Sixteen Moons [on hold]

[4] Complicated

“You made it!”

I wriggled my way out of his arms but he still stood way too close, literally invading my personal space – something I didn’t appreciate at all. “I guess I did.”

“Oh, great!” Melissa chimed in, getting some grass strings off her clothes, as she appeared right next to April. “Now that everyone’s here, we can leave.”

I should have felt it coming, but again, I was too tired to act before I ended up in the passenger seat, forced to ride shotgun. As I got into the car, Simon held the door open for me, waited until I was comfortable and then closed the door gently. He was gentleman-like, I couldn’t complain about that, but I just hated how he didn’t seem to understand that all his efforts were a waste of both our time.

It only took him a few seconds to get behind the wheel, but in that short window of time, I turned around in my seat. I stared angrily at the other three and gritted through my teeth “Who’s idiotic idea was this?”

They all pointed to someone else, which didn’t make me feel any better because now I had no one specific to be mad at. Before I could say anything else, Simon opened the door on his side and I fell into a furious silence. I wondered if Simon even noticed that I really disliked him because he sure as hell never showed it. The idea even crossed my mind that Simon had some sort of malfunctioning brain, he just continued to try and woo me while I had made it perfectly clear, time after time after freaking time that we didn’t belong together and that we never would get back together again. At first, he had seemed like a great guy, thoughtful and everything but as the weeks passed, I noticed that I didn’t feel the same way as he did and I didn’t see any other solution but to end it. Ever since, he never gave up and it didn’t look like he was going to anytime soon. He was like a stray dog I couldn’t seem to get rid of.

“So,” Simon began after a few minutes, trying to make some small talk as he noticed I didn’t join the other three in their random conversation. “What have you been up to?”

I shrugged.

“Not much,” I yawned and rested my head against the cold glass. “Definitely not sleeping.”

“How come?”

And even though his concern sounded sincere, I couldn’t tell him the truth. Out of everyone I knew, I was certain that Simon would have been the only one to believe me if I told him what was troubling me and the source of what kept me from sleeping at all, but I didn’t want to give him anymore reason to find excuses to spend time with - or even talk to - me.

“Just…” I shrugged again. “Nothing special.”

A good ten minutes later, the car came to a halt and startled, I jumped up. Sometime in the last few minutes, I must’ve dozed off. For a moment, I had no idea what had happened or even where I was.

“Welcome back!” Simon said, sending me one of his big smiles. I really wished he wouldn’t do that, because it only made me feel worse.

“You’re really out of it today, aren’t you?” Melissa asked as she popped her head between the two front seats. “Sure you’re alright?”

I knew today was supposed to be fun, after all, that’s why we had planned this whole afternoon but I simply didn’t have the energy to be mentally present. Sure, physically, I was there but my mind was as good as comatose which made it rather hard to keep up with conversations. That’s why I just avoided them all together.

“I’m fine,” I put on a fake smile, “just a little tired. That’s all.”

“If you say -…” she didn’t finish what she planned on saying but burst out into loud giggles instead when Jackson started to tickle her.