Letter's

The Truth

Knowing that she made a BIG mistake, Aphmau rummaged through her bag and pulled out a single piece of paper. Zane takes it with such force it throws Aphmau back a second; she knew he was going to not be happy when the truth came out, but she WILDLY miscalculated HOW bad.

Zane read the letter desperately and calculating how devastating this was going to be. And to his relief, it was the one where he didn’t put Travis’s name on it. And Zane was able to take a deep breath before turning it back around with full force at Aphmau.

“How long were you planning on not telling me this!”
“Not that long, I promise!”
“And the last promise you made to me you said you would tell me the truth! Hiding important information is NOT telling the truth!”

Aphmau was hopping from one foot to the other as she tried to figure out what to say next. “Wellllllll, I-”, Aphmau took a deep breath and quickly said, “I know how you are with love! You would rather deny the fact you can feel just to not inconvenience anyone else! Don’t you deserve love too?”

“I understand that, but don't you think this crosses some boundaries?”
“Maybe I went at this the wrong way, and I'm sorry for that, but you're not the one to stand up for yourself in this type of situation, so I took it into my own hands.” 
“That's not a good excuse! You’re just evading the problem and putting the blame on me!”
“Yes, I'm sorry! Sorry! You have done nothing wrong! I just want to see you happy!”
“YOU THINK ‘THIS’ MAKES ME HAPPY!”

At this time everyone else is just slowly backing away from what is happening, hoping to not get involved. This is when Katelyn comes out to see the mess. She asks her confused friends to figure out what is going on, and they either don’t know or don’t want to know. And not too long after, comes Travis; who just looks defeated, then confused. Which makes everyone paying attention more bewildered.

“I'M SORRY BUT-” Aphmau is still choking up.
“IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? ‘I'm sorry’! Why not explain why you SHOWED it to everyone!” It is easy to see that Zane is red in the face, even with the limited amount you can see of it.
“Well even without the letter, I can tell that you are so much happier with the one you love. Why not give them a shot?”
“How do you know ‘who I love’?!”
“Zane, I'm your best friend, there are not that many people who you COULD love. Trust me, it wasn't hard to connect the dots.”
“Ok, even so, why not ask me first? Before, I don’t know? EVERYONE ELSE?!”
“You would just deny it, you do it all the time!”
“So your best idea was to string me along and hope that I would, what, ask them out eventually?”
“Yeah? That's kinda it?”
Zane, very puzzled, ”Why would you think that?”
“Because you just need to come out of your shell! Come on, you and Katelyn look so cute together! Why not?”

“BECAUSE HAVE YOU MET ME? I'M NOT TYPE OF-” Zane stops and finally processes what Aphmau said, “Wait. Repeat that, what?”
“You and Katelyn are a great match ok? Everyone thinks so, please just listen, we care about you!”

Aphmau's weird behavior finally makes sense. She, somehow, thought HE was in love with Katelyn, instead of Travis. Zane thought back to the last time Aphmau had been in his room, she had cleaned it and the letter was on the floor. She then started to pair him up with Katelyn. And had him sing with her. Left them alone in the mall together. This was Aphmau's attempt to have them go on a ‘date’.

Zane pinched the bridge of his nose. He then slowly turned around and asked, “How many of you think I'm in love with Katelyn?” The group looked at each other and all raised their hands. This is when Zane sees that both Katelyn and Travis are in said group, raising their hands. Well, that at least explains why Travis was mad at him before.

There was now just one question in his mind, “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why Katelyn?”
Someone in the group asks, “You are in love with Katelyn right?”
“NO! NOT AT ALL! What would make me LOVE her? No offense Katelyn, you’re a nice person, BUT WHY WOULD I LOVE HER!”

This startles everyone. Aphmau pipes up, “Well I thought with the way you look at her, well I just-”
Zane cuts her off, “You thought a LOT of wrong things about me, it turns out.”
“FINE, if you don't love Katelyn, then who do you love?
“That is definitely NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Zane pokes his finger at Aphmau. “Not after all of THIS”.

The tension in the room is getting so thick it is almost impossible to breathe. “If you don't tell me who you love I will figure it out! Mark my words!”

Zane can tell Aphmau is being serious about that statement. But it's not like he cares, he will never tell her that he’s in love with Travis. And if the fact she was so fully convinced he was in love with Katelyn instead shows anything, it says she's not getting what she wants anytime soon.

“I don't care what you think! I'm out of here, fuck you!” With that, Zane stormed off. He went to his car, put the rest of his stuff that he bought in the back with the others, and sat in the driver's seat. He was just so tired. He couldn’t think, it was like all the fire burning inside of him just went out. He didn’t know if he wanted to cry or collapse. He looked at that dumb bear in the back seat, and after a bit, his body came back to him; letting him drive home.

When he made it he didn't bother with the stuff he just purchased, just shakingly made his way to his room. When he hit the bed it seems his mistakes of the past decided to come and hunt him, as he was unable to fall asleep. He tossed and turned but the memories of not only today, but all the times he almost let slip his crush flooded his brain.

In the mess of the state his mind is in, Zane got up and went to that secret drawer. Opening it was like a tsunami of mistakes and regret. Lost potential, the hope of what could have been. Zane picked up each one and read it, the worst ones, and the ok ones. He was glad Aphmau only found that one letter, as some of these were pretty bad. Some even made him laugh, some made him laugh at himself.

It would be a good couple of hours before Zane can find it in himself to put them all away; a lot more carefully too. He didn't want any more loose letters getting into anyone else's hands. By the time Zane was able to force himself to sleep it was midnight, what a waste of a day.