Pause (Published)

Chapter 11: Open your Eyes

"Oh shut it, you old bag," he murmurs in turn, rubbing his head where she whacked him with the back of her hand.

"What was that?" she questions, cupping a hand to her ear, having genuinely not heard what he said.

I watch in amusement as Gramps saves himself, "Oh nothing my sweet, sweet love."

Grams merely shakes her head at him before waltzing out the room yet again. 

I turn to Gramps and pat him on the back, "I have to go, but you work on those flirting tactics. Clearly, you need the practice," I wink at him before leaving to meet up with Bells and Maggot.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"Well, what did you expect, Aqueels? You did punch her in the face," Bell reminds me. "Plus, you got arrested the other day. Oh, and you told me of how, in your paranoia, you punched Jay. You also elbowed Mason in the solar plexus, choked Max and gave 'manager dude' a bloody nose. You're acting out of character and I see a common factor in every equation - Jay Taylor. He is a bad influence on you."

I twirl a lock of my hair innocently at the mention of yesterday's incident. 

I could care less about 'manager dude' because he replaced my picture with Blubber's. However, I do feel bad for choking Max. He hasn't spoken to me since.

What can I say? Don't touch my bubblegum ice cream!

Blubber and Simo have teamed up against me, they both keep throwing it in my face on how violent I am and how I need anger management classes.

Mason, on the other hand, has made his obvious distaste for me even clearer than crystal - I got a forty-five-minute lecture, no jokes. To say he isn't too impressed with me would be the understatement of the century.

And then there's Jay...

Every time I talk to him, he refuses to acknowledge my presence. I thought we'd be passed this, but every time I think we're moving up from the acquaintance zone to the friendship zone, he whimpers out. He pulls away and shuts me out. It's like he is adamant on being alone for the rest of his life.

I mean I know I am not exactly the 'best friend' type, but hey, I try. Give me some credit.

"In my defense-"

"No, Aqueela! You cannot possibly have a defense for any of this. May I remind you that you punched my boyfriend in the solar plexus," she points out, clearly not siding with me this time - it's her loss in my true opinion.

"That is correct," I nod in agreement, "but may I be the one to remind you that your boyfriend is a barbaric animal who most likely deserved it."

Mason glowers at me in response upon hearing my comment. "You have no shame. You talk about me as if I'm not even here."

"Then take the hint, buddy," I wink at him and pat him on the back like I had done earlier with my gramps, indicating that his presence is not wanted or needed at this time.

"Screw you, Leech. I'm dating Bells, so excuse me for not leaving," he retorts, slightly irritated yet suppressing a small smile.

I glance down at my nails, purposely portraying myself as a snob as I brush him off, "You're not excused, however, I shall take your apology into consideration and weigh out the options for your highly unlikely forgiveness."

His eyes widen as he takes a step toward me, "As I remember, according to the 'Bequeela Book', or whatever garbage you two came up with, you have to forgive me if I apologize."