Chapter Twenty-Three
Hannah's P.O.V.
It's been two days since Kyle had said those three words.
It was so childish of me, but I couldn't get over it. Even though I probably would've used those words on him, coming from him they hurt so much more. They shouldn't have affected me that way. That day as soon as I came home I broke down.
The worst thing? I had no idea why.
I mean, Kyle obviously didn't care for me. And I was far from having any feelings for that asshole.
I just couldn't handle that shit.
"Hannah? Are you listening?" My head snapped in the direction of the voice.
"Yeah obviously." I swallowed.
"What did I say?" Jake asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
"That um... that match stuff... um yeah."
Jake looked at me and shook his head. "I was wishing you good luck for the match later."
Oh shit. All of this crap made me completely forget about the match.
"You forgot." Casey stated.
"No." I lied, changing the subject. "Why can't you be there Jake?"
"Mia's ill. I promised her I'll come over after school..." he stopped realising he'd said too much for us to tease him.
"Aww Jakey baby looking after his girlfriend!" I cooed.
"Shut up! You have a boyfriend." He defended.
Before I could answer I felt arms snake around my waist and a chin rest on my shoulder. "She does indeed."
"Luke." I twisted my head so I could place a kiss on his lips.
"Eww." Jake joked.
"So how is Mia?" Casey wriggled her eyebrows.
Jake sighed. "I told you. She's ill."
Shit. Mia was one of our best players. We needed her in the game.
"Are you going to be her sexy man nurse?" Casey winked laughing.
"God Casey, you're so sexually frustrated." Layna commented coming out of nowhere.
"No I'm not—"
"You can sense it down the corridor." Layna laughed.
Casey just rolled her eyes before sighing. "I need a boyfriend."
I looked at my best friend so upset about not having one while my one had his arms wrapped around me. I wanted to tell her that it's really not as easy as she thinks, but I couldn't. Because Luke was there.
The bell soon rang and all of our group split up going to lessons. Casey and I had English together so I quickly kissed Luke before following her.
"So how are you feeling?" She asked. During my breakdown no one was home so I couldn't speak to my mum about it. Casey was my first call.
"Whatever. I've gotten over it." I dismissed.
"No you haven't." She sighed.
"He's not worth it. I'm done trying—"
"HANNAH!" I was cut off mid-sentence. Both Casey and I turned around to see who had called my name.
Matt's head appeared over everyone else's seeing as he was so tall. "Matt." I waved.
"Hey, I need to talk to you—" he trailed off as his eyes focused on my best friend standing next to me. Her cheeks turned red and she was smiling— Wait what the fuck? Casey doesn't blush! What was going on?
O.M.G. Matt was totally the perfect guy for her! Sure I didn't know him that well, but just by the way he looked at her I could sense chemistry.
I smiled taking a step back. "Matt, this is my best friend, Casey." I introduced her. "Casey, this is Matt."
She smiled even more making him chuckle. What the hell was I witnessing?
At that point Casey stopped walking as she took her eyes off of Matt and looked sadly at her English classroom door. "I'll see you around." And with that she was gone.
Matt was still looking after her. I punched him in the arm making him jump. "What the fuck—"
"I'll send you her number." I winked.
He was about to speak when the clicking of heels and a high pitched laugh interrupted him. "Oh look who we have here!"
I threw my head back begging for mercy. "Hi, my name is Hannah. Nice to meet you. "I smiled sarcastically making Matt chuckle.
Jade scoffed. "Matt, what are you doing with her? It's the second time I've seen you two together. Kyle would not be impressed."
Matt looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you hear?"
"Matt? Can we just go?" I muttered, not in the mood to deal with Jade's shit.
Matt looked at me and smiled then glared at Jade. "I'll talk to you later." He then grabbed my hand and pulled me down the corridor.
"Matt I'm going to be late." I whined.
"Blame it on Jade." He shrugged. "We need to talk."
"Aah yes." I nodded. "You were saying before you got distracted." I teased.
Matt cleared his throat, rubbing his neck awkwardly. I rolled my eyes, taking out a piece of paper and my phone. "Here." I said handing the paper to him.
"What is it?"
"Her number." I said obviously.
Suddenly a grin appeared on his face. "Thank you!" He hugged me.
"Treat her well." I laughed. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Hey, you mind ditching English?" He asked changing the subject.
"Why?"
"We could go somewhere to talk about it. I mean, you're late anyway." He shrugged.
"As long as you promise I'll be back for the match." I debated.
"I promise."
~***~
Fifteen minutes later we were at the same American diner I had met the three guys in. This time I made sure to look at the name. Gateway.
"So," I said once the waiter gave us our food. "Will you finally tell me what you wanted to speak about?"
Matt sighed resting his elbows on the table. "Well, for the past two days, Kyle has been acting down. He hasn't been himself. And I was wondering if you knew why that is?"
