I'm Here

Chapter 28: Well?

I was walking over to the usual bench to meet Louis. He usually beats me when we have to meet up, so it was surprising that he actually wasn’t there, yet. I took a seat and soaked in the hot sun. The summer breeze was not beneficial and I felt myself sweating. As I moved my legs on the bench, there was wetness where my legs were. I hated the hot weather most of the time.

I looked around the area to see if he was coming from any direction, but Louis was nowhere in sight. The heat was making me exhausted as the minutes passed. I closed my eyes, giving into the heaviness. I wasn’t going to fall asleep of course! I was in public and sleeping would just be embarrassing.

Occasionally, I’d see groups of people who attended my school walk by. They’d never stop and say ‘hello’, but we gave each other knowing glances and sometimes a wave, even. The town seemed a little extra busy unless that’s how it always was in the summertime. Two o’clock in the afternoon is a ‘happening’ hour, right?

I kept distracting myself with stupid thoughts like this during my wait. Louis was about 20 minutes late. It’s not that 20 minutes was a long time, it’s just that I was an impatient person.

It’s been about three weeks since Jack told me what happened at the after-party. The guilt was eating at me, still. Louis and I have grown even closer the past few weeks, but every time I’m with him, all I think about it what happened. Jack said that this was something we had to forget. I still don’t fully remember it happening at all, but that doesn’t stop the feelings inside me. There was little voice inside my head saying “How could you? Tell him. He deserves to know. You’re a cheater.” I feel attacked but it’s my own fault. I try to turn off my head and just focus on being happy, but I can’t.

I felt someone pounce on my shoulders. I could’ve sworn that my heart stopped beating for a second because it terrified me. I turned around abruptly to see who did it.

I see my reflection in his sunglasses and the brightest smile spread across his face. It was Louis.

“Did I scare you?” He went around and sat down next to me.

“No, I knew it was you.” Not really, but I liked our banter and this definitely starts it.

“Oh did you?” He slid himself over until there was virtually no space between us. He placed his lips centimeters away from my ear. “I think you’re a filthy liar.”

Liar. I immediately tensed up at the sound of the word. It’s not like he knew anything, but I was a filthy liar. All the thoughts came rushing back into my head.

Louis lightly shook my shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

I tried to snap myself out of it. It worked, temporarily. “Yeah, I’m good.” I said, but not fully meaning it. I had to learn to move on.

“Well, just in case if you’re not okay, I have some good news.” Louis started. “I think it’s quite exciting and I think you’ll love it.”

He kept building it up. I hope it was as exciting as he made it to be. “Well, spill it!” I encouraged. Louis just sat there; a smile was building on his face. He seemed a bit nervous, too. “Tell me!” I shook his shoulders. My curiosity was getting the best of me.

“I feel like we’ve reached a point in our relationship where things are really great. I know that we’re getting a bit serious, but we’ve been together a while.” Louis said.

God, I hope he wasn’t proposing. It’s not that I wouldn’t marry Louis, I just felt like it was too soon. I still had college and I didn’t want to be the girl that got married at 18 years old.