"More like aggression and affliction ..."
- Roman
7 Months Later, New Years Eve
"Blondie?" Arson asked, and I heard a few light taps on the door from the outside. Currently, I was in the bathroom, trying to gain the composure that I secretly needed. Letting him see me this torn up would naturally elicit questions, ones that I didn't want to answer.
"Yeah?" I respond, leaning up against the sink. It was stable enough to support me for however long it took me to take as many deep breaths as I could.
"I came by to check on you. I was going to ask if it was number one or number two, but judging by how long you've been in here I'm guessing it's the latter." The brunette joked, and I chuckled to myself, because of how he always found a way to put a smile on my face. That thought alone was enough to get me out of the restroom.
When I opened the door, he stepped back to make room for me. "It was neither, I just ... it was all getting to be a bit much." I honestly tell, and he knew exactly what it was.
"I had a feeling that those two were why you ran off. I'm in no place to give advice, but, at least try to talk to him." A.R instructed, and leaned against the doorframe. I stared into his eyes in thought, wondering if talking to the boy was the best choice. He had walked into the party with a girl on his arm, and she no doubt complicated things further.
I took a deep breath before walking with him back to the party room. There, tens of people conversed and danced lightly to the pop music. This was a semi-formal gathering, so majority of partygoers had on dresses and dress shirts. I myself wore a form fitting dress, it being a shade of pink that was the only variation I could tolerate.
My eyes raked the crowd for the couple, and when I saw them, I was reminded instantly of why I sought cover in the bathroom in the first place. He had his arm wrapped around her waist, and he used their physical contact to pull her in closer. She was whispering something in his ear, and a part of me wished she was just telling him to fuck off.
But it was just that, a wish, because there wasn't a single doubt in my mind that she was cooing to him. Despite these thoughts, I continued to pushed my way through the crowd with Arson, and we finally made it before the two.
"Roman!" Arson greeted, and went in for a hug, but Ro promptly held out his hand instead for a shake. I didn't think that things could get anymore awkward, but him turning to me proved me wrong.
"It's so good to see you guys, after, what, how long has it been?" Roman questioned.
"7 Months..." I trail, because I knew that he was already aware of how long it's been since our last face to face. It wasn't the last time we've talked, though, he calls me probably once a month randomly. The call isn't of any importance, it's just him trying to see if he still stands a chance. It bugs Arson a lot, I know, because it isn't exactly the easiest occurrence to stomach; I would be nerved if his ex girlfriend/ex best friend kept calling to get back together too.
"Yeah, anyways, this is Melinda Barnes, Mel, this is ... my friend Peri and her boyfriend, Arson." Ro informed, gesturing to each of us accordingly. Both A.R and I shook her hand, meanwhile, I also pondered his wording. My friend Peri, is that what he considers me? Or is it just too off-putting to called me his ex girlfriend?
"It's nice to meet yo–" I was cut off by my own thoughts, because her face was eerily familiar. Her smooth, dark complexion was hard to forget, so imagine how shocked I am that I didn't piece this together sooner. "wait, we've met before, you were my brothers date to Junior Prom." I recall.
"Nathan?! Oh my gosh, I haven't thought of him in ages, how's he been?" Melinda inquired, and we quickly got the talking about Nathan. I decided to refer to him as my brother to her, since our situation is just far too complicated to tell.
"Well ... he moved like three states away, I haven't talked to him in months." I inform.
"Peri, can I ... talk to you for a second?" Roman interjected, already grabbing onto my arm. I decided not to answer, because he was going to separate us regardless of my answer. We moved to the outskirts of the party, and he stood to face me. "What's your deal, why are bringing up Nathan to my girlfriend?"
"I-I didn't mean to overstep, I was just making conversation." I truthfully inform, and he scoffed right in my face. It showed that he didn't believe me, which caused me to get a bit hostile. "Roman, trust me, if you want to date sloppy seconds, be my guest. Who am I to ruin that?"
"Sloppy seconds," He breathed. "you really want to go there?"
"I mean ... come on dude, me, Jenna – I'm pretty sure she's been ran though, so that's more of sloppy 23rds – and now Melinda." I recount.
"Did you only come here to ridicule me?"
"I didn't even know you were going to be here, and for your information, no. When I saw you walk through the door with her I was actually pretty nervous, and ran away." I confess, only to show him that messing with him weren't my intentions. He was lowkey acting like the victim, but I didn't comment on that. "And what's with you calling me, it's starting to piss Arson off."
