Prove It

Chapter XXXI

"I thought you were going out after the game," my mom says. I set my keys on the counter and grab a seltzer from the fridge.

"I didn't feel like going anywhere," I explain, hoping she'll just leave it at that. But of course, she never does.

"Why not? Didn't they win? I thought you would have liked to be with your friends." Her ramblings make me even more annoyed than before. Why can't parents just leave you alone?

"They did, I just didn't want to be there," I try and keep myself calm, but my voice is tight.

She senses the change and furrows her eyebrows. "What's wrong honey?" She sits down in the stool beside me and touches my hand. I want to jerk my hand free, but I keep it there to avoid confrontation.

"Marcus and I got into a stupid fight and now I'm mad at him. I don't want to see him tonight so I left." I get up from my seat and walk away before she can ask me anymore questions I have no doubt she'd be able to get the answers to. I don't normally have a problem telling my mom about my problems and my stresses, but I do now.

I take my phone from my pocket and see I have so many messages from different people. Some from Sofia, some from Mindy, some from Nolan and some from Marcus. I don't bother opening them. They're all probably asking the same thing, and frankly, I don't want to communicate with anyone.

I lay down with Charlie on my bed and stroke his soft fur to soothe myself. He lets me like the good boy he is and doesn't even whine like he ususally does when I lay my head down on his side.

I hear the doorbell ring and Charlie goes bezerk and jumps off my bed and claws at my door. I force myself up and open the door to let him out. He scurries out of the room and I hear his little nails scratch across the floor. I cringe because I know my dad will probably throw a fit over the marks in the wood.

I hear the door open and Charlie continues to bark just as loud as he has been. My mom greets whoever is at the door and the person entering speaks too quietly to be heard from upstairs.

"Amanda, Marcus is here!" she calls from the stairs.

I snap from my slumped mood when Marcus is mentioned. What is he doing here? He's supposed to be at Aaron's.

"I'll come down!" I rush over to the mirror and look at myself to make sure I don't look too trashy. I pick off any last traces of dog fur and run my fingers through my hair to tame the parts that are sticking up.

When I get to the bottom of the stairs Marcus is still standing near the doorway, stroking Charlie's head. It warms my heart to see him being so sweet to my baby, but I'm still mad at him.

"Hey, why are you here?" I ask, getting his attention. His head turns my way and he straightens to stand at full height.

"I wanted to talk about this afternoon," he replies. He moves his feet around in place and rubs his hands together.

"Let's go outside." I push past him to lead us out onto the front porch to prevent any listening ears. Namely my nosey mom and dad.

I stand waiting for him to say something, but all he does is continue to fidget with himself.

"You wanted to talk?" I remind him, and that seems to bring him back to reality.

"Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for going off on you today. I didn't really think your point of view and was caught up in the embarrassment." I sigh in defeat.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for embarrassing you, I never meant to humiliate you in front of them. I really thought I was embarrassing you when I was just standing there like an idiot," I explain.

His face softens when I don't reply with any tension or anger. "All I wanted was for you to be there. I don't mind if you don't join the conversation, but if you felt out of place I would have made way for you."

I begin to tear up again so I look down. I feel so silly for letting this small thing make me so miserable for nearly half the day. The fact that this made him feel bad makes me feel even worse.

"Hey don't cry, it's okay. I know I overreacted, I'll work on that," he says, but I shake my head.

"No, no. I just feel bad I got so mad over this, that I made you miss being at Aarons to come over and reason with me."

He chuckles softly and wipes my left cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Don't feel bad about that. Aaron understands what I needed to do, and so do most of the guys. Yeah some of them gave me shit for missing tonight, but that doesn't really matter. I wouldn't have been able to have a nice time knowing you're at home upset with me."

Now I'm just crying because he's too nice to me. I've spent so much time denying this boy and now I'm wondering why I did that to him and myself. He's too perfect, and he's putting up a high bar for any future relationship I may have.

"I thought that would make you less upset, I'm sorry." I laugh at his cuteness. He's not so great at deciphering my extreme crying moods I suppose.

"I'm crying because you're perfect," I whisper. I know fully well if I try and speak right now my voice will crack in the most unwelcome manner.

Slowly both his hands cup my face and his lips feather at my forehead. "I'm not perfect. But if you think I am then that's all that matters."

He makes eye contact with my by gently raising my chin. "I love you Amanda. You'll always come first."

I have no words, so I press my face into his neck and wrap my arms tightly around his torso. I'm a lucky girl.