A Dream I Used To LOVE

Chapter 10

The next morning I felt way better. we both got dressed and left for school.

Andrew was back with a few stitches across his face. One on his forehead and one on his chin.

He saw me but was too embarrassed to say anything, Chris on the other hand looked pissed.
Rose could feel the tension between us "Audrey I think you should talk to Chris today.." I cut her off before she could complete her sentence "talk to him about what. His anger management issues"
"Please just talk to him once" she insisted.

I walked over to Chris
"Can we talk?"
"About what?" he sounded irritated.
"Whenever you are ready to have a mature conversation let me know. I can't deal with this today" 
"Meet me after school. We'll talk then"

I didn't want to confront him about what made him do that but I had to.

As I walked out the school gates he was waiting in his convertible. 

"I'm not getting in your car" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whenever you are ready to have a mature conversation let me know. I can't deal with this today" he quoted me and rolled his eyes at me.

I was annoyed nevertheless I sat inside the car and we left.
"Where are we going?" I inquired and he ignored my question.
"You wanted to talk. I'm all ears" 
"We haven't spoken for the past two weeks. We agreed to stay away from each other then what happened in the evening? What that sudden reaction?"
"You decided not me." he paused then spoke again "Nothing changed. I don't expect you to understand."
"Do you realize that Andrew can sue you for what you did to him yesterday? Was it worth it?" I felt sympathetic towards him as I asked him that question. His knuckles were swollen and bruised and I felt responsible for it.
I said somethings to him yesterday that I didn't mean and I regretted it but I really wanted to understand why he was behaving this way.
He continued driving without saying a word.
"Chris you can talk to me"
He suddenly stopped the car and got down. Then he walked over to my side and opened the door for me.
"Why are we getting down in the middle of nowhere?"
We had stopped on the curb of the road.
"Why don't you try to understand that people are not always good to others for no reason"
"So why exactly did you try and protect me yesterday if you weren't trying to be good to me"
Chris in his fit of rage screamed "Because I like you".
I wanted to scream right back at him, but after his impromptu confession, I didn't know what to say. I was flushed with surprise.
"Stop screaming at me and stop acting like you're my boyfriend"
Chris didn't say a word after that. He sat back in his car and then looked at me as if asking me if I was going to get in. I made it clear from my expression that I wanted nothing to do with him.   

I immediately called the only person who was always there for me when I need her, Mrs. Anderson. I requested her to come and pick me up and she told me to wait for 15 minutes as she came to my rescue.
I asked Chris to get going and he did.

Once we reached my house, I invited Mrs. Anderson over.
"Darling can I ask you a question"
"Sure Mrs. Anderson" and I fetched her a glass of water
"What were you doing there?"
I desperately needed her advice and so I narrated the whole story. She heard intently.
"The Audrey I knew would throw a punch at both Andrew and Chris"
I looked at her as she made that remark. Had I changed?
"Do you like Chris?" Julian inquired
Her question had caught me off guard. I stammered while trying to answer her.
"I can tell you only two things right now. If you like him then give him a chance to prove himself, and if you don't then you don't have to put up with him another day."
What she said made sense but things weren't that easy.
"Julian, it's not that simple"
"See Audrey, you tried to hear him out so that you could help him out, you do care about him then tell him about it not me. He's the one who needs to hear this."
"And what if I can't deal with this behavior and I'm left heart-broken" this question had been haunting me since forever. My life wasn't easy. My mother constantly nagged me, I felt lonely almost every day, everything was getting out of my control and it bothered me. I really liked Chris but dealing with the anxiety of getting hurt troubled me every day. I constantly felt like I disappointed my mother and now I didn't want another person to make me feel that way.