"You know why I call."
"Just like how you knew exactly how long it's been since we last saw each other?"
Roman pauses for a second to look off, probably not wanting to say anything. "Seven months ... two weeks ... five days ... 19 minutes." I shook my head slowly, because he proved me correct, and then some. "But who's counting, this isn't even important, we're going back to the others."
I didn't say anything else, instead, I walked with Roman through the party. People bumped into us, but we didn't care. I was glad to see that Arson and Melinda were still in the same spot we left them, conversing.
"Welcome back," Melinda joked. "we were just talking about heading up to the roof. The city is like ... lit up right now, it would be a nice thing to see." The idea didn't sound too bad, because Arson and I had already chatted up all of the familiar faces in this room. All that would be left to do is dance, which is what we were saving for later on in the night.
Before we could walk off, though, someone who I wasn't planning on seeing walked up to the table. He had a drink in his hand, and the other, was placed on my shoulder. "Peri, Arson ... Roman, I wish I could say that I'm glad to see you guys." Nathan irritatingly greeted, and downed a bit of his liquor. A part of me wanted to get upset with how he spoke to us, but the other didn't expect anything less from him.
He's been harassing the three of us for a while now on Instagram, commenting rude ass things. When I questioned him months ago about why he never commented on my page, this wasn't the return I was expecting. "Likewise, you haven't changed a bit, still the same bitter fuckwad, eh?" I snap back, which was all that he wanted.
"Nah, I'm not bitter, I've moved on from our little ordeal. In all honesty, I've grown, you should be proud of me." Nate insisted.
"Judging by your Snapchat story, being a college dropout doesn't exactly call for praise." Arson fires, causing Roman's mouth to form the "O" shape of shock. A.R's been fuming ever since Nathan commented on his page about his past. Which is why nobody really told him to back down.
"What exactly did you come over here for, Nathan, did you think you'd have a friend in this bunch? You used to be someone I respected but ... times have clearly changed." Roman inquires seriously, all of us just wanting to get to the bottom of his spontaneous appearance. That statement made me think about how I put both of them through the same situation sort of.
Actually, Roman was done worse, and yet here Nathan is, the least put together of the two. "I didn't come here to argue, you and Peri do that enough. Consider this the last time we encounter each other, actually I'm moving to Canada ... with my fiancé." His announcement shocked only me, and it was evident on my face. I guess the others didn't care, and Mel, she was silent since the beginning.
"Who?" Arson challenged, probably since nothing he's said or done leading up until this moment has pointed in the direction of him being engaged.
"First Ariana Grande, then Justin Bieber, and now you?" I thought out loud.
Nathan didn't answer Arson's question, instead he just smirked. "Married at 19 ..." Roman trailed, before drinking some of the golden liquid swirling around in his glass. "that's something I'd expect from Xavier, but then again you guys are buddies so I guess that makes sense."
I understand that Nathan and I aren't related – and I still was never able to locate my birth parents – but it made me feel some type of way, knowing that he didn't decide to tell me. I doubt Georgina nor Steve knows, which kind of makes me feel a bit better? We all just exchanged looks, until yet another blast from our pasts walked up to the small table.
It was Penelope, who had an evil look plastered across her face. At first, I was happy to see her, because from what I remembered, we were cool. But that happiness soon started to fade away when I got a glimpse of the ring on her finger.
"You actually went back to Penelope?" Roman scoffed and shook his head, because he's always hated the girl.
"Yes, I've manage to find God ever since school ended, and he made me see that all of the bickering and fighting the two of us did was only an act of passion and affection." Nathaniel explained.
"More like aggression and affliction ..." Ro sneakily jabbed.
Arson leans into me secretly so that he could whisper something in my ear. "This is most definitely like the Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin engagement."
I just laughed, and nobody else knew why. Penelope, on the other hand, heard my chortle and took it offensively. "Something to say, Petra, if that's even your real name?" I was a bit hurt that Nathan chose to disclose private information that we discussed to her. My ... adoption if you must, was a very sensitive subject, I haven't even spoken over it with Arson yet.
"Just that you can save yourself some paper and not print me out an invitation to the wedding. I for one will not be attending." I break the news, but she didn't care if my presence was there or not.
"Oh honey, we're eloping, remember when the two of us broke up and I told you to enjoy? Well you had your chance to, and now it's my turn."
X