Chapter 10

Part 1

Looking out my window on a Sunday afternoon, I only now realized just how bored I was. Hockey practice already ended a few hours ago and I’ve already finished all my required homework. Sitting inside my house all day was also becoming pretty boring; I needed to get out of the house. The mall! The mall is where all the teenagers now go hang out when they’re bored. That’s right! Hailee’s birthday’s coming up soon too and I need to get her a present! If I forget about her birthday for the fourth consecutive year, she’ll never forgive big brother.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and text the first person that comes to mind.

Me: Can you reach the mall? Need help picking a present for Hailee.

Xela: Can’t. Doing brother-sister bonding time right now.

Ugh, her brother’s so lucky. Every time I try doing something fun with Hailee. she’s all ‘Ew, get away from me’ and ‘I’m not 6 anymore!!!’

My next option is to ask my hockey team on the group chat we have.

Me: Do any of you wanna help me pick out a gift for my sister at the mall?

Rob: I’ll go if everyone else goes.

Wilson: I told my other friends who also asked me to go with them I was busy fixing up the house as an excuse to sit on my ass all day and do nothing. If they see me there, I’m fucked.

Kyle: The mall? That’s gay.

Nicholas: Sorry, my parents decided out of nowhere they wanted to go ice fishing…

Jonathan: Still got homework, maybe another time.

Rob: Sorry Johnny, looks like nobody else’s going.

Me: It’s fine, I’ll just ask someone else.

Wilson: Why don’t you just go with your girlfriend?

Me: Cuz I don’t have one…

Wilson: What about the girl in the car that night when my dad got drunk?

Me: She’s not my girlfriend. She’s busy right now anyway.

Wilson: Oh. Good luck finding someone else then. Cya later.

Okay, that solved nothing at all. The rest of the team who didn’t reply were probably busy or didn’t want to go either.

Next on the list was Will. I’m doubtful he’s free right now though, as he’s at the gym every chance he gets on the weekends.

Me: You busy right now?

Will: Yeah, I’m at the gym right now.

Me: ofc you are

Will: You need anything?

Me: Nope, don’t worry about it.

Will: Okay…. Oh also, how’d the beach go

Me: We’ll talk about it at school. Continue lifting your weights.

Will: k, I’ll talk to you later then.

Running out of options, I only see one more person left on my list of possibilities.

Me: Hey

Rebekah: Yeah, what’s up?

Me: I need help picking a present for my little sister at the mall? Can you come?

Rebekah: Right now?

Me: Yeah

Rebekah: Yeah sure, I’ll be there in half an hour.

Looks like Rebekah it is! This should be fun!

Part 2

After 10 minutes of getting ready and 20 more minutes of walking there, I made it to the mall just on time. Quickly looking around the entrance, I couldn’t find Rebekah anywhere, so I just figured she was running a bit late and I decided to wait patiently on the bench. After 20 more minutes of sitting around and looking into the sky, I was prepared to take out my phone and call her to find out where she was. As I was about to do so, I hear a familiar voice from behind me.

“Sorry… I’m…. Late….” Rebekah panted.

“Are you okay?” I asked. I tossed her a bottle of water which just conveniently happened to be in my hand at that time. “Here, have some.”

“Thanks,” she said before chugging down the whole bottle.

“I said some, not all,” I said as we were entering the mall.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, completely fine now. “I just started drinking, and before I knew it, the whole bottle was empty. Do you want me to pay you back?”

“No, it’s okay. Keep your money,” I said, a bit angered. “Why again did you come here 20 minutes late and looking like you just finished a marathon?”

“Oh, you know, girls stuff.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, noticing the make-up on her face.

“I got so into it, I lost track of time so I sprinted here as fast as I could. Did you wait long?”

“Nope, I just got here myself,” I lied.

“Ah, good,” she said in a relieved way, “So… what’d you want to talk about?”

“What?”

“You know… why you called me out here today??”

“Didn’t I tell you already?”

“There’s no way you’d ask me to go to the mall with you just to help you pick out a gift for your sister’s birthday. What, do you want to know more about Xela?”

“No, it’s nothing like that! I told you already, I just needed help picking a present for my sister.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only you and me right now. You can tell me anything,” she said in a seductive voice. I think I’m starting to understand what Xela meant by Rebekah’s ‘natural charm factor’ now.

“Fine, you really want to know why I asked you to come?” I said frustratedly. “I wanted to go to the mall with someone to cure my boredom and you happened to be the only one who said yes. Coincidentally, I needed to go anyway to pick out a gift for Hailee. There’s absolutely nothing more to it.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” she said, finally convinced. “But if you do have any questions about her, I’m here to answer.”

“Okay, fine,” I said, still walking in a straight line down the mall.

“Oh yeah! How’d the beach go?”

“It was… fun.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “I thought you guy would hate us after doing that.”

“Nah, we did the same thing to you guys before. I guess it’s only fair. I saw it coming anyway.”

“Did anything happen between you two?”

“If by anything you mean make snowmen and slide down a hill, then yes, anything did happen.”

“Shut up, you know what I mean,” she punched my arm lightly.

