Crop

CHAPTER TEN

That night I grab my phone from the movie cabinet and turn it on. Anton's persistent texts stare up at me.

ANTON: Let's meet in the forest sometime

ANTON: At our tree

Maybe he's right. Maybe I can't hide in my room forever.

ANTON: There's some things I need to tell you and I won't feel right until I get them out.

ANTON: Zyarr please respond

ANTON: I know you're mad but if you're reading these can you please respond

I'm not mad, I'm sad. I'm hurting. I'm disappointed in you.

ANTON: I feel really bad about what happened.

Do you?

ANTON: I'll stop bugging you now. I'll let you cool off.

ZYARR: Hi

ANTON: Zyarr hey!

ANTON: I'm sorry about all this.

ZYARR: I'll be in the forest tomorrow morning at 9:00. There's your chance to talk to me.

ANTON: I'll be there

ANTON: Are you feeling okay?

ZYARR: I'm feeling fine. Goodnight.

ANTON: Night

The next morning my alarm clock wakes me at 8:30. I put on a pair of sweats and pull my hair into a messy bun. I'm not hungry so I skip breakfast and head out at 8:48.

I see him in the distance as I approach our tree.

"Zyarr" he says as I stop before him.

"Anton" I nod as a subtle greeting gesture.

He is the one with the blanket today, tucked under his arm. He spreads it out and we sit down. I keep my distance.

He takes a deep breath before talking slowly. "I want you to know that...through all of this, I never meant to hurt you. That was a promise I made, but I ended up hurting you anyway."

I stare at him.

"Me and Prue...we used to date." He pauses and looks down. "And the fact is, I never really got over her. I thought you were my answer. I thought you would help me lose my feelings for her." He pauses again. I'm still staring at him silently. I don't want to talk, just listen to what he has to say. "When she got dumped by her boyfriend, I thought...well I thought there might be another chance for us. For me and Prue. But she got back together with her boyfriend and I started to hang out with you a lot. I wanted to become attached to you. I wanted to fall in love with you."

A tear drop escapes my eye and I wipe it away.

"But Prue didn't like how much time I was spending with you. Even with a boyfriend, I hang out with her all the time, but when you came into the picture I started to hang out with you a lot more than her. I started to replace her. She thought it would only intensify if I dated you. I probably wouldn't need her as a best friend anymore and I slowly let her go." He shakes his head. "She's probably right." There are a few moments of silence before he continues. "The day before the wedding, she dumped her boyfriend, and told me about it the next day in the arch pathway. She said she finally made up her mind and wants to be my girl forever. That's when she kissed me, and...that's when you found us."

More tears start to spill out of my eyes.

"I'm telling you Zyarr, I never meant to hurt you through any of this. You're a really nice girl. But...I'm going to ask Prue to be my girlfriend. This is the thing I've been waiting for for a very long time and if I don't take it, her boyfriend might not take her back." He stares at me and this time I'm the one who looks down, letting tears drip onto his blanket. "I'm in love with her. Please understand."

"Yes, I understand." I mumble. I was right, this whole time I've been in the middle of somebody else's love story. I've been played with. I've been imagining things that aren't real.

Anton stands and offers me a hand to help me up. I take it. He wipes my tears away with the sleeve of his sweater. "I really hope this doesn't cause you too much pain." he says.

"If I wouldn't have known you, I wouldn't have made three-hundred-fifty dollars." I say, trying to lighten the mood for my own sake. I don't want to cry in front of him anymore.

"Three-hundred-fifty?"He asks.

"Two-hundred from the wedding. One-hundred-fifty for the photo of you and our tree. Somebody is buying it."

"Awesome." He says. "You're a really great photographer."

It's so much easier to talk about photography than relationships.

"Honestly, I hope this isn't the end of us." he says. "I need more photography friends." He taps our tree. "And this chunk of wood would be a terrible memory for you."

"It is." I say. "You're a terrible human being."

He smiles. "Friends?" He gives me his hand but instead of shaking it I punch him in the shoulder.

"Friends." How does he do it? How does he cheer people up so easily?

That evening the posse comes in the door all at once, big smiles on their faces. Pexi is holding a big casing wrapped in blue and grey paper but I can clearly make out that it's an animal carrier based on it's shape and handle. She sets it down on the kitchen table.

"What's going on?" I ask, getting up from the couch.

"We bought you something to cheer you up." Zuri says with a sweet smile.

I peel a piece of the paper away from the cage door and hear a whimper. "A puppy? You guys seriously bought me a puppy?" I say with excitement and tear the rest of the paper away from the carrier. I open the door and the baby lifts his nose up toward me.

"He's a two month old Jack Russell Terrier." Pexi says.

"And he doesn't have a name so it's up to you." Zuri adds.

"Awww, you guys are the best!" I say and give everyone a hug. "I sort of like the name Lucky Charms."

"I think it's cute" Solstice says happily.

 Without knowing Anton, I wouldn't have gotten this dog, either. That just goes to show that something good can come out of any situation. Everything turned out okay.