Sorry it's taken me forever to update but i'm back again, I had a very busy christmas and got a new laptop so I had to install everything and yeah, I'm not going to bore you to death.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's longer than usual to make up for it :)
Sasha
Friends come and go in your life. You discover who your true friends are when you fall down. Some friends will stand by you and help you get back up and some will walk away laughing, that’s how you tell. But family is different, family will stick by your side no matter what, they’re blood.
I remember when my friend Abby betrayed me in grade six. We were at the school carnival together and I saw my crush. I had liked Leon for a few months and he had called me a few days earlier saying that he wanted to ‘chill.’ Abby told me that it meant he liked me and he wanted to make a move and I believed her, she never lied to me and she knew more about boy’s than me. She was pretty and all the boys seemed to be head over heels for her, but when she was with boys she left me to the side. I never complained though, she told me that I would understand when I got a boyfriend.
We found Leon and his friends by the dunk tank; they were all laughing and dunking kids by hitting a small target with a ball. They never seemed to miss it either; they had good aims and looked like that had been practicing. My eyes lit up as Leon noticed me and waved Abby and I over.
I had started wearing makeup since he called me, I felt like I needed to look pretty around him. Abby had told me that I had to or he wouldn’t like me and I obliged since she was the boy know it all.
“Hey Sasha, glad you made it.”
Leon embraced me in a quick hug and when he pulled away he kept an arm slung over me, his hand resting on my shoulder.
“Do you want a try?” Leon asked.
I nodded, “I’ve never done this before.”
He helped me by having his hand around my small fragile one to help me throw the ball. I got it on the first go with his help and dunked a high school kid. I was proud but I was even prouder that I was hanging out with the coolest boy in school.
Abby pulled me to the side and told me to line up to be dunked. I shook my head and told her no, I didn’t want to be wet and have my makeup ruined. She told me Leon would be impressed and would ask me out if I was brave enough to do it. I believed her like always and lined up for my turn.
While I was sitting on the plank, my feet dangling over the tank, I watched Abby kiss Leon’s cheek. My heart was broken, I felt numb as I watched them flirt. Someone threw the ball and hit the target and I fell for the water. It felt like everything was in slow motion as I watched Leon and Abby walk away, hand in hand.
I never talked to either of them ever again; I couldn’t trust them not to hurt me again. I never thought that would happen again but it did, countless times until I met Justin.
That’s what made me confused about Daniel. Friends can do that to you but I never thought Daniel would. I have known him my while life, he was related by blood.
Daniel was protective of me but he never left or changed his mind. He clung to my side like a bodyguard, even if I swore I didn’t need him. It was like it was his job to keep me safe, it annoyed me but I liked it in many ways.
But right now, I hated it more than ever. He wasn’t protecting me, he was hurting me. Not physically but mentally, he was pushing me from his life. He had avoided me since I told him and Lara couldn’t change his mind for me. I had to confront him, which made me more nervous than ever.
“Maybe I could talk to him for you.” Justin suggested.
I shook my head, “He hates you more than he hates me.”
“Thanks for sparing my feelings.” he joked.
I had no time for chatting; I was too busy thinking of ways to get Daniel to change his mind about the situation. Lara had told me countless times that Daniel had never changed his mind, she could never do it. But that wasn’t enough to make me back down.
I kissed Justin’s cheek for good luck and left the room, striding towards the living room where Daniel was probably playing Xbox. I found him like I had suspected ad luckily I caught him alone. I stood in front of the television and he growled, turning in attempt to see. He failed so he just sighed and tossed the controller aside.
“What is it?”
Cut straight to the chase, Sasha.
“I want you to change your mind.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Sasha, you’re pregnant with that asshole’s baby.”
“His name is Justin and he’s my boyfriend.”
“Do you love him?”
“Yes- no, yes, I don’t know.”
“That irritates me. You’re giving birth in just a short time and you can’t answer a simple question like that?”
Simple question? Daniel had taught me many lessons in my life and love was one of them. He had told me that love was a precious thing. He told me not to say it unless I knew it was true with all my heart. He had never included babies in his lessons so he shouldn’t be mad. I was following what he had taught me and that didn’t seem to be enough to please him.
“When was love ever a simple question? You taught me that when I was younger, remember?” I sighed and folded my arms, “We have this wrong. You shouldn’t be mad at me; I should be the one that’s mad with you!”
