The Ride of a Lifetime

21. Gold

People often become frustrated at those unable to make a decision. I mean, just get off the damn fence- choose a side to jump down on, am I right?

But who knows? Maybe the person sitting on that rotten wood is being completely torn apart by said piece of wood.

Limbs ripping, heart stretching, mind whirling.

Dramatic? Possibly.

It is a frickin log of a tree after all.

"Luna?"

I whipped around from Jayden and I's conversation to find Lachlan jogging towards us. 

"Lachlan!" Confused as to whether I should be weary or delighted to see him, I watched wordlessly. He stops in front of me, panting and smiling goofily.

"Hey, good to see you again." He rubs the back of his head, glancing between me and Jayden.

"Have you healed well the past few days?" His nose had a slight tilt but it seemed to further compliment his soft features. The bruises on his lips had faded into light spots.

"Yeh, I'm fine." He grins. "Let me buy you lunch?"

Um.

I give Jayden a look which was met by a shrug. Helpful.

I look back at Lachlan who plastered a puppy face full of hope. "Okay. Come with us, Jayden?"

She accepts my offer, and I'm relieved. As much as Lachlan and I are good friends, the events of Saturday night was still slightly fresh between us, at least for me.

"I've always loved the enchiladas, now they've done something to it and it all tastes so artificial." He says.

I laugh, pointing to a spinach roll as the canteen lady grabs it silently. By the way her scowl etched so deep into her forehead, I'd say she was plotting some kind of mass murder against all the teenagers in the school.

Lachlan pays as promised and we find a table somewhere in the corner of the hall. Jayden couldn't seem to stop giving me suggestive quirks of her brow.

I felt my stomach twist.

"If i'm going to be honest here, it's kind of hard to talk to you now that... everything has happened." I blurt, not wanting to feel guilty and awkward.

He regards me with a little surprise, but no accusation was evident. He takes a bit of his wrap and then shakes his head. "None of it was your fault. If anyone was to blame, it'd be Javis."

The pure bitterness when he mentions Javis' name takes me back a little. Even Jayden seems to halt the spoonful of her rice.

"I- well." I felt the same sense of defensiveness. But how could I defend Javis when the result of his actions was sitting right in front of me? "He did apologise, didn't he?"

Lachlan scoffs and everything seems to slow in motion.

I had told Javis we shouldn't be seeing each other anymore. It was as final as I could muster. The contortion of his face almost sent me taking those words back but the image of my father on that white, pale bed just wants to fucking haunt me.

I've visited and stayed with him the entire evenings after school as if to compensate for my foolishness.

The forgiveness I've received from mother and Max lightens the load ever so slightly.

"Apologsied? If you mean apologising in terms of threatening with violence, then yeh, he apologised."

The bite of food almost falls from my mouth.