The Boy In The Bow Tie (edited)

11. Wicked Witch

We had three weeks left together. I remembered how I felt when we thought we only had six days left together, and the feeling made me sick. Connor had become my home, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him. Him and his stupid toothpaste-stained bow tie.

Connor's parents went to a spa retreat for the weekend, leaving he and Haley alone in their big house. Connor decided to throw a party. Haley invited some of her college friends, and Connor had invited numerous people whom I didn't know.

The party began at dusk and went early into the next morning.

At some point during the night I had lost Connor, and ran into Brooks.

"Oh- uh hey," I said, almost spilling my beer on him.

"Hey," he replied, awkwardly touching his hair. It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

"I'm really sorry for forcing myself on you," I blurted out quickly.

"Oh, it's not a big deal," he replied, waving it away.

"No it is. I'm really embarrassed. It was gross and pathetic," I said.

"Charlie, don't worry about it. I get it, you were having a rough night, and my buddy Jack Daniels didn't help," he said, making a joke. I laughed and was glad that he had forgiven me and that things could somewhat go back to normal. He saw some friends and said goodbye to me.

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do, or who to talk to. I looked around the room at all the unknown faces, and saw a tall, blonde girl about my age staring at me. I stared back, and she began to walk towards me.

"Hi...Can I help you?" I asked as politely as possible.

"Yeah. Are you Charlie?" She responded, hands on hips.

"Yeah, why?" I asked. Before I got an answer, she knocked my cup out of my hands, and the frothy liquid poured down my shirt.

"What the hell?!" I shouted.

"You little slut. Sleeping with my boyfriend a week after we broke up!" She exclaimed. Everyone was looking at us now.

"Caroline?" Connor said, slowly approaching us and making his way through the crowd of people. Caroline?! I thought to myself.

"Oh. You." She glared.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, clearly confused.

"I wanted to see who my replacement was," she said, "I knew I would have nothing to worry about," she insulted with a chuckle. I stood there, bewildered. What the hell was happening?

"You need to leave," Brooks interrupted, standing next to Connor.

"Oh Brooks. Always thinking you know what's best for Connor, huh?" She questioned, eyes narrowed.

"I'm not kidding Caroline, leave." Brooks replied, as if he had done this a million times before. A crowd had gathered around us.

"No. Don't leave yet," I said. Connor and Brooks and everyone else stared at me as if I was crazy.

"How did you even know who I was?" I asked her, stepping closer.

"I saw Con's little instagram post from last week. How frickin' cute," she rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah, it was pretty frickin' cute," I said, mocking her, "I am pretty frickin' cute, aren't I?" I asked.

"Who even are you?" She asked.

"Clearly, you already know the answer."

"You. Little. Skank." She was towering over me.

"Caroline! Get the fuck away from her," Connor said, stepping in. Ah, my knight in shining armor.

"Wow Connor, it seems like you finally grew a pair, huh? Remember when we were dating and you couldn't even get up the nerve to ask me to junior prom?" I laughed at her remark. She looked past Connor and glared at me.

"Leave." He said. Caroline stomped her left foot and stormed out of the room. After she exited the front door, everyone began to clap.

"What was that about?" I asked, after everything had calmed down.

"I don't know. She's always been kind of crazy, but I've never seen her act that psychotic before," he replied, sitting me down on his lap. He rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand in slow circles, stimulating every nerve in my body.

"You were afraid to ask your girlfriend of four years to prom?" I asked.

"Yeah, but only because she told me that if I wasn't creative enough, she'd say no and dump me," I laughed at that.

"You never told me how you broke up," I said, hoping that it wasn't a sensitive subject. He sighed, reluctant.

"Okay. Brooks had always hated her, and he even called her the 'Wicked Witch of The East Coast," Connor laughed and continued telling his story, "and he had found out that she had been screwing this college guy and I confronted her about it, and she denied it. I would bring it up, and she'd go ballistic on me. she'd say things like, 'omg Connor, I can't believe you believe Brooks, he's such a tool', and things like 'Connor, if you bring it up one more time, I'm going to break up with you', and sometimes she'd say 'you're so sensitive, i can't believe we're still together'." He started to explain, "Brooks knew the guy through a mutual friend, so I had him ask the guy, and he said that he had been fooling around with Caroline, and I told her that I knew she was doing it, and she broke up with me."

"Why did you stay with her for so long? She seems awful," I commented, being completely honest.

"I don't know. When we started dating, we were thirteen years old, and awkward, and I really did like her, she was sweet, and funny, and we fell in love, if that was even possible in eighth and ninth grade, but in tenth, she changed. She began to hangout with new people, and going to college parties. I couldn't remember life without her, and I was afraid of what would happen if I broke up with her."

"I get it. Kinda- not really, but I understand."

"So yeah, I guess her college boyfriend broke up with her, and now she's alone and afraid. And jealous of our golden relationship," he said.

"Who wouldn't be?" I questioned and kissed him.