(10): Calling A Truce

"Oh no. What's wrong?" Kat asks alarmed when she sees my teary and distraught face.

"Noah" I hiccup not being able to say further.

She opens the door for me so I can enter and I collapse on what I think is her bed as she rubs soothing circles on my back.

"What happened?" She asks softly.

Thank goodness Nathan isn't here.

"He b-b-broke up with me" I sob helplessly, looking at her.

Her eyes widen in rage "He did what?"

I sniff "Well he said he wanted to take a break. But I could see in his eyes that it was over, Kat. I don't know what to do"

She hugs me tightly "I'm so sorry"

I wipe the tears from my face after a good 10 minutes of just sobbing, sitting up right on the bed "Why'd you tell him about the drag racing? He brought that up"

"I couldn't lie to him, Chelsea. He's my best friend" She defends "He asked where we were on Saturday since you refused to tell him"

"I'm your best friend too" I hiss bitterly "You didn't tell me that he was at Cuba. I know for a fact that Nathan was with you"

She opens and closes her mouth like a fish out of water "He wasn't doing anything wrong"

"Oh and I was?"

"I didn't say that" She spits "Listen you didn't ask me. He did. So I'm sorry if you feel like I betrayed you or something like that"

I shake my head "It doesn't even matter"

"It's been hard for me to be there for the both of you in this situation" She says softly "I'm sorry if I disappointed you guys"

"It's fine" I smile tightly, sniffing "I don't want to lose you too"

"You didn't lose Noah, okay" She tries to scold but I just shrug "He loves you. And I think this break will do you guys good."

"Maybe"

She kisses my forehead "Netflix and ice cream?"

I can't help but grin giddily "Yes please"

She opens the mini fridge and takes out a huge 2 liter Ben and Jerry's ice cream tube. She grabs two spoons, switches on the laptop and logs onto Netflix and then drapes a soft blanket around the two of us.

"Any suggestions" She asks me.

"Can we rewatch 'The Kissing Booth'" I reply sheepishly. I don't know how many times I've made her watch it with me.

She sighs but forces a smile "Anything for you"

***

"Ouch! My eyes!" Kat and I scream at the same time.

We are greeted by a surprised looking Nathan as he examines us. We were sitting in the dark watching back to back movies for God knows how long until suddenly Nathan walked in and switched on the lights.

"Uhh, what are you guys doing?" He asks curiously after we've finished adjusting to the very bright light.

"Watching a movie. As you can see"

Kat points a finger at me warningly "We were having a movie marathon"

"Oh" He mutters shrugging.

"What time is it?" I ask him.

He takes out his phone before answering "Almost 9pm"

What? We've been watching movies for 6 entire hours.

"Woah" Kat chuckles just as shocked and I join her "We need help"

"By the way, Chels, Kyle was asking where you were" Nathan informs me and I raise a surprised brow "You should probably give him a call"

How cute. I think.

"Oh shit, I completely forgotten to tell him"

I chew on my lip guiltily. Normally I tell him when I'll be coming back late or I'll be sleeping over. "Can I borrow your phone? I kind of still don't have his numbers"

Nathan hands it to me.

"Uhm, so I need to rush to the store quickly" Kat announces nervously "Will you guys be okay?"

"For what, babe?" Nathan asks.

"I'll tell you when I'm back" And with that she leaves Nathan and I all alone. How freaking awkward.

I distract myself from a forced conversation with him by searching for Kyle's number on his contact list. Finally I find it and dial.

"Please tell me she's with your girl" Is the first thing he says when he answers. He must think he's speaking to Nathan.

I can't help but giggle "Yep. Here I am"

"Chelsea-Anne?" He asks, sounding confused.

"No, its Nathan's twin sister" I joke and I'm pretty sure he catches on "Anyways here I am, so yeah"

"Oh" He replies, his voice sounding deeper "Good"

We both stay silent for a while until I realize he isn't about to say anything else "Okay well bye now. See ya"

Then I hang up. Wowza phone calls with him are all kinds of awkward and uncomfortable.

"Thanks" I hand Nathan back his phone.

"Ice cream and movies" He notes looking around "Who's sad? You or Kat? I know girls do shit like that when they are"

I shrug "You would know if it Kat"

"So err you, then?" He asks awkwardly and I nod "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said about your boy. I shouldn't have said it in front of everyone and gotten you in your feels like that"

I wrap the blanket tighter around myself. I really didn't expect that from him "It's fine. He uhm, broke up with me. Kind of"

"Shit, sorry to hear that" He makes a 'yikes' face and I'm guessing he also didn't expect to hear that "Did he say why?"

"He just said we've both changed and aren't the people we were when we first started going out" I explain.

"Uhh sorry man" He says again, patting me awkwardly on the arm and I just laugh at him "So, you were right about Kat and I not being officially and shit. I'm gonna ask her out properly on Friday"

I can't help but grin. What? I love love. "Really? That's kind of sweet of you. She would really like that"

"You think?" He asks nervously. If I had any doubts that he really likes her, they have vanished. I know for sure he does now.

I nod "I know."

He smiles relieved "Okay good. I'm glad I told you because I honestly wasn't going to go through with it. I thought she was going to think I was being corny, knowing her"

Nathan is really not that bad, huh?

