Reference: Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me is mentioned here. I lub this song! And mentions of Twilight, Edward Cullen and Bella Swann, Lucas Till and DAVID ARCHULETA!!!
How does one describe the setting where you're seated on a sofa with two of your new friends, and two girls on the sofa opposite of yours, one who was your best friend?
Awk-ward.
Both Jay and Gabriel fidgeted uncomfortably next to me; Dakota had serenely given her brother a smile with a threateningly quiet, "Jay, Kaitlyn's your guest."
When someone emphasizes their last word like that, you obviously know what's going to happen to you if you happen to defy the order hidden among the sentence. Gabriel had decided to stay as well, instead of heading down to the recording basement because, well, Dakota's smile scared him too. To be honest, I'm quite frightened myself.
Fifteen-year-old girls who look like harmless lambs are not what they always seem to be, let me tell you.
Evie broke the silence first.
"You never said you were moving here," Evie said, her tone clipped and cold. Ouch? She's not as nice as the other Evie. The school nurse, I mean. Ms. Summers. Ms. Summers is way nicer and is not as catty as this Evie is.
I shrugged indifferently. "Well, you never asked. Besides, when I told you my parents were sending me to live with my aunt somewhere, you never replied,"
"I did reply," she sniffed, throwing back some of her hair over her shoulder.
Yeah. Well, your reply wasn't that much of a reply, was it? All the e-mail said was, "Oh. Too bad. You'll miss the awesome Back-to-School BBQ party that Tanya's throwing at the beach!"
Now you tell me, is that or is that not a proper reply when a person who has been your best friend for two years tells you they're moving!?
Exactly my point.
"What are you doing with him anyway?" she asked, directing her eyes towards Jay.
Ah. Jay. Always the centre of attention. Bloody limelight hog.
"We're acquaintances," Jay put in helpfully.
"He dragged me here against my will," I said dryly.
"Who are you, by the way?" Dakota, Jay's sister, asked. "You don't look like you're from around here,"
"I suppose you know my name already, but I'm Kaitlyn Hunter," I replied, smiling a polite smile. Well, I can't be rude to a person in her own house, now can I? Sans Jay, by the way. He's a special case. "The person your delightful and dear brother molested and kidnapped,"
Okay. So I lied about the etiquette. Doesn't everyone do that?
I looked at Evie again. "Why are you here anyway?" I asked, because I really was curious, "It's not summer holidays anymore. They are way long over."
"Asher insisted on coming to look for you, since it's Friday and we have no school tomorrow," she muttered, "And he left me at some nasty little random chain restaurant to look up your address, and that's when I met Dakota, who then brought me here,"
"Asher did?" I echoed, dumbfounded.
Gabriel elbowed me lightly in the ribs. "Kaitlyn!" he whispered into my ear, "Who's Asher?"
Good question. I did say that I had friends and a best friend in Boston, but I guess I forgot to mention something else.
Something like, my other best friend?
Evie, who was the queen of gossip back at our high school, earned her title by being able to hear just about anything and transmitting anything interesting to anyone who passes by. Actually, now that I think about it, I can't believe I was ever BFFs with her. Woe is me, truly.
"Who's Asher?" she gave me a pointed look; her eyes reminded me of my homeroom teacher, "I can't believe you would just bury Asher like that. What kind of sick b-person are you?"
Sick person? I'll bet everything I have that she was gonna say sick bitch. Oops. Pardon my language.
"Says the person who chose a party over someone who was supposed to be her best friend," I muttered, standing up, "Forget it. I'm leaving," I stormed out of the room and mansion.
-
I felt pretty bad later, though. Leaving just like that, unannounced. I did promise the guys that I'd record with them and stuff, but I broke it. I stared at the folder containing lyrics of all the Lightning Devils' songs. Maybe I am a bitch, for being so mean like that. I can't really face Evie now, or Asher for that matter.
"Kaitlyn??"
Speak of the devil. I glanced up and got a shock. A dirty-blond-haired guy with cognac-colored eyes looked at me as if he were seeing an apparition of me. Asher. Memories that I created with him and Evie came flooding back into my mind, a dam that I created whilst packing my things and crying, broken open.
