Finding You

Chapter 37 - Us Against the World

"Both?" I offer.

"Okay, you know what," Ali says with a wave of her hand. "Just get dressed. We can talk about this at the mall, away from parental supervision."

And at that point, she doesn't need to tell me twice.

*****************************

"Wow, that's crazy," Alina says, letting out a breath before taking a sip of her smoothie. "And I thought I'd heard it all."

We've been at the mall for a few hours already, and I am exhausted. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like shopping as much as the next girl, but my sisters are on a whole 'nother level.

Whenever I go into a store, I mostly just browse. I walk around for a bit, stick to the sales areas, and see if anything catches my eye. Most of the time, I'll find a few things I like early on, and then I'm done pretty quickly.

My sisters on the other hand, they shop. I'm talking every rack, every aisle, every color. Alina in particularly hates it when she goes into a store and doesn't get to look at every section. After all, she can't risk accidentally missing the perfect outfit. I understand where she's coming from, really I do, and if I had the stamina for it, maybe I'd be the same way.

But unfortunately, despite all the endurance training I just did for Track, a few hours of shopping still takes it out of me.

In the end, we shopped until I dropped, and now we're sitting in the food court, taking a much-needed break. Well, it was a break at least, until Alina started giving me the third degree about everything that happened with Hunter.

I've just finished recounting the whole story to both of them, and she shakes her head.

"You know, I met him and everything too," she says. "I can't believe I didn't see that."

"Join the club," I reply, leaning my head on my hand.

"So have you talked to him since then?" Clara asks.

I shake my head. "No," I reply, playing with the straw in my own smoothie. "I mean, I think he wants to. I just don't know if I'm ready."

"Why not?" Clare asks. "I mean, do you think he doesn't like you or something?"

"No, it's not that," I say. "He obviously cares, in some way at least. It's just, he was lying to me for so long. He only told me the truth because I found out about it. I'm not sure how to get past that."

"Well, think about it, Mia," Ali says. "Was there any way he could have told you that wouldn't have resulted in this?"

"Yes," I answer before considering it. "Maybe? I don't know, but he let me find out from someone else, which was definitely the worst possible way."

"See, this is exactly why I don't date in high school," Clara adds, shaking her head. Ali and I both give her a look.

"You don't date in high school because you just got there like five minutes ago," I tell her.

"Yeah, shut up," Ali says at the same time.

Youngest siblings, am I right?

Clare just sits back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm just saying, if you had never dated Sean, this never would've happened."

I roll my eyes at her. "Don't you think I know that?" I say. "There are lots of things that never would've happened if I had never dated Sean."

But her words make me ask myself an important question.

If I could go back and do it all over again, knowing what I know now, would I do things differently? If I had never dated Sean, none of this ever would have happened. Hunter would never have gone after me. I never would have gotten to know him the way I did. I never would have fallen in love with him the way I did.

These last few months were the happiest I'd ever been in my entire life. The most seen, the most known, the most wanted I've ever felt. Would I give all that up just because I know how it's going to end?

"We could go back and forth on 'what ifs' all day," Ali interjects. "All that matters is what you're going to do now."

"Why this sudden interest in my love life?" I ask her. "You didn't even like Hunter."

"I never said that," she replies.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "You didn't seem all that friendly when he was over for dinner last month," I say.

"I'll admit, I've been nicer," she says, and I let out a short laugh. "I was just testing him. From what I could tell, it seemed like he really cared about you."

"Believe it or not, I agree," Clara says.

I give her a look. "I thought you said having a boyfriend in high school was stupid."

"That was when you were dating Sean," she replies. "I never liked him, he gave me bad vibes from the beginning," she finishes with a shudder. "Hunter was cool though. He liked some of the same bands as me, so that's always a good sign. It means he has good tastes," she says with a smile.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Alina says.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," she replies. "Look, Mia, I understand why you're upset, okay? What he did was wrong, and hurtful, and you have every right to be as mad at him as you are. But -"

I sigh. "Of course there's a but," I say, leaning back in my chair.

"But from what you were telling me, I think he knows that he made a mistake, and I don't think it's one he'll make again," she continues. "I think it's wrong not to give him a chance to convince you of that."

"I get what you're saying, I do," I say. "I just.. I'm scared, you know? I'm not really all that mad anymore, it's fear now more than anything. I mean, I'm afraid of getting hurt and looking stupid. I'm afraid that giving him another chance would make me an idiot. I'm afraid that I'm in love with a person who doesn't even exist, and I don't know what to do about that."

Ali leans back in her chair. "The way I see it, it doesn't really matter how you and Hunter met. You love him now, and he loves you," she says. "I don't think you should let pride get in the way of that."

I lean back in my chair and let out a sigh. Maybe she's got a point. I glance up at her. "And if you're wrong?" I ask.

"So much to learn, little sister," Alina says before picking up her smoothie and taking a sip. She grins at me. "I'm never wrong."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N - Song at the top is Us Against the World by Play. It's a song my sisters, and I have always sang with each other for as long as I can remember, so lots of fond memories :)

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