CrushED

-Chapter 10-

"Hi, Aquarius!"
Charlie waves his entire arm vigorously, greeting me as I make my way over to the front door of his house.
"Hey, Charlie. Is Caden home?" I ask, peering into the house to try and see if Caden's inside.
"No," Charlie says, "I think Caden went out to get some groceries for mom. She sprained her ankle, and dad is at work."
"Oh."
"You can still come in, though. Mom is sleeping." Charlie steps back so I can enter.
"Sure, thanks." I say.
Charlie leads me back to the living room, our unofficial meeting place.
After I get myself seated on the couch, Charlie takes a long sip at his hot chocolate, then looks up at me.
"So how are you feeling about the wedding?" Charlie suddenly asks.
This catches me off guard, and I pause for a moment. Usually only Caden and I discuss this together. But I figure that Charlie is a good friend. I can trust him.
"Well, I don't know why, but it bugs me that soon my mother will be marrying another man. I guess that it's just reality's way of telling me that I'll never have a normal family again." I swallow, trying to hold back tears.
"Oh." Charlie looks down. "Well, I hope that things get better."
"Yeah." I try not to let my voice shake. "Me too."
Suddenly, the front door opens, and Caden stumbles in, with lots of bags of groceries. "Charlie! I'm home-"
Caden stares at me for a second, confused. "Oh. Hey, Aquarius." Caden sets down the groceries, and quickly walks into the living room, realizing I have something to say to him, something that the ears of an innocent thirteen year old like Charlie cannot hear.
"Charlie, I need to talk to Aquarius alone. Can you go help me? I have some more groceries in the car."
"Aye-aye, captain!" Charlie marches out of the house, like a soldier of some sort.
Caden sits on the couch, then leans forward.
"I know you're here for a reason. What's wrong?"
I open my mouth to say something, but then suddenly sobs start coming out. Tears that I have been holding back start falling, and I move my hands up to cover my face.
I feel like a blubbering crybaby, considering how many times I've broken down lately.
Caden moves closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulders, a gesture I am unfamiliar with.
I don't cry for long, and when I contain myself, I wipe my face with my arm.
"It'll get better." Caden says softly, looking straight at nothing in particular. "Just think...one day, she won't be a part of your life anymore. And she won't be able to control you."
"But..." I say quietly, tucking my feet in, hugging my legs, "Even if that's solved, then what happens? What if I get another crush? What'll happen in the future?"
"I guess...only time will tell. What happens will happen, and we can't do anything about it. But you'll do just fine."
"And how do you know?" I ask, genuinely curious, but with the tiniest smile on my face.
"Because," Caden says, "You've survived lots. Your dad is gone, your mother is a horrible parent, Camrin died, your friends have all turned on you and you've survived the crush. Yet you're still here. You're stronger than you think."
I simply stare at Caden, for what could be a minute or two. Caden lifts up his hand to brush away some strands of hair that have fallen in my eyes.
This moment is fictional, really.
We're just sitting on a couch, holding each other's gaze, and the sun is setting, and the orange-colored light is reflecting off of our faces, making Caden glow. I must look the same. The light is also making Caden's eyes shine. I notice that there are little flecks of green in his warm, hazel eyes that you can't see without some sort of light shining on it. Then I realize that this must be some kind of a romantic gesture, when you tuck someone's hair behind their ears.
Do I like Caden? As a friend, definitely. As a lover? Well...
I know my immediate answer should be no. Having a crush is much too dangerous. I know from experience. And honestly, I've only known Caden for a few months. Maybe less. I've lost count. Even if I did like him, I don't even know if he would share the same feelings. I settle as 'no' for my answer because things would be very complicated if I said 'yes'. Caden probably doesn't even know what he's doing right now is considered romantic.
As Caden's hand goes to put my hair behind my ears, his hand brushes past my ear, dipping slightly inwards.
Then he stops. Suddenly.
His hand just rests in that spot for a few seconds.
I raise one eyebrow at him, trying to figure out what's going on.
"What?" I ask.
"Aquarius." Caden removes his hand. "Why is there a piece of plastic in your ear?"
I touch my ear, moving my finger around to try and find this piece of plastic that has Caden concerned. Then I feel it. It's barely noticeable, but I can still feel it.
I try to pull it out, but it won't come out. And it's really hard to, because it's so small.
"It won't come out. I think it's glued in or something." I tell Caden.
"We should take you to the doctor's." Caden suggests. "They might be able to get it out."
So we go to the doctor's in his car, and the nurses have me lie down on the examination table. They put a very small light into my ears, then find the place it's glued onto. They dab some kind of alcohol-smelling type liquid with a small cotton swab, then carefully cut it off with a micro-scalpel, then take in out with tweezers. Small ones, of course. The doctor examines it for a bit, before looking at me with a confused look on their face.
"It's an earpiece, an expensive one at that. Advanced technology. But, tell me young lady, where have you been to have an earpiece superglued to your ear canal?"
Why would an earpiece be glued to my ear? I'm not a part of any secret F.B.I. mission or anything. And why superglue?
But, what if it was there because a certain voice in my head that gave me depression wasn't really just a voice in my head at all?