I stormed out, ignoring him when he called out for me. It was a quick discussion which took a matter of seconds rather than minutes, but in those thirty seconds the table’s turned. He would now be the one having to come and fix things, I was disappointed in him, he has to feel the guilt that has been eating me for days and I was going to make sure that I didn’t easily give in and forgive him.
***
Hot cocoa was something I missed drinking alone with Lara. It made me feel cheerful as we discussed things we had missed in each other’s lives. I had purposely left out the countless breakups I suffered but I didn’t fail to mention that Justin was my best and longest relationship.
“Last year I punched a girl.” Lara smiled proudly.
“Why?”
“She was being stuck up so I showed her who was boss.”
I giggled. “I take it you are?”
Lara nodded, taking a sip of hot cocoa and chewing on a mini marshmallow.
“Doesn’t that make you like the girl though?” I asked, “That would be the stuck up thing to do.”
“Did I mention that she’s a slut?”
“Ah,” I accepted it.
I too hated girls who did that. They were self centred and threw themselves at any guy, not caring on his relationship status. They were attractive and confident which made the boys cheat and left all the real girls heartbroken.
“Hello lovely ladies.” Justin’s arm wrapped around my waist and he kissed my hair.
“Go away you’re interrupting us.”
“I wish I could but I was sent to tell you that we’re all going out and you have to come.”
“Out?” Lara asked.
Justin nodded, looking between us both as he spoke. “Get something warmer on, okay?”
“Where are we going?”
“Out.”
I laughed, jumping off the stool. “I know that silly, but where’s out?”
“Out.”
I wasn’t going to get that information out of him so I pushed him aside and went to change into some warmer snow clothes.
***
I rubbed my hands together as we made our way into the small cosy cafe. The adults slid into one booth and all of us kids slid into the other. We weren’t kids anymore but they stuck to the name.
Lara and Justin sat on either side of me which I was happy about; I didn’t want to be close to Daniel. He sat on the other side of the table, facing me. He was looking down at his napkin the whole time, not wanting to be here as much as me.
“They really did this place up.” Lara observed.
I had to agree, this place looked a lot different to when we came here a few years ago. The walls were now brown with quotes written on the walls. Around there were also frames and medals of all the competition champions that competed here. This cafe had become famous and was no longer unknown.
“I hope they still make good food.” I heard dad say to my uncle as they walked towards the counter to most likely order a beer.
“Isn’t that the waitress’s job? Why do they need to get up?”
“The waitress serves anything but alcohol, you need to get that yourself.” I stated.
“Why?”
“I don’t know Justin!”
We soon ordered our food from the middle aged waitress on roller skates and chatted while we waited for it to arrive. Daniel remained quiet, texting on his phone. Lara was also doing the same thing for the majority of the time, seeing that we have good reception up on the mountain.
I didn’t want to text or use my phone, either did Justin. We had each other and that seemed to be all we really needed.
“I was wondering...” Justin started, his finger tracing patters on my hand as he spoke. “...do you want to accompany me to my grandparent’s house for Christmas?”
“Really? You don’t think they would mind?”
“I want you there.”
“But the baby...”
“My mum was your age when she had me, they’re used to teen pregnancy.” he laughed, pulling me into him.
I took in the smell of his cologne and melted, I loved being in his arms. I felt safe and comfortable, I never wanted to leave.
“Please say yes...” he whispered into my ear.
I didn’t even have to second guess my answer, I wanted to go.
“Yes.” I pulled away to look at him. “Yes I’ll spend Christmas with you.”
“Great.”
“Fantastic,” I looked up to catch Daniel rolling his eyes.
“Did I hear an apology?” I asked.
“No, you heard a pissed off cousin comment on you spending Christmas with his family.”
“Oh,” I smirked, standing up with Justin and grabbing Lara’s arm. “And now you see a pissed off cousin taking you from my life.”
With that I walked to another booth with Justin and Lara, attempting to hold back my tears I was determined to look strong, I didn’t want to look weak for Daniel.
I always thought that it was only friends who would leave you after everything; I thought family would always be there for you. Maybe I was wrong, because family can turn on you. Blood may not matter, maybe its change that leads us away.
I was very wrong.
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