"Asher?"
Asher, as heartbreakingly handsome as always, gazed at me, his jaws wide open. "I can't believe it... I found you! You're alive!"
"Uh, Asher, I moved. Not died,"
Bless my sarcasm to always work, even in the most sombre of situations.
I stood up from the bench I was sitting on, and started walking away. Well, tried to walk away. Asher caught my arm. "Are you avoiding me?" he asked me incredulously, "After all I did coming all the way to this place to look for you?" "I never asked you to," I reasoned with a snide tone, taking a few steps away from Asher. I'm not taking any chances with a very emotional guy.
Asher Greene, a perfect male specimen standing at five foot nine; hair like the sandy dunes and liquid amber eyes. A package of a male model. An All-American Golden Boy with stellar achievements who is every parent's dream child. My… best guy friend.
I know what you all are thinking. What a waste, isn't it?
"Kaitlyn..." Asher had that sad puppy look on his face that never failed to capture the hearts of girls who are into sensitive guys; his brows knitted together and his eyes were large and sorrowful. He stepped closer towards me. Damn it. His arms are reaching out towards me!
I don't like it.
It's kinda creepy, somehow.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, laughing nervously. Not good.
Asher stopped his advances towards me, but he still had his eyes locked into a steady gaze with mine. "I came to bring you back,"
Well, he's as straight-to-the-point as usual.
"Well, you can't," I answered, "Because this is where I'm supposed to live now,"
"But we all miss you..." Yeah. Sure. Sure you do. "Uh-huh...so that explains why I watched you and Evie kiss the day I was supposed to leave?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "Quite strange, considering the fact that, oh, I don't know, you told me that you had fallen for me?"
That caught him there. Asher's eyes grew wider in shock.
"H-how did you-?" he sputtered.
"I was there," I deadpanned, "I dropped by the beach so I could say goodbye since none of you bothered to send me off at the airport, so I decided to say goodbye there. Instead of doing so, what did I see my ex-best friends do but kiss? The both of you broke our promise."
"It wasn't intentionally, I swear. We were drunk," Asher put in; there was a slightly desperate tone to his voice.
"Passionately, might I add?" I said. Even though I feel hurt, it felt kind of good too, to finally let it all out into the open. "Both of you seemed perfectly sober. As far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty sure Tanya is very much against alcoholic drinks since that accident her boyfriend had. So I'm sure there wasn't anything to make you guys drunk and kiss behind my back,"
"But if you just let me explain-!"
"I do not want to hear anything from a big, fat, frickin' liar!" I seethed, silencing Asher with my outburst.
A few quiet minutes crawled by, as he obviously had nothing to say to my rage, and I sighed. I wanted to get out of here. "Please, go home with Evie and don't ever come back," I said softly, and walked away from him, "Do me a favor. Bye."
-
To be honest, I was feeling pretty down after that. I went to another park; this time I made sure there was no one I knew present before I sat on a bench and huddled there, listening to my iPod. Taylor Swift and David Archuleta both helped me with their songs when I first felt the stabs of betrayal and hurt.
'It rains when you're here, it rains when you're gone, and I was there when you said forever and always...'
As I listened to Taylor's voice, I vividly imagined my own life back in Boston. I really should clarify a few things here.
Evie and Asher had been my world; they had been the best friends I ever had. My parents' jobs required a lot of moving around, since they were both writers. They needed to go to places for inspiration and research; all that author-y stuff. So when they finally decided, "Enough! We shall settle down in Boston!", I was mad for joy.
I always referred to Boston as my home. We had never settled down longer in any other place than Boston. Come to think of it, I don't even know where my real hometown is.
Evie had been the first person to talk to me, to tell me where the best places around were. She was the popular one, the one that guys always wanted to ask out. Evie had dismissed the fact that the both of us had been completely different people with two different personalities that didn't match. She had been my best friend.
She was the one who had introduced me to Asher. We hit it off instantly, because of our mutual interest in many things. Asher was always the one who helped me get through the tough times at school, like the time when I had forgotten to study for a test and he helped me cram by giving me quick notes he'd make especially for me, or when the time he had filled in for me when I got sick and was unable to help the cheerleading squad be their mascot.
