“Carmen let’s just get out of here.” I say as I take her hand and pull her away from Ashley before any kind of physical altercation happens. Seeing Ashley was already too much for me to handle for one night.

After a long glare-off between Carmen and Ashley, Carmen finally complied and followed me out the door. I stole one more look at Ashley and when our eyes met I saw her expression soften instantly. I was surprised to see a small smile pass on her lips and I returned the smile.

I could tell Carmen was still fuming because she was racing to the car and I had a hard time keeping up with her.

“Will you slow down?” I call out to her.

“No.” Carmen says shortly without looking back to me. When she gets to the car she falls in dramatically and slams the door for effect. I get in quietly after her, trying to catch my breath as we sit in silence. “Who the fuck was that Spencer? Is she the reason you’ve been acting so weird?” Her voice is bathed in rage as she looks me directly in the eye.

“I told you who that was Carmen and what do you mean by me ‘acting weird’?”

“I mean you’ve been spacing out a lot since we’ve been dating and I never know where you go. Now I’m thinking you go back to memories you had with her. It’s obvious that you two had something from the way you were acting in there.” I couldn’t deny it so I just stayed quiet, staring at my feet. She knew she was right as she let out a sigh and directed her attention to the window. After a silence fell over us Carmen started the car.

On the way home I could see Carmen holding back the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything. I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything happening. I try holding her hand but she flinched to my touch. After finding a space to park in the parking deck, Carmen turned off the car as the silence continued.