Pretend (38 page)

             
"Told you what?"

             
"About him and his ex-girlfriend," she said nervously.

             
"What about them?"

             
"Well
,
apparently he was really sweet
to her, treated her like a princess and everything. From what I heard he was a real gen
tleman until-"

             
"Until what Brook?"
I interrupted.

             
"Well, u
ntil she broke up with him and then he
just
switched
on her
and like hit her and st
uff.
They weren’t even together for very long but a
pparently it was like he just became a completely different person the minute that he knew that she didn’t want him anymore. He started to accuse her of cheating and all sorts
but it could be all lies, I don't know. It was just something that Mitch heard," she said as I already started to walk out of the room.

             
"Hey, where
are
you going?" She said as she raced behind me.

             
I ignored her and stood at the bottom of the stairs.

             
"Anthony!" I shouted up the stairs.

             
"Anthony, come on we’ve got to go!"

             
After a couple of minutes of shouting, he was running down the stairs, trying to zip up his jeans.

             
"What's going on?" Murphy asked.

             
“Please, Aiden it could just be lies,” Brook said as a look of panic filled her face.

             
“What could be lies?” Murphy asked. None of us answered his question.

             
“Anthony!” I shouted, again.

             
"This better be good dude, I was going for round three," Anthony said as he got to the bottom of the stairs.

             
"We got to go, it's April," I said as I began to walk out of the door, ignoring everyone's questions.

             
"What?" Anthony said with a more serious expression. I knew that he would understand.

             
"I'll explain in the car, come on," I said as I jumped into my silver mu
stang and started up the engine
.

             
"Let's go," Anthony said as he jumped in.

             
April’s text said that she was going to tell Jake the truth and if what Brook said was true and he got angry then April wasn’t safe. I needed to get to her.
I
just hope that I wasn't too late...

APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW

             
As I looked down at my phone and saw Aiden's name everything just made
perfect
sense.
I had gone on this date as friends, we talked at the park and I even got him to pick me up when Kyle and Aiden had a fight but I still just see him as a friend. Something tells me that he doesn’t see it that way and if that’s the case then I need to set things straight.
I couldn't keep leading Jake on like this, it just wasn't fair. No matter how much I tried to pretend, he would never be Aiden and it was time to just be honest with both him and myself.

             
"Sorry," I said as I quickly typed out my message to Aiden.

             
"It's cool," he said as he waited patiently until I was done.

             
"Look, Jake we need to talk," I said as I watched a sad expression fall onto his face.
Great, now I feel ten times worse.

             
"I moved too fast didn't I? I do this every time and then just scare people away," he said as he turned to face me.

             
"No, Jake you've done nothing wrong, you've been great. It's just-"

             
"Look, April, stop please, just let me say this. I've had a great night and I've never felt so comfortable with a girl before. I mean
,
you’re beautiful and down to
earth,
you don't get many girls like
you these days. I'm just saying, give me a chance," he said as he continued to stare at me.

             
I wanted to say ok, yeah I'll give you a chance but I would be lying. That would be me doing what I always do, running away from the truth. I was tired of being so nice that I had to compromise how I felt, I couldn’t do that anymore.

             
"I had a great time too, I really di
d but this isn't going to work."

             
"Why?"

             
"I think that I kind of have feelings for someone else," I mumbled.
Was i
t me or was I turning into Kyle?
I felt awful.

             
"Right," he said before resting his head on the steering wheel.

I didn't really know what to do, he seemed sad which shocked me as this was only the first date but maybe he liked me more than I realised.

             
I gently placed my hand on his back and tried to talk to him.

             
"Look, Jake you're a great guy and any girl would be lucky to have you-"

             
"
What
,
accept you?" He asked as his head shot back up.

             
The look in his eyes had changed now, he didn't look like the same gentle Jake that I had just spent the last fe
w hours with, in fact he looked
mad, real mad.

             
"You're pathetic you
know, just like all the rest. You just p
retend to be a sweet, little innocent chick when really
you’re all the same, aren't you?" H
e said in a harsh tone.

             
"It's not like that," I said in a gentle tone.

             
"It's not! Then tell me something? What was this all about, huh? You were trying to make some other moron jealous? Figured that sweet, little, pathetic Jake would be perfect for the role?" He spat back at me.