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. Surely, the reason wasn't Monday. It couldn't have been. He was a dickhead and there was no reading for why he should be upset. I didn't do anything to him.
"I really don't. I'm sorry." I shook my head.
Matt sighed again. "So, nothing happened between you two?"
Should I tell him? I mean, surely that was Kyles job.
"Matt, I doubt his mood swings have anything to do with this, but on Monday we might have had an argument." I bit my lip nervously.
Matt looked up. Relief was evident on his face. "That explains it."
"Matt, I don't think that's the reason why—"
"What did you argue about?"
I sighed. "He wanted to go out. But I said no."
"But why? You guys had fun right?" Matt asked confused.
"Yeah, but I just don't feel like it's a good thing." I shrugged.
Matt leaned back in his chair crossing his arms across his chest. "You don't or does Archer not think it's a good idea?"
My eyes widened as I felt my cheeks heat up. Why was I so nervous?
"Maybe cos you know you're doing the wrong thing?" Matt suggested.
Shit. I said that out loud.
"You did."
Shit.
"Stop swearing." Matt laughed. I rolled my eyes. "So what exactly made Kyle so upset?"
"Matt, if only I knew. I'm the one that should be upset!" I threw my arms in the air.
"What? Why?"
"He was harsh. He told me to fuck myself." I sighed.
Matt threw his head back. "This makes so much sense!"
"What do you mean?"
"How did you react when he said that?" Matt asked.
I tried to remember Monday even though I didn't want to. "I was speechless. Shocked. Upset." I listed. "Wait, are you some kind of psychotherapist or something?"
Matt laughed. "Kyle is so upset cos he upset you Hannah! That explains everything."
I shook my head quickly. "No Matt. That doesn't make sense he meant it—"
"No he didn't. He likes you."
~***~
I quickly changed into my volleyball kit and ran out onto the court to stretch. The opposite team were ready, glaring at me viciously. I laughed to myself knowing that we would smash them.
And so by the end of the game, we had double their score.
I took a sip of my water, scanning the supporting crowd. Luke was sitting with Layna and Josh who had come to watch the match especially.
I blew Luke a kiss as he pretended to catch it making me laugh. Gosh he was cute!
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Casey muttered next to me.
"What? Why?" I asked confused. Luke was my boyfriend. Sure it was cheesy, but surely it did no harm.
"Three rows up, second from the left." She whispered. "He's been watching you for the whole match." I followed her instructions subtly and then regretted it. Kyle caught my eye, his face blank as he suddenly broke the contact and his eyes quickly flashed to Luke before Sam distracted him with some kind of joke. But Kyle didn't laugh. He just looked down at his shoes.
I didn't know what to think or say. "Fuck my life."
Casey laughed. "It's okay Han. He'll come around."
"He's being so childish! He was the one who hurt me!" I pointed out. "Whatever!"
"That's right. Whatever." I heard a high pitched voice mock.
I threw my head back and sighed. "What do you want Jade?"
She looked me up and down. "You to buy new clothes." She scoffed.
I looked down at what I was wearing. An oversized L.A. jersey t-shirt, Leather shorts and combat boots. "At least I don't look like a stripper."
"You look worse." She giggled. "No wonder Kyle rejected you."
My jaw dropped, Casey mirroring. What was she on about? "Excuse me?" I asked.
"Well we've all heard Mondays story!" She laughed gaining the crowd's attention. Even though it was after the match we were still waiting to thank and say bye to the opposite team. So the crowd was still watching.
"What about it?" I asked.
"We all know you and Kyle went out on the weekend. And you asked him out again but he rejected sending you home crying." She looked at me pathetically.
My eyes widened. "Are you fucking serious?"
"Babe, it's okay. No one would want you anyway. The only reason new boy fell for you was because he didn't know you well enough. You're a sorry excuse for an even close to pretty girl." She spat. I suddenly felt weak. Being called a bitch by her was one thing but being called ugly was something else. I felt my eyes watering but I held my tears back not wanting to embarrass myself in front of so many people.
"That's why you called him and offered him your dirty little services just to make him go out with you." Her sarcastic high pitched laugh filled the gym as individuals in the crowd gasped. "You dirty little slut—"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as my anger blew up and my fist collided with her jaw. She gasped along with the crowd, falling back to the ground clutching onto her jaw in agony.
I shook my hand, hoping to shake off the pain. It didn't work. My knuckles were bleeding.
"You bitch!" She screamed.
"At least I don't make someone out to be something that I actually am." I spat before storming back into the changing room.
"Get some cold water on that." Casey said running the tap as I found a tissue to wipe the blood.
"Casey, what did I just do?" I sighed. Jade was going to make my life hell.
"She deserved it Hannah. You did nothing wrong." She said, placing my hand under the water.
I winced at the pain, my eyes watering. "I've gotten myself in so much shit. I should've held it in."
Casey laughed. "Maybe it'll put her back in her place."
"The brothel." My head snapped up at the mystery voice.
