Welcome to Serenity

Caught Up In The Moment

Annie's POV:
I once read a quote that said, "Loving someone who doesn't love you back is like hugging a cactus. The tighter you hold on, the more it hurts." I truly understand this quote. Everyday I see Ty I feel like I'm hugging a cactus.

Maybe love is a strong word. 'Like alot' is a better phrase.

Holding onto Ty's forearm to keep my balance, the only thing in my mind is that quote, and the fear I felt when the car crashed

I love that Ty told me "you are ok." not "are you ok?". He's reminding me I'm safe.

"I'm okay." I say, but I don't feel okay. I'm constantly reminded of the crash, the fear and the pain. I just wish it would all go away.

Ty slowly helps me walk down the stairs, then hands me my crutches.

"Why don't we sit down?" Ty asks as he gestures to the living room. We sit down on the couch, his eyes not going off me ever since we left the staircase.

"About the... uh...." Ty says, not knowing quite what to say.

"The almost kiss." He continues.

"I was way out of line. Guess I got a little caught up in the moment, sorry." Ty says.

"You don't have anything to apologise for Ty. Nothing happened." I reassure, as my heart breaks.

"I was more thinking about what could have happened." Ty says.

"I know. But, technically we didn't do anything. Ty, you said it yourself, we were just caught up in the moment." I say trying to clear the air.

I imagine a scenario where Ty tells me he wanted to kiss me, that he likes me and we kiss.

This is not that scenario. He has a girlfriend. A pretty, smart, popular girlfriend. And I'm not her.

"Ok. Good we cleared the air. Should we watch a movie or something?" Ty asks as he reaches for the TV remote.

"Sure." I say as he turns on the TV. We end up watching some movie on Netflix, but I don't think either of us really cared that much about it.

Eventually Aunt Maddie comes back and says she will drive me home. When she asks me in the car about what happened I tell her after Katie went to bed me and Ty watched a movie.

When I got home I collapsed on my bed, thinking about the almost kiss and my evening at Ty's house.

I fall asleep, thinking about how the boy I like will never be mine.

* * *

This nightmare is different. Cece is standing in front of me. We are surrounded by dead white roses.

"Annie, god! You look awful! How much have you eaten? You look so fat!" Cece yells as tears start falling down my eyes.

Cece comes up really close to me and whispers in my ear. "You thought Ty likes you? Ha! Look at you! Then look at me. It's obvious who any guy would choose."

Cece grabs a knife from her pocket and stabs me in the heart, pulling my heart out of my chest. I scream and cry in pain.

I spot Ty in the distance. I yell for him to come help me, but he stays where he is. I look harder and notice an evil grin on his perfect face.

He finally starts walking over, but his eyes are only on Cece. Ty grab my heart off the knife and crushes in his had. He then grabs Cece by the waist and kisses her.

Then they walk hand-in-hand off into the distance, leaving me sobbing in pain surrounded by a pool of blood.

I wake up sweating and crying. It looked so real.

I sit up, grabbing my phone on my bedside table. I open Instagram and go onto Cece's profile. Her most recent photo is her in a tight white crop top and black leggings. She's so much more skinny than me. And so much prettier than I am. And Ty likes her way more than he likes me.

I get dressed into a denim pinafore dress and a pastel purple t-shirt with pastel blue and yellow stripes, because I think it makes me look skinnier.

I skip breakfast, I'm not that hungry anyway. Mum drops me off at school, too busy on the phone with some chef in Charleston, to notice I didn't eat breakfast.

When I get to my locker I spot Ty and Cece at Ty's locker, her arms around his waist, as he leans in and kisses her.

I quickly close my locker and walk out the nearest exit. Trying to catch my breath, I wipe my tears away.

"Annie Sullivan? Are you okay?" Coach Cal's wary voice calls out from the doorway.

"I'm fine." I say wiping the rest of my tears away.

"Okay. Do you want to talk about something? Cause if your stressed about homework, I can talk to-" Coach Cal says as I interrupt.

"No. It's not about the school work." I say, feeling a bit embarrassed being caught crying.

"A boy." Coach says.

"What?" I ask.

"This is about a boy. Or girl?" Coach Cal asks.

"A boy." I say.

"Okay. Well, if he's hurting you in anyway you can talk to the principal." He says.

"No. He's never hurt me. At least not physically. Can I ask, does it ever stop hurting? Seeing someone you like with someone else." I ask, something I'd never ask a teacher normally.

"Ohh, this is what this is about. Maybe. It depends. There is this great quote 'When you care about someone more than they deserve, you get hurt more than you deserve.' Listen to me, he's an idiot for not seeing how awesome you are." Coach Cal says, trying to make me feel better.

"Thanks." I say.

"No problem. Now, get to class." Coach Cal says opening the door for me.

I slip back into class before the teacher notices, which seems pretty weird considering how much noise my crutches make.

The rest of the day I think about that quote Coach Cal told me 'When you care about someone more than they deserve, you get hurt more than you deserve.'

After school while I'm putting my stuff away in my locker I notice a text from Mum telling me that Aunt Maddie will pick me and Ty up after Ty's baseball practise.

Great, this won't be awkward.

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Hi, hope you've had a nice day! As always theories are welcome and suggestions are very much appreciated. (I could use all the help I can get! And I want to make sure this story stays interesting to you.)

Bye! I'll try update as regularly as possible! Have a great day.