Beautiful Scars [1] ✔

Chapter Twenty Three

"Melissa? What are you doing here?"

She scowled at me, no sign of friendliness or even kindness. Just pure anger.

"What am I doing here?!" She spat. "I'm here to talk to you. You crushed my brother's heart, and I deserve to know why."

I swallowed. "It wasn't like that-"

"Oh, really? Then why was he so upset?"

"It was nothing, alright?!" I stood up, blood pounding in my ears.

"Nothing?!" She screamed. "We went through –actually, he- went through so much shit for you, and to you, he's nothing?!"

"You don't understand!" I sobbed.

She narrowed her eyebrows, while angry tears fell from her face. "No, Sophia. I understand perfectly. You never cared about us, did you?"

"Melissa, let me ex-"

"No you didn't," She cut in, her face becoming more upset and troubled by each word. "We were just a game to you, Aston and I. We were just a way for you to get closer to Matthew."

"That's not true!" I protested, crying, biting my bottom lip.

"It is true, Sophia! And don't even deny it! From the moment you even met Aston, I knew that you liked him because you admitted you did. But, as time went on, I started to wonder, 'If she likes him so much, why doesn't she just tell him?' Then I thought maybe you were just shy. I thought you'd get over it and tell him. Because let me tell you something, Sophia. Aston always liked you. Even when you were dating Matthew. Speaking of Matthew, why did you even date him anyway?"

"I - I- I don't know.." I said silently. And I really didn't know why I did.

"Want to know why I think you dated Matthew? Because you wanted to hurt Aston. You never cared for him, even in the beginning." She smirked nastily, and continued. "But you know what's funny? Matthew never cared for you either."

I raised my eyebrows in question, and she laughed.

"I'm not talking about when he cheated. I'm talking about before he even asked you out. You probably thought that he loved you, right? That he loved you more than all of the money on this Earth? Well, guess what, sweetie? He only loved you for ten dollar's worth."

"What?"

"The only reason he dated you was because Aaron paid him ten bucks to do it. And all that bullshit he told you about 'hating Aaron'? He was lying. Aaron and Matthew have been friends since preschool, and still are friends. And everyone knew that except you."

She gave me one last wave, turned to leave, then turned back to face me. "Oh, and if I ever see you talking to my brother again, I'll kill you. But best luck with Matthew, at least he finally found trash exactly like he is." She smiled sweetly, then stuck me the bird, and stalked out, the house door slamming behind her.

It had been four days since the fight with Melissa, and the words she told me still rang in my head. I never meant to hurt them. In fact, I was trying to do the exact opposite. Ironic, huh?

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and I crawled out from under my covers, and scurried to the front door.

I opened it, expecting to see Mrs. Tilly, since she wasn't home, but found someone else entirely. "Aston. What are you doing here?"

He looked different. Not like a new hairdo, but more like restless from no sleep. He had bags under his eyes and his complexion was a pale white, his blue eyes bloodshot. "I have to ask you a question."

Did I hurt him that much from the breakup? Just looking at his face made me want to leap back into his arms, but I didn't. I had to be strong. "Which is?" I snapped.

He sighed, running his hands over his face. "Have you seen Melissa?"

Wow. I was not expecting that. "No. I haven't. Why?"

He busted into tears and my facade fell away in a second. "Aston? What's wrong?"

"We- she- She hasn't been home in two days. I last saw her leaving to come here. That was the night when you-" He swallowed, then continued. "We don't know where she is."

"You're lying. You know where she is." I protested.

"No. I don't, " He replied, shaking his head. "Sophia, Melissa's missing."