“Why didn’t you want to be a lawyer, if you don’t mind me asking?” She smiles,
“No its fine, my whole life my father pushed me about Law School. My dad always told me that is what I was going to do. I never had any choices of my own. At first, I wanted to be what he said, but as time went on, I realised that, it is my life and I do not want to spend it doing something that I would not love. When I did not apply to Columbia, my dad would not speak to me for over a month. It was horrendous, he hated my choice and for a brief time I think that he hated me.” Summer’s words are sad. I can see that she is in pain from her surgery, but I feel that the pain she has over her schooling is much more severe.
“I am sure that’s not true. Your father most likely, just wanted the best for you.” I say sympathetically. I gaze over at her and she looks distressed. I look to my mom as she talks rapidly on her new white iPhone. She seems oblivious to the fact that Summer and I are even here. I shake my head briefly at her and turn back around to Summer.
“Yeah, he still is not happy about my decision; however I feel that he has kind of accepted it now. There is no way we could afford a college like Columbia anyway, my dad was about to get into debt and I hated that. Which college do you attend?” I feel very uneasy about my answer. I cannot lie to the girl, but at the same time, I hate to tell her the truth. It seems as if there was a lot of tension between her father and her, over Columbia. I look around awkwardly searching for an answer. I gaze at her hoping that she will forget the question she just asked. However, she does not, I see her lips move and her words chime out.
“Do you attend college in the city?” She says looking irritated that she had to ask again. I exhale and look over to my mom. She is obviously not listening to our conversation. If she were, she would have jumped in by now, shouting from the rooftops how proud she was of me for to be attending Columbia. I stare at the flame haired girl,
“I go to Columbia.” I say feeling guilty, I wonder if money was the main issue in Summer’s decision not to apply.
“Cool, I hear it is a great school, it was just not for me.” She says very upbeat. I smile at the girl but I do not say anything. I do not want to share my views with her on Columbia. Hearing her story makes it impossible for me to share. We sit in silence until Summer breaks it.
“Hey, my stop is around here.”
“Okay, “I say. I reach over to my mom who is now talking excessively on her phone. I gently touch her on the knee and she puts her call on hold.
“Yes dear?”
“We are near Summer’s house, tell the driver.” I say to her. She glances to the driver and tells him to pull over. The car comes to a stop and I reach for the door. I step out and summer follows. I look around to see where she lives.
“Which building is it?” I say.
“That one,”
“She points to a tall dark grey building, that’s looks old. The front stoop is rundown and there are a few broken windows in the hallway. Summer glances around, she looks embarrassed and I feel again guilty. I lift her backpack from the ground and hand it to her. She smiles and looks happy.
“Is your father home?”
“No, he works until eight tonight.”
“Are you okay alone?” I ask.
“Oh yeah, fine,” She says quickly. Something in her voice leads me to believe that she is not fine. I run my finger along my lower lip and I gaze at the red haired girl. I cannot assume that she is lying and I have to believe what she is saying.
“Okay, if you are sure?”
“Yes, I am sure. Thanks again Alanna.”
“That’s okay, it was nice meeting you.”
“And you.” I enter the car once again, and I feel that I have helped this girl in some way.
“Alanna, have you decided where you are going to stay?” My mom asks me as she finally ends her long telephone call.
“Yes, I am going to Columbia.” She looks confused.
“I don’t think that is wise, you must rest, and I don’t feel you would get much of that in college.” I frown at her,
“I am going back to college, I have already missed so much already, and I cannot afford to miss anymore.”
“But Alanna, that is too much too soon, really darling come back home with me.,” I shake my head.
“No, my mind is made up. I need to focus all my energy on college.”
“Alanna, I know what this is all about, Adrian. You miss him and you feel that you need to focus on other things to occupy you.”
“Mom, please stop telling me what I feel. You don’t understand, and not everything is about him.” I say harshly.
