The Way You Loved Me [Under Edit]

"We always come home, now don't we?"

Givanni Cristoffe. 

From: Henry, Tess 

Message: Hey did you hear the news?! 

To: Henry, Tess 

Message: No, what? 

From: Henry, Tess 

Message: Cahlan's coming back.

Clutching my Blackberry with both hands, I felt my eyes growing wide. Cahlan Asher was coming back to Hazelwood? She couldn't be... We all thought she'd left for good.  

My phone buzzed angrily with each incoming text message from Tess, Cahlan's sister. I couldn't bring myself to move, I was frozen. Just sitting there on my messy bed, I took a deep breath. 

Cahlan's coming back. Cahlan's coming back. Cahlan's coming back.  

The phrase was on an endless loop within my mind. Cahlan's coming back. She was coming back, but why? What's bringing her back?

From: Henry, Tess 

Message: Hello?!?! Givanni? You okay? Hello??? 

Message: Givanni, please answer me.. Is everything okay?

To: Cristoffe, Spenser 

Spenser.. Code red.. Cahlan's back.

From: Cristoffe, Spenser 

Message: We always have to come home sometime, now don't we?

"I think it's great that Cahlan decided to finally come home." 

Holding my spoon full of Cheerios midair, I raised an eyebrow at my mother. "Why?" News of Cahlan's arrival spread through Hazelwood like a wildfire. Everyone was awaiting the return of the infamous crash victim with hungry eyes; no one had any idea what she looked like, besides the few people who went to the court hearing a few months ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the hearing where Thomas Hayes was sentenced to ten years in prison, so I was one of the many who haven't seen the girl in over a year.  

"You can't outrun your past, honey." My mother's words hung in the air a moment, her English accent echoing off the walls. Shooting a glance at her, I noticed she wasn't smiling. She couldn't have looked any more worried. Her dark brows were furrowed, chewing on her bottom lip. Her unruly dark hair cascaded down her back, finally reaching her waist. Dressed down in sweats and a tee, my mother ran a hand through her messy hair.  

"Why are you so worried?" I asked in between bites of cereal, although I already knew the reason. Spenser, my older brother, hadn't come out of his room ever since he heard that Cahlan was returning. My mother and I could only imagine what he'd be like once she actually back in next door.  

"It's Spenser," She sighed, raising her eyes to meet mine. "He's still torn up--" 

"I am not!" Spenser's voice thundered. Following the sound of his voice, I turned around to find him standing in the doorway of the kitchen, arms crossed above his chest. "I am perfectly fine," He mumbled angrily, throwing open the fridge door. Like my mother and I, he was in sweats and a tee shirt. His golden hair hung low in waves, in dire need of a cut. His muscles tensed as he crossed the kitchen in a few strides, reaching above our mother's head to retrieve a bowl from the cabinet. Holding the milk carton in one hand and a bowl in the other, Spenser took a seat next to me at the table.  

My mother and I watched him as he poured the remainder of Cheerios greedily into his bowl, not once looking up. "Spenser..." My mother's voice was full of emotion; pain and worry clouded her voice as she took a step towards him. "It's oka--" 

"I'm fine mother," He hissed, slamming his fists down on the table. "What pisses me off the most is how you all are assuming things!" 

"No one's assuming anything." Tossing my bowl in the sink, I wheeled around to face him. "We all know that you're hurting Spenser, everyone in the country knows by now! Stop trying to hide it from the world. So what if she's coming back? That should be a good thing! You can put your worries to rest and deal with it!" 

Spenser lowered his gaze, spinning the silver spoon around in the bowl. "It's not that easy, Gi. Not that easy..." 

"Yes it--" 

"Givanni, leave him alone. Room. Now." Mom waved me from the room, shaking her head as she did so. "You two kill me, you really do." 

"She's sort of right, you know," I heard Spenser say once I reached the landing on the steps. Smiling to myself, I skipped the rest of the way to my room. Cahlan Asher was coming back; finally, things would go back to normal.

"Do you know when she'll be back in town?" 

Maneuvering the phone between my shoulder and ear, I struggled to paint the last few toes on my left foot. "No," I replied, the fingernail polish brush slipping from my hand. "Damn," I mumbled, watching as the red polish splattered across my bright yellow bedspread.  

"What's wrong?" Dash, my boyfriend for the last four years, asked. Concern surfaced behind his words, as he stopped typing. Earlier, I could hear him typing away on his laptop, writing some report for his AP US History final. He'd told me about it a few days ago, it had something to do with his final, and how he'd turned it in late so he had to do extra credit to boost his grade up. Something like that, anyway. "You okay?" 

"Yeah. I spilled fingernail polish all over my bed." Jumping down from the bed, I grabbed a wet rag from my bathroom, racing across the room before the paint dried. Setting the phone to speaker, I sat it on the bed and began scrubbing away at the surfacing stain. "This is what I get for trying to talk to you and paint my nails." 

"Well, aren't I just so special?" He teased, laughter filling his voice. "Is it bad?" 

Taking a step backwards, I looked at the dark stain trailing across the comforter. Anger boiled inside me once I realized that I couldn't get the polish to go away, and neither would the washer downstairs. "Yes. That you are. You owe me a new bedspread, bud." 

"No can do, missy."  

"And why is that?" I asked, tearing the comforter from my bed and throwing it in the corner. Climbing back onto the bed, I took the phone off of speaker and placed it to my ear.  

"Well, I highly doubt that you'd want a bedspread for a birthday present," Laughing, I heard him rummaging through something. His desk drawer, perhaps? 

"At this point, I don't care what I get." My birthday was in a few days, and I'd finally be turning eighteen. One of the youngest out of my friend circle, this was a landmark time for me. I realized then, that Cahlan would most likely be in town for my birthday. What a birthday present, I thought. Smiling to myself, I sighed. Cahlan Asher, my best friend for the last seven years, was finally coming home.