“Hello?”
“Eliot?”
“Tori, hey. How are you?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “How are you?” I mocked.
He laughed but with no humor. “Sorry I haven’t been around or calling you for the matter. I’ve been thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
“Us.”
“Us?” I repeated in a question.
“Yeah, us. I think there’s something you should know,” he started.
Was he going to say the truth now? I hadn’t prepared myself for this. And if he told me the truth, what about my revenge on getting back to him?
“What is it?” I asked cautiously.
“I think we should just end it up. It’s not really working anymore,” he muttered. And I thought I felt the whole just crumbled down upon me.
“You’re breaking up with me, is that so?” I asked incredulously.
“Basically, yes.”
“Where are you?” I asked immediately.
“At the house. Why?”
I didn’t bother to answer him. I clicked the end button and hurriedly made my way to his house. If I could not take my revenge on him on Valentine’s day, I had to do it now. I had to make sure that he would feel miserable just like what I felt for the last year.
“Nathan, can you drive me to Eliot’s house?” I asked my brother who was busy watching football game.
“You want me to what?” he asked in shock.
“Drive me to Eliot’s house. Now!” I ordered. I pulled him on the couch, grabbed his car key on the coffee table and got out of the house.
“Why don’t you just drive there yourself?” he queried, starting up the engine. “And what’s with the hurry?”
“First, I don’t want to think of what might happen to your car once I left it and two it’s none of your business,” I responded. Nathan pushed on the break—hard—causing me to jerk forward then bumped my head to the headrest afterwards.
“I am your brother. Not just your brother, but your big brother. A big brother of three years. Now, don’t tell me that it’s not my business because it is,” he scolded me.
I scratched the back of my head. “Sorry. But I don’t have time to explain it now. You have to hurry!”
“Okay. I’ll let you off the hook for now. You have to tell me about it when you got home.” He started to drive again. The drive to Eliot’s house was thirty minutes full.
When we got there, I bid my goodbye to Nathan and told him to go. I walked to their front door and rang the doorbell. After a few rang, the front door opened, revealing a half dressed Eliot.
“Tori!” he exclaimed, shock was obvious in his tone.
“Hi. There’s something I want to say to you,” I smiled mischievously.
“Come in,” he opened the door wide enough for me to enter. “Sorry for the mess.”
“I hate you,” I blurted out. “I hate you the moment you made fun of myself. I hate you more when you apologized to me. I hate your guts. I. Hate. You.”
He was wide eyed, mouth hanging open. “But—”
“I let you get back with me so I could use you. I wanted to do the same thing you did to me last year. I wanted to make fun of you too. I wanted you to feel miserable as well. Just like what you did to me,” I bellowed in anger. I felt tears to roll down my cheeks, but I blinked it away. Tears were not necessary at this point. I had to make sure that he would feel so guilty, so guilty that he couldn’t find any way to sleep.
“I know I was wrong for making you so miserable,” he tried to reach but I only stepped back.
“You don’t know. All you cared about was yourself and your stupid popularity,” I said. I slapped him left and right. “That’s for the pain I felt for the last year.”
Chapter Six
I stormed out of Eliot’s house without waiting for his response or even his outrage. Either way, I still got my revenge on him.
The horror of yet again another memory swept in my mind.
The rain was too cold that I could feel myself tremble. I was shaking and I didn’t know where to go. Eliot made fun of me, he used me for his entertainment. And I—being the too goody gal—believed him. It was a strike through the heart. I should’ve stayed with the path I was going. I shouldn’t have stopped and entertained him. Then this—everything that happened today—would have never happened.
I wiped my tears but there were still tears that kept on falling down. I couldn’t escape this mess. I got played on Valentine’s day with the supposedly person who would ask me to be his girlfriend. He made me believe with all of his sweet words. And I was naïve for believing him.
“Tori!” he shouted. I ran faster than what I intended to until I stumbled down on a rock. I hit my knees on the ground hard, causing a bruise to show up. I hissed at the pain.
“Get off me!” I shouted when Eliot was trying to help me. “I don’t need your help.”
“Tori, I’m sorry!” he apologized again but with an authority this time.
I scowled at him. “Stop saying you’re sorry ‘cause you’re not! You’re not sorry!” I yelped out, much louder than before. And just like what happened last year—with all the cliché things around—it rained.
