The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 4: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Past

          TOBIAS BARGED INTO the bathroom, blatantly ignoring the curious stares that were rightfully shot his way, seeing as he didn't belong in the girl's washroom. He followed the sound of Ariel's sniffles to the last stall and with one flick of his hand, he brushed away the two girls leaned over the face basin who then scurried out of the washroom, eyes wide, lips parted in shock at the sight of Tobias. "Ariel," He called out softly.

At the sound of his voice, Ariel clamped her lips shut, stifling the whimper sitting at the back of her throat. Silence enveloped the walls of the bathroom but her silence was louder than any spoken words. He pressed his back against the door and slid down to the floor. "I know you're there. Your silence will only make me stay longer so don't try to hide. Come out, my little mermaid." He whispered, taunting her in hopes that she'd get annoyed enough to want to escape his presence. Thus, her departure from the stall would give him the chance to talk face to face.

          "Call me that one more time Tobias and I will kill you," Ariel growled as she tore her eyes away from Tobias' hands which were visible from the space between the floor and the door. Tobias sighed, "Larson doesn't deserve your tears. I saw him kissing Lewis in the hallway. He's just trying to get back at you. Remember what he said? Two can play at that game. That's just him making good on his word. So stop crying over that asshole. He's not worth it."

          His jaw clenched tightly as the image of Lewis and Larson kissing flashed through his mind. At first, he was mostly shocked, but when he caught sight of Ariel's smile faltering as she witnessed the act of betrayal only a few feet away from her, he grew livid. Tobias Aspen was not one to get angry on just anyone's behalf. But when his heart is set on a goal, whatever barrier comes in the way of achieving said goal will be his worst enemy.

And at this point in time, Larson Styles was that barrier.

          "I'm not crying because I'm sad or anything. I'm not bloody sad. I'm angry. I wanna hurt her, I wanna hurt him! I love him, Tobias. And here he is kissing some other girl. I don't give a damn why he's doing it. I don't care if it's to get back at me for talking to you in the courtyard or if he's truly moving on. The point is, the guy I love is kissing another girl."

Without missing a beat, Tobias barked out a humourless chuckle as he said, "you don't love him."

          "What?" Ariel seethed as she slid her venomous gaze towards the door separating them. Tobias trailed his fingers against the patterned tiled floor. With confidence, he said, "you don't love him. You're infatuated by the idea of being in love with him. Or you're obsessed with him. But I doubt you love him."

Ariel chuckled. It was a cold chuckle. Colder than the tips of her fingers as she glided them across the crescent scars on her arm. "Who the hell do you think you are to tell me who I love and don't love? I hate you. Will you tell me I don't? Because last time I checked, just the sound of your voice makes me wanna kill myself. What do you know, Tobias? Have you been a third party in this relationship without my knowledge, or what?"

Tobias smiled. He hadn't taken offence to the fact that she said she hated him. In fact, it fuelled his burning desire to make Ariel his once and for all. "I just don't believe teenagers know what true love is. We haven't explored enough relationships to compare and say, yes! I was truly in love with that person. We're teenagers, what the hell do we know about love!? Yes at this stage we may have our first kiss, first sexual encounter, first whatever, but how many serious and committed relationships have we experienced to know when we truly love someone?

          Our superiors might have an idea, our parents, teachers and so forth. But us? Oh please don't humour me. We see others love stories whether that be fictional or reality and we desperately want to mimic it because we don't know any better and it looks like all sunshine and rainbows.