Torn // H.S.

Chapter 8

The pizza was absolutely delicious just like Sam said. When the check came I offered to pay but he told me no like I knew he would.

"The theater is right around this corner do you want to just walk? It will only take two minutes." Sam asks me as we exit the restaurant. His tone soft like he is afraid to say the wrong thing and his nervousness gives me a strange sense of ease.

"Yeah that is fine with me." I say seeing as it is not that cold tonight and my sweater is keeping me warm.

"Great," he responds as we fall into a matching pace down the sidewalk.

It is just starting to get dark out and there is a wonderful breeze. The kind of breeze that only shows up between fall and winter and winter and spring. The kind that does not chill you to the bone but feels like a breath of fresh air. It is almost the end of February and we are at the tail end of winter here in Georgia and I am so excited for spring.

"I love this weather," I say smiling and taking a deep breathe.

Sam remains quiet walking next to me. I turn to sneak a glance at him but he is already staring at me. He has this soft expression on his face that I cannot read.

"What?" I say laughing at him.

"Nothing, you are just really beautiful." He says quietly.

I blush and look down at the sidewalk smiling to myself. No one has ever said that to me like that before. We walk in silence for a few more seconds and I start to worry he lost his confidence when I did not say anything back. But just as we start to walk up to the theater he grabs my hand and laces his fingers through mine without a word, making me smile like an idiot. We walk through the doors of the theater and make our way towards the ticket counter when I spot familiar brown curls through the crowd and my stomach drops.

"Surprise!" Julie squeals as her and Harry approach us at the register.

My eyes are glued to his. I feel like I want to puke. This cannot be happening. He has a devilish smile plastered on his face like this is some sick game to him. But as soon as he looks down and sees Sam and I fingers laced together his smile turns into a glare that sends a satisfying rush through me.

I pull my gaze from Harry and look up at Sam.

"Did you plan this?" He leans down as I whisper to him so they cannot hear me.

"Definitely not." He says sharing the same stunned looked that I am sure is on my face.

"I asked Sam what he had planned for tonight for you guys and Harry and I thought it would be fun to surprise you and make it a double date!" Julie says and I can tell she genuinely thought this was a good idea. If only she knew how wrong she was.

"Awesome!" I say looking at only her and drag Sam with our fingers still laced to the front of the register.

We all end up getting tickets to some romantic comedy that Julie wanted to see. I spend the entire time at the register staring at the movie times refusing to turn around while I feel Harry's eyes burning into the back of my head. The theater is busier than I expected and we all get stuck on the same row. Sam then me, and then Julie and Harry all in a row. I know somehow that this was Harry's plan all along. That he purposely wanted to ruin my date with Sam for whatever reason and he is succeeding. Maybe he gets some weird satisfaction in pissing me off.

The movie is half way over and I have no idea what is going on because I cannot focus for longer than a minute at a time. Harry has his fingers laced through Julie's resting on her lap and she is leaning into his shoulder. I feel that same ache I did at the club when she snaked her hand into his. I am so distracted I did not even notice when Sam put his hand back in mine again but when I did I had to fight the urge to pull away. My stomach is in a knot, I yet to even touch the popcorn Sam bought. I can't shake the feel of wanting to do nothing other than climb into bed and cry. This night was going even better than I expected till Harry had to ruin it for me. Just when Sam was starting to take my mind off of Harry he has to show up like this with Julie. Just when I thought things could not get any worse I see Julie lean in to whisper something to Harry and then kiss him. It goes from a simple kiss to a full on make out session and I cannot help the tears that are welling up in my eyes threatening to over flow. I know I cannot start cry here for no reason while holding Sams hand.

"Bathroom," I manage to whisper to Sam without looking at him.

I get up rushing past Harry and Julie interrupting their make out session just as the tears start to fall. Luckily Julie does not notice. I am just about to make it but just when I am almost past them, Harry and I lock eyes for just a moment. My blurry eyes must be deceiving me but I swear it looked like he felt guilty or maybe concerned.

I find the bathroom relieved there is a stall open I can hid in incase Julie follows me. The tears fall and I feel like I am hyperventilating as images of her hands in his hair and his lips on hers flow through my mind. I stay in the bathroom for what feels like forever waiting for my breathing to slow and the tears to stop. He is cruel. I know he knows exactly what he is doing. I just want to know why. I check my make up in the mirror, thankful that the dark theater should hid my obvious bloodshot eyes. Knowing I have been gone to long I make my way back to the theater. I go to pull open the door back to our movie when Harry comes out.

"Allie," He says with a look I would say is remorse but I know better.

"Don't." I say glaring at him. I have no idea what he was going to say. Maybe he wanted to laugh at me and how ridiculous I am acting but I don't have the patience. I push past him walking straight into the theater not having the strength to look at him much less the patience to deal with his game anymore.

I sit in silence staring at the screen for the remainder of the movie and I think Sam can feel my shift in mood because he does not try to hold my hand or make a move for the rest of the movie. I couldn't help but Julie tried to grab Harry's hand again when he sat down but he moved it pretending like he did not see her attempt and to my relief she does not try again. I am overly relieved when Harry does not attempt to talk to me again. My hurt at watching Julie and Harry together was replaced with anger after seeing him on my way back from the bathroom. The anger feels better so I let it build so the pain will not come back. When the movie ends Sam and I exit without a word to Julie and Harry.

"That movie was honestly not as bad as I expected." Sam says with a chuckle as we make our way back to the car breaking the silence between us.

"Yeah." Is all I say in return and I automatically feel bad when Sams face falls at my short response but I cannot get myself to hold a conversation at this point.

The car ride back to my apartment is quiet with only a few comments back and forth between us. When we pull up in front of my apartment to my surprise Sam still gets out and opens my door for me even though my attitude is ruining the end of our date and I am being less than not talkative.

"Thank you for a great night. I had a good time," I say when we make it to my front door with as much of a smile as I can form to try and make up for ruining the end of our night.

"You're welcome. I had a good time too." He says with much more of an honest smile than mine.

His eyes meet mine when I look back up and he leans in to kiss me. I instinctively look away and feel like crap for the millionth time tonight when I see the crushed look on his face.

"Sorry. I am just not feeling that well is all." I lie to help soften the blow I am sure his ego just took.

"It's okay, really. Thanks for a great night. Maybe we could do it again sometime," he says with a smile but it doesn't reach his eyes like it has most of the night.

"Yeah," I say with a soft smile and walk into the apartment leaving him on my doorstep.

I close the door behind me and collapse against it letting out a deep breath. I start to feel sad for just a minute but the reminder of how Harry showed up and ruined my great night comes back and the anger starts to well up again. Why did I let him get to me. I wish I knew what I could do to make him feel the way I felt tonight. But I could never be that cruel even to him, even though he deserves it. I keep raking my brain as I head to my room trying to figure out what I did to deserve having him torment me in such a hateful way.