             
"Jake, what's gotten into you? You know that I would never do that," I said defensively.

             
"Ha! Don't put yourself on a pedestal April, you’re no better than the other easy chicks out there, that I've had before. I'll tell you this
though,
this is the last time that anyone is ever
going to treat me like a moron
. You're going to be the last!" He shouted.

             
A feeling of fear came over me and I was pretty sure that the panic in my eyes was more than visible. I suddenly felt vulnerable and scared.

             
This was so out of character for Jake or was it?

             
How well did I really know him?
I didn't.

             
"Jake, you're scaring me," I said as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel, making a vibration travel through-out his entire truck.

             
"Get out," he muttered under his breath.

             
"Jake," I whispered as I looked at him.

             
Before I knew it he had jumped out of the car, slammed hi
s car door and was opening mine
.

             
"I said get the hell out my truck!" He said as he dragged me by the arm and threw me out, onto the ground.
I fought with the tears that were threatening to pour down my cheeks, he was unpredictable and I didn't know what to expect.

             
"Do you have any idea how many times this has happened to me, huh? You're all the same, you just think you can use good guys and then throw them away when you're bored, right?" He said as he paced up and down.

             
I couldn't get the words out
of my mouth
and so I just shook my head from side to side. I couldn't stop the tears now, I was scared.

             
"Answer me!"

             
"No," I said as I sat, frozen on the steps of the Daniels
’
house.

             
"Liar!
All the same, every single one of you but this is it, I promise you
,
this is it!" He said as he walked over and grabbed my wrist even tighter than before.

             
"You think you can just flutter your eyelashes and have everything your way, don't you?" He said as he shook me.

             
"No," I said as the tears streamed down my hot cheeks.

             
Suddenly he began laughing as his grip on my wrist got tighter.

             
"Ouch, you're hurting me," I whispered.

             
"Hurting you? You want
to feel pain April? Believe me,
this is just the beginning!" He shouted as he shook me again.

             
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I heard Crystal shout from behind me.

             
"Get your hands off of her, now!" She said as she shoved him hard in the chest.

             
I can't explain why but it was as if everything was happening in slow motion. I knew what was going on but it seemed so distant, like I wasn't a part of it. There wa
s one thing that I knew
was one hundred percent
real though and that was the next thing that Jake said.

             
"Oh and April, this isn't over," he finally said before he sped off down the road.
I will never forget the look in his eyes or the truth in what he had just said.

             
"Oh
my gosh
! Are you ok?" Crystal said as she ran over to where I was sat.

             
I couldn't talk, instead I just let her lead me back inside. I could feel myself shaking, I could feel how clammy my hands were, I could taste the salty tears that were coming down my face one after the other, I could even feel the throbbing pain that constantly reminded me of what had just happened
, yet
I felt numb. I felt as though I was watching someone else right now, not me. That wasn't the same Jake that I had just been laughing with at the diner or the same Jake that had been so sweet all this time, that isn't possible.

             
"April, talk to me, I'm getting worried, please," Crystal said, breaking my thoughts.
I could hear my name but it was as if it didn't belong to me, I didn't want it to.

             
"April, you're scaring the hell out of me! I'm calling Aiden," she said as a look of fear filled her face.

             
"No, don't," I managed to whisper through my tears.

             
"You have to promise not to tell Anthony or Aiden anything, please," I pleaded with her.

             
"Tell us what?" Anthony said as him and Aiden appeared at the doorway.

             
I looked at Aiden's face and to say that he was angry, didn't even come close. He stayed completely silent as he walked over to where I was sat.

             
"Was it him?" He said as he gently lifted my wrist in the air
and examined it with a blank expression
. I hadn't realised but my wrist was covered in red marks from where Jake had grabbed me.

I shook my head to say yes, for some reason I knew that he meant Jake.

             
The silence in the room mixed with all
of
the stares that I was getting from Crystal, Anthony and Aiden caused me to burst into tears.

             
"I'm going to kill him," Aiden said before storming out of the door.

             
"Wait up bro, I'm coming with you," Anthony said as he followed him out of the door.

             
"Aiden don't do anything stupid," Crystal said as she too disappeared through the door.

             
As I listened to the screech of car wheels and the sound of voices turn
in
to silence, I sat there, staring at nothing.
I wanted to close my eyes and just pretend that none of this had ever happened.