On cue, her parents shouted at us to be quiet. Quinn made a face.
“You’re telling me that Becca knows this, but is still dating him?” I asked. That didn’t make any sense.
“Yup, and she doesn’t care because all she wants is a rebound from Brian.”
“Hold the phone!” I yelled and jumped up from the bed. “She hasn’t spoken about Brian in months. Why the hell is she now thinking she needs a rebound? Didn’t Becca tell us that she was happy Brian broke up with her? That apparently she didn’t like the kind of boyfriend he was anyway?”
Quinn screamed out loud. “Ella, I swear you’re my soul mate, because I thought of the same thing!” She shrugged. “I’m guessing she just wants a boyfriend.”
I sighed and sat back down on the couch.
“I love her, but I don’t know who she’s becoming.” I shook my head. The news had hurt me. To see Becca do this, truly hurt. “Maybe we shouldn’t have forgiven her. Clearly she is just going through some kind of crisis that we can’t control.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Quinn nodded along with me. “Should we try to talk to her at least?”
“One last time, but if she ignores us, then we’re done.”
Quinn smiled at my decision. “We’re done.”
Chapter 23
Muffling Cries
“Talk to us Rebecca, because apparently we don’t understand,” Quinn begged.
Quinn was trying to reason with Becca, but Becca was being stubborn. Instead of listening to us and hearing us out, she locked herself in her bathroom. Every few seconds, we could hear the soft murmur of her cries. We had been standing outside the door for almost half an hour trying to get her to speak. My legs were getting tired from leaning outside for so long. We were willing to help her if only she’ll let us, but so far, she didn’t want to.
“Becca, we’re only trying to help,” I said and pushed myself up against the white door.
Quinn grabbed my shoulder and leaned against the door also. We heard nothing.
“Becca, we have to talk about this. Clearly, you’re going through something.” I banged on the door. The banging only caused her to cry again. “Please, just come out.” I sighed.
Quinn grunted. She was somebody who believed in tough love. That was why this scenario was becoming a little hard for her to handle. I looked into her eyes, and I was seeing black. At any moment, I feared she would break down the door.
“You guys don’t understand,” Becca finally cried behind the closed door, her voice muffled.
“You’re right, we don’t. That is why you have to come out.” I kept trying to persuade to come out of the tiny bathroom, but she wanted to stay in there.
“You guys are a bunch of amateurs.” I heard someone say behind us. Quinn froze against the door and closed her eyes.
“Crap,” she whispered, knowing who the voiced belonged to. I looked closely at her, before I turned around.
“Oh shit,” I said, echoing Quinn’s remark.
“Nice to see you guys again as well.” The person chuckled.
I wanted more than anything to lunge at the figure, but I had to protect Becca. Quinn and I stood our ground in front of the bathroom door.
He looked at us standing in front of the door and cocked his head to the side. “Now, move out of the way.”
“No,” Quinn hissed at her brother.
Brian sighed and threw his head back. His rough hands grabbed his full head of brown hair. If he had not broken Becca’s heart, I would have admitted he was handsome, maybe even hot. His blue eyes looked upon us both.
“You guys really leave me no choice,” he said. He strutted toward us and picked us both up with only one arm. For a total geek, he was surprisingly really strong.
“Get your disgusting hands off me!” Quinn screeched. She banged her fist forcefully against his back as he carried us away from the door, while I laid on his shoulder with my arms folded. God, did I hate him.
“Now scram,” Brian said once he released us. “Let the master solve all your problems.” He winked at us, which only made me want to barf.
Brian didn’t even wait for us to protest. He glided right back to the bathroom door and reached his hand up. I watched as his toned arm felt the top of the border of the door. In seconds, his hand came down from the trimming and adjusted the doorknob. When he turned it, the door gave a sound of a satisfying click.
“How’d you know that was there?” Quinn asked, a little more forceful than she intended. She coughed and tried to play away the shock in her voice.
