Chapter 14
"Dax?" I asked as we walked towards the cafeteria. "On a scale of one to ten, how much does Seb hate me?"
Dax took in a deep breath. "That depends."
"On what?"
"If you count anger as hate," Dax said. "I don't think he hates you, but he's really mad at you. He wants what's best for you and he just thinks that Ty isn't."
I sighed. "I've been thinking that, too."
Dax furrowed his eyebrows. "Can you expand on that? Because I'm awfully confused right now."
"Well, recently, I've been thinking that Ty isn't the one for me," I admitted.
"Then why are you still with him?" Dax said. "I mean, I don't want to sound like Seb, but shouldn't you break up with him?"
"I don't know," I said. "I still like him, but at the same time, I feel like I'll never be fully happy with him. I don't know, it's hard to explain."
When we got to the cafeteria, Dax scanned the place. We normally walked there together, but for the past two weeks after Seb and I got into the argument, we split up and he sat with Seb while I sat with Ty.
Dax frowned. "I don't see Seb. He's always here before me."
I looked around the cafeteria as well. "I don't see Ty as well. I'm going to look for him."
"And I'll look for Seb," Dax said. "I'll see you later."
We then went our separate ways since Ty and Seb's lockers were in different wings of the school. I went to Ty's locker, but he wasn't there, so I began walking around the school until I found him. He was in a deserted hallway, his back facing towards me. He was also on his phone and as much I didn't want to eavesdrop on his conversation, I kind of did.
"No, tonight works," Ty said. "I've got nothing planned... I'm serious, I don't... Look, if this is about Artemis, don't worry about her." I frowned at the sound of my name. "What, you actually think I like her? Please. You should see Sebastian's face whenever I'm with her. His reaction is the only reason why I'm dating her. I never liked her as more than a friend."
"Really?" I spoke up, making Ty quickly turn around and turn off his phone.
"Artemis!" he said. "Uh, how much did you hear?"
"Enough," I said, my heart stinging. "So this whole time, you never liked me? You were just using me to piss off Seb?"
"No, of course not," Ty said. "I really do like you, Artemis."
"Save it," I said. "I heard what you said. You said the only reason why you're dating me is to see Seb's reaction. How could you, Ty? How could you use me?"
"Artemis, just let me explain," Ty said. "Please."
"I don't want to hear it!" I said. "This whole time, Seb was right about you. I... Just... Don't talk to me again."
I turned around to leave, but Ty quickly grabbed my wrist. "No, I'm not letting you leave until you let me explain!"
"There's nothing to explain!" I said, facing him. "Now let go!"
"There is something to explain!" Ty said, his grip on my wrist tightening, almost crushing me.
"No, there isn't!" I said. "Just let go! You're hurting me!"
Ty immediately released my wrist. "Artemis, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Don't talk to me," I said. "Please... Just don't."
I turned around and walked down the hallway, my eyes stinging with tears. I had to find Seb, or even Dax, before anyone saw me cry. Although it was lunch and most students were in the cafeteria.
I found both Seb and Dax at Seb's locker, talking. And Seb didn't look happy at all over what they were talking about.
Dax looked over and saw me, and when Seb followed his gaze, he glared at me. "What do you want?" Seb asked in a harsh tone.
"I..." I began, but I couldn't continue. As soon as I choked on a sob, Seb's glare softened as he pulled me into a hug. I dug my face into his chest and cried softly, releasing all the emotions I was feeling by Ty; hurt, betrayal, heartbreak.
"What happened?" Seb asked more softly, pulling away and wiping the tears from my eyes.
"You were right," I said. "I'm so sorry, Seb. I should have believed you."
Seb furrowed his eyebrows. "What about?"
"Ty," I said. "I heard him say that... That he... He never liked me. He was using me to get to you."
Seb's expression had two mixed emotions; anger and sympathy. I knew, I just knew, that Seb wanted to give Ty a piece of his mind, but instead, he pulled me back into a hug. "I really don't want to say I told you so," he said.
"But you did," I said. "You told me Ty was just going to hurt me and I didn't listen."
"You didn't know," Seb said.
"But you did," I said. "You knew and I didn't listen."
Seb sighed, resting his chin on top of my head. "It's not your fault, Artie. He fooled you. Although, remember what I said for you to do if he ever messes with you?"
"No, don't," I said. "Don't go fighting him. It will make it worse."
"But he hurt you," Seb said. "Nobody hurts my best friend and gets away with it."
"Just leave it, Seb," I said. "Please."
"But..." Seb began to object, but he cut himself off with a sigh. He pulled away once again and wiped my tears away. "Fine, I won't go fighting him. Want to hang out at my house after school? We can watch movies or play video games, and even order in pizza. Just me and you. And Dax because he'll complain about not getting any pizza."
