One and Only

Chapter Six - Tears

My ears felt as though they were on fire. Sweat burst from my hands and I stared, wide-eyed at Lottie. Her eyes welled up with tears and she covered her mouth with her hands, not looking at either me or Blake. And then she ran from the room, sobbing.

I jumped up to chase after her, but Blake seized my hand. I whirled on him. "Let me go!" 

He grabbed my other hand too. "Just leave her alone. Stay here with me." 

"I'm never sitting alone in a room with you again!" I screamed at him, and rushed down the hall. Everything was happening so fast. My thoughts were a whirlwind inside my head. Dizzily I followed the sound of sobs. Lottie was in the bathroom with the door locked, howling and wailing. She and Blake had been together as a couple for years. Everyone thought they would get married. Now I was the reason that would probably never happen.

Not knowing what to say, I stood outside the door silently. Blake pushed past me, suddenly angry, and hammered his fist against the door.

"Lottie! Let me in, I'm sorry!" 

"Tell that dog to go away!" Was Lottie's reply. My heart felt like it was breaking. How could I have done this? Lottie was the nicest person at school, and I betrayed her! She had taken me under her wing, and how did I thank her? 

You kissed her boyfriend.

I sunk to the floor and sat there with my face in my hands, but Blake nudged me with his foot.

"You heard her. Leave!"

I stared up at him. The boy who had kissed me just seconds earlier was now yelling at me to leave. Slowly, I got to my feet.

"Lottie, I'm so sorry. It was stupid little mistake." Blake mumbled at the bathroom door.

Before I could leave, it swung open and Lottie stood there, red faced and furiously hurt. She stared at me with her puffy, red eyes. Her mascara was everywhere. She looked like she was ready for Halloween.

"I hate you!" She screeched at me, and then pushed Blake away from her. "Don't talk to me, Blake! Both of you get out!" 

Obediently, I scooped up my bag and left, feeling as rotten as I'd ever felt before. What a horrible, bad person I was. How could I have stooped that low?

Blake didn't run down the street after me like he would have in a soap opera. He didn't tell me he was sorry, and he didn't blame me either. He ignored me, walking home in the opposite direction. And suddenly, I was the scum of the earth. Two hundred years ago I would have been a ruined girl - no hope of marriage or even respect. I would have been sent to some rural farm to work and never heard of or seen again.

Well, I was ruined. For a little while.

I caught the bus home and went straight to my room, but didn't cry. I was too angry, too exhausted, too confused to cry. The house was empty except for mum, who sat at the computer checking her emails or something. When I eventually emerged to get a drink of water from the kitchen, she asked me where I'd been.

And I had to tell her. After all the terrible mistakes I'd made, I couldn't deceive my mum. Even though she would probably throw me out of the house. 

I sat on the arm of the couch closest to the computer desk, feeling rotten to the core. With a sigh, I said, "I did something really bad today." 

I had half her attention. "Oh yes? What was that?"

"It was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made. And you will be really angry and surprised."

Mum laughed. "What did you do? Kiss a boy?"

I stopped. "Yes."

She turned to look at me. "Oh. I see."

That wasn't all of it. "But... he has a girlfriend."

A flicker of disappointment flashed in her eyes, but she wasn't angry. "Right. Did you know he had a girlfriend when you kissed him?"

"Yes. It was Lottie. She is really nice to me, and treats me like I'm her best friend or something."

"And you kissed her boyfriend?"

I hung my head, wanting more than ever to go back in time and choose something good - to make the better choice. The right choice. "Yeah, I did."

She stood up and went to stand in front of me. "I think you understand how wrong that is."

I nodded, and she went on, "I would never do something like that. I didn't kiss a boy until I was 17, and he was my boyfriend."

Rolling my eyes, I stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, go on and tell me how bad a person I am and how you are just so perfect and never stepped out of line."

"Don't speak to me like that."

"Go on and tell me! I'm used to it!"

"DO NOT speak to me like that, young lady!" She boomed. "You have just done something very silly, and I am trying to work out how to discipline you."

Little did she know how much punishment awaited me at school the following week. But still, she was doing her best.

I drank my water and sat at the dining table, staring at the floor. She went back to the computer and sighed.

"I think you should call Lottie and apologize."

This filled me with dread, but for once I agreed with my conscience. I would call her on Sunday - giving her a few days for it to sink in. By then, I thought, she would have broken up with Blake, dried her tears, and started healing. Maybe even on the road to forgiving me. Then Blake would realized how wrong he'd been in kissing me, Lottie and I would be friends again.

Or so I thought.