“I dated her for a year,” Brian said simply. With that, he pushed the door open and entered.
Before Brian could close the door, I saw Becca’s puffy eyes lift up from her hands.
“Brian!” she exclaimed just as the door shut, and we were left with no choice but to leave them alone. Becca looked happy to see Brian, so I let them be and trudged down the stairs with Quinn.
“Who knew my brother would be able to just swoop in and save the day?” Quinn spoke as she stared into empty space. Clearly, she was just as stunned as I was about what just happened.
“Not in a million years.” I agreed.
Together, we slumped down and took a seat on the bottom step of the staircase. We had to wait for them to come out. Brian had taken the key into the bathroom with him so breaking in again was out of the question.
***
“She’ll be out in a little bit,” Brian said a half hour later.
Quinn and I glanced at him from the bottom of the stairs. He shut the door as he left the bathroom and pounded down the stairs himself. He appeared tired, and a bit sad.
“Is she okay?” I finally asked the question.
“Well, we got back together.” Brian nodded and shoved his hands into his dark jeans.
Quinn raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem that happy about it.” I nodded. Brian looked as if he just put down his childhood dog.
“I am happy,” Brian said and sighed, “It’s just been a long couple of months, and it hurts to see her like this.”
Quinn whooped. “Well, what do we have here? Mr. Brian Remon actually has feelings!” Quinn looked over at me, and I began to laugh. Brian never showed emotions about his relationship with Becca around us, so it was truly a shock to see him act this way.
“Shut up, Quinn,” he growled just as the bathroom door opened up again. Out walked Becca, her eyes very puffy and her face red from crying. Her shoulders were hunched over and her hair hung loosely with many knots. She appeared just as sad as Brian. For them getting back together, the mood was rather odd.
“Come on,” Brian said to her and wrapped his arm around her. “Let’s grab a bite.”
Becca smiled, or at least tried to. “I’d like that.”
“Okay honestly, it looks like you two just went to a funeral,” Quinn said, pointing out the obvious. “What gives?”
“We’re just trying to mend our relationship, Quinn.” Brian rolled his eyes.
“Thanks for not giving up on me guys,” Becca said when the couple reached the front door.
“Hey, you’re our best friend. We knew something was up when you started seeing Tristan,” I told her.
Brian shot me a glare, and I stuck out my tongue at him. Obviously, he knew that she was with Tristan for a small time, hence, why they both appeared to be so upset.
Becca only nodded, and Brian pulled open the door.
They both left without saying another word.
Chapter 24
Overreacting
Sam walked out of her room in a pink pleated skirt and a leather bustier top. My green eyes narrowed at her as she walked down the hallway with her hips popping out, the click clack of her black stilettos echoing through the hall. On her wrist swung a white wristlet.
“Where are you going?” I finally asked. She strutted herself back and forth, obviously waiting for me to ask that question.
Sam stopped walking. I could see her back straighten
a little as she turned to face me. Her straight blonde hair was pulled back into a high pony.
“You really don’t want to know that.” She smiled, and that seemed to pierce my heart.
“Fine.” I sighed and went to go back into my room. Who was I to care anyway? “Hope James enjoys the little outfit!” I shouted just before I shut my door.
“Oh, this isn’t for James!” Sam yelled back, followed by the slam of the front door.
***
I walked to class alone Wednesday afternoon. Aspen was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t even in Spanish, which was the only class we had together. I had texted him but got no answer, which worried me. What made me feel even worse was that I couldn’t find Sam either. They were both missing—together—and that made me feel like crap. It was as if somebody had stepped on me in the park and was dragging me around on their shoe all day long.
“Why the long face, El?” Caleb asked. He suddenly joined me for my walk down the hall and I allowed myself to rest my head on his shoulder. His arm slugged over my shoulder.
“Aspen isn’t in school today.” I sighed. “And neither is Sam.”
