Cute little pic ^^
Enjoy!
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May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. ~Nelson Mandela
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"Please, it could help him."
"I'm sorry, Alex is a nice boy, but I don't think it will be good for her to see him in this condition," my mom replied to the woman gently. They caught my full attention the moment they said his name.
"Mommy, can I go play with Alex?" I asked her as I watched them from my place in the doorway. The woman who had been talking about Alex looked at mom pleadingly.
Mommy sighed. "I don't think that's such a good idea, sweetie," she answered me.
"Margaret, please," the woman begged, but was ignored.
"Why not?" I asked my mom. "I haven't seen him in so long."
"Because Alex is sick, sweetie."
The woman stepped forward. "But you might be able to help him get well again, Bee." Who was this woman? And how did she know my name?
"Excuse me!" Mommy snapped at the woman for talking to me. I don't like it when Mommy gets loud.
"I know you are only trying to protect your child, but I'm trying to do the same."
"I want to help you, really, and I'm sorry for your loss, but I don't want to traumatize her."
The woman looked like she was about to cry. I don't like it when people cry. "Who are you?"
She looked at me with a sad smile. "I'm Alex' aunt Rachel."
"Mommy," I tugged at her hand. "I want to go to Alex."
I blinked and was suddenly in a hospital room. My eyes widened as I took in the sleeping form on the bed. "Alex!" I rushed up to him and frowned at all the tubes. "Alex?" I grasped his arm and shook him. "Alex, wake up." He didn't.
"Careful, sweetheart," said a man from behind me. I looked back and rushed to my dad who was standing next to him. I grabbed his hand and hid behind his body as the man talked to me. I didn't know him. "He is in a deep sleep."
"How long has he been like that, Marcus?" dad asked.
The man, Marcus, sighed. "For too long." He looked teary eyed.
"Please wake him so we can play."
The man crouched in front of me. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but he needs to wake up on his own."
I nodded. "Oh, okay." It should be easy enough. After napping I always wake up so I'll just wait. I walked back to my best friend and climbed on the bed before lying down next to him. I grabbed his small hand with my tiny one. "Alex," I whispered. "Wake up soon so we can play again. Please."
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I got up and made myself ready with one thought in mind after waking up. I had to figure out who this Alex kid was. It couldn't be insignificant that he invaded my dreams. It must mean something, I thought as I brushed my hair and put it up in a messy bun. And I was determined to figure out what it was. It felt like my mind was playing tricks on me with all these dreams about him.
I looked at the clock and sighed while getting dressed. I had half an hour before the guys would come over for breakfast. I grabbed my phone on the way out of my room and walked downstairs. I dialed Jo's number and placed my phone against my ear while starting up the coffee machine. After a minute it went to voice mail and I hung up. I sighed and went to work on the pancake batter. Honestly, we should eat breakfast at one of their houses soon. In the beginning we would alternate, but after Jack burned all of the food we somehow always ended up at my place.
The guys decided to grace me with their presence soon after I set the table on our back porch. All of them greeted me with a 'morning Liz' and followed me inside. We made some small talk about the breakfast in the kitchen as I made them some coffee and pulled the juice out the fridge. "Hey, where's Ryan?" Drake asked once they all had their mugs and glasses.
I frowned. I completely forget that he needed to come too. It was a tradition. Once there, always there. "I don't know," I replied before grabbing my phone and dialing his number.
"Hello?" A girl answered and I immediately tensed, my heart picking up speed.
"Er, hey, I wanted to talk to Ryan, but if he is busy right now I can just-"
"Oh, Liz, it's you. Sorry, I didn't look at the caller ID. It's Sophie."
I face palmed myself, earning some weird and questioning looks from my friends. Sophie. It was Sophie, I totally forgot. "Right. Sorry, I just thought it's-"
"Yeah, I know that you thought I'm one of his one night stands, but," she sighed. "Look, I meant to talk to you about it sooner."
I frowned and exited the kitchen to get some privacy. She sounded serious. "Okay." She was scaring me.