“Don’t lie to yourself, sweetie I just want you to be happy.”
“Then let me go back to college. Adrian is not here anymore, Columbia is all that I have right now.” I feel a soft tear in my eye. I try my hardest to hold in, without much success. My mom pulls me close to her, she whispers in my ear,
“Darling, he will be back, I know it.” I sigh and I glance at her.
“I hope that you are right.”
The car comes to a stop at the doors of Columbia. The driver quickly gets out and opens the door. I step out into the snow and I look around at my familiar surroundings. The driver takes my bags from the trunk of the car and holds them tightly in his grasp. My mom gets out the car and looks irritated by the view.
“Are you sure about this?” She says in an accepting voice.
“Yes, I am positive.” I say trying to convince to her. She watches as I walk away with the driver who still carries my bags. I enter the massive college and I reminded of a time when I entered with Adrian. Everyone stared and I was privileged to be with him. I quickly get him out of my mind; I do not want to cry again. I walk as fast as I can down the hallways of Columbia. I see familiar faces as I pass by. Everyone is staring, and I do not know why. I walk further along and I am almost at my room. I hear someone call my name, I turn around and I see Marco.
“Alanna, hey, how are you?” He says in a slow tone. He looks different; his hair is longer and much curlier than before. He also looks as if he has lost some weight. His usual bulging muscles are nowhere in sight and his clothes are different too. He has on a simple black t-shirt and pair of grey sweats. I glance at him, wondering what is wrong.
“I am fine, how are you?” I say.
“Okay…” He says in a soothing tone.
“What is wrong?”
“I don’t know what mean, I am fine,” he says trying to persuade me.
“That doesn’t wash with me, what’s up?” I insist. He runs his long tanned fingers through his hair; he looks at the driver who is standing ever so close to us. He takes me by the arm and leads me over next to the lockers. He takes a deep breath,
“You are right, I am not okay.” I do not say anything in response I just glance at him.
“My family is ruined.”
“How, what happened?” He, again, runs his finger through his hair; he places his finger gently onto the bridge of his large nose. I can tell this is going to take a while and that he feels distressed.
“Marco, maybe it is better if we discuss this in my room.” He smiles,
“Yes, thanks Alanna.” I lead the way to my room, with Marco and the driver following behind me. When we arrive at the door, Marco takes my bags from the driver and I thank him and send him on his way, as I do not want to keep my mom waiting all day. I push open the door and in I walk. My room looks the same, the same pink bed sheets, and the same smell of Chanel no5 that always fills the room. I walk over to my bed and instruct Marco to put my bags down next to the dressing table. He does, and then he sits on Sophie’s bed. He looks highly stressed and I feel that he desperate to talk.
“Okay, tell me what is wrong.” He takes a very deep breath as he begins to explain why he is so emotional.
“My parents are getting a divorce.” He finally says.
“What - they seemed like the perfect couple, what happened?”
“M
y mother happened.” I wonder what she did, so I ask him.
“What did she do?”
“When we were in Italy over the New Year,” he says and I am immediately reminded of the night when he had asked me to go away with him. I shake those thoughts from my mind and I focus back to Marco.
“Go on.”
“She met up with her former boyfriend and I guess she stared things up with him again. She has left my father and has now moved to Italy to be with that bastard.” I gasp, I am finding this difficult to take in. I am not sure what I can say to him.
“I am sorry, I had no idea.” He walks over to me and takes my hand.
“I don’t expect you to care, after everything you have been through. However, you are the only person I have told about this.” I am amazed by his confession and I am very aware that he is holding my hand. I do not want to offend him by pulling back but I do not want to feel close to him, in this way. He is just a guy that I know and, not well enough ,to feel comfortable with him holding me. I try to ignore his big clammy hand and focus on his face.
“I won’t tell anybody and, I do care, after what I went through it really puts things into perspective. You have to feel lucky for the things you have in life. I know you feel annoyed right now, but she is your mom. You love her, and she loves you.” He lets go of my hand and runs it again through his hair.