“Sam’s not with Aspen if that’s what you’re thinking,” Caleb said quickly. I looked at him and stopped walking. How did he know that? Caleb let out a long breath and his hand slapped his face. “Okay, now this is going to sound crazy.”
I shook my head. “I bet it won’t, because I have something much crazier in my head.” Sam and Caleb were not friends, so why the hell would she tell him where she was? Any reason had to be better than Aspen and Sam being together, though.
“She’s in my art class, and we’re partners,” he explained. My eyes narrowed. That explained nothing. Caleb raised his hands in surrender and continued talking. “She ditched school today to go to the Museum of Art. We needed more inspiration, so she suggested we take the day off and travel down there, but I told her I couldn’t skip school. Sam ended up going alone, because we really needed to look at the museum.” Caleb finished. “So that’s where she is. I don’t know about Aspen.” He ended with a shrug.
My lips curved into a smile. This was going to be great. “I can’t wait to tell my parents she ditched.”
Caleb sighed and closed his eyes. “Ella, please don’t do that. If you tell, then she’ll be grounded for weeks.” He shook his head, and my eyes narrowed at him.
“I know. That’s the point,” I said and began to walk down the hall again.
“We really need to get this project done El, and if you do that, we’ll never finish it,” he begged, and I heard the desperation in his voice.
I looked back at Caleb who still hadn’t moved. His leg was shaking, which meant he was nervous.
“Why does everyone want to become friends with my sister?” I groaned, throwing my head back.
Was I not good enough? Having everyone I loved end up hanging out with Sam honestly hurt me. Aspen wouldn’t stop hanging out with her due to their “complicated” friendship. Rebecca ventured over to her because she apparently was best friends with Tristan, even though before that party, I had never seen him in my life. Now, Caleb was spending time with her because of some stupid art project. Art was an elective, so why did the project matter so much to Caleb? I knew he did it because of game designing, but still. He didn’t need to partner up with my sister and go out doing a bunch of projects.
Caleb sighed, grabbed my shoulder, and swept me into him for a hug. My body relaxed immediately at the gesture. Being in his arms made everything feel okay again, even if in reality they were far from that.
“Nothing’s going on with us, El. You should believe me of all people. I’ve been your friend since day one.”
It was true. Ever since the day I met him in seventh grade, we had become best friends. It took a little while to convince Quinn and Becca to be friends with him, claiming we couldn’t be friends with boys because they thought it’d be weird, but Caleb was the exception. He was a guy who I knew would never break my heart.
“I’ve been paranoid lately,” I admitted, my face buried in his neck. “When Aspen isn’t with me, he’s with Sam, and I just don’t know what to think of that.” Tears were beginning to sting my eyes. I loved Aspen, but his hanging out with Sam really made it feel like a dagger was pierced through my heart. I didn’t want to make him choose, because that would just make me a crazy girlfriend, but I had a right to be jealous. Sam was a manipulative person who always got what she wanted. If she really wanted to, she could take Aspen from me with a snap of her finger. Nothing frightened me more than that.
“I don’t trust Aspen, Ella. He’s not a good guy, and you know that. Whatever he’s doing with Sam, I don’t think it’s good.” Caleb rubbed my back as he gave his two cents.
“I just don’t trust Sam.”
“It’s Aspen you shouldn’t trust, El. Believe me.” Caleb pulled away from me and locked eyes with me. He desperately wanted me to believe him, but I wanted to give Aspen the benefit of the doubt. He told me he loved me after only two months of dating. Didn’t that mean something? Didn’t that mean that he actually loved me? He even said it first.
“I don’t know what to do! I’m hurting! Everything’s so messed up, Caleb!” I cried to him and fell back into his chest. I had kept all those fears inside me since Aspen and I got serious, but now I was realizing how I actually felt. It hurt how much I loved Aspen. Having Sam always wanting to jump on Aspen really hurt my self-esteem, and it also made my imagination run wild. But one couldn’t help but wonder: what was Sam doing with Aspen all the time?
