Between Love and Friendship (Completed)

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. Was Gabriel really asking me to break up with Trevor? I thought must’ve been going crazy or something, because there was no way possible that he could’ve meant it. No way.

“What?” I asked, with a slight laugh.

“You heard me. I think you should break up with him.”

He changed his wording. Before he said he wanted me too. Now it was ‘you should’.

“Why?” I tried to make it sound like a legitimate question.

“Because you don’t really like him. You and I both know that.”

I was almost angry at Gabriel for having the audacity to tell me my own feelings. But then again, he was right. He understood me too well, and a month or so of not really talking to each other clearly wasn’t enough to change that.

“Maybe I started liking him,” I retorted, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Aria…he’s cheating on you.”

My eyes widened. Trevor? Was that even possible?

Gabriel must’ve noticed my expression of disbelief.

“He’s cheating on you with some girl named Victoria. In our grade. Mikey saw the two of them together in the girl’s locker room.”

Talk about sleazy.

“I don’t believe you.” I said, sounding a little ruder than I had intended.

He signed in frustration. “Why would I lie about this?”

I thought for a moment. Because he didn’t like Trevor. Because he wanted me to be single too. Because he was jealous of my relationship. Because he secretly liked me.

“You don’t want to go there,” I mumbled, half to myself.

“I’m just trying to be a good friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Well, I won’t. I survived without having you as a friend for this long, what’s a while longer?”

Gabriel looked like he had been hurt by my remark, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. He frowned.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll see you around.”

With that said, he was gone. I didn’t bother to say goodbye.

* * *

That day, I ran into Trevor during dismissal. When I made eye contact with him in the hallway, smiled and waved, but didn’t walk over to me.

Instead, I took the initiative.

Although I didn’t really believe that what Gabriel told me was true, I confronted him anyway.

“Hey Trevor.”

“Hey,” He said.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?”

He made a noise that sounded like he was in pain or something, before speaking. “Now’s not a good time. I really have to get home early today.”

“How come?” I asked, trying not to sound too suspicious.

“Eh-this thing for my mom, its nothing. I’ll call you later.”

Then he sped away, and my eyes lost him in the crowd. Wow, I thought. Was Gabriel telling the truth?