"Luke."
"I'll leave you two." Casey said. "Call me later and don't cry over that bitch. She deserved it. You did what everyone else has been dying to do." She hugged me kissing my cheek before leaving.
"Hey babe." Luke sat down next to me, putting his arms around my shoulders, making me lean on his chest.
"Luke I shouldn't have done that—"
"Hey! Don't beat yourself up for that. Once you left, everyone was cheering after you. You're a hero." He chuckled, lifting my chin up. "Plus, self-defensive violent girls ate kind of hot." He winked placing a soft kiss on my lips.
"Thank you." I sighed.
Jade was going to kill me. If she could get up from that floor that is. Why was I suddenly acting so weak? All I did was punch her! I didn't commit a fucking murder. And yet I felt like I made an idiot out of myself. Like I've fallen to her level.
~***~
I closed my eyes, wrapping my duvet around me ready to let myself fall asleep when I heard the door to my bedroom open.
"Sweetie, you've got a visitor." My mum's voice rang through the silent room.
I sighed not exactly in the mood for visitors. "Who is it?"
I waited for my mum to answer but she didn't. So I unwrapped myself and turned the lamp on. Leaning on the door frame, was the last person I wanted to see.
"Hey princess."
"What do you want? Do you want to scowl me for breaking your girlfriends jaw? Or maybe you'd like to confirm the fucking rejection rumours because apparently I'm just not good enough for anyone and I have to bribe you with sex to go out with me. Or would you like to push on the fact that I'm a dirty little slut..." at that point my voice cracked as tears rolled down my cheeks. I bowed my head, not wanting Kyle to realise that I was crying but it didn't work as automatically his arms were around my shoulders, hugging me tightly to his chest. I went along with it, my body too weak to object.
Kyles P.O.V.
I held her helplessly in my arms. I couldn't do or say anything. Usually when I do, I fuck up. So this time, I stayed silent, and let her wipe her tears on my shirt.
I didn't know how to explain it, but seeing her cry hurt me in a way I couldn't describe. The worst thing? I started it.
She hiccupped making her cry even more. I felt her struggle and realised she was trying to untangle herself from my arms. I let go automatically, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry." She sniffled, leaning back but not looking up.
I sighed, just wanting to see her face. "I should be the one apologising."
At that moment she looked up. My heart dropped at the redness of her eyes and the tired bags under them. Her face was flushed with no colour. I wanted to speak but I was speechless.
"Why are you here Kyle?" The question snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Princess, I came to apologise." I slouched, her weakness making me weak. Why did she have this effect on me?
Hannah P.O.V.
"Princess, I came to apologise." Kyle spoke. His voice so low I could've missed it.
I looked at him and he gave me a half-hearted smile that made my heart flutter and come back to life. Why did he have this effect on me?
I took a deep breath. "Kyle, you shouldn't be here." His hurt confused expression upset me. But I remembered the three harsh words and the events from easier today.
"I know, I fucked up princess, but that's why I'm here. To fix that." He sighed. "I didn't mean those words they slipped and you don't understand how much they hurt me. Not as much as they hurt you, but it killed me to see you so upset. I'm sorry I know I should've apologised earlier, but my pride was getting in the way. Look princess, all I want is for you to tell me you understand. That you believe me. That you forgive me, because for some reason which is impossible to describe, having you not talk to me, was torture. So please." He took a deep breath once he stopped waffling. He looked intensely into my eyes waiting for a reaction. But I didn't react.
Nothing of what Kyle told me had sunk in. That one punch killed me. I was dead inside. I didn't know why it affected me that way, I mean, Jade was nothing, but it did. And I couldn't help it.
I could only think of one thing to say. "Jade would kill you if she knew you were here."
Kyle's eyebrows shot up and the knitted together in confusion and hurt. He jumped off my bed and stormed around my room. "Why the fuck does everything have to be about Jade?" He snapped. "What does she have to do with this?"
"Because if she finds out, there will be a repeat of today. And that's the last thing I need." I confessed.
Kyle sighed sitting back on my bed and looking at me. I looked back blankly. "Princess, you can't do this. You can't lock yourself away. I know you feel guilty—"
"Guilty?" I laughed humourlessly interrupting him. "I'm not guilty Kyle. There's no way Jade would make me feel guilty."
Kyle took one of my hands into his. "You need time princess, I get that. Just know I am sorry. I don't want to pressure you into forgiving me but I didn't mean anything I said on Monday. For some stupid reason, not speaking to you is killing me. So please, just take your time, but forgive me." And with that he kissed my cheek and left my room. The place where his lips touched my skin, still burning.
A/N: Hey guys! So I wasnt meant to upload today because no one voted :'( But hey! Its Christmas! So here's this chpater! Tell me what you guys think and please be ina festive spirit and
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I'll love you forever and ever! xxx
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hannah's Outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/watching_me/set?id=97849642&lid=2938585