***
“I can’t do it, Ella. It’s driving me mad. I’m going to go bloody insane!” Quinn shouted on the phone.
I laughed. “Have you been watching Harry Potter again?” Whenever she watched it, it made her wish she was British, so she ended up saying the word “bloody” a little too often.
“That’s beside the point!” Quinn continued to yell. I had to put my phone on the bed because she was talking so loudly. “Brian and Becca won’t stop making out on my couch. Why can’t they go to Becca’s house? Brian’s my brother, and Becca’s my best friend. I seriously can’t watch them dry hump one another on the same couch I binge watch on!”
“Quinn, I think you’re overreacting.” I laughed. Honestly, it was funny to hear Quinn acting like this. She was the tough friend; nothing ever bothered her, but I guess we’ve found the one thing she couldn’t stand.
“Oh yeah? Am I? What if one day when you come home from soccer practice, you see Caleb and Sam doing it on your kitchen table? Now, how does that make you feel?” She drew me a picture so vivid, I couldn’t help but scream as well.
“Ew, Quinn!” I screeched. “That was seriously not an image I needed in my head! Caleb’s my best friend.”
“Aha! Now you know exactly what I’m dealing with,” Quinn said, proud that she had just accomplished her mission.
Trying to put that horrible thought aside, I moved on to the main topic in hand. “Does Becca seem happy at least? Do you think the reason she was with Tristan was just to make her feel better while Brian wasn’t here?”
Quinn sighed. “I think so. I mean, she never seemed that into Tristan. She only waved him aside like he was just a fly on the wall.”
I nodded. That was true. When Becca first started dating Brian, all she did was talk about him. With Tristan, that wasn’t the case. She kept him a secret and didn’t even care when they broke up or got back together. Now if that was with Brian, she’d be a rollercoaster of emotions. Definitely not something Quinn and I enjoyed dealing with, but she was our best friend; we had to deal with it.
“Well, I’m kind of glad she’s with Brian again. I know he was a complete jerk when they broke up, but when they were together, they were honestly my OTP.”
Quinn laughed at this. “That’s kind of gross, but I’ll have to agree with you. They are kind of cute together when they aren’t banging each other.”
“All right, bad images again.�
�� I laughed. “I’m think I’m gonna go.”
“Wait!” Quinn called out from the line.
“What?”
“Caleb told me you weren’t doing so well today during school. Are you and Aspen okay?” She sounded sincere, and that meant the world to me.
“Yeah, I think I was just overreacting,” I said. To be honest, after letting all of that out to Caleb, I felt a lot better. No more did I fear losing Aspen to Sam. I just needed to hear myself say those things out loud to realize how much of an idiot I sounded like. I learned Aspen ended up just being sick. I was totally just overreacting about everything.
Aspen loved me, and that meant something. In fact, it meant everything.
“You sure, girl?” Quinn asked, double checking.
“Yes, Quinn.” I smiled, appreciating her concern. “I’m okay, honestly.”
“All right good,” Quinn said, and we hung up.
Chapter 25
Stronger Than Ever
“Aspen,” I croaked as I looked up from my textbook.
He spun around in my chair and looked at me lying on the bed with all my homework. He put his pencil down, slid the chair over to me, and grabbed my hands in his.
“What’s up?” He smiled. A piece of my hair fell in front of my face, and he pushed it aside. “God, you’re so beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I blushed and tucked my chin down. What I was about to say made me really nervous, and I didn’t think I was able to look him in the eye while I say it.
“Are you…” I craned my neck, not sure if I’m all that ready to ask the question. After a moment’s hesitation, I finally asked him. “Are you cheating on me with Samantha?”
Fast and to the point, like ripping a day-old, sticky Band-Aid.
Try and Catch Me: A Young Adult Fiction Page 14