It just happened - how, I do not know - but I found that I was increasingly attracted to Asher. Who wouldn't, though? He's a frickin' real-life Gary Stu. Then, he had admitted that he had fallen for me, a week before I found out that I was moving. I had been happy, I guess, knowing that my feelings could be reciprocated despite the long distance.
But we had an agreement. The three of us would still be best of friends; nothing in the equilibrium of our friendship was going to change. We would suppress any different kind of feeling for the sake of our friendship.
I suppose I had been played. Made fun of. Ridiculed. Lied to. Seriously, I can't believe I ever actually thought that Asher had been telling the truth, and that Evie had kept her promise, even for a second. I shouldn't have; it was impossible.
Despite knowing that, I was unable to accept the fact that the two people whom I trust the most betrayed me like that. My two best friends. Unconsciously, my eyes started to tear up.
"Kaitlyn?"
I looked up to the familiar voice. Leo. He looked at me with his startling blue eyes; his golden eyebrows furrowed. He looks concerned... I think.
What?? He may be mad at me for ditching them, you know. I know I would. It's rude to ditch without informing people involved in said ditching.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, hastily wiping away my tears, trying to look as casual as possible. I trained my puffy eyes on the folder, hoping that I passed off as nonchalant. Leo took a seat beside me on the bench.
"Well, when I showed up at Jay's place with the other guys, he told me that you left suddenly..." he trailed off, "Why?"
Trying to look like I am not sad: Epic, collosal FAIL.
I shook my head, hugging my knees tightly to my chest. "It's...kinda complicated to explain,"
Leo smiled. "I can do complicated,"
Wow. This is so... Twilight. It's like, I'm Bella, he's Edward, Edward asks Bella about her life, she says it's complicated. Edward can do complicated too, you know? "Are you quoting Edward Cullen?" I asked, a smile itching at the corners of my mouth. It's kind of stupid, yet funny, at the thought of the suave Leo quoting a sparkly vampire off a movie, "That is so lame,"
Leo chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Well, you caught me there," he admitted, "My sister asked me to watch the Twilight saga with her yesterday. She practically had me strapped and chained back into a chair while re-watching the movies five times. It was hell, considering the fact I only got two hours of sleep before I had to get ready for school,"
Ah. That explains why I bumped into him this morning.
"Must've been agony," I commented while making a face, "Watching the same movies over and over again," "You do not want to know what other movies she had me watching the other day," "Try me," I challenged.
"Then you tell me what's up first," he replied.
Well...
"The girl with Dakota is my ex-best friend," I confessed, "And I just met my other ex-best friend not too long ago,"
And then I started blabbing everything.
I know. I can't believe myself either. Pouring my heart out to a guy who's notorious for breaking girls' heart? Something is very wrong with me. But still... it's kind of refreshing.
"Well, Kaitlyn, I must say, if they came looking for you, maybe there's this little thing that's bugging their subconscious," Leo said in a sagely manner, after I was finally done ranting, "Maybe they want you to forgive them? You could have been mistaken about your notions for their actions, and they want to explain it to you,"
"But I just can't..." I said softly, staring at the sky. Clouds swathed the twilight sky; a faint dull ache starting throbbing at the back of my mind. Oh God, this is so scene-off-a-movie-ish.
"I'm pretty damn sure you can," came Leo's reply, "After all, this is the girl that called Asher a 'big fat frickin' liar', we're talking about,"
A bubble of laughter escaped from me; I couldn't help it. It sounded pretty darn silly when I think about it, acting like a kid and calling Asher something like that. How much more classier can I get?
"Well, you have to face them at some point of your life," Leo reasoned, as I faced him again. A smile played at his lips. "Might as well do it now."
"I trusted the both of them so much, but they backstabbed me," I said bitterly, "How would you feel if someone did that to you? Literally? I could demonstrate if you'd like,"
At this point, both of us were looking right into each other's eyes. You know, to make my point come across clearly. It is strictly for that matter and NOT romantic. At. All.
Well... I'm having second thoughts on that one.
As I buried my face into my arms again, Leo reached out, and stroked my head comfortingly. I could feel the temperature within me rise, as I processed the fact that he was touching me and I had not screamed yet.