"I know what you think about my brother. You think he's a player and a attention whore." Funny, that's what everyone calls me. "And I don't blame you for thinking that, but-"
"Sophie, Sophie, calm down. I don't think that Ryan is a bad person or that he is the jerk everyone thinks he is or that he wants everyone to think he is. I... In fact I...," I gulped, hopefully she doesn't get this the wrong way. "I like him." There was a noise on the other side of the line. Wait, was she... squealing? Oh, no!
"Yaaaas, I knew it!"
"Sophie."
Shit!
"I told him, but would he listen to me? No!"
"Sophie."
She squealed again. "Oh my gosh! This is perfect. I totally ship it."
"Sophie!" She paused. "I like him, but I do not like like him, if you know what I mean."
"Oh." She sounded completely deflated and I felt bad.
"I like him as a friend."
"Oh my gosh." There was a clashing sound on her end of the line and I was pretty sure she just face palmed herself. "I'm so stupid. Please forget what I said." For some reason a smiled tucked at my lips. "He's going to fucking kill me if he hears," she mumbled under her breath. "Okay, what were you saying before?"
"Erm, I know that he's hiding the friendly person within him for some reason and I don't know. I don't judge him for his reputation. If he wants to have sex, he can, I'm not his babysitter."
"But that's just it, Bee. He doesn't sleep around anymore, not now anyways."
I frowned. Why was she telling me this? "Okay."
"Okay?! I don't think you realize that this is a big deal," she said, making me sigh.
"Like I said I'm not his mother Sophie. I can't tell him what he is and isn't allowed to do. It's his life."
"This was not the reaction I expected and we will talk about this in person some time soon, but right now you need to tell me why you called, so I can decide if it's worth it to wake him." I frowned. He was still sleeping? It was well after eleven.
"Sure, yeah, er I wanted to ask him if he's still coming to the breakfast."
There was a pause before she answered. "He'll call you back."
"Okay."
"Oh and Liz?" she asked as I was about to hang up.
"Yes?"
"Please, keep this conversation between us. I don't want Ryan to find out I talked to you about him," she said before hanging up.
Stunned, I walked back to my friends. Did this conversation with Sophie actually just happen or had I imagined it? Did she actually squeal like a fangirl when I told her I liked her brother? And... what did she say about shipping us? Had she been serious? I went back to the stove to keep myself from overanalysing and overworrying. "So?" Jeremy asked when I didn't say anything.
"Oh, er, he was busy he'll call me back later," I said while looking over my shoulder at them. He nodded. "Guys, I think you can just go outside and wait if you want. You don't have to watch me." They smiled happily and shot me grateful looks before leaving me and going to the backporch. Well, all but one. One guy in particular that was slouched over on a stool, elbows propped up on the counter, face in his hands. Asleep.
I walked over to him, an amused smile plastered onto my face. I placed my hand on his left shoulder and shook him gently. "Liam?"
He jumped, startled. He lost his balance and fell from the stool. "Oh my God." I rounded the counter and rushed to his side after he landed on the ground with a grunt. "Liam, are you okay?" I asked as I helped him up again and into the stool.
He ran a hand over his face before yawning loudly. "Yeah, just tired." He rubbed at his eyes and I couldn't help but smile. He looked like a little boy, so cute. "I had a nightmare and I was awake half the night, because I couldn't fall back asleep."
"Oh, you want to tell me about it?" I asked, feeling sorry for his lack of sleep, and rubbed his back and shoulder comfortingly.
"Not right now, I'm too tired."
"Okay, well, whenever you are ready, okay?"
He gave me a small smile and nodded. "Maybe after more coffee." He gestured to his mug and I looked at it just to see that it was empty.
I grabbed it before trotting back to the coffee machine. "Coming right up."
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After talking to Ryan on the phone and him letting me know that he would be over in a few I decided it was time to have a little talk with Jeremy. I somehow needed to get Jere to listen to Ryan's explanation and come to terms with what had actually happened. Jere was just so goddamn stubborn.
