Friends are just known enemies

Chapter 7

I wake up, hugging my pillow and jump up. I’m late! It’s Saturday… I remember, sinking back onto the mattress and closing my eyes. I hear plates clicking from downstairs, but I just roll over, I’m not ready to get up yet. Suddenly, my phone buzzes. Well, that’s a first considering I don’t have any friends who would text me. I groan while trying to reach my phone on the nightstand and eventually I succeed.

Lz? Strange way to write it but anyway…it’s Kyle : )

He actually texted me. I gotta say I’m surprised. Really surprised. Before thinking about it, I already type and send a reply. It’s actually really silly to write my name like that but I don’t care.

Guess you never heard of Halestorm then…

Of course he didn’t know the bands I liked. Nobody ever did, Alex excluded. He didn’t reply and the second I put my phone away to go back to sleep, it starts buzzing like crazy. Someone is calling me. I sigh, sitting up in bed and stretching before I take the call.

“Hello?” I answer, my voice still croaky. “It’s Kyle” I can practically hear his smile through the line. I get up and put on an oversized sweater, grab my cigarettes and climb out of the window. “What’s up?” He asks and I sit down on the roof. “Just got up. You?” I light the cigarette and take a deep breath. Better.

“Are you smoking?” He exclaims, sounding shocked and I just laugh. “You know that causes can-“ “Cancer and blablabla I know. But you see” I interrupt and breathe out the smoke, “we all die sooner or later, no matter what we do” He falls silent for a while and then replies, in just a whisper: “Your dad…yesterday-“ “None of your concern” I cut him off harshly and throw away the cigarette.

“He hit you” He insists and I sigh. “We don’t all live in a happy family. But still, it’s none of your business” I hang up and climb back into my room.  I might be a bitch but…well there’s not really a good side to it, now that I think about it. But I don’t care. My phone buzzes again.

Sorry for bringing it up…Are you working tomorrow?

I sigh, shaking my head. Some people just never give up. But somehow, I get this warm feeling in my chest, when I think about him…No! I’m not gonna let this happen. It’s hopeless and pointless, I’ll only get my heart broken. Life isn’t a movie, especially not mine.

Suddenly a thought crosses my mind. Naomi, the girl who works in the coffee shop on the days I don’t work, told me she never saw Kyle. He only went there on the days I work. It could be a coincidence, but what if...god I can’t even say it. What if he goes there because of me? No, that’s not possible, he wouldn’t. Nobody would. I try to shake the tingling, exciting feeling off me.

Yes

He replies immediately, sounding as enthusiastic as ever. Something that can’t really be said about me.

I’ll see you then :)

Kyle’s P.O.V

It’s Sunday morning and I’m pacing back and forth, waiting for the coffee shop to open. I’m so pathetic, spending my time chasing after some girl I don’t even know and who probably doesn’t even like me. But something about her just makes me want to get close to her, like she’s a magnet that’s pulling me towards her. I still can’t believe what happened when I dropped her off at her house on Friday.

She always seemed so calm and even though she had this aura of sadness around her, she never really showed any emotion. But that night, when her dad was yelling at her and hit her, all I saw in her face was pure fear. I wonder why he did that and if he treated her like that every day. Maybe that’s what makes her so sad.

When he hit her, I was so close to getting out of the car and taking her home with me, I couldn’t believe it myself. I wanted to protect her so badly, she seemed so fragile in that moment and I still can’t understand why anyone would want to hurt her, especially her own father. I hear the door being unlocked behind me and I turned around, finding Liz standing in the door frame.

“Hi” I smile widely and she replies with the ghost of a smile, but I guess that’s better than nothing. She gestures for me to come in and walks behind the counter, not even bothering to ask for my order. A few minutes later she puts down a cup of coffee in front of me and I hand her the money. It’s almost like a routine, we did this so many times. I walk over to my usual table and sit down, but before I can start reading, Liz takes the seat in front of me.

“There’s no one here so…” She trails off, as though she doesn’t know what to say, and scratches her neck. “Sorry about the other day. I-I didn’t want you to see that” She finally mumbles after a long silence. She avoids my eyes and keeps staring at her hands. “You shouldn’t be worried about me, you should be worried about yourself, I mean-“

She cuts me off by sighing deeply and then she looks at me, her blue eyes dull with sadness and hopelessness. “There’s nothing I can do. It’s okay, don’t worry” She shrugs and waves her hand dismissively, her tone sounding like she has already given up.

“But-“ I try to protest, but she interrupts again. “Please” It’s barely a whisper and I’m surprised I even heard her, but her eyes are full of desperation and silently pleading with me to let it slide, so I do and nod. “How, how was your weekend so far?” She asks, her voice slightly shaky. “Good, thanks. I went to see a movie with my dad yesterday, so that was fun” I say and then realise that maybe bringing up fathers or parents in general isn’t such a great idea.

“Talking to you made it a lot better” I don’t even realise I said that until she stares at me, almost in shock and I begin to stutter nervously. “I-I didn’t, I mean, uh I” I’m cut off by her laughter and relax slightly. “It’s okay, really” She smiles warmly, one of the first real smiles I’ve gotten from her today. It makes me happy, knowing that I can make her laugh and smile.

“Liz! I don’t pay you to sit around and talk!” Her boss shouts from the counter and she gets up, sighing. “You should probably go, before my boss throws you out. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow” She grins and at me and chuckles, walking away, leaving me smiling to myself like an idiot.

~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone!
First of all, I just want to apologise for not updating in months. I just didn't have any inspiration for this story (and most of my other stories) and I don't really know where this is headed, so future updates will probably be slow (sorry about that as well). This chapter is pretty short, but I guess it's better than nothing :) I want to thank @1ar3ina for commenting on this story, it kind of reminded me that it exists and inspired me to pick up writing again. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for improvements or anything, please tell me!
Thanks everyone for reading, you're all amazing
Jess xx