What's it to you, Caleb?" I said, my voice a bit lower.

"What's it matter to me?" Caleb snickered in disgust. "You're my girlfriend, so it does matter if you're spending the night with some punk you don't even know! What did you do, Brooke? Are you as much of a whore as I think you are?"

"Don't ever speak to me like that. And let's get one thing straight: I'm not your girlfriend. I haven't been for half a year. The idea that I ever was is questionable. But that doesn't matter because we're done. The sooner you get it through your thick head, the better. Stop calling me. Stop texting me. Just accept that my whereabouts don't concern you anymore."

"We were supposed to wait. Let things cool off, and try to work it out," Caleb said.

His oval face looked more weathered than I remembered it before, and the extra broadness of his shoulders seemed especially noticeable. If he'd been spending some extra time in the gym to combat his aggression... well, mission unsuccessful, I thought.

"Looks like the 'cooling off' thing is working out really well for us," I snapped back. "We are over. We've been over for a long time. Six months ago marks the final nail in the coffin, but we were done long before that and you know it, Caleb. So please... just go on with your life and let me go on with mine."

His hardened, ashen face softened a bit, though he was still visibly upset. He hadn't yet begun to even speak again, but I already didn't believe the act. Not one bit. I knew, all too well, the rage that was bubbling just beneath the synthetically calm exterior. It was merely a last ditch effort on his part, to not explode in front of my best friend.

The calm before the storm.

"Brooke," he whispered, while inching closer.

"Will you please just tell me where you were?" Caleb begged. "I spent all night waiting to hear back from you. Can you blame me for being upset? I was worried sick about you."

Caleb approached me, with an insincere look of concern in his eyes. Silently, I took a small—almost indiscernible—step backwards.

"I love you and you've upset me," he said, softer. "You shouldn't do that... we've talked about that before. You can't push my buttons. Remember how we discussed this?"

I remember your hand doing the talking, I thought.

"We all make mistakes. But here's your chance to make it right, Brooke," Caleb offered. "Just be honest with me and tell me what happened last night. Who were you with and what did you do? I'll forgive you, but I really need to know. If you're a good girl, you'll tell me. And you need to promise me this won't ever happen again."

I bit down on my tongue. Hard.

"Come on, Laina," I said. Carefully, I grabbed my best friend's tiny forearm and quickly began walking with her towards my car.

Caleb ran ahead of us and stood in front of my door, blocking it. And that was the finale of the charade.

"Not so fast," he said, with one bony-knuckled finger in my face.

I felt a vibration in my jacket pocket. Then another. My phone was ringing, and Caleb noticed.

"Who's that? Your little boy toy?" Caleb mocked me, jeering. "Hey, maybe he wants round two! Can I at least join in for sloppy seconds?"

The hatred spilled from him in unstoppable waves—words crashing into me, with attempts to knock me over.

"Actually... nevermind." Caleb scrunched up his nose. "I can smell him on you still. You filthy fu—"

"Move out of my way," I demanded, while trying to get around him. Trying to get away from everything. Just everything.

I willed myself to not burst out crying. I wouldn't let him win. Not again.

Brazenly, Caleb reached for the vibrating phone in my pocket, and I violently shoved his hand away. A look of pure shock—at my perceived disobedience—spilled across his face. It took only seconds for Caleb to process that shock before his teeth were gritted in fury.

"STOP IT!" Laina cried out, just before Caleb grabbed my biceps into his hands. He squeezed hard, while making me look him directly in the eyes.

I could feel the sting of blood pulsing under the pressure of his careless fingers.

"Does what we had mean nothing to you?!" he shrieked. "I'm here because I love you, Brooke! Doesn't my time mean anything to you?!"

"No," I spit back. Cold, emotionless.

Caleb let go of my biceps and stared at me blankly, in shock. I couldn't be sure about what he'd expected to hear me say, but it certainly was not that.

"I've been away from you for all of six months and you already have a smart mouth on you," he sneered. "I don't want you speaking that way. What have I told you before, about raising your voice to me?"

"I really don't care what you want. I'm a grown woman. You can't tell me what to do," I snapped. "And you're not my dad."

He rubbed his thin face and ran one hand through his buzzed—yet still strangely unkempt—hair. When he did, the corners of Caleb's mouth turned up and he started wildly laughing.

"No," Caleb chuckled, as he paced. "No, I'm definitely not your daddy. Thankfully, I'm not. But since he's not here to do it, maybe I can be the one to teach you a valuable lesson in respect."

Abruptly, Caleb stopped in place and lifted his hand, as if he were about to strike me. Laina's scream of horror was just a muted noise in the background to my muddled brain. I turned my cheek and closed my eyes, anxiously wincing in anticipation for the sting.

Seconds passed slowly, and when the assault did not come, I opened my eyes to look at Caleb again. But he was gone and walking back to his car—a green Corvette. I had been there the day that Caleb's father—the owner of one of Tucson's largest car dealerships—had handed over the keys.

I stood there, stunned, as Caleb used those same keys to turn the ignition. He revved the deafening engine and drove off much faster than was necessary, leaving tire marks along the gravel, as he did.

The sound of Laina crying interrupted my jumbled, jarring thoughts, as she ran up to hug me. I held her for a long moment. Immediately, I felt terrible for taking my earlier feelings of frustration out on her. Naturally, my best friend knew of our breakup, but Caleb had never before shown this side of himself to others. Only I had known his true colors.

In fact, he'd often tried to put on a good show for Laina, when it came to veiling our toxic relationship, and so had I.

No, it wasn't my best friend's fault whatsoever. Laina simply hadno idea about the fire she'd inadvertently helped to ignite that day. Rather, much of the blame belonged with me, for so often closing myself off.

It was all out in the open now, I thought. Perhaps all of this could've been avoided, had I only been honest sooner.

My best friend nuzzled her cheek into my chest, with her full lips curled in dread. We stayed like this until the tears eased from her bulging eyes. The wetness that poured from Laina's irises seemed to taint the brilliant hazel shade which usually took residence there. And although the city's morning air was already growing thick—sweltering, actually—I noticed that Laina's skin felt especially cold.

We really should've been getting back to the apartment.

"I'm sorry, Brooke," Laina broke the silence at last, with her shaky voice cracking. "I just... I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"I know, Lain," I said, with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, too. Let's go home."

1. "Gone" by McBusted

2. "Since U Been Gone" (cover) by A Day to Remember

3. "Over My Head" (cover) by A Day to Remember

4. "Pretty Girl (The Way)" by Sugarcult

5. "Feel Nothing" by The Plot in You