...
God, was I a hypocrite.
"Hey, Jeremy, could you come inside and help me with something?"
"Sure," he said and followed me back into the kitchen. "So, what do you need me to do?" he asked while rolling up his sleeves.
I turned back to the stove and put the eggs into the pan before gesturing next to me where apples and other fruits together with a knife were laying. "You can slice some fruits." He nodded and got to work. "Jere?" I asked after a moment of silence. "We need to talk."
"What's up?"
"You have five minutes. Go!" I told him while flipping a pancake with a spatula.
Confused, he turned to me. "What?"
"We didn't get to talk yesterday so talk. You have five minutes," I informed him.
"Liz, you do know that this is ridiculous, right?"
"Yes, but it seems to work. So, you have five minutes to puke your guts out about Ryan. Go!" I focused on flipping another pancake as I waited for him to speak up. After what seemed like half an hour he sighed.
"You never liked Kim."
Confused, by the change of topic I shook my head. I thought we would talk about the hatred he had towards Ryan. "That's not true. She made you happy, well, most of the time and that was what counted." Honestly, Kim had been a bitch to me on various occasions, but I had always let it slide, because Jere cared for her. I didn't know what he saw in her, but he cared for her.
And that was enough reason for me to keep my mouth shut, because I knew that she had only tried to offend me, because she was scared that Jere and I had something that went deeper than what it really was, that we were closer than just friends.
"That was a lie."
"What was?"
"That she made me happy." He sighed when I turned to look at him in question. "We fought a lot."
I nodded and turned back to my task at the stove. "About what?"
He sighed again. "About you." Huh?!
"What?!" I looked at him in bewilderment, my eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets. "What-How-Why-What?"
"She accused me of cheating on her with you." I could only stare at him. I was stunned into silence. That bitch!
"What the fuck?! You are joking right?" He shook his head.
Look what you've done, stupid bitch! You are ruining everything!
"Jere, I don't know what I did, but I never wanted to-"
He grabbed my shoulders. "Liz, stop." I gulped and looked up at him. "It wasn't your fault, okay? You've done nothing wrong. It was her. She felt threatened by you and she imagined those things." I nodded slowly. "I have no idea why though, you never gave her reason to think that we were a thing and neither did I. I think she was paranoid or something I don't know." He sighed, stepped away and turned back to the fruits. "I don't know maybe that was the reason she did it."
After all the things he told me about her he still believed her story, that she and Ryan had had a thing going on. But why?
"Anyways, what do I do with the pineapple?" he asked, pineapple in hand.
I smiled at him before grabbing the fruit out of his hand and pushing my hip against his, silently telling him to take a step away. "First you have to trim off the top-" And somehow in doing so I cut myself. "Shit!"
"Fuck, Liz, you okay?" Jeremy asked before pressing a paper towel against the cut on my index finger.
"Yeah, I think so." Damn me and my clumsiness!
"Here let me see." He studied the wound closely. "It's not deep, you should be okay in no time."
"Thanks, Dr. Evans," I smiled at him.
"No problem and now just tell me what I need to do." I guided him through trimming and slicing the pineapple while I continued to work on the pancakes, the scrambled eggs being ready to serve already.
"Jere, after all the things you just told me about Kim why do you trust her?"
"During all the time we spent together while fighting and accusing me of things and her bitching about stuff, there is one thing she never did."
"What?"
"She never lied to me."
I sighed, but didn't comment. Maybe she hadn't lied to him, but she hadn't been honest to him either, she kept a lot of things from him. "And did Ryan? Did he lie to you? Did your former best friend ever lie to you?"
He shook his head in defeat. "No, but he used to openly flirt with her in front of my bloody eyes." I rolled my eyes, only mentally of course. Ryan really did have a problem with flirting with girls only to piss their boyfriends off. Seriously, what was so entertaining in riling someone up?
