Swayed (A Before You Exit Fanfiction)

Chapter Six - Wake Up Call

Copyright © 2013 BYEconnort  - All Rights Reserved

If I had to summarize the dinner in one word, that word would have to be sufferable. It was a pain in the ass to deal with, I’ll give you that, but somehow I managed to get through it without completely convulsing. Most of the conversation came from the adults so I didn’t have a hard time looking for words to say. Usually they’d ask me a question about school. I’d answer with white lies. Just like I always do. But school wasn’t really that big of a problem to me. I mean compared to other things, no.

At one point, Joan asked me, “What do you have planned for your summer vacation?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I don’t have anything planned, actually.”

This had me thinking though. As I grew up in Orlando, every single summer, I always spent it doing something particular. It would change every year. Sometimes I’d give myself a project, like build a garden in our backyard, or some years I took classes about things I don’t usually get the chance to learn in school. For example would be ballroom dancing. I was 14 then and I forced Connor to be my dance partner even though he hated dancing. Just for that summer. It didn’t work out for the both of us. We actually quit after the second session. Our instructor was plain crazy. He handled us like we were soldiers gearing up for war. Plus, he had a weird accent. And a weird mustache too.

We always had a good laugh looking back at that summer. I wonder if my relationship with these boys, the only true friends I’ve ever had, would come back to normal one day.

I looked across the table to Connor, who was looking down at his food, an uneasy crease on his forehead. As if he felt my gaze on him, he looked up, but as soon as our eyes met, he looked away instantly. I didn’t avert my gaze from him. I wondered why he couldn’t even look me in the eyes now. Was I that horrible of a person?

I kept observing him. He was playing with his food, a nervous gesture I’ve come across only a few times. Finally, he looked at me again. This time, I dared myself. I gave him a small smile. A more revealing expression came across his face, but I wasn’t sure what it was. We just looked at each other like that for a few moments before I went back to my untouched food, realizing how hard it would be to befriend him again.

Instead, I turned to Riley, who I sat next to. I struck up a little conversation with him about school. I asked him about some of the other friends I left behind here since we were in the same year after all, and we had a lot of common friends. It was easy to talk to Riley. It was also nice to catch up in a way. But there’s still so much to talk about and one dinner wouldn’t have been enough. I felt the constant weight of Connor’s stare but I paid no more attention.

The night ended, and finally, it was time to say goodbye. It’s kind of dramatic to put it like that since we live beside each other. I couldn’t help but give Toby a big hug and he didn’t protest and instead, welcomed me into his arms since I know he knows how I treat him like a baby brother even though he’s way taller than me now.

“It’s so nice to have you back,” he says, squeezing me in his arms.

“I know. I missed you so much, Toby.” I tell him.

After that, Riley initiated a hug of our own. “Don’t mind Connor. He’s just too dumbstruck to see you again,” he whispers into my ear. I laugh at that.

“More like he’s horrified,” I whisper back.

“Don’t say that,” he ruffles my hair for the second time that night, but more affectionately now. “Go say goodbye to him now. I want to see more awkwardness unfold.”

“You like my misery, don’t you?”

“Both yours and my brother’s, actually, so go,” he pushes me in Connor’s direction. Good thing he wasn’t facing us. As I took slow steps to get to him, I used this stalling as time to think of what to say or do. I came up with a blank, though. We just stood there for a while, with him looking down at his shoes again.

And as if a natural tendency of mine, I wrapped my arms around his torso, the warmth of his body somehow comforting to me. “I missed you,” was all I said. He didn’t hug me back, which hurts, yet again. So I let him go.

“Audrey, are you ready to go?” my mom asked just as I released Connor.

“Yeah,” I respond. With a few more goodbyes from Joan and Mark, we were finally headed home and I had officially survived dinner with the McDonoughs.

---

Waking up the next morning felt surreal. I felt a bit different, as weird as that seems. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but I felt happy. And happy was good.

I shifted in my bed and snuggled into my comforter, a sigh escaping my lips at how cozy I was. It was too early to be up anyway. Or at least for me it is.

“Good morning,” I suddenly heard a guy’s voice say. And just like that, all the comfort I felt left my body. I screamed in a high-pitched voice and shot up from my position on my bed so quickly, I didn’t think I was capable of such speed till now. I ripped off my eye mask from my face. Or at least I tried. The mask came back to my face with a snap because of the garter and I couldn’t have picked a better day to be stupid.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I drew away the mask from my eyes.

Before my eyes could adjust to the light in my room, I heard sniggering from the guy in my room. It’s weird of me, but it was like my heartbeat sped up even more when I caught sight of Connor sitting down on my bedroom floor. He was obviously trying to suppress his laughter at my earlier display of stupidity.

“What are you doing here?” I almost shouted, still surprised.

“Your mom let me in,” he said innocently.

“Like that answers my question,” I snap back at him. I sat on my bed and crossed my legs. The initial shock of seeing him again so soon was wearing out and my curiosity was taking over. “Why are you here?”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“Yes.” He didn’t say anything for a while, but then he got up and slowly headed for the door. He opened it a little before he looked back at me.

“Are you serious?” he asked, the expression on his face was hard to read.

“No, you idiot. Get back here,” I say with an amused smile on my face. He smiles a little and shakes his head at me. I pat the space beside me on my bed for him to sit on, but instead, he resumed his place on the floor. Why does this boy keep hurting my ego?

We sat in an awkward silence as I waited for him to answer my original question.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” he speaks up and my jaw dropped at this in disbelief.  

“You’re the one who I creepily found in my bedroom first thing in the morning. And God knows how long you’ve been sitting around here, aren’t you going to say anything?”

He smiles a real one and transfixes his gaze to his hands resting on his lap. What is up with him? I wondered.

“You’re being really weird right now,” I say.

“Sorry.”

“Why do I get a feeling you were forced to be here?” I ask suspiciously.

“Kind of.”

“Oh?”

“Come with me somewhere,” he finally blurts out. Well, that’s vague.

“Where, why, and when?”

“Today,” was all he answered.

If earlier I was curious, not I’m confused. We’ve only met again last night and here he was asking me to go somewhere with him. I thought he hated me.

“If you don’t want to – ”

“I’ll get ready. Wait for me,” I cut him off. I don’t how this is going to turn out, since Connor and I aren’t what we used to be, but for the chance of reviving whatever’s left, it’s worth a shot.

 A/N: I feel the need to apologize for this chapter to anyone who actually reads my updates (if ever these people exist), so I'm sorry. Also, I would really love it if you'd give me feedback with my fanfic. I'm so wary of writing this fanfic because I'm kind of scared. Tell me your reactions, what you like or hate about it, if it bothers you, or tell me what I should improve with the way I write. And thank you for voting. Actually, thank you for spending time reading this too. :)