“No, she doesn’t care about me; if she did then she would not have left us.”
“Marco, you could have a much worse mom than you do. Believe me.” He looks miffed and says,
“Your mom is great, what are you talking about.”
“Not my mom, but Adrian’s mother, she wasn’t the best. In fact I don’t think that there is a worse mother, out there, than her.”
“I don’t care; my mom is out of my life. She must have had all this inside her, waiting to come out. I can never forgive her.” I am starting to lose my patience with him. Something about him annoys me. I take a deep breath and I try to put my frustration of him out of my mind.
“You are not thinking straight you will, in time, forgive her.” He shakes his head rapidly.
“No, I cannot see that.” He leans back over and takes my hand again. I sit uneasy but again I do not want to offend him. He looks up from the bed and into my eyes.
“What happened with you and that British dude?” I close my eyes and remember how Adrian dislikes Marco.
“It’s… complicated.” I say.
“Have you broken up with him?” I feel even more annoyed with him and I do not want to have this conversation with him.
“I am not sure,”
“Either you are with him or not.” He says bitterly, I do not like his tone.
“I haven’t seen him since … the shooting.” He gasps and looks almost glad.
“Wow, that’s pretty bad.” He says smugly. I hate the look that is on his face; I almost want to slap it off.
“No, he just needs space, everything will work out.” I say, believing my own words.
“If you say so, tell me babe, do I even have a slight chance with you?” I am stunned by his forwardness. I desperately try to search for a nice way to put what I am about to say. The truth is, there is about a one in a billion chance that I would ever be attracted to him. He is simply ordinary compared to Adrian. He has nothing about him, which would lure me in. I now find his looks plain and nothing matched with Adrian’s. His poor personality and lack of people skills, also affects the way I perceive him. Marco could never match up to Adrian and sometimes the very sight of him repulses me. He has a very crude demeanour; he does not show respect or compassion to anyone. He treats girls as if they are dirt. He sleeps around and blames the girl afterwards, he could never be courteous in anyway and I would never trust him. I look at his deep black eyes as he awaits my response. I still feel a bit sorry for the guy, after all, it must be hard when a parent has an affair. His pain is showing and it is not nice to see. I look to him and I think of my words,
“Marco, I won’t lie to you; I do not think that I would ever be into you that way we are too different.”
“I see, at least you are honest. I don’t and never will stand a chance with you.” My heart begins to race a little more rapidly. I hate this type of confrontation. I wish that I had not asked him to come to my room. It is hard for to be around him and I cannot stand the awkwardness that I am feeling.
“Why would you want me?” He reaches out again and twines his fingers into mine.
“Because, you are the most special and unique girl I have ever met. No one cares the way you do, and Alanna you are also the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen.” I feel my face flush hot at his words. I untangle my fingers from his and as I do, he looks a little hurt. I smile at him and try to phrase my next sentence kindly.
“I am flattered, but you deserve a girl that will love you. That girl is not me and I feel the sooner you realise that, the better. I want you to move on and find love, find a girl and let her make you happy.” I say proudly.
“But where can I find her? All the girls I know are not even worth thinking about.”
“That’s nasty, but she is out there, all you have to do is look.” He sighs and does not respond. I turn around quickly as I hear a knock at the door. I gently get up from the soft bed and walk over the door. I push the heavy door open and I find Michael standing in the doorway. He has a very wicked smirk on his face and he is more gorgeous than ever.
“I am glad to see your pretty little face staring back me. That Sophie girl has a face like thunder,” he says in a very sarcastic voice. I shoot him a disapproving glance.
“What do you want, Michael?” He looks me up and down as if to say you, you are what I want. I pretend that I do not notice his alluring looks.