“Tori, I’m really sorry. I realized after what I did to you, you’re not like the others,” he admitted. Even though the sound of his voice was sincere, so true that almost fall for it again, I ignored it.
“You’re not sorry, Eliot. Guilt is just eating you up and you couldn’t do anything but to just say that you’re sorry,” I cried. “I heard Penny. You were planning the same thing you did last year. You’re going to embarrass me again in front of the whole student body. Was last year not enough for my misery?”
He looked confused. “What are you saying? Penny and I were over a month after I embarrassed you. I never talked to her again because she’s nothing but an empty-headed cheerleader. She’s nothing compared to you,” he answered.
“Don’t fool me. I heard her once in the bathroom at school, and then there’s an incident at the party you pulled me into. She said something about surprising. That’s the reason why I got back with you. To make you feel the pain I felt last year. Of how it feels like to get played by the person you thought loves you,” I exclaimed, finally standing up. “I trusted you my heart. Why do you have to do it?” I looked down and let the tears fell on the ground.
Eliot held up my gaze so our eyes met. The way he stared back at me was totally different from the way that Troy did. There’s no light—sparks to be exact—that showed in it. It was pure sadness I saw and guilt.
“I know how you feel for the last year. I’ve been trying to call, text or even e-mail you, but I got no response. I did all the things I could do just so you’ll forgive me. But I got no response at all,” he said. By this time, I saw that he was crying too. And it only meant one thing, everything that he had said were all true.
“But I got none,” I muttered confusedly.
“I guess, there are a lot of people that don’t want us to be together,” he said, laughing with no humor.
I moved back, away from his touch. “Either I receive something or none, I still hate you. You don’t have the guts to say your sorry personally. You just relied on those things—the digital things. You didn’t try to come to the house and say that you’re genuinely sorry. You didn’t do anything,” I told him seriously.
I spun on my heel and started to walk away. Away from him and for all the things he did to me. Away from the past that I had been keeping inside.
* * *
“What happened?” Nathan asked, standing over me. I pulled the towel closer to me. He was too cruel for a brother because he didn’t want me to change my clothes first, not unless I spilled to him what happened.
“It’s over,” was all I said.
“Over? Really?”
“Yes. So, can I go to my room now?” I asked, pleading.
“Over, huh,” he rubbed his chin as if thinki
ng of something clever. He then walked to the kitchen, leaving me alone in the living room.
I took that chance to run to my room. I hastily stripped and put on some fresh new sweatshirt and pajamas. I turned off the air-conditioning and opened my window instead.
I hadn’t exactly got my revenge to Eliot, but at least in small way, I got to say what I wanted to say to him. All the anger and frustration was left out.
I plopped down on my bed, pulled the blanket over me and dozed off to sleep. When I closed my eyes, I saw Eliot’s face flashed in my sleep. I knew that everything that had happened today would be lingering in my head. I just had to convince myself that whatever feelings I had with Eliot was now long gone. I had to make sure that everything I felt for him would be gone the moment I woke up. And I just had to tell myself that he was not worth loving.
* * *
“Tori. Tori, wake up.”
I groaned, shoving the hand that was shaking me. I recognized the voice belonged to my brother.
“Tori!” he whisper-yelled. I slowly opened my eyes and glared at him.
“What do you want?” I grumbled. I got my phone on the nightstand and saw that it was just twelve in the midnight. “Nathan!”
“What?” he feigned innocence.
“Twelve in the midnight? What is your problem?” I asked begrudgingly.
“Meet me outside, in the backyard,” he ordered, now going out of my room.
“Now?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes, now. Get moving.”
“Why?” I asked, sitting up on my bed.
“Just meet me, okay? No follow up questions,” he responded, closing the door behind him.
I wore my glasses and went out of my room. What did my brother want that he wanted to meet me outside? It’s not yet my birthday, so what could that be?
As I opened the backdoor, I felt my heart did a little leap. I didn’t know why, but I think something was going to happen tonight. I took a deep breath and fully opened the door.
On the doorway, I saw a rose lying on the ground. I picked it up and noticed that there’s a letter tied to it.
