Chapter Twenty - 20

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I put my phone back into my pocket and walked into the living room. I walked slowly and played with my hands.

"So, you wanted to talk?" I asked Louis.

"Well, I mean, we don't have to. You're boyfriend might not appro-"

"He isn't my boyfriend." I said, much more confident than I thought I would.

"But, you just said..." he trailed off and tilted his head to the side.

"I don't want to get into something I'm not ready for." I said and he sighed.

"Lanie, if you really like Jake. Be with Jake. I never even asked you what I was going to ask you. Don't freak out."

"I'm not freaking out. I just don't want to be known as 'the girl who got a hundred boyfriends after her steady relationship with Connor Tate'." I said and let out a sigh.

"You've dated Jake for like five days in total. That's one guy." Louis said and I looked at him.

"What was your 'important' question?" I asked him.

"Nothing. It was stupid." Louis said and sighed. I looked at him, but said nothing. "Well... Our mums talk a lot. I knew that your mum had told you about the dinner... and... you know what? Never mind." Louis stopped himself. I sat down on the left of him and rubbed my face.

"Jake has always just been an 'in the moment' kind of guy." I said and felt like a horrible person afterwards. "I mean that in a good way... it's just he... he's a really wonderful guy, but he's nothing like Connor or Liam." I said and when I finished my sentence, my eyes widened. "And uh... when I said Liam I, uh, meant Lance." I said and Louis gave me a weird look. "Old boyfriend."

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Liam said as he walked into the room.

"Relat-" I started, but Louis cut me off.

"Nothing. Just our English project. Can we go?" Louis asked, quickly. He shot up from the couch and Liam shrugged.

"Uh, yeah? Sure. Lanie, you can drive."

"No thank you. I'll sit in the back." I said and got up from the couch. I glanced at Louis. "You guys go ahead. I'll be out in a second." I said and they both started walking toward the front door. I began to turn off all the lights downstairs. I ran up the stairs, grabbed what I needed, and turned my bedroom light off. I walked back downstairs and opened the front door. My phone vibrated again, but repeatedly, someone was calling me. I pulled my phone out to see Jake calling me. I answered.

"Hello?" I said with a small quiet voice.

"Lanie, you could've just told me... it's alright, I just don't want you ignoring me." Jake said.

"I'm not going to ignore you." I said and locked the door behind me. I walked to Liam's car.

"Can I ask what changed your mind?" he asked me when I put my hand on the door handle.

"I don't really know yet." I said and I slowly opened the door. I sat my backpack down before getting in a buckling my seat belt.

"Maybe it's best if we are just friends, you know?" he asked me and I sniffled a little.

"Yeah..." I said and Liam started the car.

"Hey, don't get upset." Jake said and I glanced at Louis again. "It's okay, it really is."

"I just feel really bad." I said and Jake sighed.

"Things happen. You meet new people and forget old ones..." he said and I looked down.

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