Pretend (40 page)

             
"Yeah
dude
, calm down. I wasn't looking for anything serious with
Blondie
, just a little fu
n but I guess she weren't game.
Apparently she didn't like it rough. Did you see her wrist by the way?" He asked with the biggest smile on his face.

             
That was it, I don't know how I found the strength but I broke free of Anthony and before I knew it,
my
fist was touching Jake's face.

             
"If you ever s
o much as look at her or breathe
the same air as her again, I'm going to make you wish that you had never been born!" I screamed in his face as I dragged him up off of the floor and held him up by his black tee.
This guy
was either stupid or sick because he just burst out laughing. Blood was trickling down his nose and he was laughing.

             
"She means that much to you, really? She wasn't really my type," he said as he drew his mouth closer to my ear.

             
"I like them a little bit
feistier
, like your sister," he whispered into my ear.

             
As I went to punch him again I was literally lifted in the air by Anthony and turned around.

             
"Get of
f me! I'm going to kill him
!"

             
"No, calm down! Don't be stupid! C
an't you see what he's doing?" Anthony asked as he tried to stop me from hitting Jake again.

             
"I don't care, move, now!" I shouted.

             
"No!"

             
"Move!"
I said as I shoved him hard in the chest as I watched the amusement in Jake's eyes.

             
"So,
are
you going to fight me too, now?" Anthony asked in an angry voice.

             
"If you d
on't get the hell out of my way, then
yes!"

             
"Look at me! Look at me!" Anthony shouted as he grabbed my head so that I could only see him and not Jake.

             
"He is doing this on purpose!"

             
"I know!"

             
"Then don't fall for it dude, you have too much to lose and he knows that. If something happens tonight it will go on your record dude," he said in a straight voice.

             
He was right.

             
"Maybe
I don't care," I said as I heard Jake laughing behind Anthony.

             
"You do care. You're a straight A student man and captain of the team. Are you going to mess all
of
that up for this jerk?"

             
"Listen to him Aiden," Jake muttered from behind.

             
"Shut up!" Anthony shouted back at Jake.

             
"Listen to me. Are you going to get yourself a record for this nobody? Ruin your chances of college for him and do time instead, huh?"

             
"No!" I finally shouted.

             
"Then walk away," he said, staring me dead in the eyes.

I stood still as I took in his words. My arms were shaking and my heart was racing like mad.
 

             
"Walk away," he said in a calmer voice.
I stood still for one more minute and then without saying a word, I turned around and started to head towards my car.

             
"Well done," Jake said as I heard him clapping his hands.

I had to force myself not to turn around as I could hear the smirk in his voice. He wasn’t even sorry.

             
"Aiden might be a straight
A
student but I
ain't
and neither am I from around here," I heard Anthony say from behind me.
By the time I had turned around, Jake was already lying in a heap on the floor as Anthony laid another kick into his side.

             
"Stop," I said as I dragged Anthony back.

             
"You were right, this isn't the way," I said in a serious voice.

Anthony shook his head and then followed me to the car.

* * *

             
The first half of the journey was spent in silence as I listened to mine and Anthony's attempts to catch our breaths and calm down. It turns out that I wasn't the only one that Jake got mad tonight.

             
"You ok?" Anthony finally asked, breaking the silence.

             
"Yeah dude, you?"

             
"I'm cool, my knuckles are t
hrobbing but it was worth it
," he said as he let out a slight laugh.

             
"Dude, what happened to your whole speech back there, that kind of went out of the window," I asked as I continued to drive towards Anthony’s Cousin's house.

             
"That was for you
, I don't want you messing up your chances in college for a jerk like Jake. It's different for me," he said.

             
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked in a frustrated tone.

             
"Well
I'm not
a
n
straight A student am I, it don't matter if I add another thing to my record," he said in a sad voice.

             
"Shut up man. You are smart, you just need to start believing it," I said as I glanced at him.

             
"As sweet as it is to hear you say all those girly things, you just drove past my cousin's house," he said as he started to laugh.

             
"
Ahhh
damn," I said as I stopped in the middle of the road and reversed all the way back to the house.

