His Girl #Wattys2016

17. Reality check

"Stop it, guys!" I kicked the door of my car and it slammed shut. "What's wrong with you people?"

The juniors parted so I could get a better view of what was happening in the parking lot. I stood still as my eyes drifted from Melanie to Tasha and slowly landed on Vaughn.

Vaughn. The boy who I had fallen in love with when I was fifteen, my first love. The only boy other than Raemon who I had gone out with. The boy I had actually, truly loved; who I thought I hadn't completely gotten over yet. (I didn't feel butterflies in my stomach anymore, but I still found myself wishing at odd times that it didn't end the way it did.) The boy who didn't acknowledge me anymore because of what Melanie did to us. My eyes were fixed on him, but my thoughts rushed back to the day I had found out how Melanie had tried to drunk kiss him during a freshman night and when he pushed her away, lied to him about me. How he had believed her lies about me faking my feelings for him, how he had broken up with me over the phone the very next moment and had never tried to contact me again; even after he came to know the truth. Vaughn. Vaughn!

"Vaughn," I heard myself whisper, "what's going on here?"

"Sarah, I was waiting for you. Come over here," Vaughn waved me over.

At that moment I felt so proud of myself, because as I walked towards him I felt only curiosity and nothing else. There, I realised that I was over him and he didn't matter to me anymore as I feared he did. I reached him and glanced up at his dark blue eyes that I once wanted to write pages of poetry about. He looked down at me like you do with friends, very casually. It made me smile to myself because I hadn't thought we were capable of being friends; and I really liked the idea.

"Your friend here has been sending me texts in your name since a week. I kept asking her to reveal her identity but God, she stayed put with her stupid game. I tracked down the number and found out it was her." The way he glared at Melanie, I wondered why she wasn't on fire yet.

"Look, Vaughn, let's talk inside. We have an audience-"

Vaughn raised his otherwise calm voice to such a pitch, I had to hold myself from letting out a whimper. "I don't care, Tasha! I need the answers, I want to know what's wrong with her. And I want to know it now!"

"Melanie, what the hell were you thinking?" Though it was my own voice, it took me a while to register what I was saying. "Weren't you satisfied when you ruined my relationship with him?"

The hurt on Melanie's face was evident. Her eyes turned red and a teardrop escaped on to her cheek. If I were in my senses, I'd have stopped talking but I had lost my ability to control my words.

"I always stuck by you, I always saw the good in you and ignored everything else you did. I saw to it that everyone knew of the good things you did when they seemed to forget about it. And when you ruined my relationship with Vaughn, I forgave you. All because you gave me a home when I needed it. But this, this is shameful, unacceptable, disgusting!" I took a step back and bumped into someone. I pushed the hand away when the person tried to steady me. "I'm disgusted by you!" I shouted, looking straight at her.

"Please, Sarah, let me explain. This was all a joke-"

"Shut up," I sneered. "Everything is a joke for you, Melanie. My relationships, my feelings, my life. It's all a frigging joke. Everybody warned me, but I was a fool to have believed in you."

Tears were running down my cheeks, and clouding my vision. I turned away from the crowd, sick of everything. When a pair of hands wrapped around me and pulled me in, I gave in. Drake was the only person I needed at that moment. The only person who would know not to say 'I told you' because that'd hurt worse. Drake was the only person who'd know exactly what to say to make me feel better.

"Let's go, take your keys."

The moment I heard the voice, I looked up. It wasn't Drake, it was Aaron who was holding me against himself. It was Aaron whose embrace had brought me solace when I craved for it. But the feeling soon drained out and I felt myself pull away from him. I didn't know him enough to confide in him about my personal life. He wouldn't understand, he wouldn't care in the first place. I tugged my arm away from his hold and shook my head.

"Trust me, I'm not going to ask you anything. Let's go somewhere peaceful so you can calm down a bit. I'll drop you back as soon as you're alright." He smiled.

His smile didn't heal wounds, but it made me forget about mine for a moment. I looked around me, still searching for Drake. If Drake had been anywhere around, I wouldn't have done what I did next. I found myself heading towards Aaron's car, my hands crossed against my chest. He closed the door after me and climbed in, all the while keeping his eyes locked with mine. It was as if he wasn't sure I'd stay in the car if he let his gaze shift and honestly, I wasn't sure of it either. As much as I liked Aaron, I didn't want him to be that big a part of my life already.

Half way through the drive, I spoke up out of agitation.

"You didn't have to do this, you know. I would've been fine as soon as-"

"Drake is not well, he told me to inform you." Aaron spoke, without taking his eyes off the road.

"Oh, is that why you were in school today? To drop Adrian?"

He nodded slightly. The way he chose not to look at me made me guilty. I had been really difficult with him when all he was doing was being nice to me.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. I really appreciate your doing this. I'm just in a bad mood."

"I know," his mouth curved up at the edge slightly. "Do you want to talk about it? I heard most of the conversation actually, but I really don't know who's who. So..."

At this, I smiled. It was involuntary and much needed. He seemed to relax a bit.

"The girl I was talking to? That's Melanie..."

I related the entire story to him. I realised that I wasn't omitting the details about my relationship with Vaughn but letting it all out, for the first time in two years. Once it started coming out, I couldn't stop. Aaron seemed to be listening intently, nodding his head at the right time.

"I can't believe you could love someone so much at such a young age," was all he said once I was done with my story.

"It's like that with me, I do things to the extreme."

"So I've been told," he smiled knowingly.

I let the comment pass but I knew quite well that he must've been talking about me to Drake. No one else could've told Aaron about my extreme behaviour except Drake.