Chapter 10 ~ The Inside Story
I was not able to sleep immediately. I took out my sketch pad and drew my heart out. I made sketches of dresses, the lake house and the beach. I made sketches of Derek, Seth and Dylan.
I drew Ian. I miss my brother so much. I decided to call him since he should be up at this time anyway. I heard three rings before he picked up.
“Hey, sis!” Ian greeted. “I was beginning to think you are mad at me. You have not returned my calls since last week.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am mad at you. You didn’t even tell me that you planned on sending me to school here. Ian, you know how I do not like being caught off guard. A little heads up would have helped.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d go if I told you.” Ian said. I can imagine him shrugging and furrowing his brow.
“You never asked me. How would you know?” I accused him. I heard him sigh.
“My bad. I should have told you about my plans. It is your life after all. But I want you to know, I think this is what is best for you. How are you doing?” He continued.
“Good.” I said, nodding my head even as I realized he cannot see me. ”I’ve seen Derek, Dylan and Seth again. I am slowly catching up on what I have missed. Aren’t you coming over?”
“I’ll try. I have a lot going on right now. But I want to be there for you on the first day of school, to drive you to your new school…”He said.”…for the nth time.” I chuckled.
I can imagine him rolling his eyes at me. I know what he meant. He has always sent me to school on the first day of each semester. It just turned out that every new semester I would almost, always have a new school.
“I promise I will graduate from this school, Ian.” I said. I know I need to do this for myself. I would like to finish school and not get in anymore trouble.
“Glad to hear that.” Ian said. “Listen, I will call you next time. I have to go and work now. And it’s almost 2 am your time. Time to sleep.”
“OK. Take care. I miss you. Bye.” I rambled.
~*~
My window is being pelted with small stones. I rolled my eyes. This is a no brainer, only Dylan does that. I heard laughter followed by more pelting. I have no choice but to get up so I threw off my covers and walked over by the windows. I glared at the guys by the pool. My glare did not work. They just laughed more.
“Good morning, puffy eyes.” Dylan called out and winked at me.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Seth loudly said. “Come and join us for breakfast.” He added.
Great. I need to face these guys every morning the entire summer. I sighed. I skipped into my bathroom to brush my teeth, take a quick shower and change into a pair of denim shorts, white shirt and sneakers. It took me less than 20 minutes. I hurried down to the pool.
The sun is already up and my eyes hurt from the bright sunlight. Good thing I brought my sunglasses. I put them on and stepped out of the house.
“Hey, puffy. “ Dylan teased as I took my seat next to him. He attempted to snatch my sunglasses but I slapped his hand away. “Aww.” He protested.
I caught Seth staring at me. “What?” I snapped at him.
“Ooh, why are you so touchy in the morning?” He asked. “Here, eat.” He put a piece of toast on my plate. I took eggs benedict, another slice of toast and apple slices, too. Then I started to eat, not minding them. We all ate in silence.
“Where do you plan on putting all that food?” Dylan finally asked. His brows furrowed. He was looking at my plate and then to me. “You have a very tiny frame and yet you can eat a lot.” Seth snickered.
“I have a big appetite, OK?” I said in between chews. “Besides, I am not one of those girls who get satisfied just by eating few pieces of leaves. I am just skinny but I eat well.” I added defensively.
“That’s my girl.” I heard Seth say. “Someone who will not just stare at me on a date while I eat”
I rolled my eyes. “Like I would want to go on a date with you”, I said. It was Dylan’s turn to snicker. Seth just smirked. “What’s wrong with going out on a date with me? I do not see a boyfriend.”
I opened my mouth to say something but I stopped. I realized I did not know if I have a boyfriend or not. I did not get to say goodbye to Felix. I should call him, I thought. We still need to discuss things about us.
“What? You left someone in France?” Dylan asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I pretended not to hear him. I continued eating. “Cate…” He called my attention again. I sighed. There is no escaping Dylan. He is very intuitive. He knew me too well.
“I may have.” I said, wincing. I heard Dylan sigh. “I did not get to say goodbye. I did not know I will be studying here.” I said still looking down, unable to meet Dylan’s gaze.
“You seem to do that a lot.” Seth said, scowling. I scowled back at him.
I glanced at Dylan and he had that unreadable expression on his face when he is deep in thought. I pushed my sunglasses up over my head and looked at Dylan. His unreadable expression unsettles me.
“You will be studying here?” Dylan finally asked, still not looking at me. He is now playing with his food.
“Yes.” I said. “Aunt Lily only told me last week. Ian sent me here for the summer and I just learned that I will also be staying here for another year until I finish high school.” I am still looking intently at Dylan but he won’t even throw me a glance.
“Where are you enrolled?” Seth was the one who asked. “Spence.” I said. He just nodded and went back to eating.
“Will you say something Dylan?” I begged him. I do not like Dylan when is he is really quiet. I prefer him teasing me to death. He finally looked at me.
“I don’t know what to say.” Dylan said quietly, shaking his head.
“I have something to ask.” Seth interrupted. “Why did you not even contact us when you were in France? A simple hi and goodbye once in a while would have sufficed.” Seth smiled a sad smile.
