Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (51)

I leaned against the bed post, my back to the door, as I let out a sigh. I had been kicked out of this room because of that guy. It was his fault that I had to sleep on the couch, and it was his fault that I was so heartbroken right then. I wasn’t even this hurt when Jack had told Emma he loved her.

“I’m moving out,” a new voice now said, causing me to jump and spin around to see the last person I wanted to be around. “Courtney doesn’t want me living here anymore, so… yeah. I’m moving out. I kind of assumed that you wouldn’t want me here anymore either.”

“Oh,” was all I could say back to him. “How… nice.”

“Look, Ivy. I'm sorry,” he apologized, and I didn't know if it was for scaring me or for everything that had happened the day before.

I turned my head away from him. “I really don't want to talk to you, Eli.”

“Please, Ivy,” he pleaded, taking a step toward me, which caused me to take a step away. “Please listen to me. I have to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you,” I snapped, taking a step away from him when he reached out for me. “I told you last night that I never want to see you again. So just leave me alone and get out of my house, since you don’t live here anymore.”

“Ivy, I'm sorry,” he apologized again. “Just let me explain to you, please. I’ll let you be mad at me all you want if you just hear me out. Please.”

It wasn’t like Eli Hunter to say please, so I said nothing to stop him from continuing on. I crossed my arms over my chest, cocking my hip out as I stared at him. If he wanted to talk, he’d better start talking soon.

“I know what I did was wrong,” he started, staring down at the ground and not even glancing up at me as his hands balled into fists at his sides. “I know I shouldn't have done anything with you when I knew that there was a possibility that Courtney could be pregnant. But I couldn't help myself. You're just... You're so... I don't know. You were just with Jack for so long, so when you finally started kissing me back after you and Jack had been broken up for a while, I wasn't going to ruin it.”

“Well, there wasn't any point! It's all ruined now!” I shouted at him, tears stinging at my eyes, but I wouldn’t let any fall. “You and Courtney had sex, you got her pregnant, and then you hooked up with me even though you knew you were going to be a father! God, I’m so happy that I didn’t have sex with you!”

“You knew I had sex with Courtney!” he sighed, exasperated by everything that was happening. “It’s not like you didn’t know that going into it! So why are you so angry with me? I stopped seeing Courtney after we got together! It’s not like I cheated on you or anything!”

“You wouldn’t have been cheating on me anyway, since we weren’t even together!” I snapped, squeezing my eyes shut so I wouldn’t burst out into tears. “Not officially, anyway. And I’m mad at you because you did things with me when you knew you got a girl pregnant! You knew you were going to be a father, Eli! You knew you were going to have a baby but you still hooked up with me! Courtney is the mother of your child, not me! So go to her and leave me alone!”

Eli ran his hand through his hair, obviously trying to think of what he was supposed to say to me. He knew that I was right, and that I had every right to be mad at him. We had practically been boyfriend and girlfriend, even though neither of us had said so out loud, and even though he hadn’t cheated on me, he still did something wrong.

“But I don’t want to be with Courtney,” he told me, taking another step toward me. I dodged him, spinning around now so he was facing the door and I was facing the bed. “I realized a long time ago that I don’t want to be with her. She means nothing to me. I wish that I realized it sooner, before I did anything with her, but I didn’t. I don’t want to be with her. I want to be with you.”