Living It Up

Chapter Thirteen

Just as I managed to reach the calm surroundings of the forest, he caught up to me and called out. "Hey wait... Aria!"

I froze in my tracks, and whipped around so fast, I was afraid I'd fractured some bones.

"Did you just call me Aria again?" I asked, feeling angry.

"I... um..."

"You're still in love with her, aren't you? You never saw me as myself, just as someone who reminds you of your ex," I whispered, folding my arms across my chest in an attempt to stop feeling so vulnerable.

Drew opened his mouth as if to object but closed it again, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

I shook my head before turning around and practically running the other way. I could feel my eyes tearing up and I didn't want Drew to see that.

I hated this. I hated how I always ended up crying whenever I had any kind of confrontation. It made me look weak. I didn't want Drew to see how much it had hurt me. All my insecurities started multiplying the more I thought back about everything. Why would any guy actually like a girl like me? I was too shy and boring. I'd been stupid to even consider the possibility. That was partially the reason why it had been so hard to accept even to myself that I liked him.

I didn't stop running till I reached the shore of the lake. I felt exhausted, being in one of my favorite self-pitying moods, and I slid down to the ground. I sat with my back against the bark of a tree, my head resting on my knees.

"Alex. I'm really sorry." He had somehow found me.

I wiped away my tears as inconspicuously as I could. "Just leave me alone," I said, standing up.

"Wait. I need to explain. I was so stupid, my mind just blanked out back there. Just hear me out, please? You deserve to know the whole story. Then I promise I'll leave you alone if that's what you want," Drew pleaded.

Part of me wanted to ignore him and just get the hell out of there, but the other part of me was curious. I sighed, sitting back down. "Alright, make it quick."

Drew sat down cross legged facing me, with a relieved look. He started picking at the grass at his feet, trying to gather his thoughts.

"I don't remember how much I've told you about Aria, so I'll just start over and explain the whole thing from the beginning.

"Aria's family and mine have been close since before we were born. So  naturally, we grew up together, and we used to be inseparable. We were best friends, and in freshman year high school, I asked her out and we officially became a couple. It was like a cliché movie, but it felt perfect.

"The rational part of me always knew she had her flaws just like every other human, more flaws than most others actually, but I chose to ignore them.

"That was until this summer. Her parents got divorced a year back, and she'd changed a lot. Then this summer, her mom remarried, and they started living with the new husband and his son, Javier.

"My friends had been warning me about her for a long time, but I thought that she was just going through a difficult time and would straighten out in due course, you know? I figured I had to be there for her, be the boyfriend and best friend that she needed," Drew said, now plucking fistfuls of the grass with anger.

"Apparently, she didn't care. I went to her house one day to surprise her with a picnic date or some sappy shit like that, and guess what? I walked in on her in bed with Javier. She had been fucking her stepbrother behind my back the whole summer."

I flinched a little, never having heard Drew talk like this before. I could see the hurt in his eyes, now a dark stormy shade, and I wished I could comfort him in some way.