Childhood Crushes

Chapter Forty-Six - Fiancé or Not?

“Annabelle...Annabelle...oi! Annabelle! Wake up!”

I shot bolt upright as the voice shouted in my ear, causing any fatigue to leave me right away and instinctively raised my fists in a fighting position. “What! What’s going on?” My hair was wrapped tight around my head in random directions, making it hard to see who or what was talking to me.

“Dude, get your hair out of your eyes...” Melissa's voice sighed, batting at the strands on my face. I spat at the hair, eventually our efforts detangled my mess of a hairstyle. “Your phone has been ringing off the hook, for like, an hour.” She shoved my cell phone into my hands before turning away and plopping back down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m so glad Thanksgiving break is soon; I don’t think I can handle this whole ‘college’ thing much longer.”

I was barely listening to her as I opened my phone and looked at the many missed calls. A couple were from Mom, so I knew I’d have to call her back soon, but the ones that made me feel guilty were the ones from Bale. He had called about ten times since last night, but I didn’t even hear it. Craig and I talked until two in the morning, leaving little time for me to check my phone on the way to bed, where I crashed and fell asleep. I even saw I was still wearing my jeans, coat, and even a scarf. As I dialed the number, which I knew by heart, I tugged and pulled at the scarf and coat in a desperate attempt to go back to normal. Bale answered on the second ring, sounding worried as ever. “Annabelle, there you are...” He sighed with relief.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I was out all night...” I admitted. Instantly, I wished I hadn’t though; Bale tried to sound casual as he asked.

“Well...where’d you go? Anything interesting?”

Do I tell him I was with Craig? Of course nothing happened, but would he believe me if I told him? I chewed on the inside of my mouth as I tried to think of a way to tell him, without really telling him. “Actually, yeah...I was at...a party.” It was a lie, but I did get invited to a party last night. And I was with the host. So technically, I had gone, right? I was lying to myself now; how pathetic.

“Oh, sounds fun.” He replied. His voice was dull, and I reached up to smack my forehead when I heard it. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not, but I did know he wasn’t happy with my answer. Out to a party all night that he knew nothing about? I’d be angry too.

“It wasn’t very fun, though.” I added in a desperate attempt to make it sound boring at least.

“Too bad,” He tried to converse, but it was hard, and I could tell. With a sigh, he changed the subject. Not to a very nice one, if you ask me. “Yeah, I went out last night, too. Me and a few of the guys went to a bar.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Oh? That sounds...fun.” Was he trying to make me feel how he feels? Is this supposed to make me jealous? Worried? Well...one thing’s for sure; it’s working. “Michael and Billy?” I guessed.

“Yeah, them and a few other people.”

I gave a nod, “Sounds fun."

Melissa suddenly sat up in her bed, “Bull crap! You didn’t go to no party! You were too chicken to go!” She laughed before lying down. “You went to Starbucks to do school work and left with that dude. What’s-his-face...Craig!” She snapped her fingers. “Yeah, that’s him.”

My eyes narrowed at her and I hissed, “What the hell, Melissa?”

She shrugged, “Maybe next time you should go to the party with me. Who’s that - your brother? Hi, big brother!” She called, but she couldn’t be more wrong.

“Who’s Craig?” Bale asked, his voice sharp.

“U-uh....h-he’s....he’s our neighbor.” I shook my head and stood from my bed, storming out of the room and walking down the hall.

On my way out, I heard Melissa say, “Crap, I guess it’s not your brother. My B!”

“Well what were you doing with him ‘all night’?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, I swear. I went to Starbucks and, like my roommate said, I was just doing homework. He showed up and we started talking, but that’s it!” I was talking so quickly that I didn’t know if he understood a word I was saying or not. “We both just talked about where we come from and I told him about this summer, and I told him I’m engaged, he’s the only one around here who knows, but you know - we just talked!”

A long silence stretched before he finally stuttered out, “Why is he the only one who knows?”

Tissues sat all around me, crumpled with mucus and tears, while my cell phone sat gently in my hands. The battery beeped at me loudly, causing me to jump. It was dying, and I didn’t know where my charger was at the moment. Angry that Bale wouldn’t answer his phone after hanging up on me after I muttered ‘I don’t know’, I threw the phone across the room and didn’t bother to watch where it went, letting it go wherever the hell it wanted.

With a defeated sigh I fell backwards onto my bed, staring up at the blank ceiling. Why was he being like this?

No, that’s not fair. He had every right to be mad. Thinking about it now, I would be angry if he did the same; hanging out with some girl I’d never met, keeping our engagement a secret, not answering the phone - I’d be pissed. “Stupid...” I muttered to myself.

“What’s stupid?”

I looked up and saw Craig standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame. He smirked, like nothing was wrong! Well, he doesn’t know yet. I sighed and laid back down on my pillow. “Ohhh...nothin’...just don’t know if I still have a fiancé or not!”

Craig’s smile dropped and he stepped forward, standing over me. “Oh...what happened?”

“Bale isn’t too happy with me, I s’pose. You know, what with me hanging out with you til two in the morning, not telling people I’m engaged...ya know, because everyone gets in that kind of situation."

He nodded and sat down on the edge of my bed by my feet. “Understandable...have you talked to him?”

“He won’t answer his phone.”

“Want me to talk to him?”

I gave a nervous laugh, “No, it’s fine. This isn’t your fault or anything.”

“Sounds like it iiiiiis.” He said in a sing-song voice.

I rolled my eyes and sat up to look at him. “Well it’s not. So you can drop it.” We sat in silence for a moment as he nodded, knowing I wouldn’t be second guessing this. “I’ll just...keep trying.” I sighed.