The tune at which Travis was speaking was so angry that it took Zane by surprise, “Me?”.
“YES, YOU! What do you think you're doing?!”
“G-getting food?”
“Stop acting dumb! You know exactly what you're doing!”
Travis was being so aggressive that Zane took a physical step back, he had no idea what was making Travis lose his mind and temper like that. Zane almost wanted to cry, but he instead tried to focus on Travis which, for the first time in his life, was hard. “I genuinely don't know what you’re going on about?”
“OH COME ON! Do you really think I’m THAT dumb? Everyone knows what you're trying to pull! Do you think I can just let that slide?!?!” Travis was getting closer to him, but Zane didn’t back down, “I’m sorry but yo-”
“YOU SHOULD BE SORRY YOU FUCKING PROFLIGATE!”
Travis is now right up to Zane's face, and Zane can see that Travis is far from well. His face looks emotionally beat up, with bags under his eyes, and streaks that only form from intensive crying.
Zane, ignoring the insult, “Are you ok?”
“NO! Why would you think I’m ok with any of this?!”
Zane can now tell that the anger was turning into depression, he could faintly see Travis holding himself back, so as to not burst right in front of everyone right now; well more than he already has. The only problem was Zane had no clue what Travis was talking about, and he was not helping clear things up right now, to say the least.
“Travis, you need to tell me more if you want me to understand anything you’re saying! Insulting me is not gonna get you answers!”
“You know, the thing that Aphmau told everyone!”
Zane, now suddenly worried, “What thing?”
“You know
the letter?”
In almost a moment of clarity and horror, Zane now does know what Travis is talking about.
“THE LETTER!”
Travis, now the one taken aback, “Uh, Yes? The letter that Aphmau showed everyone?”
“SHE SHOWED IT TO EVERYONE!”
“Yes? You didn’t know that?”
Zane only barely heard the last thing Travis said as Zane rushed out of the mall, with his heart pumping rapidly. Zanes' mind was racing with nonsense. Zane checked the time, the movie should have ended a couple of minutes ago. Zane dashed around passer byers, and the weird looks people gave him. Zane doesn't think he can ever come back to this mall again, but that's future Zane's problem. Right now he needs to find Aphmau.
It took a bit of searching, as Zane was being so frantic he was doing a poor job, but Zane eventually was able to hear the loud talking of the one and only Aphmau. As Zane rounded the corner he saw her in clear sight, chatting away with no care in the world.
“APHMAU!” Zane's face was hot with anger. He couldn’t believe she would DO something like this! Actually no, he COULD see her doing this; which is the worst part. He felt all the trust he had for her melt away. How foolish he was to think she would be honest, unlike the others. Turns out she’s just as bad.
“A-ah? Zane? What’s up?” Aphmau was nervous; unaware that she was gonna be thrown for a loop as her past deeds would come back to punch her in the face.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU APHMAU?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!”
“Do what?” Aphmau was getting shifty-eyed, trying her best to uphold a smile, which only made Zane madder.
Zane was about to lose it, he had no idea which letter Aphmau somehow got her hands on. And some letters are A LOT worse than others, and who knows how many people she showed it to?
“THE LETTER! YOU STOLE MY LETTER! WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT WAS OK!”
“Ooohhhh! That, well, you, I mean, what's the problem?” Aphmau is now sweating bullets.
“WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? I’ll tell you what! IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS THAT'S WHAT! Why would you think you had any right to know THAT kind of personal stuff? AND THEN TELL OTHERS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!”
Aphmau, knowing she’s a dead man, “Well it's not THAT bad?”
“IT IS THAT BAD! Do you still have it?!?!”
Knowing that she made a BIG mistake, Aphmau rummaged through her bag and pulled out a single piece of paper. Zane takes it with such force it throws Aphmau back a second; she knew he was going to not be happy when the truth came out, but she WILDLY miscalculated HOW bad.
Zane read the letter desperately and calculating how devastating this was going to be. And to his relief, it was the one where he didn’t put Travis’s name on it. And Zane was able to take a deep breath before turning it back around with full force at Aphmau.
“How long were you planning on not telling me this!”
“Not that long, I promise!”
“And the last promise you made to me you said you would tell me the truth! Hiding important information is NOT telling the truth!”
Aphmau was hopping from one foot to the other as she tried to figure out what to say next. “Wellllllll, I-”, Aphmau took a deep breath and quickly said, “I know how you are with love! You would rather deny the fact you can feel just to not inconvenience anyone else! Don’t you deserve love too?”
“I understand that, but don't you think this crosses some boundaries?”