What is wrong with me?
-----------------------------------------------------
So tell me.How does one describe the setting where you're seated on a sofa with two of your new friends, and two girls on the sofa opposite of yours, one who was your best friend?
Awk-ward.
Both Jay and Gabriel fidgeted uncomfortably next to me; Dakota had serenely given her brother a smile with a threateningly quiet, "Jay, Kaitlyn's your guest."
When someone emphasizes their last word like that, you obviously know what's going to happen to you if you happen to defy the order hidden among the sentence. Gabriel had decided to stay as well, instead of heading down to the recording basement because, well, Dakota's smile scared him too. To be honest, I'm quite frightened myself.
Fifteen-year-old girls who look like harmless lambs are not what they always seem to be, let me tell you.
Evie broke the silence first.
"You never said you were moving here," Evie said, her tone clipped and cold. Ouch? She's not as nice as the other Evie. The school nurse, I mean. Ms. Summers. Ms. Summers is way nicer and is not as catty as this Evie is.
I shrugged indifferently. "Well, you never asked. Besides, when I told you my parents were sending me to live with my aunt somewhere, you never replied,"
"I did reply," she sniffed, throwing back some of her hair over her shoulder.
Yeah. Well, your reply wasn't that much of a reply, was it? All the e-mail said was, "Oh. Too bad. You'll miss the awesome Back-to-School BBQ party that Tanya's throwing at the beach!"
Now you tell me, is that or is that not a proper reply when a person who has been your best friend for two years tells you they're moving!?
Exactly my point.
"What are you doing with him anyway?" she asked, directing her eyes towards Jay.
Ah. Jay. Always the centre of attention. Bloody limelight hog.
"We're acquaintances," Jay put in helpfully.
"He dragged me here against my will," I said dryly.
"Who are you, by the way?" Dakota, Jay's sister, asked. "You don't look like you're from around here,"
"I suppose you know my name already, but I'm Kaitlyn Hunter," I replied, smiling a polite smile. Well, I can't be rude to a person in her own house, now can I? Sans Jay, by the way. He's a special case. "The person your delightful and dear brother molested and kidnapped,"
Okay. So I lied about the etiquette. Doesn't everyone do that?
I looked at Evie again. "Why are you here anyway?" I asked, because I really was curious, "It's not summer holidays anymore. They are way long over."
"Asher insisted on coming to look for you, since it's Friday and we have no school tomorrow," she muttered, "And he left me at some nasty little random chain restaurant to look up your address, and that's when I met Dakota, who then brought me here,"
"Asher did?" I echoed, dumbfounded.
Gabriel elbowed me lightly in the ribs. "Kaitlyn!" he whispered into my ear, "Who's Asher?"
Good question. I did say that I had friends and a best friend in Boston, but I guess I forgot to mention something else.
Something like, my other best friend?
Evie, who was the queen of gossip back at our high school, earned her title by being able to hear just about anything and transmitting anything interesting to anyone who passes by. Actually, now that I think about it, I can't believe I was ever BFFs with her. Woe is me, truly.
"Who's Asher?" she gave me a pointed look; her eyes reminded me of my homeroom teacher, "I can't believe you would just bury Asher like that. What kind of sick b-person are you?"
Sick person? I'll bet everything I have that she was gonna say sick bitch. Oops. Pardon my language.
"Says the person who chose a party over someone who was supposed to be her best friend," I muttered, standing up, "Forget it. I'm leaving," I stormed out of the room and mansion.
-
I felt pretty bad later, though. Leaving just like that, unannounced. I did promise the guys that I'd record with them and stuff, but I broke it. I stared at the folder containing lyrics of all the Lightning Devils' songs. Maybe I am a bitch, for being so mean like that. I can't really face Evie now, or Asher for that matter.
"Kaitlyn??"
Speak of the devil. I glanced up and got a shock. A dirty-blond-haired guy with cognac-colored eyes looked at me as if he were seeing an apparition of me. Asher. Memories that I created with him and Evie came flooding back into my mind, a dam that I created whilst packing my things and crying, broken open.
"Asher?"
