I Am The Lie That Keeps You Divine

7.

Mandy's POV

A few days later

-

I've been hanging out with my family for the past few days. I hung out with Chris's mom and dad the other day and hung out with his brother yesterday.

Today is the day of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Chris is gonna have the kids since he just wants to stay at home and have the guys come over, and by that time, the kids will be in bed.

Gwen already told Chris that Tyler can be out there as long as they don't start telling raunchy jokes and that she wants Tyler in bed by ten.

The girls are all going over to Ryan-Ashley and Balz's apartment and we're just gonna do girl stuff and joke around.

Zeke hasn't tried to call or text me at all. I'm guessing we're on break right now, but I'm not going to jump the gun because he may just be busy.

My phone began to buzz. I looked down at it, hoping for it to be Zeke. Nope. It was Ryan.

I rolled my eyes and answered it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Mandy" Ryan said.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch with me?" He asked.

As much as I don't want to make Zeke upset. I'm hungry. And if Zeke isn't gonna talk to me, I'm gonna do what I want.

No, that doesn't mean I'm going to fuck around on him and break his heart. But if an ex asks to hang out and it's completely platonic, yes, I'm going to do so.

If Zeke wants a reason to not trust me, I'll give him one no problem- while remaining completely faithful to him.

"Sure, why not?" I said.

"Alright, I'll be there to get you in like twenty minutes" he said.

"Alright, see you then" I said.

"Bye" he said before hanging up.

Now to play the waiting game.

-

Ryan came and got me. He hasn't tried to pull anything yet. Which is good.

He took me to this one diner that we used to go to when we were together.

"So how have you been Mandy?" He asked.

"I've been okay, I guess. What about you?" I asked.

"I've been good" he said. A silence fell between us and it wasn't comfortable. It was awkward as fuck.

I should have expected things to be awkward. Aside from the other night when we argued, we haven't spoke to each other since we broke up.

"So... How's school?" He asked, trying to make small talk.

"Good" I said.

"That's good" he said as the waitress showed up to take our orders.

"What can I get you two today?" She asked. We ordered our food.

"Fuck. Mandy, I'm just gonna put this out there. I really do regret not taking you back when you tried to get me back. I'm sorry. I know you have a boyfriend but I just thought I'd put that out there" he said.

"Can we not talk about this here?" I asked.

"I guess, I just needed to get that off my chest" he said.

"Okay" I said.

"I hope I didn't cause anything to happen between you and your boyfriend" he said.

"It's whatever. I'm not even sure if I still have a boyfriend. After I stormed off, I called him and told him and he made it very clear that he has never had any trust for me. He hasn't bothered calling me or texting me and he won't answer when I try to get ahold of him" I said.

"Just ignore him. He'll get over himself." He said.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch to you the other night. I was just terrified of speaking to you since we haven't had a civil conversation since we were broken up. That, and Zeke asked me not to speak to any of my exes" I told him.

"It's completely understandable. I'm sorry for not listening to you" he said.

"So, I have a boyfriend, have you met any girls that have caught your eye yet?" I asked, smirking.

I know he's my ex boyfriend and all but if we're gonna be friends, I need to try to make conversation with him and joke around.

"No, not really. I haven't really been with any girls since you. I mean, I've went on a few dates with a girl and hooked up with her but I'd hardly call her a girlfriend" he said.

"At least you're honest" I said.

"I have no reason to lie. I mean, I can't lie and say that I've fucked tons of girls since I dated you" he said.

"True..." I said.

"Is Zeke the only guy you've dated since we broke up?" He asked.

"Yeah. And I'll be honest with you... I..." I said, trying to get the words out but the end of my sentence didn't want to come out.