The Exchange Student, the Pop Prince and the Raffle Tickets

Chapter Twenty Eight: Heart to Heart? You're sorely mistaken...

Well it's all kicking off in America. Enjoy! 

Lauren =D 

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• Chapter Twenty Eight

Elaine was tiptoeing to the door.  

"Stop there missy." I called after her. 

She opened the door. "Sorry, but it's really late, got to go." 

"Yeah, way past your bed time." 

"Oh no..." I heard Jesse grumbled beside me. 

"What!" I heard Eli yell behind us. 

The three of us turned to Eli. He staggered backwards onto the fridge. Elaine quickly left. 

Eli closed his eyes resting his head back on the fridge. He took a couple of deep breaths. I watched with Jesse without making a sound. I didn't breathe. Did I didn't know what to do or how to calm him down. 

His shaggy dark brown hair was messier today, the beard was longer but it was growing on me. He still looked old. When he opened his eyes, his grey sad eyes looked tired. 

He pushed past us both and stormed out of the door. I went after him but Jesse grabbed my arm pulling me to the balcony. We looked down to see Elaine looking out for a cab. Twenty seconds later, we spotted Eli walking towards Elaine. We braced ourselves for the shouting match but instead Eli walked straight past Elaine disappearing. 

"He'll be back soon... with another girl down his throat, legs around his waist." 

I wished those thoughts out of my head. "You didn't tell me he got kicked out..." 

Jesse gave his sexy laugh. "Obviously you heard." 

"He can't have been that-" 

"Eden, he was bad. Trust me." Jesse's phone started to ring. He walked away from me to answer it. "Baby, it's a little crowded at the moment sorry, I miss you loads too baby. Bye." 

"Okay, cut the crap again, you have a girlfriend." 

"You eavesdrop too much Eden Lodge." 

"And you are just too sexy to be single." I told him matter of factly.  

He gave another one of his sexy laughs. I was right though - he was too sexy to be single.

I left in such a good mood. It was a weird feeling. I hadn't had fun with a guy for a long time. All the times I had dated someone it was a different kind of fun, like I was expecting everything to be too much fun and in the end I would be disappointed. This was different, we were just two friends hanging out and now I knew I couldn't be anything more with Jesse I was a little relieved. All the other expectations I had with Jesse had gone and we were just friends. Pure and simple nothing romantic friends.

* 

It got boring just hanging around the hotel during the day and going out at night, I felt like a vampire and the hotel staff was starting to get suspicious of what I was doing. 

I was meant to go shopping but I just wasn't up to it. I had ordered room service, a chocolate sundae and a cheesecake, and was watching Maury on the TV. I heard a knock at the door thinking it was my food. 

"Eden..." 

Oh no. 

"I didn't know you were staying here. You could have always stayed back at the house, you're stuff hasn't been touched." 

"I don't think that's a good idea do you?" 

Sarah gave me a small smile, her blue-grey eyes sad just like her sons.  

"Of course, whatever you want." I waited in silence for Sarah to say why she was here. "Are you going to let me in?" 

I wanted to say no. I looked back around my hotel room and moved to the side so she could pass me. 

If she expected us to have a heart to heart, cry in each other's arms and be like mother and daughter then she was sorely mistaken. She would talk, I would pretend to listen and then she would leave. This was never in the plan. I never agreed to this. Ever. 

"Okay, I'm just going to start now by saying that I'm really sorry. What happened between us shouldn't have gotten that far. It's truly all my fault." She looked at me waiting for me to talk. I didn't. "I just thought the two of you should have got it out of your system. Then it would fizzle out and you two would be fine. When you collapsed I knew that it was something more, I just had that mother senses to me with you. I loved you like my own daughter." 

I rolled my eyes at her standing by the TV, Maury still playing in the background. She wrapped her beige coloured mac around her body for warmth or comfort.  

I stood by the door looking at Sarah without emotion. I just didn't care what she had to say. The time when I needed her to step up and help, she didn't. 

She tried to smile at me. "I'm so happy you're back. The fact that your back to help the famil-" 

"I came back to help find Bindi. After that, I'm going home." I snapped. 

"Oh. I was hoping you would stay for a bit, talk about what happened with Bind-" 

I cut her off. "Why?" 

"I don't know, just to patch things up. Since you left... things haven't been the same." 

Someone knocked on my door, making us jump, with my cheesecake. My mouth watered when I saw it. I put it down on the table next to Sarah. 

"We had to kick Eli out of the house. After Raine dumped him we would catch him with girls in his bedroom all the time. Then there was the incident with the mathematics teacher..." My ears perked up a little. "She had to quit her job but by then Eli had left..." 

"He had a fling with a teacher?" 

Sarah grimaced. "Eli groped her bottom." I wiped a hand over my face to hold back the laugh. "Well, now that he's with Jesse he seems to be doing a lot better." 

And you think that, with that beard? I thought. 

"Joseph said you'd come back, Bindi didn't think she'd ever see you again but he would always say you would come back." 

"How was she before she ran away?" I whispered. The thought of her in pain, hurt my insides. That was my best friend and I left her. 

"She was doing better, she still hadn't talked to Eli since... it happened but Joseph and I were working on it. She liked university life but I think it was mostly because she hated being in the house. She hated your room the most, but when we suggested re-painting it she went off in a rage. Eli wouldn't let us touch it either." 

I nodded. I missed that girl every day being here. Bindi had even kept my room, my British themed room. I had loved that room and she knew that. 

"I think I've outstayed my welcome. Will you be coming later on tonight?" 

"Have I a choice?" I asked, a hint of anger in my voice. 

Sarah's blue-grey eyes looked upon my brown, now fed up ones, looking sad. "We are so grateful you've come back Eden whether or not it is just to find Bindi." 

"Trust me, if it was up to me I would have never have come back." 

Sarah was a bit taken back by my shock confession. I would have never have visited if I had the choice. I knew that for certain. 

"And I wish I hadn't. I wish I could have left it all up to you to find Bindi, I want nothing to do with you even now. You never were a mother to me. You were just somewhere to stay." With that I closed the door on Sarah and tucked into my cheesecake. 

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