High School Mayhem

~~~~100~~~~

At that statement, Zerenity bursts into tears. Did something go wrong with her and Gene? Instantly, I hug her to try to calm her down but Aubrey doesn't take her foot off the pedal.

"Don't cry because you're single and alone. Tell her to go home, Trav--"

"Can you just shut up for a second?" I turn to her. Both she and Zerenity stare at me wide-eyed.

"No, she's right, Trav. I should just go home." Zerenity tries to break away from the hug but I won't let her.

"No, you're obviously not okay, right now. I can't just leave you alone." I stare her in the eyes seriously.

"But--"

Aubrey cuts her off. "Seriously? This is a joke, right? Why can't she just go home where her family is? She wouldn't be alone there. We're supposed to be hanging out."

"I know but I can't just watch her hurt from afar, I have to be there to make her feel okay." I declare.

She clicks her tongue and glares at me. "Fine. Then it's either me or her. Choose and choose wisely."

"Gladly, Aubrey... get out." I decide.

"What?! But--"

"You told me to choose and I did. We're done."

"But Babe--"

"How many times have I asked you not to call me that?"

"You know what... SCREW YOU!" She dashes out of the door making sure to slam it with all of her power.

I turn back to Zerenity not fazed by this at all. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you break up with your girlfriend." She cries. "If I knew she was here, I would've just stayed home, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault, you didn't make me do anything," I assure her and we sit on the floor after breaking the hug. "Just know no one's going to get in the way of me making sure you're okay."

"Thank you," she sighs.

"What's wrong?" I wonder.

"Gene and I broke up again. He was tired of me spending so much time studying and basically ignoring him." 

This time it makes sense why he did it but did he hear her out? "Did you tell him that you were studying for college?"

"He didn't understand why I would need to study so much for so long and assumed I was making up excuses." That also makes sense, she did study an excessive amount. "No matter how hard I tried to explain, he didn't want to hear it anymore."

What am I supposed to do this time? "Do... you still like him?" I wonder. 

She nods as more tears fall. "I still really like him--" my head drops, so I have to help her-- "but I don't think he likes me anymore. I don't think he ever liked me the way I like him. I think he liked me better when I was ZPrevail."

It's true, he did, but I can't tell her that. It'd crush her. "You know, if he didn't like you as Zerenity, why would he have stayed with you all this time? You stopped being ZPrevail after freshman year, we're seniors now." It's kind of true, I had to help them get back together last year though but he still stayed with her until then.

Which made me realize the answer to the question I asked him that day.

I asked if he ever found anything he liked about Zerenity, not ZPrevail. He never gave me an answer but I see now that he did which is why he stayed and which is why he agreed to take her back in the first place.

"You're right. He does like me-- or did at least. I don't think he does right now, I think I ruined it."

"You couldn't have ruined it, maybe you should let him calm down then talk to him." I decide.

"How long will it take for him to calm down?" Zerenity wonders.

"Give him until... Monday." Which gives me time to talk to him this weekend.

"Monday?" She sighs and leans on my shoulder. "Okay... I will."

"Oh, also... try to chill out with the studying." I plead. "You're worrying everyone by overexerting yourself."

"Okay." She nods. "By the way, I'm sorry about Aubrey."

"Don't worry about it. She's the one who tried to make me choose between you two." I shrug. "I'd always choose you."

"I'd choose you too! And that's why we're best friends! Remember when we were younger, we promised whenever start dating people we can't let it get in the way of our friendship?" She wonders.

I made that promise assuming she meant if we were dating. It makes so much more sense now. "Yeah. We made a bunch of different promises." Like if neither of us was married by the time we were 30, we'd marry each other.

"Yeah! Like if we were both single by the time prom came around we'd go together." She reminisces. "Prom's next Friday, do you think Gene would take me back before then?"

Now that you reminded me of that promise, I kind of hope not. "Yeah, of course, he will." I nod. I still have to help her with him, I can't just be a jerk and let this go.

She smiles for the first time tonight. "Thank you, Trav, for always helping me like this."

"Yeah, anytime."