“Come on! Can’t a guy and girl who talk to each other frequently be just friends?”

“Yes, but, you’re not treating her like she’s ‘just a friend’. She’s literally slept over at your house already! TWICE!”

“Nope, one of the times she just fell asleep at my house and then her brother came and pick her up.”

“You get the idea. You’re making all these romantic advancements, yet you say you’re not interested? Make up your mind Johnny!”

“I’ve already made up my mind! She’s a good friend of mine, and that’s how I want things to stay with us.”

“Is that really all it is?” she asked. I could tell in her voice she was getting pretty angry now.

“Yep, just friends. She thinks of me as a friend, and I think of her as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“You’d be an idiot to think she only thinks of you as a friend. I don’t fucking understand you! I can tell you like her too, yet you’re pretending not to notice everything that’s going around you and how Xela feels. Stop trying to convince yourself she doesn’t a feel thing for you.”

“A relationship with each other isn’t what Xela and I need right now.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. What, are you too afraid of ruining whatever relationship you have right now?” she started raising her voice as her words became harsher.

“You don’t understand a thing,” I said quietly, looking away.

“I understand everything. I’ve heard enough of you two’s conversations to understand exactly everything that’s going on and how big of a moron you’re being!

“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “You don’t understand what’s going on in my head.”

“That’s right, I don’t have a single fucking clue what you’re thinking! Tell me then so I do understand!”

“You’re the last person I’d want to tell.”

“Why??? Stop running away from something that could be great! Everything would be fixed if you just tell me!”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Stop acting like a child and just tell me!”

“What does that make you then?! An adult?! You’re practically forcing me to start a relationship with someone else against my will. If you ask me, that’s not very adultlike either.”

She paused for a few seconds after I calmly scolded her.

“You’re right. Can you just forget everything I said just now? I guess you could say I wasn’t acting like myself,” she said, now smiling

I swear the exact same thing has happened with Xela before. (Note: Chapter 5)

“It’s fine. Can we just not talk about her or anyone else right now and focus on getting a gift for Hailee?”

“Yeah sure, let’s do that!”

Part 3

The rest of the afternoon flew by extremely quickly, enjoying ourselves as we were looking around from shop to shop to find the perfect gift. In the end, we finally both agreed on getting her a shirt that had the words ‘I Love My Big Brother’ printed on it which we found at a clothing shop. We were both laughing our asses off when we first saw it and knew we just had to get it for her. It was definitely a different experience than hanging out with Xela, but it was nice reliving old memories. We were both getting pretty hungry, so we decided to get a quick bite before we left.

“Today really reminded me of back then,” Rebekah said as she took a bite out of her burger. “Like that time we and the rest of our friends went out here together.”

“Except we never really talked much back then either,” I replied.

“Yeah, you were a shy guy back then too. It was more just you glaring at me, and me pretending not to notice.”

“I had a feeling this whole time you knew…”

“You made it painfully obvious,” she laughed.

“Good times.”

“Yeah, good times.”

We continued eating our food in silence until I finally dropped on her a long-awaited topic I’ve been waiting to talk to her about.

“We’ve never really discussed why you left, have we?”

“Let’s keep it like that.”

“Where’d you run off to all of a sudden?” I asked, completely ignoring her comment.

“Vancouver.”

“Vancouver? Why Vancouver?”

“My dad got a job there, so my whole family had to move. Sorry for not telling you- or anyone back then. I know it must’ve seemed like I completely disappeared.”

“No it’s fine, I’m glad you told me now,” I responded. “So, what made you come back?”

“I figured the big city life just wasn’t for me and I just liked it here better. I moved here by myself after convincing my parents, and luckily found a place for really cheap. My parents are helping me with the expenses along with my part-time job.”

“Yeah, same here with me. My parents are always travelling around the world now, which left me to take care of both Hailee and myself on my own.”

“Well, Is that all you wanted to ask me?”

“One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you… really mean what you said back then, right before you left?” I asked shyly.

FUCK?! Why the fuck did that just come out of my mouth.

“Never mind, you don’t have to ans-” I was about to say before she cut me off.

“Yes.”

I choked on a noodle I was slurping down as she answered my question. “Um, well, that’s all in the past now. I mean, you’re dating Will now.”

“Wait, what?! You knew already Will and I were dating?” she asked in shock.

“The fact that you haven’t said anything about him all day says something. You guys are trying to keep it secret right?”

“Yeah…. But, how’d you know?”

“You were never too hard to read,” I told her.

“You’re not too hard to read yourself.” What she said must’ve reminded her of the talk we had earlier, as she instantly started apologizing again.

“Again, I’m sorry for everything I said earlier. I don’t know why I said what I said.”

“It’s fine, really. I don’t mind.”

“I got a little too frustrated. I just don’t want to see Xela getting hurt,” she said

“No, I completely understand. I’d probably act the same way. I’m the one at fault here, I deserved it.”

“That’s not true. This is nobody’s-”

“No, it’s my fault. You were just doing your role as a friend of hers. Let’s leave it like that,” I interrupted her.

“Fine, if you really want to take the blame, I’m not stopping you,” she laughed lightly.

“Good.”