The Ones That Got Away

We Need To Talk

  

It's completely silent in the car. "So, Rome?" Henry asks reluctantly. "Yeah?" I answer, looking over at him sitting next to me. Henry turns in his seat to look at me head on. "Who the hell was that dude?" He asks with a somewhat protective tone. I search around in my mind for the memories of Logan that I've subconsciously threw in a fire. Once I tell them who he is they're going to want to know how I know him. "That was Logan... Logan Argent." As I say this I turn my head to look out the window, I don't want them to see my embarrassment.  Laura turns around in the seat in front of me. "Logan? I thought his first name was Argent." Then she looks directly at me, her eyes narrowing. "If you knew him already why didn't you say anything? Or call him Logan?" 

  I was really hoping I wouldn't get this confrontation. I look between Henry and Sam, they're both listening. Henry's eyes are on me and Sam's eyes are on the road, looking at me in the rear-view mirror every now and again. "Umm..." How do I answer this without bursting into tears in front of my new friends? "Logan has changed. A lot. In appearance. He's not how I remember him being." Henry looks away, apparently okay with that answer. "What did he do?" Sam chimes in. "Before we left." I don't... I'm not ready to talk about this. "Not something I'm proud of or ready to share." I answer simply. Then I remember what I saw before I left. It's my turn to poke and prod at people's privacy now. "What happened between you two before we left?" I'm actually really proud of myself for the look on my face when I said this. 

  Henry's head snaps around so he can glare at me. Obviously, he doesn't want to talk about this, but we can't ignore what happened. "None of your damn business." Laura answers, turning around and crossing her arms. "They were making out. Making out is what they were doing." Henry answers, a feeling of betrayal hiding in his words. Sam's face visibly pales then turns red. "That's not what it was." He whispers barely loud enough for us to hear. "Then what was it?" The rest of us say in unison. "It was..." Sam starts. "Oh hey, we're at Rome's house. Bye Rome, see you tomorrow!" With a sigh I start opening my door, but Henry grabs my wrist to stop me. "Uh uh." He tells me. "Sit your ass down, we're all going to talk about this."

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  Apparently, Sam doesn't know what it was, and Laura didn't like that answer. She ended up getting out of the car and walking home by choice. The next day at school was a little tense. Sam completely avoided conversation about anything that happened yesterday. At lunch Laura just listened to music and ate, not looking at anybody. Sam had launched himself into a rant about elderly teachers (which I didn't really pay attention to), and Henry had given me a note asking if we could talk after school. At least Henry will actually talk to me about something somewhat important. Me and Henry's class after lunch was basically full of learning, homework, and no talking. Now it's art.

   Today we have to find a partner and create a painting combining both of our art styles. So, naturally, I choose Lucy from across the room, but Henry asks if we can be partners before I get to Lucy. I guess Henry's cool too. We're rough sketching what our painting should look like when Henry asks me a question. "Can I come to your house after school?" He wants to what now?  "Sure. Is there something specific you wanted to talk about?" I answer. He studies me a little. "You're completely okay with me coming over? Your parents are completely okay with it?"

"My parents want me to make friends. You're my friend, right?"

"Are we friends?"

"Well, I wouldn't call us more or less than that, so yes. We're friends." I say to him with a smile. Henry puts a hand over his chest. "You wouldn't call us more than friends?" I laugh. "I've known you for three days. It's a little hard to become more than that in so little time." He smiles at that. "You just called out like eighty-five percent of romantic cliches. " 

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  Free period went by so fast. I had been attempting to read in the library but I couldn't stop looking back at my conversation with Henry in art. He's so easy to talk to, it's unreal. I also couldn't stop thinking about what he might say in the less jokey, serious, important conversation that will happen soon at my house. I have a very strong feeling it's about yesterday, but that's not what I'm worried about. I worried about what part of yesterday it will be about. If it's Sam and Laura, if It's Logan, or if it's about me being the artist of the building. What if it's not about yesterday? What would it be about? This thought keeps recurring, and every time I think it, it scares me a little more.

 Riiiiiinnnnggggg. Only a few more minutes until my conversation with Henry starts. I grab my stuff start heading toward the front door to wait like I did yesterday, but Henry's already there. "Hey." I say when I get into earshot. "Hey." He looks around slightly frantic. "We should go now." His words are rushed, frantic as well. Henry puts his hand on my back and starts guiding me out of the building. "What are-" I start asking. "Which way is your house from here?" He asks, his hand still on my back. I point to my right. "Cool, let's go." I turn my head enough to look behind me and try to see who he's running from. The only person I see, about forty feet behind us, is Sam.