“Relax, I just popped by to see if you are okay, you are okay, aren’t you?” I faintly smile at him and I push the door open a little further. Michael’s eyes flash hatred when he sees Marco sitting on my bed. He rushes into the room and stands over Marco.
“What are you doing here?” Marco does not answer; I walk over and stand by Michael.
“Marco and I were talking, don’t start anything, Michael.” I say firmly. He glances at Marco and rolls his eyes very heavily.
“I thought I told you not to speak to her again,” Marco looks frustrated and he quickly rises from the bed. He locks his eyes on Michaels and the two tall guys stare bizarrely at each other.
“What is it to you?” Marco says in a bitter voice. Michael steps even closer to him.
“It is everything to me, now leave.”
“Michael, come on don’t be like that. He wasn’t doing any harm.” I say trying to cool down the situation that is brewing. Michael turns to me and his broad nostrils are flared, he raises a dark eyebrow at me.
“Do you remember when that thing, assaulted you?” Marco is very angry at Michael’s comments. He gets even closer to Michael and puts his face right into his.
“Dude, I think that you have a problem with me.” Michael smirks,
“Yes I do and, for your sake, I would suggest you leave right now.” His voice lowers and I can tell that this is going to end badly. Marco grabs Michael by the shirt and pulls him towards him. I see Michael raise his hand to hit out at him. However, I jump quickly between them.
“Stop it, I have had enough!” I say grabbing onto Michaels hand and pulling it away from Marco.
“Marco, I think that it’s time you left.” I say, defeated. Marco pulls his hands from Michael and straightens himself out. Michael stares with a deep smirk.
“This is not over dude!” Marco says as he storms out of the room. He slams the door behind him and I take my hand away from Michael’s. I walk over the bed and take a seat. My wound is hurting, from the sharpness of my dart between the two guys.
“I hate that bloke!” He says in a deep British accent. I roll my eyes at him. I am angry for the way he has acted. Marco is by no means the most important person in my life. However, Mi
chael has no right to behave in the way that he did. I am not his, and he cannot tell me what to do.
“You look angry.” I tut at him,
“Oh, don’t give me that face, Alanna.” He says in a sarcastic tone. I do not reply to his words, instead, I maintain my huff. He walks over to me and sits next to me on my single bed. I turn my head away from him - childishly. He begins to get irritated and he pulls my face back around to him.
“You are mad me?” he says, still with his hand on my face. I look down and then back to him.
“Yes, I am mad at you.” He lets go of my face and wrinkles his forehead.
“Seriously, you are mad at me over that idiot?” I begin to get even angrier with him.
“Yes, what is your problem?”
“Excuse me?” He says very intensely.
“You heard me Michael, why do you still care?” He looks uneasy,
“Why wouldn’t I care?”
“You are with Katharine now; she should be your main priority.” He rubs his forehead and runs his fingers through his hair.
“Are you mad because I am with Katharine?”
“No, but I don’t understand why you are with her.” I say gazing into his ice blue eyes.
“What don’t you understand?” He says in a much less bitter tone.
“Why are you with her? I remember when you told me that you could never love her. What changed?” Michael exhales as he think of his response.
“I got shot, and you chose him.” I feel tense at his words.
“There wasn’t a choice for me to make. I will always be sorry for what happened to you, but you should not settle for someone you don’t, truly love.”
“What makes you think that I do not love her?” He says again in very sarcastic voice.
“I know that you don’t, the look in your eyes tells me that.” I say, feeling guilty by my words. Katharine is my friend and I hate to do this to her. However, I would feel much worse if I let this go on. I know that she will only end up, hurt by him.
“I don’t have anyone else, the girl I truly want, is in love with another bloke.” I cannot look into his eyes as he says those words.
“You will find someone that you love. The right girl is out there waiting for you. Do not spend your time moping over me. I am not worth the aggro.” He takes my hand,
Three Thousand Miles - Jealousy (book #2 of Three Thousand Miles Series) Page 8