Jenalyn: From the Inside (#3) [Complete]

Chapter 38: Tyler

Sunday, 12:19 P.M. PST

I was expecting a text, not for Harper to show up at my house.

“Why can’t you go see Hayden?” she asks as soon as I open the door, her face both concerned and serious. “It looks like you’re sitting at home to me...”

Well, shit.

As I said, I was expecting a text. I was going to make a story up about having to work. Not… this.

“I fucked up, Harper,” the words escape my lips before I can convince myself to lie. 

She rolls her eyes, pushing past me and into my house with a sigh. 

“What did you do, Ty?” she asks when she makes it to my living room. She spins around on her heel to glare at me. “What happened?!”

I’m sure she thinks this is another Harlee situation. I guess she has every right to, but it’s not! I’m not going to be able to explain that to her though. 

“I just... fucked up,” is all I can bring myself to say for a moment. “Alcohol was involved... and I fucked up…”

She’s mad at me. Why wouldn’t she be? The only reason she’s brought herself to accept me and Hayden after Harlee was because I told her things were different.

I told her I could never fathom screwing Hayden over like they all assume I did Harlee, because I love her differently.

“You cheated on her, didn’t you?!” Harper asks, her words dripping with acid as they slap my face. “Was it Sophie, Ty? Really?! Are you aware of what that’s going to fucking do to her?” 

It’s bad when you got Harper cursing.

I didn’t want to have this conversation with her. That’s another reason I couldn’t bring myself to visit Hayden. Harper would have dug into what I’ve done this past week as she drove me to the airport. She’d catch on my lies and find out about all of this anyway. 

She’s Hayden’s Pitbull; I feel like shit for what I’ve done, but Haylie is just going to make it worse. 

I didn’t mean to hurt Hayden, I just wasn’t sure what else to do to stop my hurt! Somehow, I let myself fall back into my old ways. I know what I did!

“I know!” I yell, unable to keep the dozens of emotions that’s been threatening me all day from flooding into my voice. “Sorry, okay?! What else I’m supposed to do?!”

My yelling has Harper speechless, but the anger never leaves her face. She takes a deep breath and shifts her weight to the opposite leg before folding her arms across her chest.

“Why is Gage going to see her?” she asks.

Just thinking about him brings on a whole other wave of emotions I don’t feel like dealing with. 

He’s mad at me. At me!

I get that he’s liked Hayden for a while, and I get that I fucked up! But he didn’t need to fucking take it where he did.

Saying that Hayden deserves better, just because he thinks he wouldn’t have fucked up?! He doesn’t see what she does to me! He’s on the outside!

“Probably to try to steal my girl! I don’t fucking know!” I snap, more as a response when I end up asking myself the same question. 

Harper rolls her eyes.

“Stop being dramatic. That’s not doing anything to help, now is it?” she says, her tone similar to that of a mother scolding their child. 

I say nothing because I have nothing to say. I’m not being dramatic, I’m being realistic. But I don’t even have the energy to try to explain that to her.

“So let’s be productive here, okay?” she blurts, catching onto my lack of response. “What happened, and what do you plan to do from here?”