"Jeremy," I turned to him and clasped his left shoulder to get his attention. "I know that Ryan can be an idiot sometimes and it was wrong of him to flirt with Kim, but I'm pretty sure that there was nothing more behind it than what you saw. Ryan only flirted with Kim to get you angry or maybe just to catch your attention. God knows I have a fourth of the team on my case, because of this simple reason. And I'm not going to defend him. What he did, what he still does is wrong. But honestly I think deep down Ryan's just lonely. And he tries to make you angry just to start a conversation and get near you and just interact with you in any way, because he needs someone. And like a very smart person told me once: Everyone needs somebody once in a while."
If Mr. Sullivan could see me now he would be proud of me.
"And about Kim, well, I don't know if she ever lied to you, but she very well kept some things from you. And I hate to tell you this, but people change. And just like Kim could have lied to you Ryan could have told you the truth. It's her word against his. But it's your decision who to believe and who to forgive.
"But do me the favor and talk to Ryan. He misses you and I'm pretty sure you do too. Just don't be so hard on him. The day you chose to break up with Kim and pull away from Ryan was the day he lost his best friend. Maybe he is an idiot. But like I said people change."
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After making sure that Ryan wasn't choking on his tea anymore I headed inside again with all the dirty dishes. Placing them in the sink, I wet a rug and wiped the counter when my phone started ringing. I quickly washed my hands before picking up.
"Hello?" I answered my phone and put it between my ear and shoulder so I could wipe my wet hands on a dishrag.
"Hey, girl, you called?"
"Hey," I greeted Jo and grabbed my phone back into my hand. "Yeah, er, I need to ask you something." I quickly walked up the stairs and to my room.
"Shoot," she said just as I sat down criss cross on my bed.
"Do you know if there was a boy in kindergarten with the name Alex?" I frowned when she started laughing. "What?"
"Bee, Alex was your other half in kindergarten."
"What?"
"Before we became friends you and Alex were already insaparable." What!? Why did Jo know and I didn't? Why could I not remember? And why did Alex and I part ways if we had been best friends? In my dream he had been in a hospital and... in a deep sleep. Had he been in a coma? Did he die? "You don't remember him?"
"No, I don't, but I don't know why." I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.
"Hm, weird. How come you ask then?"
"I had a dream tonight."
She paused. "About Alex?"
"Yeah, I think it was the day we became friends," I told her although it was the dream I had a week or so ago. For some reason I didn't want to share the dream of tonight yet. Not even with Jo. It felt too personal.
"It's weird that you can't remember. He was your first best friend ever."
I needed to ask my parents about him. It was my best chance to figure out what had gone down between the two of us. "Hey, er, Jo?"
"Yes?"
"What happened? I mean why aren't we friends anymore?"
"I don't really know, Bee. I think he moved away or something." This was so weird. I mean I had a long lost best friend whom I knew nothing about."You should ask your mom maybe she knows more, I mean we were only little kids when all of this happened, so, it's not that uncanny that you can't remember properly." I knew she wanted to reassure me, but still it was strange that she could remember and I couldn't.
"Yeah, but still," I said, just as the front door opened downstairs and closed again which meant that mom just got home from her run. "Hey, Jo, mom just got home. I'm gonna go talk to her." My curiosity had only spiked after this talk.
"Okay, let me know what she said. Bye babe." We hung up and I made my way downstairs.
I badly needed those answers.
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Hey guys
So, today was my second day of the new school year and I'm a bit anxious about tomorrow, because we'll have Spanish for the first time and I basically forgot everything we learned last year XD.
But it's whatever.
I'm not really satisfied with this chappy, but heck, when am I ever? I hope you enjoyed reading nonetheless.
It seems like we are getting closer to discovering the truth about Alex and Bee. What is your guess happened to Alex? And why can't she remember?
And what about that Kim bitch? Anyone?
Do you think it's understandable why Jeremy believed her? Why he trusted her so much and believed her word over Ryan's?
Oh and of course the phone call with Sophie? Her reaction to Bee's ... confession? The fangirling is real.
Tell me your thoughts.
Please comment/vote?
Hugs and kisses
Kathy