180 Degrees- Completed

Chapter Thirty Nine

I had no idea who this band were but being up here dancing with the girls was the best feeling tonight. I wasn't overly drunk. Tipsy sure. Not as drunk as I had been a few weeks ago, just the right balance where I didn't care and I knew what was going on. 

They were doing covers so everyone was singing along. Caz had taken Izzy to the bathroom, Oscar had gone with them just to be safe. I wasn't alone out here though. Liv and the other girls were all around me. I was safe, happy, very confused about men. But I was happy.  

I felt a tap on my shoulder, looked over, snarled and continued. 

"Avery." 

"Piss off James." 

"No. You have to go." 

"No." 

"No Avery." He grabbed me and spun me around, coming in close to my ear. "Someone called the cops. If they find you here they'll call your parents. Come on." He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd. 

"Izzy-" 

"She's fine, Ashton and the guys are clearing you girls out." He pulled me down the street quickly, He stopped a few houses down, pulled his hoodie over my head and then carried on walking quickly.  "You're shaking." 

"Well yeah." I nodded and he looked back at me, slowing down slightly but making sure our pace was getting us away from the house as the sirens blared down the street. "Do you know who called them?" 

"Not a clue. But whoever it was didn't know Ashton's dad works for them so we had a heads up." I nodded. Okay cool. "You're fine Avery. There's nothing there tying you to it. They're not going to find out I promise." 

"Yeah but you also promised not to hurt me so your words don't mean a thing." He stopped at the gate to my complex, turning to face me but not letting go of my hand. 

"I didn't mean to hurt you Vee." 

"But you did." 

"I thought-" 

"You thought I did it first. But you didn't text me. You didn't try to call. You didn't call Caz. You didn't try to find out. And then not even 24 hours later you've got your tongue down someone elses throat when I drove 10 hours straight after the match to get here and surprise you, to see that." 

"Vee-" 

"No James." I shook him off me, taking his hoodie off, pushing it back into his arms. "Thanks for making sure I'm safe tonight and everything, I appreciate it. But you made a mistake last week that there isn't any coming back from. I travel so much for Volleyball and you do for football. Do you really think I'd be able to confidently watch you fly across the country for a weekend and not be terrified about what you're doing?" 

"And what about me? You left and kissed Oscar literally immediately. How do you think that felt?" 

"The same way it felt for me to watch you and her." We were raising our voices now. Getting things off my chest that I apparently had stuck there that I wasn't aware off. There was a lot more hurt in my screams than I cared to admit. "You know for a fact I only kissed him because you were watching." 

"So why did you let him kiss you tonight?" 

"Excuse me?" 

"You'd disappeared. I watched you go around the corner with him and wanted to make sure you were okay. I watched him pick you up and stick his tongue down your throat like it was second nature. How many times has that happened with him. And what about Grayson or whatever his name is? You can't sit here and complain about me moving on so quickly when I was hurting when you did the same fucking thing." 

"Yeah, except I saw you fucking cheating James. I watched it happen with my own eyes. I knew it had happened. You thought it had. I told you I would go to his game you asked me not to and I told you I was kidding. Then you told yourself I was lying and I was going to risk it and sneak out. At that point James, I would have only snuck out for you." 

"Baby-" He stepped forward as the first few tears streamed down my cheek. I had never cried about this. Not shed a single tear over how he'd screwed me over. I couldn't say that now. Everything was bubbling up

"No." I pushed his hands off me, taking a few steps back. "You believed what you wanted to believe James. And you didn't even try to prove it wrong. You had less trust in me than I have in you now. And we were together. I let you convince me to be exclusive and I didn't take that lightly. I don't take that word lightly. But you thought it meant nothing to me. That you  didn't mean that much to me. I was fucking falling in love and you were falling into someone else like I was nothing." I lifted my head, straightening my back. "Like everything we did, every phone call, the trip to the lake, every date, every kiss, everything I fucking gave you. Like it meant nothing. You just put me to side and didn't even care enough to ask me how the game went." 

"Avery please." He grabbed my hand. 

"AVERY." I turned my head as Oscar and Izzy came running down the road we'd just walked. I looked back at him, pulling my hand out of his and shaking my head before turning and walking inside, wiping the makeup from my face as I did. 

"What the fuck have you done James?" Oscar's voice was booming. 

"Don't you start Oscar. You're the whole reason for this in the first place." I turned and watched them squaring each other up, Izzy walking down to me. 

"Oscar." He turned, them both looking at me. "Please just leave it. I don't need anything else tonight." He was pretty much the same height as James, maybe a few inches taller but that could be just his hair. They were just staring at each other and I sighed. I didn't have any fight left in me. I sighed and turned, continuing walking back inside. I heard Izzy's feet storm away from me. 

"You." I turned around, crossing my arms. There was a reason I never got on the wrong side of Izzy. She now had them both on their knees, holding their ears. "You need to sort your fucking head out. You can't cheat on my best friend and think she's going to fall for you because you helped her out for one night. You sat there for a month convincing her you loved her, that she was the only girl you had any interest in, and then fucking move on less than 24 hours later, without even checking to see if she'd text you? You fucked with her head and she deserves better." Oscar chuckled and Izzy's face turned a darker red as she squeezed his ear and he reached up to stop her. 

"Don't you even get me fucking started Oscar Edwards. 4 years? You sat crushing on her for 4 fucking years and don't say a word? You fucking played with Penny's head for 2 of them as well, breaking 2 girls hearts in the fucking process. You literally acted like she didn't exist. I sat there and held her hand through it all, through ever time you kissed Penny in front of her, every time you complained about something or complimented every girl on the team except her. You're worse than him if you're expecting her to just cower to you. All it would have taken was for you to talk to her in high school, even before Penny and you 2 would be together now. Instead you're playing her about like she's a fucking toy. Neither of you deserve her. Neither of you deserve to even be near her." She dropped her grip on them stepping back and crossing her arms. 

"Both of you are going to stand up, apologise and leave without causing anymore hassle. When you next see Avery you're going to let her control things and take things at her pace. If she doesn't want you and she wants Grayson then you accept it. If she wants one of you then yo accept it. If I have to fly out here again because you've fucked her up this much again, I swear to god, neither of you will be untouched as you enter the 7th ring of hell. Do you understand me?" 

They nodded, standing up and apologizing before walking off in opposite directions. Izzy walked back over to me, putting her arm over my shoulder as we walked inside. 

"I missed you Iz."  

"Me too. I might transfer here next year." 

"You're kidding?" 

"Well I can't have you handling these pricks alone any longer than necessary."