Unexpected Love

Unexpected Love 10- When it all comes crashing down, I'll still be standing

            I woke up early on Monday morning. I took a long shower, blow dried my hair, put the barest hints of makeup on, dressed, and threw everything in my bag. I pulled on a pair of flats to be comfortable that day. I had eaten before anyone else, so I had time to sit in front of my mirror. There was no sign on my face that I’d been crying all weekend. That was done. They’d never see that. Nick Williams used and crushed girls all the time, and they still begged him to come back to them. I wouldn’t be one of them. He’d been texting and calling me all weekend. Arsehole.  I let my guard down and looked at myself again. My eyes looked so sad. That blue-grey-purple colour that people I didn’t know would comment on was still there, but it was swimming in sorrow. Not tears, they just looked sad. I shook my head. I tucked every last emotion behind my eyes and my guard was up again. I lifted my chin. I could do this. There was no doubt about it.

            I went down the stairs before Jack could scream for me. He looked surprised when he saw me, and he searched my face for any hint of– anything. After he was satisfied that I was in complete control of myself he nodded and led the way to the car. We were silent in the car until we came into sight of the school.

            “You can do it, Gemma. You’ve always have been able to.” Jack told me.

            “I know I can. Thank you.” I replied, and that was it. We pulled into the parking lot and got out.

            As I walked through the corridors I saw how they all looked me, I heard them whisper about me, I noticed how they all quieted down to turn and stare at me. News certainly had travelled fast, and considering they had Friday night to Monday morning, they had come up with plenty of conjectures and rumours regarding Nick and I. So let them talk. I wouldn’t make a spectacle of myself for them.

            I tried to go about the day as normally as possible. It was difficult, considering I had always been with Nick and the guys and that was no longer an option, but I managed. I could manage a group of self-centred teenagers who thought they had a drama deficiency. So I ignored them all, waved Jack away, and I sat with Julie, Paul, and their friends during break. They didn’t ask any questions, so I didn’t have to answer any. I felt guilty about sitting with them only when I had no one else, but truth be told, I infinitely preferred their company, and hopefully they would not be offended. They seemed understanding though.

            As we left the cafeteria Nick came up to me, ignoring the people around me. “Why are you ignoring me?” he asked.

            I looked at him coldly. “What would you have me do?”

            “Well we’re never going to sort anything out if you ignore me!”

            “I see no need to sort anything out, Nick. This is over, finito. No discussion necessary. Goodbye.” I walked away from him and the others followed me. Nick stared after me.

            “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he shouted after me.

            I turned around. “Wrong pronoun. You should have used first person singular, not second.”

            “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

            “Figure it out! Put your brain to some real use! There! Are you happier now that I’m not ignoring you anymore? You seem perturbed all of a sudden. But then again, I really don’t care anymore.”

            “What is wrong with you?! There obviously is, because–”

            “Say it, Nick. Finish the sentence. Say what you’re thinking. There’s obviously something wrong with me because I’m turning down the opportunity to be your girlfriend? Say it! Say it out loud so that you’ll actually hear how arrogant you are. Say it, for fuck’s sake!”

            That shut him up. He looked shocked and almost guilty. “We’re over, Nick.” I glanced at the quiet lunchroom that was staring at us. “Congratulations, you gave them the spectacle they were craving. Do you feel important? I hope you got at least that, that’s all you’ve ever really wanted, isn’t it? Well you’ve got it now. Enjoy.”

            I sighed and walked out of the still silent room.

            Paul and Julie followed me. “No one turns down Nick Williams, Gemma.”

            “Well, I do. I just did.”

            “Yeah, we sort of got that,” Paul smirked.

            “I’m not a dumb, air-headed bimbo who will stand by and take all of his crap and be forgiving him on a day-to-day basis! And Nick should know that! So I’m better off without him,” I ranted.

            Paul chuckled and slung an arm around my shoulders. “No need to convince us. Come on, let’s head over to art.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd person POV

            “What is wrong with her, Jack?” Nick asked, pacing up and down the bathroom floor. “What the hell is wrong with her?”

            “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

            “She doesn’t even give me a chance to make it up to her! It’s like she doesn’t want to get back together.”

            Jack stared at his friend. He really didn’t know that what he had done was wrong, and what to expect for doing it? Maybe Gemma was right, this society was screwed up and none of them realised it. Jack had been angry with Nick, but he also subconsciously realised that he couldn’t do anything to Nick because that was how society worked. And now he realised that Nick was completely oblivious. “She doesn’t,” he told Nick bluntly.

            Nick stopped pacing. “What?”

            “You cheated on her, Nick. Why should she want to be with anyone who cheated on her?”

            “Because– it was a mistake! It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”

            “Happen like what? She wasn’t supposed to walk in? She wasn’t supposed to react like that? You were sober, you were in your right mind, how was it a mistake?”

            “Well, she’s overreacting!”

            “How?”

            “She just stops talking to me, avoids me, ignores me? It’s not even that big a deal! I’ve cheated on other girlfriends before, they’ve never reacted like this! I apologised, I explained, they accepted, everything was fine.”

            “What world do you live in Nick? Because Gemma lives in the real world. She doesn’t trust you anymore, why should she get back together with you? She doesn’t want to be with anyone who she can’t trust.”

            “It won’t happen again! I told her that! But she’s being a cold bitch about it! She doesn’t even look sad or angry or anything!”

            Jack sighed, feeling like he should throw his friend a bone and explain his sister to him. “That’s Gemma, Nick. Quintessential Gemma. She cried all weekend, but she stayed in her room and she wouldn’t see anyone. That was at home, she got it over with, she did it where no one else could see her. And here she puts on the same face she always does. That’s Gemma. Don’t expect her to show you all her emotions; she won’t.”

            “So she does care?” Nick asked, slipping into desperation.

            “Yes, of course she cares. But she doesn’t want to be with someone who hurts her.”

            Nick didn’t really understand the message Jack was trying to convey, all he heard was that Gemma cared, and that meant he still had a chance. And why wouldn’t she want to get back together with him?