The Ways You Make Me feel

Chapter 7

            Holding a lukewarm tea in one hand, I was looking down at my phone with the other one. I didn't see the person who was coming out of their room at exactly the same time I was passing by it, and crashed directly into them. I was in shock for a few seconds before reacting.

            "Oh my gosh, Celestial! I'm so sorry!" I cried, quickly going over to the counter to grab paper towels to help her. "I should have been more careful!"

            Taking the towels I was handing her, she shook her head and began quickly patting at her now-soaked PJS. I really did feel bad and not at all content in anyway.

            "It's fine." She chuckled. "I saw it was an accident!"

            Just then, Jasen came out of the room Celestial had walked from a few moments before, probably to see what all the commotion was outside of it.

             "What is—?"

                He cut himself off quickly when he saw Celestial covered in tea. His eyes widened, then quickly narrowed. I had gone from feeling bad I could have woken him to nervous at his look.

              "What the hell happened?!" He snapped so harshly that it left both Celestial and me taken aback. "Who did this to you?!"

            "Ari—"

            Jasen didn't even let Celestial finish her sentence before marching over to me and getting into my face. Much to my utter shock and disbelief. My eyes got huge like a deer in the headlights.

            "What the hell is wrong with?!" he raged, his hands flying up in the air. "How could you be so clumsy and why are you even on our bus?!"

            By now, Chase and Rylan had both come on the bus as well. They were standing to the side, looking as shocked at Jasen as the rest of us. I could feel the tears building in my eyes as he continued to yell at me, but I tried to hold them back.

           "Jasen—" Celestial tried to step in, probably to explain that the whole thing was an accident, but he ignored her.

            "You must be really Jealous of her to pull something like that off!"

            This time the tears started embarrassingly cascading down my cheeks. Jasen's own eyes widened, and he took a step back from me in surprise, whether at himself or the fact, I was actually crying. I couldn't hold back any longer. This was the last straw when it came to him.

             "That's really what you believe of me, huh?!"

              "I—" he tried to say but I cut him off.

            "No." I put my hand up to silence him, calmly collectedly. "After not seeing each other for 8 years and you barely talking to me since I got here, you think you know me now?" My own tone got harsher and angrier as I spoke towards the end.

             Nothing came out of his mouth for a few moments, and I took that as him being speechless. I didn't want to deal with this anymore. I walked off their bus that I had only gotten on to look for Chase and made my way back to the bus I shared with Elizabeth. It was nighttime and very cold out, but I had to clear my head. I walked into my room and changed into a warmer outfit, grabbing a coat and scarf as well. I then walked back out to the front room where Elizabeth now stood, looking surprised.

            "Where are you going?!" she cried, placing her hands on her hips. "It's ten o'clock at night!"

             "I need some air," I muttered, unfazed by her words. "Jasen just got done yelling at me, and I need to clear my mind."

             "What?" she was utterly flabbergasted by my words.

             "You can ask him all about it." I waved my hand dismissively. "All I can say is the whole thing was an accident."

           And with that, I closed our bus door gently behind me and made my way off into the night. I had not much of a clue where I was, but I had my phone, and I was going to follow the GPS so as not to get completely lost. I managed to find my way to a nearby park and just sat down on a bench. I put my head in my hands and just let myself cry once again. Tired of all the built-up ache in my chest that I knew needed to be let go of.

            Gazing up at the night sky, I could see the moon was now in full view. It reminded me of the night Jasen had come to say goodbye to me. It had been just two days later that he'd packed up and was gone. He didn't come to see me on the day of departure, and I did not seek him out either. I let my mind wonder for a moment if things could have been different had I worked up the courage to see Jasen the day he left. . .

            "Ari. . ."

             I looked up shocked and then outraged to see him standing a few feet across from me.

            "What the hell are you doing here, Jasen?!" I snapped, finally having lost all patience.

            Jasen looked sheepishly back at me. "Celestial let me know what happened was just accident. . ."

             "Yes?! And?!" I hissed. "Do you think that makes what you did okay suddenly?!"

              Jasen looked at the ground. For a moment, I almost felt bad for yelling at him, but I had gone through so much with him that I just couldn't take it anymore. At this point, I was coming to the conclusion that I might want him out of my life for good.

            "I made a mistake," he murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

           "So is this who you've become." I laughed sarcastically. "The famous boy treats all others not famous like commoners beneath one's self?!"

            Jasen's head quickly shot up at me and his eyes narrowed. "You don't know a damn about me!"

            "Oh no?" I countered. "I am just the one who was there before this all happened to you."

            Jasen flinched, and I knew it was because he knew I was right. His shoulders drooped in defeat. I was satisfied for a second until he looked back up at me, his eyes filled with tears. My heart dropped, and I was astounded.

            "I had to do what I did, Ari," Jasen went on, sounding pained. "I knew you wouldn't be able to take being a part of my current world. . ."