“Maybe I went at this the wrong way, and I'm sorry for that, but you're not the one to stand up for yourself in this type of situation, so I took it into my own hands.”
“That's not a good excuse! You’re just evading the problem and putting the blame on me!”
“Yes, I'm sorry! Sorry! You have done nothing wrong! I just want to see you happy!”
“YOU THINK ‘THIS’ MAKES ME HAPPY!”
At this time everyone else is just slowly backing away from what is happening, hoping to not get involved. This is when Katelyn comes out to see the mess. She asks her confused friends to figure out what is going on, and they either don’t know or don’t want to know. And not too long after, comes Travis; who just looks defeated, then confused. Which makes everyone paying attention more bewildered.
“I'M SORRY BUT-” Aphmau is still choking up.
“IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? ‘I'm sorry’! Why not explain why you SHOWED it to everyone!” It is easy to see that Zane is red in the face, even with the limited amount you can see of it.
“Well even without the letter, I can tell that you are so much happier with the one you love. Why not give them a shot?”
“How do you know ‘who I love’?!”
“Zane, I'm your best friend, there are not that many people who you COULD love. Trust me, it wasn't hard to connect the dots.”
“Ok, even so, why not ask me first? Before, I don’t know? EVERYONE ELSE?!”
“You would just deny it, you do it all the time!”
“So your best idea was to string me along and hope that I would, what, ask them out eventually?”
“Yeah? That's kinda it?”
Zane, very puzzled, ”Why would you think that?”
“Because you just need to come out of your shell! Come on, you and Katelyn look so cute together! Why not?”
“BECAUSE HAVE YOU MET ME? I'M NOT TYPE OF-” Zane stops and finally processes what Aphmau said, “Wait. Repeat that, what?”
“You and Katelyn are a great match ok? Everyone thinks so, please just listen, we care about you!”
Aphmau's weird behavior finally makes sense. She, somehow, thought HE was in love with Katelyn, instead of Travis. Zane thought back to the last time Aphmau had been in his room, she had cleaned it and the letter was on the floor. She then started to pair him up with Katelyn. And had him sing with her. Left them alone in the mall together. This was Aphmau's attempt to have them go on a ‘date’.
Zane pinched the bridge of his nose. He then slowly turned around and asked, “How many of you think I'm in love with Katelyn?” The group looked at each other and all raised their hands. This is when Zane sees that both Katelyn and Travis are in said group, raising their hands. Well, that at least explains why Travis was mad at him before.
There was now just one question in his mind, “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why Katelyn?”
Someone in the group asks, “You are in love with Katelyn right?”
“NO! NOT AT ALL! What would make me LOVE her? No offense Katelyn, you’re a nice person, BUT WHY WOULD I LOVE HER!”
This startles everyone. Aphmau pipes up, “Well I thought with the way you look at her, well I just-”
Zane cuts her off, “You thought a LOT of wrong things about me, it turns out.”
“FINE, if you don't love Katelyn, then who do you love?
“That is definitely NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Zane pokes his finger at Aphmau. “Not after all of THIS”.
The tension in the room is getting so thick it is almost impossible to breathe. “If you don't tell me who you love I will figure it out! Mark my words!”
Zane can tell Aphmau is being serious about that statement. But it's not like he cares, he will never tell her that he’s in love with Travis. And if the fact she was so fully convinced he was in love with Katelyn instead shows anything, it says she's not getting what she wants anytime soon.
“I don't care what you think! I'm out of here, fuck you!” With that, Zane stormed off. He went to his car, put the rest of his stuff that he bought in the back with the others, and sat in the driver's seat. He was just so tired. He couldn’t think, it was like all the fire burning inside of him just went out. He didn’t know if he wanted to cry or collapse. He looked at that dumb bear in the back seat, and after a bit, his body came back to him; letting him drive home.
When he made it he didn't bother with the stuff he just purchased, just shakingly made his way to his room. When he hit the bed it seems his mistakes of the past decided to come and hunt him, as he was unable to fall asleep. He tossed and turned but the memories of not only today, but all the times he almost let slip his crush flooded his brain.
In the mess of the state his mind is in, Zane got up and went to that secret drawer. Opening it was like a tsunami of mistakes and regret. Lost potential, the hope of what could have been. Zane picked up each one and read it, the worst ones, and the ok ones. He was glad Aphmau only found that one letter, as some of these were pretty bad. Some even made him laugh, some made him laugh at himself.
It would be a good couple of hours before Zane can find it in himself to put them all away; a lot more carefully too. He didn't want any more loose letters getting into anyone else's hands. By the time Zane was able to force himself to sleep it was midnight, what a waste of a day.