             
"How you passed, I'll never know," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"What are you talking about dude, I'm a skilled driver," I said with a smirk on my face.

             
"Yeah course, you keep telling yourself that. Anyway dude, stay out of trouble ok?" He said as he stared me straight in the eyes.

             
"Yeah I'm cool now. Plus I think that punch you gave Jake may just last a good few weeks," I said as we both burst out laughing.

             
"Yeah,
laters
," he said as he jumped out of the car.

             
"Sort it out with April
!" He shouted as he walked up the path.

             
I put my thumb u
p, smiled and then drove away. I guess that it’s t
ime to face the music.

APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW

             
"Anthony just text
to say that they've just left Jake’s. Everything's ok," Crystal said as she placed her phone back in her lap.

             
"Good," I replied.

             
"So you can stop panicking now," she said as she gave my hand a squeeze for like the tenth time tonight.

             
I could tell that she was really worried about me and it was nice. I can only imagine how she felt when she saw Jake outside earlier, it was horrible. Crystal could be a bit bossy and interfering sometimes but there was no denying that when I needed her she was ther
e. That's why it was killing me
to not tell her about Aiden but I didn't want to lose her over it, not now, not after everything that
had
just happened. I knew one thing and that was that I really was in love with Aiden, tonight proved that and I didn't know how much longer I could hide that fact from her.

             
"You ok?" She asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

             
"Yeah
,
just tired," I answered as a yawn escaped my lips.

             
"Me too, I'm going up now, you coming?"

             
"No
,
I'm going to wait up for Aiden. I need to thank him for what he did for me tonight, it’s the least
that
I can do," I said.

             
"Ok, goodnight," she said as she walked towards the door.

             
"Crystal wait, I have to tell you something," I said as I slowly stood up.

             
"What's up?" She asked as a worried look filled her face.

             
Just take a deep breath and say it. Tell her the truth.

             
What's the worst that could happen?

             
She could hate me forever and make me chose between her and Aiden.
 
How could I do that when I loved them both?

             
"Thank you," I said as I walked up to her and threw my arms around her.

             
"For what?"
She said as she threw her arms around me too.

             
"Just, being you. Pushing Jake away today, everything," I said as a tear escaped my eye.

             
"April
,
you're my best friend and I love you, I will do anything for you," she said as she gripped me even tighter.
I felt guilty but I couldn’t tell her now, not tonight.

             
"I know," I whispered before finally letting her go.

             
"Goodnight," she said as she smiled at me.

             
"Goodnight," I said as I watched her walk up the stairs.

             
I took in a deep breath and then sat back down on the chair.

I flicked
through
the
station
s to see what was on and stopped when I dis
covered that Liar
Liar
was on. It was kind of c
onvenient for my situation. Oh well, I sure as hell needed some comedy right now and a good dose of Jim Carrey always did the trick.

             
After about fort
y minutes of watching Liar
Liar
I was finally feeling better. It was probably because I had spent so much time laughing at the film, that my problems seemed to fade into the past. That was until I heard the front door open.

             
Jumping up and poking my head through the living room door, I spotted a tired looking Aiden, walking in.

             
"Hey," I whispered as he shut the
front
door in, quietly.

             
“Hey,” he replied quietly.

             
“Where have you been? Anthony text ages ago,” I said as I stared into his sad eyes.

             
“I was just driving, I needed to think,” he said as he avoided eye contact with me. I decided not to push the issue any further, I guess that tonight bothered him more than I realised.

             
“Ok.”

             
"How come y
ou
’re
still awake?" He whispered as he walked behind me into the living room and closed in the door, gently.

             
"I wanted to wait up for you, to say thanks," I said as I slumped back into the chair and turned the TV down a little.

             
"You don't need to thank me," he said as he took the seat next to me.

             
"I really do, if it wasn't for me then none of this would have happened," I replied.

             
"None of this wa
s your fault, he had no excuse to do what he did," he said as his eyes glanced at my wrist.

             
I quickly pulled my sleeve down, slightly embarrassed that the mark was still there.

             
"So, what happened?" I asked, terrified of the answer.

             
"Nothing really."

             
"Nothing?"
I asked as I tilted my head and stared at him.