Beginnings and Endings [complete]

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One

My holiday routine was simple. Simple, and sometimes boring, but definitely preferred over my last months in school.

Wake up and clean up.

Study - yeah, study. If and when you find another way to maintain your top student status, let me know.

Movie and lunch.

Computer and Fanfiction.

TV.

Dinner.

TV and family time - except on Fridays with choir practice.

Sleep.

And the whole thing repeats the next morning. I swear, I was putting on more weight than I should be. Damn chips. I'd probably be overweight for my age and height if it hadn't been for badminton every Saturday, which was bonus inclusive of another three extra hours with Xavier instead of our usual twenty minutes or less per Sunday.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was something I was not about to complain about.

The only outing I had was on Nat's birthday, with Shaun and my cousin to watch Rise of the Guardians. I think the only reason I wanted to watch it was because it was seriously colourful, I loved Jude Law's character, and the Jack Frost was cuter than most boys I knew.

As I waited in Secret Recipe with my cousin and Shaun, who was as usual dressed in a tshirt and cargos, I went through the entire experience with him about Xavier. What irritated me was his first question of, "What about Dom?"

My temper spiked instantly, moving to keep my phone and glare at him. "Don't mention him to me right now," I said shortly. I hadn't been talking to Dom lately, only sending him a text before I went to sleep at night and asking him to call whenever my parents weren't around.

But my phone bill was still bound to escalate at the rate I was texting Xavier. He woke up late every morning and kept me up late every night texting him until one of us fell asleep, but I didn't mind. Even after what had happened he was still cool and only inserted a comment here and there. He was less suffocating than Dom, thank God. In short, I liked being with Xavier. If Dom wasn't holding me back, we'd probably be together by now. But girls being girls, we never forget what happened between someone special between us. Contrary to otherwise popular belief, I am female and therefore was still unbearingly emotionally attached to Dom.

"So...I was thinking about getting back together with Nat..."

Shaun's slow remark made me snap out of wandering thoughts to stare at him, uninterested and unsurprised. "And?"

"And I don't know," he answered simply, making me try very, very hard to surpress a bored, irritated eye roll. "She's supposed to give me her answer today."

I bit my lip. "Xavier just broke up with her. He treated her like crap and she deserved better but he still meant a lot to him," I pointed out without the slightest hint of irony and as straightforward as possible. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

He immediately went on defensive mode, and proceeded to fail to convince me otherwise. I'd been nearing my snapping point when Nat arrived. His eyes glazed over and his face lit up in a smile, and I sadly thought about how badly he'd take it if and when she said no.

Because I was sure she would.

As if to confirm my assumptions, she pulled me aside in the cinema as we sat together watching trailers. "What happened on Saturday?" she asked quietly, so as not to disturb the couple making out behind us.