Fade Away

Chapter 3| The Unexpected

Oh hell no. 

Bella's grip on my arm grew tighter because she knew I'd do this. She knew I wouldn't ever agree to this in a million years. Even from this distance, I could tell Hades was hurt with my reaction but his expression remained stable. Beside him, a mutual friend of ours, Matthew Williams, waved awkwardly.  

I cursed at Bella and reluctantly allowed her to drag me to the table. Bella pushed me in first and she sat next to me. The seating arrangement was extremely weird. I was sitting opposite Matthew and Bella was sitting opposite Hades. Apparently Matthew was confused about this too but Bella waved it away and jumped right into a conversation with Hades. I, on the other hand, was awkwardly left with Matthew. 

'Um.' I started. Lame, I thought to myself. 'I'm so sorry if this is a weird question but doesn't the entire school know that you like Bella?' I asked him. It was true too. His face turned red. 

'Yeah, everyone but her.' He said, glancing at her. His blonde hair was falling into his blue eyes. He looked heartbroken at the sight of Bella talking to Hades. 'Do me a favor Anna. Please.' He begged, taking my hands in his. I knew it was just a friendly gesture but I did notice Hades's confused expression slowly fade away as he eased into a conversation with Bella. Jerk, I thought. I nodded my head, coming back to reality. 'Can you please tell me if...?' He started. He didn't need to finish the question for me to know what he was trying to ask. It was all over his face. I didn't know why Matthew was even asking. It was clear from the entire situation who Bella really liked. 

'Matthew, I'm so sorry.' I whispered to him. I hated that Bella put me in this situation. I thought she understood me when I had confessed everything to her from yesterday. A rainbow of expressions played out on Matthew's face and I could feel his soul break. His bright blue eyes weren't the same anymore. I was sad, disappointed and angry.

Sad because I had confided to Bella that Hades had tried to kiss me. Disappointed because Bella couldn't see how much Matthew liked her. And angry because she didn't once tell me she had liked Hades. Then everything fell into place. I mentally smacked myself. I should've seen the signs. Sure, Bella would tease me with Hades every now and then but I never accepted them. Why should I? I didn't like him, especially after what he did which was abandon me. She even talked to him at school everyday and I hadn't really objected. I didn't need to. But how could she still like Hades even after knowing that he had tried to kiss me? Maybe because he didn't. He didn't because he liked Bella. And she liked him back. 

Matthew was still holding my hand in his and I just kept them there. He needed me right now. He looked destroyed but he pushed past all that and just smiled at me. A small smile that told me how much pain he was in. I was on the brink of killing Bella but it wasn't really her fault. I wanted to kill her for leaving Matthew like this. And strangely, I felt the same pain Matthew was feeling at that point too. I thought Hades liked me. Did I like him? Seeing him with Bella did make me mad, but that didn't translate to me liking him. Did it? It couldn't. I wouldn't be able to bear that if it did. 

Hades cleared his throat when our food arrived. Matthew didn't talk much and neither did I. He just glanced at Bella and I happened to glance at Hades. We shared a small smile here and there and that was it. 'If it helps Matthew, there's a girl out there that will like you back. You just wait.' I whispered as we headed out to our cars. The evening weather was beautiful. A spectrum of red and yellow surrounded us and I took it all in. I loved fall. 

'Bella. What the hell?' I asked her as soon as we were out of earshot from Hades and Matthew. They walked ahead of us. Apparently, they had planned a surprise for us. Well actually, both us them just planned a surprise for Bella. That stung. She looked at me with confusion. 'You didn't tell me you like Hades!' I whisper-yelled. 

She looked at me sheepishly. 'I didn't want you to feel bad that he tried to kiss you the other day and well you would feel bad that he tried to do that wouldn't you? And he likes me too.' She said. Where were all her brain cells? The things one goes through for love, I thought to myself.

'But the point is, he tried to kiss me! He wouldn't do that if he likes you.' I retorted. She nodded her head. 

'He talked to me about it right after you told me. I didn't feel angry so don't give me that face.' She said as my expression changed to worry.  'He told me that he wanted to be sure he liked me and not anyone else. He wanted to see if he thought of me when he tried to...you know.' She said. What. The. Hell. This isn't Bella. Bella was smart. 'I gave him an earful for using you like that but I guess I forgave him. Please don't mind Anna. Just give him a chance to apologize.' She continued.

I had no idea how a girl like Bella was okay with that. And what hurt more was that she didn't care he used me like that. And what kind of an idiot goes around checking to see if he likes a girl by using others? I was fuming with anger. This was not going to end well for me. I managed to mumble a thanks to her and left immediately. I prayed for the safety of my mental condition and sat in Hades's car. 

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Author's Note:

And that's just the beginning of how my life actually went to hell. What do you guys ship? Bella and Matthew? Anna and Matthew? Bella and Hades? Anna and Hades? Leave your thoughts in the comments below :)

Oh and DOUBLE UPDATE! Yay!

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Thank you so much :)

Until next,

Aleyna.