Bringing him back

Mending

Autumn wipes away her feeble tears, feeling both mad at James and ashamed at herself. Her head hurt from all the feelings and thoughts that were whirling in her mind. She was mad because he would have gave up their friendship for the sake of his name; she was jealous and hurt because James had called Lindsey the perfect girl; she was sad for James for having to endure all those years of bullying and neglect; she was ashamed of herself for yelling at James when he had obviously tried to make things right. Her stomach hurt.

Autumn sighs and forces herself to stand up and start walking. The forest was quiet; the wind had died down, which left Autumn entirely to her thoughts. Her stomach clenched painfully as she went over the events in her head. Why did she have to shout at him? Couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? She had his hand in hers, for crying out loud! She had to ruin it, like she ruined everything.

The trees began to thin as Autumn slowly makes her way out of the forest. The quiet atmosphere dissolves as she makes her way to the edge of the forest. Cars driving by, doors opening and closing, and dogs barking fills Autumn's ears as she emerges into the sunlight. She glances around for James, but he had a decent head start and must have retreated to his house. Autumn doesn't know if she's disappointed or relieved.

She quickly cuts across the yard and opens the creaky door to let herself inside. Emily greets her in the kitchen, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She gives Autumn a smile and motions to the ingredients on the counter.

"Want me to make you a sandwich?"

"No thank you." Autumn says, grinning apologetically. Emily shrugs her shoulders and begins wiping up the peanut butter globs she left on the counter. Autumn turns, giving Emily a wave and begins walking up the stairs. Once she makes it to her room, she begins shedding off layers. Off goes her coat, her jacket, her shoes and her socks. She lays down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

After about three minutes, she grows restless. She wiggles her phone out of her pocket and decides to text Olivia again. It takes her awhile to decide on what to say, but she eventually comes up with something decent.

Olivia. I'm sorry, alright? I wish you'd talk to me. I didn't mean to upset you this badly. Honestly, can you please text me back? Tell me what I need to do to make this up to you? I want to be friends.

Fairly satisfied with the text, Autumn hits send and waits. Only one short minute later, her phone buzzes in her hand. Autumn flips her phone open and reads the text.

I just wish you wouldn't put a guy ahead of me. I've been here longer than he has.

Autumn reads this, and debates on what she should text back. Should she tell Olivia all the events that occurred? About how he did remember her after all this time? Or would that just add to Olivia's fury, and convince her even further that James was a bad person? She chews lightly on her thumb as she stares at her phone screen. A piece of hair falls into her eyes and she pushes it behind her ear. She finally decides on what she wants to say.

It wasn't like I was ignoring you...You know me! I get super flustered and nervous at little things, imagine me around a boy I like! I promise it wasn't like I was choosing him over you.

Autumn hits send and begins waiting impatiently for Olivia's reply. Her heart was hammering loudly; she was afraid that Olivia would still be mad at her. She slides back on the bed, resting her back against the wall. She lays her head on her knees, and begins wiggling her toes as a source for quick entertainment. One minute goes by. And then another... And another... She checks her phone to see if Olivia had responded yet and she didn't feel the vibrate. That wasn't the case. Autumn rolls her shoulders back and shifts her weight uncomfortably. There's a knock on the door.

"Come in." Autumn says. Her mother peaks her head in the door and gives Autumn a smile.

"You alright?" she asks. Autumn nods her head.

"Well dinner's ready. I made spaghetti."

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." she says. Her mom leaves the room and Autumn gives one more glance at her phone. There were no new messages. She sighs and makes her way downstairs.

Dinner was nice and quick. Emily did most of the talking, covering up the fact that Autumn was nearly silent the whole meal. It wasn't as if she was depressed, just deep in thought. After dinner, Autumn excuses herself and retreats back up to her room. She turns on her TV and starts up Finding Nemo. She gets comfortable, her full stomach making her drowsy. Her neck was having a hard time of supporting her head and her eyes could hardly remain open.

Autumn sinks underneath the heavy blankets, lazily watching the movie. Her eyes were remaining closed for longer periods of time... She's nearly asleep when her phone vibrates.

Okay, I understand that you were flustered. But can you see why it hurt my feelings? But I get it. Next time though, don't hang up on me without an explanation, please? And next time I promise to try and not take it so personally. I'm free tomorrow if you want to hang out.

Autumn reads the text and smiles. She sends Olivia some of her plans that she had thought up in Study Hall. Autumn rests her head back down on her pillow smiling. Their fight had hardly lasted a day. They were normal again. Now if only Autumn could mend her and James' relationship.