“February fourteen, Valentine’s day…” I read. Confused, I stepped outside. The backyard was too dark that I couldn’t form any figure. Nathan said that he wanted to meet me here, but why was it that he was not here yet? “Nathan?” I called out. Once said, the backyard lit up with different lightings. There was also a table in the middle.
“Tori,” Troy emerged from behind the tree. My eyes widened in surprise to see him again. I wasn’t able to utter any coherent words. “Hi,” he greeted.
I took slow step forward, leaving a good distance between us. “Troy?” I asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
He smiled. At that one quick action, my heart skipped a beat. “I told you that I will make you like Valentine’s day again,” he answered.
“Valentine’s day?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “It’s Valentine’s day today. Exactly. Nathan called me and—”
“Nathan called you?” I demanded, cutting him off.
“Yeah. He said that you and Eliot are over. So I hurriedly made my way here to finish what I have started. Hopefully there’s still a chance.”
I took a seat on one of the chairs. Taking deep breaths, “That guy!” I hissed through gritted teeth.
“Tori—”
“You can’t make me,” I mumbled.
Troy knelt down so he was eye levelled to me. He held up my gaze, forcing me to look back at his green eyes. “Why?”
“I can’t. I can’t like it or love it anymore. It only brings back painful memories that I wished would just go away soon. The way I look at Valentine is now different. I don’t believe in it anymore. I don’t like the idea of it. I don’t like it,” I explained, my voice rising up a notch.
“I can still make you change your mind. I have until eleven fifty-nine pm of today. Don’t lose hope. This is a special day.”
“Special day of what? Special because lovers get to celebrate being in love? That’s ridiculous. Lovers can celebrate being in love almost like everyday. Why does someone had to make a day special for an occasion that can be done everyday? That’s stupid, and the people celebrating it are stupid,” I exclaimed, standing up now. I turned my back on him as I felt my eyes started to water.
“I don’t know what happened to your insights about Valentine’s day. But I’m going to make sure that by the end of the day, you’ll be celebrating it again,” he said seriously.
I faced him again. “Just don’t. I don’t want to.” Tears started to fall out of my eyes. I tried to wipe it away, but it kept on falling down.
“Love is all you need. It will help you to ease and forget that thing that happened last year,” Troy muttered, coming closer and wiping my tears away.
I yanked his hand away. “Love is not all you need. I need time… a lot of it. Love won’t help me forget. It was the reason why I’m like this. It was all the reason behind this pain I am feeling. Because. Of. Love,” I concluded.
“So you’re saying that…” he trailed off, looking at me straight in the eyes.
“You can’t do anything,” I finished for him.
“What about my feelings for you? It has something to do with this.” He gestured around the place. “I did all this for you, when you were sleeping. Just give this—Valentine’s day—a chance. Just this moment,” he pleaded.
I didn’t answer for a while. I’d like to consider his feelings for me, but the pain still surpassed it. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, Troy. But you got to go now.” I turned on my heel and made my way inside the house. But I was abruptly stopped by a hand. I didn’t face him because there were tears flowing down my face.
“Tori, I like you… a lot.” There was a pause. I didn’t bother saying anything. I just couldn’t face the fact that with a short period of time, I got to like him as well. I couldn’t afford to tell him about my feelings because I was too scared to get hurt again. “Tori, please, say something.” Slowly, he let go of my hand.
I turned to face him now. “Exactly. You like me. The word you use was like. You’ll find someone better than me. Someone you’ll love and not just like,” I said, smiling a sad smile.
“Tori—”
“Thanks for the effort, Troy. But… I hate Valentine’s day.” With that said, I went inside the house, shutting close the door. I felt my knees grew weak, causing me to fall down on the ground. I kept my sobbed in my throat as my chest constricted in pain.
Troy had managed to change my insight about Valentine but I just couldn’t accept it just yet. I couldn’t let someone use it again to me, and make fun of me.
Love is not all you need.
I’m Victoria Cooper—Tori for short—the number one hater of Valentine’s day.
about the author
Kristine Cuevas loves to write. She spends most of her time in just writing. She considers notebook and pen are her best friends. She self-published her Nanowrimo entry ‘Never Love your Best Friend’.
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www.twitter.com/KCwrites15
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
about the author
Connect with Kristine Cuevas:
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My Valentine Ending Page 5