Try Again

Chapter 20

Mira's POV

Selena and I were stupefied. What did she mean by that?

"What do you mean?" Someone voiced the thought in my mind, startling us. We spun around and saw the boys including Tyler at the door. It was Aiden who spoke up.

"I am sorry." Tyler sounded as he stared at Azalea in remorse. This added to our confusion.

"Sorry? For what? What is happening?" Selena questioned, looking back and forth between Azalea and Tyler.

"That is what I wanted to talk to you guys about." He said then he turned to Azalea, "I wanted to apologize to you, Azalea."

She gave Tyler a look of distaste. "Your apology is one year too late."

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" Shawn exclaimed.

Azalea took her seat. She was gazing into the air in a daze. She quickly wiped the lone tear that escaped from her eyes. The boys closed the door behind them so no one could come in and huddled around us.

"A year ago," She started. "Jeremy and I started dating."

Gasps of shock resonated around the classroom.

*****
Jeremy and I have been neighbors for years but we did not interact much with each other. Our mothers were the only ones acquainted.

I was browsing through the library one day when we bumped into each other. We touched the same book and fought over who would get it. I won. From that day, a connection was formed between us. I had never felt that way with anybody else before. Talk less of a boy.

During the period we met, I was in a pretty bad state. I was still recovering from my parents' divorce which had happened a month ago. The divorce took me by surprise because my parents seemed so happy together. I guess it was all pretense. My mother, who was a control freak, got custody of me. Sometimes, she would go overboard with her rules and it was driving me insane.

In addition, my two best friends have been a no-show. Selena has been busy trying to complete her ebook for months now and I only see Mira in class. I didn't feel comfortable telling this to the boys, so nobody even knew that my parents were divorced yet.

Jeremy was the only one actually there for me and as I began to know more about him, I found out he was a nice guy and not the rude popular boy I thought he would be. The day he asked me out was one of the happiest days of my life. We started dating and things were good. I had a boyfriend who I was totally in love with and my life didn't seem so bad anymore. Unfortunately, six months later everything changed.

My mom was against dating in high school. She claimed she didn't want me to be 'corrupted or tainted.' Hence, I dated Jeremy in secret. During our relationship, I came to know about Tyler's health issues. I always wondered why Tyler suddenly went from a popular boy to a ghost. After hearing his story, I understood him because I just went through a similar situation. So, we kind of became friends.

On that fateful day, Tyler had an episode in Jeremy's house. He utterly broke down. He didn't call before coming over and Jeremy wasn't home. Jeremy's mother, who was a nurse, was the one who assisted him. I don't know what happened or how Tyler managed to spill everything. All I know is that I heard my mother slam the front door angrily as she came into the house and the next thing I know, I received a slap to the face. She was furious.

Apparently, she was there with Jeremy's mother when everything unfolded. She was even more mad when she found out we had been dating for six months. We were forced to break up that day and I was grounded. She deleted Jeremy's contacts from my phone and told some teachers in my school to keep a close eye on us.

I cried for days after that. I was in pain and the only person I could blame for the pain I was feeling was Tyler. If only he didn't tell. The worst part is that he didn't even apologize. He pushed Jeremy out of his life and shut him out when he tried to approach him. He said the relationship wouldn't have lasted anyway and someone was bound to find out.

Pathetic.

*****

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked. "You had to bear all that alone. I wasn't that busy, I would have made time."

She shook her head. Tears were streaming down her face, "You wouldn't have understood. I was too ashamed to say anything."

"You don't have to be ashamed to tell us anything. No matter how busy I might be, nothing can ever be more important than you." Selena spoke everyone's mind. I nodded.

Selena went to hug her while I patted her back. Now it makes sense why she disliked Tyler so much. I glanced at him but he was staring at something else. I followed his gaze and saw Jeremy standing by the door. He must have heard everything since his eyes were bloodshot.