Shattered Dreams

Chapter 8

           I step into The Modern after waving goodbye to Eliza and the first thing I notice is that I came here for my 16th birthday with my family. It was not a good day, I wasn't feeling well and on top of that, Mom and Dad let me drink a glass of wine for the first time which obviously a girl at that age was totally up for. The delicious food I had eaten had all come up while we were having dessert, staining the plush brown chairs and my beautiful blue dress. This caused my family to lose their appetite and we all left the restaurant in a bad mood, it was not a good sweet sixteen for me. I really hope this time is better but theres a nagging feeling at the back of my head telling me that it won't be. I take a deep breath and start towards a table at the back where I can see Christen sitting. I slide into the seat across from him with an apology on my lips but then he smiles and I forget what I was supposed to say. His teeth shine under the dim light and seeing his smile brings a smile to my face. I close my eyes and try to collect my thoughts .

          "Thank you for waiting for me!"I exclaim and he immediately shakes his head.

          "It's okay. It was totally worth the wait." My face heats up as he adds, "You look beautiful." If I blushed easily, I would have been beet red. I duck my head in modesty and stammer a 'thank you'. My hairs cascades in front of my face, obscuring half of my face and his finger immediately flicks out to push it behind my ear before he asks with his dazzlling smile,  "So, what would you like to order?" I look down at the menu and flip through it until I find a platter of Alfredo fettucini and order it. Christen and I make small talk as we wait for the food to come. We ask each other the basic stuff, where we're studying right now, what we're studying, favourite colours, and hobbies. 

           "I'm more of an extrovert, I like skiing, canoeing and hiking." He says just as the food comes. We become silent as we start to dig into our food but as I take my first bite, I let out a loud moan resulting in a tiny laugh from him. 

            "God! This is sooo good!" I moan and then take a sip of wine. Christen raises his eyebrows and looks down at my fettucini before looking back up at me. 

             "It's not better than mine." My eyes trail down to his steak and I narrow my eyes. 

             "You can't even compare! You call that dry thing yummy?"I question. Christen fake gasps and places his hand over his mouth. 

               "Dry thing?!? You call this dry? Its so juicy!"  Challenging him, I jab my fork into his steak before putting the huge chunk into my mouth. I have to admit, it pretty good but the noodles were better. I shrug my shoulder and point down at my plate before sending a thumbs up his way. Christen rolls his eyes and changes the topic as we start talking about our favourite movies and shows. I'm glad that everything is going smoothly until I see Jenn's family sitting at a table a few metres away from us. At first I'm glad that they're healing but then I see their glum faces and realize that they aren't. They must have suffered so much while I just barricaded myself. Christen starts talking about a recent event at his school and how he tripped and his tea fell all over his teacher but I start zoning out and I stare at his face as I think of my selfishness. Never did it cross my mind these last few months to go to Jenn's house to offer condolences or even just help them out. My mind goes back to what Hayley and Blake said and I start to feel nauseous as I realize the depths of their words. Tears brim my eyes as I realize that because of my selfishness I've lost the three people that know me best. Through my tears, I see Christens smile drop and instead concern takes over it. 

         "Hey, what's wrong?" He asks. "Did I do something wrong?" I shake my eyes and try to blink my tears back but that just seems to fuel them into coming out even more. From the corner of my eye, I see Jenn's youngest sister looking at me with hurt swimming in her eyes. My stomach starts feeling quesy, I try to take a sip of my wine but it doesn't help, just making it worse and I get up after muttering an apology to Christen before making my way to the door. I step outside and am able to inhale the fresh air once before the door swings open behind me and Christen spins me around to face him. Everything comes up at once, staining his pressed, white shirt as I try to catch my breath. For a second, disgust registers his face as he takes in his shirt. Before I can see another emotion replace his disgust, I spin around and run in any direction I can. I hear footsteps behind me as he calls my name but I continue running without looking back as tears stream down my face. Soon his footsteps cease and I find myself all alone in a park. I stop to catch my breath and take off my heels. Now that I'm all alone, I let myself cry peacefully. My legs buckle and I fall to the ground, I bring my knees to my chest and wrap my hands around them as my whole body racks with tears. I hear footsteps and I turn to see a blurry figure walking towards me. My mind immediaely goes to Christen and I scramble up trying to get away from the figure. I start to run in the opposite direction on the sidewalk until my body collides with someone else. Their arms go around me to stop me from falling and I turn my head around to look for Christen and with my vision starting to clear up, I'm able to see the figure continue walking to the park. My racing heart starts to slow down as I realize that I just mistakened the figure to be Christen but it actually wasn't. I turn my head back around and see the last person I expected to see standing with his arms around me. 

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So what do you think about this chapter? Who do you think this stranger is?