"I don't blame you" I chuckle "As much as I hate to admit it, you make her very happy and I don't see anyone else being 'official' with her, so yeah"

"So... wanna call a truce?" He moves his eyebrows up and down teasingly, sticking his hand out.

I look at his hand before grinning and taking it with mine. We shake them firmly "To being... civil with each other"

"Yes. Civil" We shake one last time before retracting "By the way, you and Kyle should do one of these. You two bicker like a married couple"

"I don't think that day is going to come anytime soon" I snort "But I'll admit, he's kind of growing on me so there's that"

"You're also growing on him" He tells me thoughtfully "He complains less about you. And he punches the punching bag a bit softer at the gym"

Interesting.

"Oh thank God" Kat feigns relief, putting a hand above her heart "You're both still alive. I was scared one of you was going to kill the other"

I roll my eyes "You're so dramatic"

"Yes. Chels and I over here were having such a good conversation" Nathan says and I nod.

She looks skeptically at the two of us "You were?"

I nod again "Yep. Turns out, he's not that bad"

"Same goes for her" Nathan replies.

"Mhm" Kat hums thoughtfully but a small

smile is playing on her lips "This day just got so much more interesting. Can I see you guys hug?"

"Absolutely not" Nathan and I say at the same time before narrowing our eyes at each other at the coincidence.

We agreed to be civil, not to be besties.

"Aww, that's so cute" Kat coos before looking at Nathan "Babe, a word?"

She nods her head towards the door probably signaling they should do it outside. He catches on and follows her out.

A few minutes later she comes back without him. But it's pretty evident what they were up to because her hair is all over the place and her lips are kind of swollen.

Horn dogs.

"Where's Nathan?" I ask instead.

"You mean your new bestie?" She grins and I just shoot her a dry look "He said we can have a sleepover and he's crashing with Nico. His roommate is away"

"Yay" I smile widely "We're definitely skipping classes tomorrow, right?"

"Girl. Obviously"

***

One minute I'm walking happily to Cottage Hill from Nathan's dorm after my very nice sleepover, and then the next this big and shady SUV pulls up next to me... and then I'm being dragged somewhere roughly.

I scream as loudly as I can "Leave me alone?! Who are you?"

"Shut up" The chilling voice demands pressing something cold against my temple. I gulp, saying a silent prayer, tears falling down my face in fear.

I still try to fight the strong stranger but to now avail "Please leave me alone"

And then we're inside a car; the big and shady SUV. It's dark inside and I try to adjust my teary eyes so I can see. The eyes that greet me from the front seat are ones I will never forget. Even if I wanted to.

"Fancy meeting you again, kitten"

Zorro.

I sniff, shaking slightly "What do you want?"

He smirks coldly "I see you've met my friend, Big Ben" He points his gaze to the big man who held that gun against my temple "Did you miss me, kitten? And dare I ask... did your friends ditch you again?"

"What do you want, Zorro?" I ask again, sharper and harsher this time, refusing to let him see my fear. Although the tears and the shaking are giving me away. "How did you find me?"

"It was easy, really" He chuckles, showing his crooked teeth "I've been following you since the race. I'll admit it was hard getting you alone. I almost did the other day but my assface of a brother decided to play Superman and offer you a ride"

He's probably talking about the Monet's day.

"What do you want?"

"My dad has taken quite an interest in you. I enlighten him that his youngest had his eye on you, kitten, and he just wants to meet you so bad" He explains lighting a cigarette and continuing to smoke.

"First of all, Kyle and I basically hate each other so I don't know what you think you saw on Saturday night" I say shakingly "He does not have his eye on me. You can't use me against him. He doesn't care about me. Okay?"

It's the truth.

"Yeah? We'll see about that" He replies darkly "Make sure to tell him about our little encounter, okay kitten?"

"Best believe" I say threateningly.

He chuckles shaking his head "Oo, I'm so scared. Tell him that dad says time is ticking"

"Time for what?"

"He'll know"

I cough because of all the smoke before saying "Can I go now? Or are you going to kill me?"

"Just as sassy as I remember" He grins looking to admire me "That little son of a bitch doesn't deserve you. I do"

"I'd rather die" I sneer disgusted.

"Big Ben" Is the only thing he says as Big Ben presses that damn gun against my temple again. I close my eyes tightly, tears streaming down again "You will not disrespect me like that, little girl. You have been warned"

"Let me go, you psycho!" I sob.

I can hear the safety of the gun being pulled against my head "Little girl. You don't know when to stop, do you?"

I cry looking at him desperately "I'm s-s-sorry. Please let me go now"

I really don't want to die.

He makes a gesture with his hand, making Big Ben release the gun from against me. I sigh relieved but still scared "Good kitty. I'll be seeing you again"

And then Big Ben opens the door for me and I run away from there as fast as I can. I don't think I've run so fast in my life. I also don't think I've ever been so scared. I almost died in there. All that Big Ben had to do was press the trigger.

I cry more and more at the thought of today almost being my final day on Earth. What would my mom do? Kat? My friends and family? Would Noah regret his decision? What would've happened? Would Kyle even give a fuck that his older brother got me killed? Would he happy that I'm not around to annoy him anymore?

Oh God, I hope I never go through that again.

Again: what happened to the simple life I asked for? The life with just me, Kat and Noah? What happened to that? Now I'm single and have a psycho and his dad- that I don't even know- after me. I fucking know what a gun feels like pressed against my temple. My life has really changed.

Forever.