I walked into the café and went to the table that held all the extra silverware. It was weird being back here, not only at this café where me and Em had spent countless hours doing homework, but also back in Cali in general. I hadn’t been gone long but it still seemed like an eternity after all I had gone through over these past months. I felt like a completely different person.
“Haven?” I spun around at the sound of my name. The voice was all too familiar. I looked at him. He was exactly as I remembered him. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a strong build. He was definitely the all-American-boy type. I noticed small changes though. His eyes were harder and his hair was a little greasy looking. He had taken the break-up pretty hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hated me.
“Hey Matt.” I tried to put some excitement into my voice, but it still came out sounding dull. I hadn’t thought about Matt for a long time, ever since that first phone call with Em. What had she said about him? Oh right, she had mentioned something Matt dating her little sister. Sure enough, I spotted Kristi sitting alone at a table corner. Thankfully she hadn’t seen Matt talking to me. She looked older than the last time I saw her, even though she was three years younger than me or Matt. She still had the same blonde hair that hung to her chin and eyebrows that didn’t match. Yeah she was Emily’s step-sister, but neither of us really liked her. For good reason. I saw Matt looking over me too, but I didn’t like the way his gaze felt on me. Matt seemed to have turned into a slime ball. But hey, what can you expect from a guy dating a fourteen year old.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“New York actually, I transferred to a prep school out there.” I didn’t elaborate.
“New York, wow. I’ve really missed you. Things have been boring with you gone.”
“Not too boring, I bet. I heard you were dating Kristi. Congrats.” I tried not to make the sarcasm too evident in my voice.
“Thanks, I guess. She’s really nothing compared to you though.” I hoped my disgust at that didn’t show on my face. Sleazebag indeed. I mean, she was sitting in the same room. As much as I didn’t like Kristi, I felt bad for the girl. Matt was still obviously hung up on me. Damn.
“Listen, I’ve been thinking about why we broke up, and I really can’t figure it out. We were so good together Haven. Why can’t we put the past behind us?” He said it like it had been both of our decision to end things. I think he was in denial that I dumped him.
“Matt there was a reason that I broke up with you. It’s better this way. And we only went out for like six months. You will find someone that’s better for you than I am. We just weren’t meant to be.” Why did this speech seem so familiar? Oh, that’s right, I had said the exact same things when I had left him. Why couldn’t he get it through his head?
“What do you mean there was a reason you broke up with me?” He said angrily. I sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain it to him.
“Matt, things were just getting too intense for me. You were way more committed to the relationship that I was. I couldn’t handle all the calls and the text messages. Remember when I fell asleep and when I woke up I had seven texts from you freaking out about where I was? Or when you told me I couldn’t hang out with my guy friends anymore because you didn’t trust them? I can’t handle that kind of stuff.” I said, and he grew even angrier.
“I did that stuff because I cared about you. I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?!” I exclaimed. “The only thing you were protecting me from was living my life Matt!” I couldn’t believe I had been home one day and I was already arguing with an ex. My only ex, really.
“Don’t talk to me like that.” His voice was low and dangerous. It sent chills down my spine.
“I’m sorry.” I said, calming my voice and hopefully calming him too. “I’m sorry that things had to turn out this way. But…” Before I could finish he interrupted me.
“But what, Haven? You broke my heart. You have no idea what you did to me. You’re disgusting. One minute you claimed that you loved me and then you just broke up with me? I can’t believe you. There was someone else wasn’t there? I can’t believe you would be such a whore.” Trying to calm him down had definitely not worked. He raised his hand behind his head, and I flinched even before it could come down on me.
I waited for the impact, but when nothing happened, I finally opened my eyes. A look of utter shock and terror covered Matt’s face. His hand was still raised behind his head, but only now a strong pale hand gripped it tightly. Aaron stood behind him, and I had never seen him look so outraged. I was surprised that he had been able to contain himself enough to not break Matt’s arm. I knew it would be as easy as snapping a twig for him.
Aaron spun Matt around to face him, and this time he grabbed Matt by the neck, shoving him up against the wall. By this time they held everyone’s attention, but no one dared to intervene.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to hit a girl?” I would have laughed at the cliché, but Aaron’s voice was so low and dangerous I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but stare wide-eyed. Just like everyone else in the room. Matt tried to nod, but didn’t have much luck with Aaron’s hand restricting his neck.
“Good. Then you would be wise to listen.” Aaron squeezed his hand tighter. “If I ever see you even look at Haven again I will hunt you down, and I will personally break every single bone in your body.” Aaron dropped Matt, and I realized that not only had Aaron been holding him against the wall, he had also been holding him above the ground. Matt’s face was bright red, and he looked more scared than I had ever seen anyone.
“Come on, Haven.” Aaron said, putting his arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the café. I couldn’t do anything but just follow him, awestruck. We met up with the other boys and Emily back outside. By the looks on their faces, I could tell they had seen everything through the window. Emily touched my arm reassuringly, and then we all followed her to her Range Rover.