Asher, as heartbreakingly handsome as always, gazed at me, his jaws wide open. "I can't believe it... I found you! You're alive!"
"Uh, Asher, I moved. Not died,"
Bless my sarcasm to always work, even in the most sombre of situations.
I stood up from the bench I was sitting on, and started walking away. Well, tried to walk away. Asher caught my arm. "Are you avoiding me?" he asked me incredulously, "After all I did coming all the way to this place to look for you?" "I never asked you to," I reasoned with a snide tone, taking a few steps away from Asher. I'm not taking any chances with a very emotional guy.
Asher Greene, a perfect male specimen standing at five foot nine; hair like the sandy dunes and liquid amber eyes. A package of a male model. An All-American Golden Boy with stellar achievements who is every parent's dream child. My… best guy friend.
I know what you all are thinking. What a waste, isn't it?
"Kaitlyn..." Asher had that sad puppy look on his face that never failed to capture the hearts of girls who are into sensitive guys; his brows knitted together and his eyes were large and sorrowful. He stepped closer towards me. Damn it. His arms are reaching out towards me!
I don't like it.
It's kinda creepy, somehow.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, laughing nervously. Not good.
Asher stopped his advances towards me, but he still had his eyes locked into a steady gaze with mine. "I came to bring you back,"
Well, he's as straight-to-the-point as usual.
"Well, you can't," I answered, "Because this is where I'm supposed to live now,"
"But we all miss you..." Yeah. Sure. Sure you do. "Uh-huh...so that explains why I watched you and Evie kiss the day I was supposed to leave?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, "Quite strange, considering the fact that, oh, I don't know, you told me that you had fallen for me?"
That caught him there. Asher's eyes grew wider in shock.
"H-how did you-?" he sputtered.
"I was there," I deadpanned, "I dropped by the beach so I could say goodbye since none of you bothered to send me off at the airport, so I decided to say goodbye there. Instead of doing so, what did I see my ex-best friends do but kiss? The both of you broke our promise."
"It wasn't intentionally, I swear. We were drunk," Asher put in; there was a slightly desperate tone to his voice.
"Passionately, might I add?" I said. Even though I feel hurt, it felt kind of good too, to finally let it all out into the open. "Both of you seemed perfectly sober. As far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty sure Tanya is very much against alcoholic drinks since that accident her boyfriend had. So I'm sure there wasn't anything to make you guys drunk and kiss behind my back,"
"But if you just let me explain-!"
"I do not want to hear anything from a big, fat, frickin' liar!" I seethed, silencing Asher with my outburst.
A few quiet minutes crawled by, as he obviously had nothing to say to my rage, and I sighed. I wanted to get out of here. "Please, go home with Evie and don't ever come back," I said softly, and walked away from him, "Do me a favor. Bye."
-
To be honest, I was feeling pretty down after that. I went to another park; this time I made sure there was no one I knew present before I sat on a bench and huddled there, listening to my iPod. Taylor Swift and David Archuleta both helped me with their songs when I first felt the stabs of betrayal and hurt.
'It rains when you're here, it rains when you're gone, and I was there when you said forever and always...'
As I listened to Taylor's voice, I vividly imagined my own life back in Boston. I really should clarify a few things here.
Evie and Asher had been my world; they had been the best friends I ever had. My parents' jobs required a lot of moving around, since they were both writers. They needed to go to places for inspiration and research; all that author-y stuff. So when they finally decided, "Enough! We shall settle down in Boston!", I was mad for joy.
I always referred to Boston as my home. We had never settled down longer in any other place than Boston. Come to think of it, I don't even know where my real hometown is.
Evie had been the first person to talk to me, to tell me where the best places around were. She was the popular one, the one that guys always wanted to ask out. Evie had dismissed the fact that the both of us had been completely different people with two different personalities that didn't match. She had been my best friend.
She was the one who had introduced me to Asher. We hit it off instantly, because of our mutual interest in many things. Asher was always the one who helped me get through the tough times at school, like the time when I had forgotten to study for a test and he helped me cram by giving me quick notes he'd make especially for me, or when the time he had filled in for me when I got sick and was unable to help the cheerleading squad be their mascot.
