A Dream I Used To LOVE

Chapter 15

I decided to take him to one of my favorite places, just the way he did. My gammy and I used to come here often and ever since her death I seldom went there. The hike to the top was short but tiring.

I had made some tuna sandwiches and kept a mat ready so that we could stretch and laze around. I felt like the date I had planned was very cliché, but it still felt nice. I felt like Chris and myself were in a good place, we could freely talk about a lot of things, we were trying to be open about our emotions. I have never been able to tell anybody how I'm actually feeling, I could only pen it down in my diary. 

"Addie," he said. Only my family members, to be precise only my sister called me that, and I loved it when he said that to me. I smiled brightly.
"Is your mother fine with you seeing me, I thought she had restraining orders against me"
he chuckled. Apparently, my misery was funny. I gave him a cold look.
"I'm sure she will be fine, and regardless I can make some decisions on my own" I wasn't usually the type to defy my mother but I couldn't control the urge to see him and spend time with him.

Time flew quickly, we spoke and ate, we ran around playing games. It didn't feel like a date, but I definitely had a lot of fun. Sometimes as grown-ups we miss the little moments trying to do great things, but all our heart wants is for us to relish life and at this point, I was doing just that.
Chris was awfully fast and it was hard to catch him and run away from him without getting caught. 

Finally, we were exhausted from all the running around, we sat under the tree and read peacefully. I rested my head on his lap while we both sat quietly reading.
I was still reading 'A walk to remember'. I loved reading just from time to time.

I read a line and my heart froze.
"First you will smile, and then you will cry -- don't say you haven't been warned."
Sitting with Chris under my favorite tree, my head was on his lap, this right here it was perfect, too good to be true.

I sat up, then admired him as he read, wondering when I'll wake up from this dream.
He put his book down, then cupping my cheek he leaned over and kissed me.
"Let go of all the negative thoughts" It felt as if he could read my mind. Even though he hadn't said anything great, when those words came out of his mouth I felt calm.

When I came back, I ran up to my room

'11th October,
The date was heart-warming.
We didn't do much, we just spoke for hours, and it felt surreal. He understands me, and when I'm with him, all the pain goes away. I forget about everything, it's just us in our little shell, carefree'

Just as I was about to sleep, my phone buzzed.

They were texts from Chris,

'I loved the date'
'Trish is having a party this weekend, and I would really like you to come'

I immediately replied

'Definitely ;)'

It felt good having somebody you can rely on.
I felt the urge to call Rose and tell her everything, I hadn't seen her this week. I wonder where she was.

When I called her she immediately picked up, but instead of a chirpy voice, she sounded low.
"Hi Rosey, I miss you"
"Hi Audrey"
Rose never called me by my full name unless she had something serious to tell me. She had come up with horrible nicknames for me 'Drey, Dracula, Audi'.

She started crying.
"Rose, why are you crying??"
She kept sobbing, I knew I had to go and visit her. I quickly pulled out a jacket took my keys and left for her place. She had never invited me over, usually, she would come to my house, but thankfully I had her address.
"Rose talk to me please" 

Finally, she uttered the words I never wanted to hear "He broke my heart, I thought he was serious about me, I can't believe....." even before she could complete the sentence she started crying.

It took me 20 minutes to reach her house.
During this time all she did was try and talk between her tears.
I felt horrible, I was so busy being selfish that I completely forgot about her, while all she ever did was care about me.
I rang the doorbell, I realized in the process I forgot to tell her I was coming over.

"Audrey just wait a minute, someone's at the door, maybe it's Kevin"
I could see her disappointment, yet she was relieved that I had come to visit her.
Rose stayed with her Aunt, who was hardly home. Her parents were in the army and had died when she was very young. She had been tough all her life and seeing her like this broke my heart into a million pieces.

She hugged me tightly and I returned the hug with equal love. I gently caressed her head. She kept sobbing.

"Rose, can you please tell me what happened?"
"He met some college girl named Kathy, he literally cheated on me. I can't believe I didn't see it coming"
As soon as she said Kathy, the thought of it being Chris' sister crossed my mind. She was 20 and in college, it could be her, but I couldn't say with certainty. I just prayed that it wasn't her otherwise things would get complicated.

"Audrey, dating is a scam, I never want to date again"
Thankfully I was good at handling people who had witnessed heartbreak.
It was harder with Momo because I didn't know much about it then. We walked towards Rose's room. I asked her to sit and relax. I had managed to get some chocolate ice-cream from home. It is a cliché but it always helped.

The only good thing about Mia's break up was that we ate a lot of ice cream, actually, she broke up with her toxic boyfriend even that was good.
I gave her the ice cream. After a few hours of ranting and crying, she was finally tired. I rested my head on the headboard while she lay in my lap. I gently brushed her hair and soon she was fast asleep.

The next morning getting her out of bed to get ready for school was hard, but I managed to pull off the mammoth task.

"I feel better Aud, thanks for staying over. I love you"
she squeezed me, I couldn't breathe.
"I love you too. Now let's leave for school"
"Can we chill this weekend, maybe watch some movies"
"Absolutely"
We drove to school. I had completely forgotten about Chris and his weekend plans.
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I stood in front of my locker, wondering how swiftly life had changed in the past few months.
Suddenly I felt someone hugging me from behind. It was Chris. I wasn't sure if I was comfortable with PDA and so I quickly moved away.

"I'm so happy that you said yes to the party"
As soon as he said those words, panic took over. I had already said yes to Rose. How could I forget about Chris?
He looked so happy, if I say no I don't know how he'll feel, and I can't leave rose alone.
"Trish already told her friends that I was legit dating somebody, nobody believes me when I tell them that I'm dating"
Chris hooked up with a lot of girls and it was difficult for anybody to believe that he was dating.
"Chris, what time's the party at?"
"From 5 till midnight I guess" 
"So is it fine if I leave early like by 7ish"
"Why would you want to leave early?"
He looked at me as if asking me if I didn't enjoy hanging out with him
"No, I would absolutely love to stay with you till midnight, but my mother is still not comfortable with me staying out till midnight"
I lied, I don't even know why.
"Yeah sure, then I guess we can leave early"
"No by all means you should stay and enjoy, I'll drive home" I kissed him goodbye then I left.