"Yeah, I'm still standing here," Dax said. Honestly, I kind of forgot he was here. "And are you okay, Artemis?"
I nodded and gave him a smile. "Yeah. I'm okay."
"On the bright side, at least you were right about Ty," Dax offered.
Seb furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I was having mixed feelings about him," I admitted. "On one side, I still like him... Well, liked him. But on the other, I felt like he wasn't the one for me."
"So, you won't go back to him?" Seb asked.
It was my turn to furrow my eyebrows. "Why would you think that? Seb, I just found out that he was using me to piss you off. He even said to someone on the phone that he never liked me."
"Are you sure you don't want me to beat him up?" Seb asked. "And if you really don't want me to, then I can send our little students after him. I'm pretty sure they won't be happy to know that someone messed with their Senpai."
I smiled at Seb. "I'm sure, but thank you for cheering me up." Believe it or not, his simple jokes made me feel better.
I avoided Ty for the rest of the school day, though it was easy because the only class we had together was history. He tried talking to me in that class, but I ignored him the whole time. What was there for him to explain, anyway? He lied to me. He used me to get Seb pissed. There was nothing he could say that would be an explanation.
When school ended, Dad picked me up. I got into the passenger seat and he drove towards our house. "So, has Ty given any thought about meeting us?" he asked.
I sighed and looked down. "Uh, no, actually he won't be meeting you. Ever."
Dad scrunched his eyebrows in confusion before he realized what I meant. "Artemis, what happened?" he asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," I said.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "I know how much breakups usually affect you."
"Dad, don't bring up Craig," I said.
"I never said his name," Dad said. "All I said is that I know how much break ups affect you. Are you okay?"
I shrugged. "Kind of. It hurts a lot, but there's nothing I can do about it. Can we please not talk about it anymore? I'd rather not think about Ty."
Dad didn't ask me any more questions, thankfully. We soon got to our house and I told him I was heading over to Seb's house. I dropped off my bag at home first before doing so.
Like I usually did when I knew Seb's dad wasn't home, I walked inside their house without knocking. Dax was in the kitchen and snorted when he saw me. "Way to make yourself at home," he said. "You don't see me walking in your house without knocking."
I rolled my eyes, not really caring as Seb came down the stairs, talking on the phone, which was to order pizza. He then hung his phone up. "How many times have I told you to stop walking in without knocking?" he asked.
"Yeah, too bad I don't care," I said.
"So, what do you want to do?" he asked. "Watch a movie or play video games?"
"Movie," I answered.
"Okay," Seb said. "Dax, help her pick a movie on Netflix."
"But I need food."
"Pizza's coming," Seb said. "Help her, now."
Dax sighed and led me to the living room. He turned on the TV and went to Netflix, giving me the remote to choose a movie. I honestly had no idea what I wanted to watch. I knew that Seb liked action movies, of course. And Dax liked movies with a good message. I just liked any type of movie.
It took me a while to decide, but both boys were satisfied with my choice in the end. We decided to wait for the pizza because knowing us, we would all be too lazy to get off the couch once the movie started.
We were that lazy.
When the pizza did arrive, Seb set it on the coffee table and we all sat on the couch. I wasn't even paying attention to the movie. I couldn't concentrate after everything that happened. First of all, I felt so stupid for trusting Ty over Seb. Secondly, I hated that I was hurt once again.
Seb noticed that I wasn't paying attention. "Artie, do you want to talk?" he asked.
"Well....Yeah, kind of," I said. "It's not just Ty that's affecting me."
"Then what is?" Seb asked.
"When I was living across the state, I had a best friend, Kali," I said. "And I also had a boyfriend, Craig. Not that long before my parents told me we were moving back here, I found out that Craig was cheating on me with Kali. And Kali, she knew how much I liked Craig. It wasn't like she didn't know I was dating Craig. Everyone knew. And they still decided to hook up behind my back. To make things worse, Kali was basically my only friend there. After I found about her and Craig, I didn't have anyone to talk to. It hurt. A lot."
Seb wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into a side hug. "I'm sorry, Artie," he said. "Any guy who would ever hurt you or cheat on you for another girl is stupid. You're amazing."
"Thanks, Seb," I said, leaning into his embrace.
There was one thing for sure. No matter how many people would hurt me, I knew that Seb never would. No matter what, we would stick together.
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*clears throat* Well, time for the rant....
YOU GUYS DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE TY. I WANT TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE AND KICK HIM WHERE IT HURTS. I really hated writing him as this sweet guy because I knew the whole time of his true intentions. I see you, Ty. I know you're a jerk.
Well, there's my rant. And my I just say that I'm happy Artie and Ty broke up. :D I always hated Ty. cx Not because of what happened between him and Seb because that isn't really anyone's fault, but because he was using Artemis the whole time since he found out the she and Seb were best friends.