It just happened - how, I do not know - but I found that I was increasingly attracted to Asher. Who wouldn't, though? He's a frickin' real-life Gary Stu. Then, he had admitted that he had fallen for me, a week before I found out that I was moving. I had been happy, I guess, knowing that my feelings could be reciprocated despite the long distance.
But we had an agreement. The three of us would still be best of friends; nothing in the equilibrium of our friendship was going to change. We would suppress any different kind of feeling for the sake of our friendship.
I suppose I had been played. Made fun of. Ridiculed. Lied to. Seriously, I can't believe I ever actually thought that Asher had been telling the truth, and that Evie had kept her promise, even for a second. I shouldn't have; it was impossible.
Despite knowing that, I was unable to accept the fact that the two people whom I trust the most betrayed me like that. My two best friends. Unconsciously, my eyes started to tear up.
"Kaitlyn?"
I looked up to the familiar voice. Leo. He looked at me with his startling blue eyes; his golden eyebrows furrowed. He looks concerned... I think.
What?? He may be mad at me for ditching them, you know. I know I would. It's rude to ditch without informing people involved in said ditching.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, hastily wiping away my tears, trying to look as casual as possible. I trained my puffy eyes on the folder, hoping that I passed off as nonchalant. Leo took a seat beside me on the bench.
"Well, when I showed up at Jay's place with the other guys, he told me that you left suddenly..." he trailed off, "Why?"
Trying to look like I am not sad: Epic, collosal FAIL.
I shook my head, hugging my knees tightly to my chest. "It's...kinda complicated to explain,"
Leo smiled. "I can do complicated,"
Wow. This is so... Twilight. It's like, I'm Bella, he's Edward, Edward asks Bella about her life, she says it's complicated. Edward can do complicated too, you know? "Are you quoting Edward Cullen?" I asked, a smile itching at the corners of my mouth. It's kind of stupid, yet funny, at the thought of the suave Leo quoting a sparkly vampire off a movie, "That is so lame,"
Leo chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Well, you caught me there," he admitted, "My sister asked me to watch the Twilight saga with her yesterday. She practically had me strapped and chained back into a chair while re-watching the movies five times. It was hell, considering the fact I only got two hours of sleep before I had to get ready for school,"
Ah. That explains why I bumped into him this morning.
"Must've been agony," I commented while making a face, "Watching the same movies over and over again," "You do not want to know what other movies she had me watching the other day," "Try me," I challenged.
"Then you tell me what's up first," he replied.
Well...
"The girl with Dakota is my ex-best friend," I confessed, "And I just met my other ex-best friend not too long ago,"
And then I started blabbing everything.
I know. I can't believe myself either. Pouring my heart out to a guy who's notorious for breaking girls' heart? Something is very wrong with me. But still... it's kind of refreshing.
"Well, Kaitlyn, I must say, if they came looking for you, maybe there's this little thing that's bugging their subconscious," Leo said in a sagely manner, after I was finally done ranting, "Maybe they want you to forgive them? You could have been mistaken about your notions for their actions, and they want to explain it to you,"
"But I just can't..." I said softly, staring at the sky. Clouds swathed the twilight sky; a faint dull ache starting throbbing at the back of my mind. Oh God, this is so scene-off-a-movie-ish.
"I'm pretty damn sure you can," came Leo's reply, "After all, this is the girl that called Asher a 'big fat frickin' liar', we're talking about,"
A bubble of laughter escaped from me; I couldn't help it. It sounded pretty darn silly when I think about it, acting like a kid and calling Asher something like that. How much more classier can I get?
"Well, you have to face them at some point of your life," Leo reasoned, as I faced him again. A smile played at his lips. "Might as well do it now."
"I trusted the both of them so much, but they backstabbed me," I said bitterly, "How would you feel if someone did that to you? Literally? I could demonstrate if you'd like,"
At this point, both of us were looking right into each other's eyes. You know, to make my point come across clearly. It is strictly for that matter and NOT romantic. At. All.
Well... I'm having second thoughts on that one.
As I buried my face into my arms again, Leo reached out, and stroked my head comfortingly. I could feel the temperature within me rise, as I processed the fact that he was touching me and I had not screamed yet.
What is wrong with me?
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