Chapter 14

Part 1

After the incident in the classroom, I decided to leave the two alone so they could sort out things themselves. I still had no idea who that boy was or how he even knew Xela.

The next day, I didn’t get the chance to ask her at school as the one class we have together, as we sit it in complete opposite corners and we both also happened to be busy after school.

I spent the whole night debating on whether I should actually call and ask her about it or not, but curiosity eventually got to the best of me and I picked up my phone to call her at nearly 12 A.M. After only a few seconds, she picked up.

“Hey, why are you calling so late?” she asked.

“Hi, I just wanted to talk.”

“You wanted to ask about him right?"

“Why are you so quick to assume it’s about him?”

“So it’s not?”

“No, it is.”

“Did you really call me at 12 A.M just to ask about him?”

“If you don’t want to share that’s completely fine with me,” I said.

“No it’s fine I don’t really mind,” she said. “Remember a while ago I said there was someone I liked since sixth grade but I was too pussy to do anything about it so you kept annoying me and I yelled at you?”

“Yeah, that was a long time ago.”

“Well, that’s the guy I was talking about.”

“What a shame. I always thought that was me.”

There was a moment of silence followed by that joke and I could tell even over the phone she was blushing.

“Way to make things awkward.”

“It was just a joke.”

“Don’t joke about that stuff, it’s embarrassing.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re weird.”

“I know.”

“Anyway, almost every girl in my class- including me had the biggest crush on him in sixth grade. But then, I transferred schools to the one you and Rebekah went to and in seventh grade and haven’t seen him since. Somehow he found out after I transferred that I liked him.”

“If you haven’t seen him since sixth grade why’d he come running in the class and slamming open the door confessing his love to you?”

“So apparently, word that two of us have been dating hasn’t only spread all over our school, but all over the whole goddamn city too, so when he heard the two of us were dating, he rushed over here as fast as he could saying how he’s sorry he didn’t notice my feelings back in sixth grade and trying to convince me to ‘break up’ with you.”

“How romantic,” I said sarcastically. “So this man-”

“Chad,” she interrupted.

“Chad, runs over to our school, pleading for you to go out with him right when he hears that you might be dating someone else. I wonder, why hasn’t he said anything to you when there weren’t rumours of us going out spreading across the whole city?”

“I don’t know, he probably forgot about me after all these years.”

“Exactly my point. Have you ever heard of a fuckboy?”

“You don’t know him.”

“That’s right, I don’t. Tell me what’s so great about this Chad,” I demanded, getting slightly angered.

“I’ll think of three right now. He’s sweet, he’s kind, and he has a big heart.”

“Sounds like a dick to me.”

“Is that jealousy I sense?” she asked.

“What would I be jealous of?”

“Him stealing me away from you.”

“Why would I be jealous of that? We’re just friends. That’s what we’ve always been.”

“What are you so pissed about then?” she asked.

“Because you’re letting this complete dickhead sweet talk his way through getting you right into his trap and breaking your heart two months after.”

“So you care about my heart getting broken? It doesn’t even seem like you give a shit about how I feel right now.”

“Of course I do! You’re my friend.”

“Who’s the one sweet talking now?”

“What the fuck do you expect me to say?”

“What I expect of you is to not judge Chad before even meeting him.”

“Wake up Xela! He’s probably getting his dick sucked by 10 other girls as well all while trying to hook up with you.. What makes you think you’re so special?”

“Are you calling me ordinary and boring?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that people have other people in their lives that they deem special. You are in no way special to him.”

“How are you so sure about that? What makes you think he’s a fuckboy anyway?” she asked.

“His name is Chad, he works out, and he didn’t even bother talking to you again once- not once before he heard that you were dating someone else so he could swoop you for himself. The signs are right there!”

“You’re misunderstanding the situation.”

“Really? How am I then? Tell me exactly how it is then!”

“I don’t know. All I know is that you’re out of your mind right now.”

“If he does happen to be a pretty decent guy, my bad on my part. I highly doubt it though.”

“You know, I was actually going to reject him and say no. But now, seeing how you’re reacting to all this, I might just give him a chance,” she said.

“Go ahead, see for yourself. After all, it is your lifelong dream to get yourself a boyfriend.”

“Stop making it sound like I’m some kind of desperate slut.”

“You’re kinda acting like one right now!”

“You know what, I’m tired now. We’ll continue this talk later,” she said, sounding half-annoyed.

Shortly after, she hung up the call.

Part 2- The Next Day

The next day, I sat through all my classes not paying attention at all as I was too distracted thinking about Xela and that Chad guy. Before I knew it, the clock hit 3:30 and I wasted my day doing absolutely nothing in school.

My first instinct was to rush out of school as fast as I could and try to get there before Xela. I couldn’t afford to have her avoid me after our little argument last night. There were still too many questions I had to ask her.

As I expected, she exited the school almost right after I did and tried to leave as fast as she could. It was almost as if she was trying to avoid me.

As she was about to pass through the gate, I approached her and stopped her right before passing the gate.

“What’s all the rush for? Are you trying to avoid me?” I asked.

“I’m in a bit of a rush right now.”

“Really? Where do you need to be right now?”

“I’ve gotta….. Do chores! Jeremy’s going to be pretty pissed if I forget again.”

“That can wait.”

“What do you want Johnny?” she asked.

“I want to talk.”

“Can we not right now. It’s not that I’m trying to avoid you, I’m just…. Confused,” she said.

“I get it.”

“If you really do get it, then let me go home and avoid any conversations related to this.”

“Just because I get it doesn’t mean I’m satisfied with leaving things how they are now. I just want to talk for a little while.”

“Should we head to Filip’s then?” she asked.

“I didn’t bring any money with me. Unless you want to pay for me?”

“No I think here is fine,” she said, sitting on a curb not too far away from the school. I also took a seat right next to her.

“Have you given him an answer yet?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“WIll you?”

“Yes.”

“Why haven’t you done it yet then?”

“I told you, I’m confused. I don’t know what to do.”

“You liked this guy right?”

“Yes.”

“Does he seem any different than he did back in sixth grade?”

“Not that I can tell.”

“You want to be in a relationship right?”

“Sure.”

“There’s your answer then.”

“What the fuck? Last night you were saying how I shouldn’t date him and he’s probably fucking 10 other girls as well,” she said. “Now you’re here telling me to say yes to him?”

“I’ve done some thinking. I realized I might’ve been wrong and misjudged the guy. If you really do like him I don’t see a reason to stop you from being with him.”

“I’ve also done some thinking. I don’t know if that’s really the best idea.”

“I don’t see the problem. If you like him and he likes you, then just get together already.”

“It’s more complicated than that. Yes, I’ve liked this guy since sixth grade and fantasized us being together ever since, but something else came up since then.”

“What could this something else be?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you.”

“If you can’t tell me, then there’s nothing else I can say.”

“Are you really sure this is the right choice?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“What’s it gonna do to you? What’s going to happen to us?”

“Why are you so concerned about me. Nothing will change between us. We’ve always been friends, and you getting into a relationship with someone else it won’t change the fact that we’re still friends,” I lied.

I already knew the outcome of Xela and Chad getting together, and I’ll be the first to say things won’t ever be the same.

“Promise you won’t go anywhere?” she asked.

“Yeah.”