Family Styles - Sequel to the Baby Styles series

4

Layla's point of view

During lunch that day, Ed and I sat together by ourselves. Ben was sitting with Erica, Sarah, Jack, Noah and Jacob as usual. None of them know that Ben and I have broken up yet, not that I know of. Of course, he could be telling them right then. 

And it turned out I was right, because 15 minutes into lunch break, Erica and Sarah came over to me and Ed. They sat down on each side of me and hugged me. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Sarah asked rubbing my back. 

"I will be. Don't worry." I said and gave them a small smile. I could see Ed staring at Sarah. He's had a crush on her for almost 3 years now. I've told him to go for her, but he says he's too scared to be rejected. 

"Why did you guys even break up? You two were perfect together!" Erica said. 

"It's complicated... I'll explain later, alright?" I replied. They nodded. 

"It kills me to see you both so upset. Ben said he hasn't eaten a single thing this weekend, let alone now. He refuses to eat anything we give him." Erica said. 

"Well it's his own fault all this happened." I said. I was trying to hold this anger and bitterness in, but it was getting harder. 

"Come on, just come and sit with us. Both of you." Sarah looked over at Ed for a second. "If you want to get over it, just show him that you don't have any problem being in his presence. I promise it'll be okay." 

"Guys, I can't..." I said. 

"Yes, you can. Now come on. Show him who's the boss. Right now he might be thinking that he's the boss because you're the one who didn't sit with us, but you need to raise yourself above him." Sarah said. I thought about what she said, and she was right. I had to raise myself above it. We shared the same friends, so I had to. 

"Okay. I'll sit with you. You too, Ed." I said and got up. We walked over to their table and sat down. Unfortunately, I had to sit right across from Ben. I avoided looking at him as I ate my food. But, from what I could see, he did not look good. His skin was pale and he had dark circles around his eyes. He almost looked sick. 

I could feel his eyes on me as I ate, and I had to try my hardest not to look up. Everyone at the table noticed the awkwardness and began diving into a conversation instead, where Ben and I were the only ones not participating. 

Suddenly, Ben quickly got up from his chair and walked away fast. Jack got up right after him and followed him to wherever he was headed. 

Jack's point of view

I heard a chair scraping on the floor and saw Ben walking away, so I got up and walked after him. He walked into the bathroom and so did I. I found him leaning over the sink and I could see the tears on his cheeks in the mirror. 

"Dude, are you okay?" I asked him. 

"No... Not at all." He said and wiped his tears, but they were quickly replaced by new ones. "I'm going home. I can't be here anymore." 

"Wow... I really didn't think this was that serious. I honestly thought it was just a silly fight, but turns out it's much more than that." I said. "What happened?" 

"I came over to her house drunk at night and tried to sexually pressure her..." He was whispering, but I could hear clearly what he said. 

"Oh my god. You're not being serious right now, are you?" I asked. 

"Of course I'm being serious! You have no idea how much this is killing me! I haven't eaten anything since Friday and I haven't even slept. My parents don't know anything either... I'm way too scared to tell them what I did to Layla. I feel horrible." He said. "I just wish I could get her back." 

"Well, maybe you can plan something for her birthday? Like, give her a really nice present to show her you love her or just simply tell her what you told me. Just let her know how much this is killing you, alright? You're going to her and Ed's birthday party on Friday, right?" I asked. 

"Birthday party? I didn't even know they were throwing a party." He said and looked down. Great, I just made him even more upset. 

"Oh, well never mind. If you're not going, we could have a boy's night instead? We can play FIFA and drink?" 

"I'm never drinking again. It only makes me do stupid mistakes." He said. 

"We'll figure out something, okay? You will get her back someday, and I'm gonna help you. You two having broken up makes it awkward in the group and we can't have awkwardness in the group." I said. He just nodded and looked at his reflection in the mirror. 

"Anyways, I'm going home to sleep, or at least try to..." He said. He didn't say a single word before heading out of the bathroom and probably going straight out of the school. 

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hope you all like this :))

- m i a h xx