Learning To Love

Chapter 9: "gorillas are herbivores."

Chapter 9
Gorillas are herbivores

"Chad! Move that finger away from the cake before I break it off and use it as a candle." I threaten.

He looks up like a deer caught in headlights and slowly moves his finger away from the cake. Jheeze, it's like this kid has a magnet inside him which draws him to anything edible. Scratch that, edible and inedible. I mean, he tried to eat potpourri. I wouldn't put anything else past him. I turn around.

"Chris, you need to stop glaring at everyone just because they're guys. Yes, I have friends of the opposite gender. Doesn't mean you can kill them all." I tell him when I see him shooting daggers at Chad, mouthing phrases like 'I'll kill you' and 'Stay away from her.' Chad gulps as he slowly moves to the other side of the room, afraid to make any sudden movements. Wow, if he's like this around one guy then what's gonna happen when Jayden and Caleb appear?

Just then I hear a knock on the door. As I turn around to open it I can feel Chad's gaze on me, mentally pleading me for help. I purposely turn away from him as I go to open the door. That's what he gets for trying to eat the cake.

"Ryder! Lynn!" I shout, excited to see them. The last time I saw them was around 5 months ago during Easter. I throw my arms around them, elated.

"Tanya! You're so big now!" Ryder says, making me chuckle. When I was born Ryder was only three years old and had trouble pronouncing my name, hence the nickname Tanya. "How's my nephew?" He asks as he makes baby noises at Jace who giggles upon seeing him.

"He's great with kids." I say to Lynn. She looks at him wistfully.

"I know, I'm just waiting for the day we can have some of our own." She says quietly so he doesn't hear. I pat her arm as I say,

"I'm sure the day will come soon." Little does she know my brother bought a ring months ago and has been waiting for the right time to pop the question. "Chad, I told you not to eat the cake!"

•••

He wasn't coming.

I don't know when I realised it, when Caleb turned up without him or when we were already three hours into the party without him and had cut the cake, but it was obvious he wasn't making an appearance.

My heart deflated a little more as each second passed, but I kept up the happy face because today was about Jace, not Jayden. I couldn't let him ruin my son's first birthday. It felt like an elephant had stomped on my heart when I opened the door to find Caleb on the other side without him.

"Hey! Jayden's running a bit late, but he should be here soon." Caleb said as I opened the door. He seemed off, not like his usual peppy self and more fidgety. I brushed it off as he handed me Jace's gift and moved past me into the apartment.

An hour passed, then another, and another. Finally Caleb came up to me and let me know.
"Hey, Jayden just texted me. Something came up and he won't be able to make it. I'm really sorry." He looked apologetic as he looked at me to gauge my reaction. I forced a smile on my face as I replied,

"It's fine, don't be sorry." I moved past him and busied myself with tidying up the table and cleaning away the mess. As I predicted, Chris had killed and re-killed both Chad and Caleb a thousand times during the few hours that they were here, and they had both hidden away in a corner away from his deadly glare for most of the party. And when everyone eventually left and the inhabitants of the house had fallen asleep, I found it impossible to do just that.

•••

The professors lips moved as he spoke about something. What he was speaking about, I had no clue. My brain had turned off the moment I had walked into the lecture hall and my notes looked like illegible swirls. It was going to be impossible to decipher it when I needed to study.