The New Normal

Chapter Ten

The party was in full swing and nearly all the seniors showed up. Despite the many people asking why Tyler and I were wearing Hello Kitty band-aids, it was actually going good.
Blake and Ariel had yet to show up but his absence gave me the time to think as to what I was going to say to him when he arrived. I decided it was best if Blake and I remained on good terms and I wanted to make sure we were still friends, I couldn't bare to lose the small few friends I had.

I was sitting on the kitchen counter drinking some rum and coke when Ariel burst through the door with ten pizzas stacked on one another. "Sorry it took so long! The stupid pizza guy was an idiot-"

She paused as she dropped the pizzas on the counter and stared at my head. "Why are you wearing my Hello Kitty band aid?"

"You should see Tyler," I snorted and took a sip from my red solo cup. Ariel stared at me dumbfounded and I waved a hand in dismissal. "I fell down the stairs, fell on Tyler, and then a picture frame fell on us."

Blake came through the door with a ton of chips and more drinks and shot me a look of confusion. "Sounds like a crazy night so far."

I nodded my head and finished the contents of my drink. I hopped off of the counter and started to refill my cup with my drink of choice. Feeling Ariel's and Blake's stares on my back, I turned around. "What?"

The shot each other a panicked stare and then shook their heads adamantly. In unison they said, "Nothing."

Ariel started sorting out the chips and the rest of the drinks, whereas Blake started munching on pizza. When he finished his slice he pointed backwards with his thumbs and said, "I'm going to the bathroom."

I nodded my head and Ariel looked at me. "I need to go change, this outfit sucks for a party."

"Alrighty then," I answered slowly, staring at the now empty kitchen. Why are they being so weird? There was no way in hell it took two and a half hours to pick up pizza we had order hours before. And that lunch yesterday? What the hell was that? 

Before I knew it, I finished my second rum and coke and I was in the living room with the rest of the seniors, trying to dance my problems away and have a good time. But all I could think about was how much I wished Tristan was here, how he and Ariel would be on the dance floor all night, along with Blake and me. Tears sprung to my eyes as I remembered the last party we all attended together. Tristan beat Blake in beer pong and they started to play wrestle, as a result two lamps and an end table were broken. I tried to shake the memory away, I didn't want to think about him, not tonight. I just wanted one good night. But my thoughts couldn't keep up with my tears because soon they were pouring down my face and I bolted up the stairs and towards Ariel's room.

I was about to throw open the door when I heard voices behind it.

"We have to tell her, I can't keep this from her," a male voice argued.

"No!" another voice hissed back, sounding feminine. "She just got back and I don't want to hurt her, she's been through enough!"

The male scoffed. "And we haven't? She's not the only one who lost him, Ariel!"

A hand dropped onto my shoulder and I flinched. Tyler came up beside me and tried to pull me away. "Maybe you don't want to listen to this."

I rolled his hand off of my shoulder and narrowed my eyes. "Maybe I do."

He held up his hands in surrender and I proceeded to listen to the fight Ariel was having with who I presumed to be Blake.

"How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out her best friend and her ex-boyfriend are dating? Huh?" Ariel yelled. "She is going to hate us!"

"WHAT?" I shouted, forgetting that my only purpose was to eavesdrop.

The door swung open and Ariel's jaw dropped. "J-Juliet I-"

Tyler face palmed and shook his head. "Here we go."

I pushed past her and stood in the middle of the room. "You two a-are dating?"

Blake held up his hands in attempts to reason with me. "Juliet, you have to understand, you were gone for a year."

"Oh!" I started laughing hysterically. "My freakin' apologies that I left after my twin brother fucking died because I was too devastated to be here!"

"J, we didn't want this to happen!" Ariel rushed over trying to make the situation disperse. "I even got Blake to go out on a date with you so you guys could figure out if you're meant to be but you both said there was no spark!"

I clenched my hands over my heart. "Oh, why thank you for being so courteous for sharing him with me Ariel! First you date my brother and now my ex? Wow, I totally lucked out in the best friend draw."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Look, we got together when you left because we found comfort in one another. Ariel lost her boyfriend and I lost my best friend and then I lost you. It's not our fault we fell in love."

"You guys are in love?" I asked quietly.

They both nodded their heads and I found myself backing out of the room. "I can't deal with this."

I turned to leave and rush past Tyler when Blake started to shout. "RUN AWAY, JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO, NOT CARING ABOUT WHO YOU HURT IN THE PROCESS!"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face Blake, who was at Ariel's doorway. Tyler was pushing him backwards roughly. "You've done enough, idiot. Just shut up for once."

Blake shoved Tyler's hands off of him and said, "No, she has to hear this."

"You left us. I get it, your brother died, but he meant a lot to all of us and you left, leaving us to deal with his death all by ourselves. The worst part is, is that you didn't even bother reaching out to us. Tristan would have never done what you did."

When Blake finished, I launched myself at him, but Tyler quickly grabbed my waist and tried to pull me away. I didn't care, I kept trying to get my hands on Blake. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TRIS WOULD HAVE DONE, YOU MAY HAVE BEEN HIS BEST FRIEND, BUT YOU WEREN'T FAMILY. I WAS! DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Juliet, calm down," Tyler tried to reason. "He's just trying to get you to feel bad over his mistake."

Blake shook with laughter. "It wasn't a mistake. While she was living the life in California, Ariel and I found each other, seeing as Juliet forgot about us."

I stopped trying to claw at Blake, but Tyler held me back for good measure. Next thing I knew, hot tears started streaming down my face again. "Living the life? Living the life? How is being hospitalized twice because I kept having panic attacks, living the life? Or the fact that I barely left my aunt's house, even for school, I couldn't bare to get up, living the life? Want to know why I didn't talk to you or Ariel? Huh? It's because I was terrified I was just a constant reminder of Tristan, so I wanted to make it easier for you guys to mourn."

"That's a load of sh-"

Tyler let go of me. "Alright, that's it."

In a flash, Blake was on the ground, bleeding from his nose like a faucet and Tyler was shaking off the shock of the punch on his knuckles. He grabbed my arm lightly to pull me away from the scene. As we walked down the hall, I heard Ariel say, "Juliet, I am so so sorry."