Disillusion

Prologue

I grabbed the lemonade and looked around to see I had lost her again. There was laughing coming from the back yard, so I decided that would be a reasonable place to check.

As expected she was sitting on one of our sunbeds, talking to the guys. Her laughing sounded fake, but I didn't pay it any further attention. Sarah had always been like this as soon as boys were around so her behavior didn't take me by surprise.

"Sarah?" I yelled, no need to say anything else.

"Coming!" she answered, saying goodbye to my brother and his friends.

Her grin was undeniable, as she looked dreamily in the direction of the boys. Never had I met anyone who could fall in love quicker than her. "Isn't he just perfect?" She whispered to me, staring directly at James.

I responded her with a short laugh as she ran inside. Aiden walked past me, the rest of the boys following heading for the living room muttering a quick hello.

As James passed me, he sent me a fixed stare. "Could you please move?" He spat.

I quickly moved, staring in the direction the boys had went which James was now walking in too. Once again longing for the kindness he so easily offered everyone else.

He never spoke my name almost as if it was filled with venom and saying it out loud would kill the person responsible.

I realized that I was still standing in the same spot and hurried inside as well, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention.

When I entered, Aiden was standing right in front of me with a worried look.

"Is everything okay Amelia?" His voice was filled with concern.

"Yeah I'm fine" I said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Is it James again? You know I could talk to him if you want me to" he said.

My eyes widened as I quickly shook my head. I clearly remembered the last time when I had told Aiden about James hostility towards me, hoping it would change something. He had talked to him which had led to a big fight between them. But it didn't change anything, in fact it only made things worse.

It was as if James hatred only had magnified after I had involved my brother, so I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"No everything is fine between me and James" I answered, trying so hard not to show my sarcasm.

"Really? So he isn't being a dick to you anymore?" He asked.

I was startled by his choice of word but quickly recovered. Once again it took everything in me to not show how much I was lying.

"Not at all" I said shortly.

"So I guess my talk with him really worked" he sounded surprised but yet pleased.

"I guess" I answered. Deep inside wishing that it really had.

"Well that's great! I'll go join the boys again, but I'm really glad that everything worked out between you!"

"Thanks" I muttered, no longer being able to hold in all my emotions. My voice was small and near the breaking point.

Thankfully his attention was already far away from me as he ran back to the living room to be with his friends.

I cursed at myself for being stupid enough to lie to my brother. How was I supposed to convince him that James had changed? And how was I supposed to hide how much it hurt me to be the target of his hatred?

James used to be the kindest person I knew. He still was, to anyone but me.

I thought back to the night that started it all.

It was my senior year in high school. Sarah had dragged me to a party thrown by a guy from college she had a crush on. I was sure we were the youngest attending the party, since everyone else was college students. It was still a mystery to me how she managed to get us an invite but there we were.

Of course Sarah had run off as soon as we arrived and I was left standing at the entrance like a lost puppy, not seeing as much as one familiar face.

I had spent some time in the kitchen trying to intervene in a few conversations, which was hard since no one noticed I was even there.

Eventually I gave up on having any sort of fun that night and went to find a room so I could be somewhere a bit quieter. I remember being there a few hours wasting time until I went to find Sarah.

I had wanted to go home but not been able leave without Sarah since we had arrived in her car.

You would think finding a high school girl at a college party should be easy enough. Well, think again. I spent eternity looking for her until I realized I most likely wasn't going to find her, which turned out to be absolutely true.

I remember panicking when reaching the parking lot and seeing her car was gone. I remember my phone being dead, so typically when you actually needed it. And at last I remember him. I didn't remember his face anymore, but I think his hair was light brown. His voice was uncomfortable. Like it naturally had a husky tone making him sound scary.

But that's all I remembered. He had been drunk and pushy and I was so afraid of him that when James showed up, I had been overwhelmed with happiness.

He drove me home, being so protective that he walked me all the way to my room, not leaving before making sure I was safe and sound.

Back then I had appreciated his appearance so much. I was relieved to know that even though he was just a friend of my brother, he still rushed to my saving.

Had I only known what it would lead to, I would've never been so grateful.  

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