It is my turn to look down and be quiet. I could feel their eyes on me. What would I say? I have no excuse. I have just been a careless, insensitive friend. I had been so mad at everyone when I was sent to live in France. I rebelled by not talking to anyone, except Ian. It is unfortunate that I also cut ties with my friends back here.
“I don’t know where to start.” I said. I am unable to meet their gaze. I heard Seth say, “Start from when you left the country. “
“My reason is not valid. I am just an insensitive, selfish person. I didn’t want to leave…” I started. …but I had no choice. I had to live with my grandparents after my parents passed. I was mad at everyone for making me do things I did not want to do. I was sad and angry. As soon as I arrived, I was enrolled in a boarding school. Everything was different and nobody cared about how I felt or what I thought. There was no time to adjust. I cannot blame Ian because everything was also new to him.” Dylan and Seth are just staring at me now.
“I begged my grandparents to send me back but they won’t listen. I have to do as they say. I broke all the rules in school. Maybe, if I’d get kicked out, they would send me back. But they didn’t. It was boarding school after boarding school…” I continued. “I thought if I am here, things will still be just like before. But who am I kidding?” I smiled sadly.
“I think the final straw for them was when I was in Italy.” I shrugged. “What happened?” Dylan asked.
“I..uh..” I started to say but I hesitated. Seth and Dylan are looking at me in anticipation. I really did not want to tell anyone. I bet these guys will tease me no end if they find out about my stupidity.
“Cate...” Seth prodded.
“I got arrested.” I said looking at my hands on my lap.
“Arrested for what?” Seth asked again. I scratched my head.
“I was caught drag racing down the roads of Positano while we were on vacation.” I heard Dylan and Seth laugh. My head snapped up to look at them. “What’s so funny?” I asked irritated. Getting arrested wasn’t fun. I am frowning at them now while they laugh their heads off.
“We were imagining your mug shot.” Seth said, drying his eyes. He actually teared up from laughing too hard. Whatever, I thought. It isn’t funny.
“So did they throw you in jail or something?” Dylan asked.
I sighed. “No jail time and no mug shot.” I glared at Seth.” They suspended my license for two years and I was made to do community service for six months.” He nodded.
“Ooh, that is why you had to be chauffeured around.” Seth said smiling.
I nodded. “That was also when my grandparents gave up on me and gave Ian full custody.” I explained as I waved a hand. “…and then Ian sent me here.”
“Hey, at least you’re back.” Seth jokingly said. “
Yeah. Finally free.” I smiled.
“You still didn’t answer the ultimate question. Why did you not contact us if all these things are happening to you? You said you were unhappy.” That was nosy Seth.
“Contact you? And what? Tell you all about my unhappiness? Didn’t you say so yourself that you also had to deal with your own parents’ divorce?” I asked, looking at Seth. I glanced at Dylan and still could not read his expression. He was looking away. I shook my head. “Anyway, I did not want to burden you both with what I am going thru. I don't want to call you to grumble.”
“I still wished you told us, Cate.” Seth said sadly.
I just shook my head and smiled. “It’s alright. I am here now.”
Just then, Seth’s phone rang which diverted all our attention. Seth took his phone call; I glanced at Dylan who was still looking away. Dylan shook his head as if shaking off some thought out of his head and glanced at me. He gave me a sad smile when he caught me looking at him.
“Guys, I need to run an errand for Marie at the main village. You two want to come with me?” Seth asked us. Dylan and I said OK.
We all filed into the jeep. Dylan is driving, Seth sat in the back. I took the front passenger seat. We reached the village in no time. Seth proceeded to the baker’s and then to the florist. “Marie is part of the White Luncheon committee.” He explained and made a face.
Dylan and I followed Seth around. “You said you left someone in France?” Dylan asked. We were walking side by side, a few paces behind Seth.
I shrugged. “I am not sure if I did.” Dylan looked at me, his brows furrowed.
“His mother told him to stay away from me.” I said. “We did not really break up. I didn’t get to say good bye since I didn’t know I’ll be here longer.” Dylan nodded and asked, “Do you think he’d wait for you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, most probably not… considering that he listens to everything his mother says.” I chuckled and looked up at him. Dylan gave me another sad smile. I felt my heart break and I don’t know why. We continued walking in silence.
We entered the fair grounds and walked around for a bit. There are more families now compared to the other day when Seth and I went here with his sisters. Dylan held my hand as we walked. I was surprised but I did not take my hand away. This feels just like before when he would have his arm on my shoulder or we would just hold hands.
Seth suddenly dragged me towards the queue for the Ferris wheel. I literally dragged Dylan along with me. He was surprised but he was able to regain his composure. Seth was oblivious to what happened. “We weren’t able to try this last time.” Seth blabbered.
Dylan looked at me slightly confused. “We were here the other day with Macy and Maddie, babysitting.” I explained. He smiled and nodded.
When it was our turn, Seth got in the car first and helped me get on the car. He motioned for me to take the seat beside him. Dylan glared at him and Seth just chuckled. I did not know what is going on between them so I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. “Should we go to the lake house tomorrow?” Seth asked.
“Yeah. That’ll be fun.” I said. Dylan nodded in agreement.
After our ride, Dylan alighted from the car first and helped me to alight as well. He draped his arm on my shoulder and never let go. I heard Seth snicker and Dylan just smirked. These two are acting weird. Tomorrow would be interesting, I thought.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
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© 2012 by urbanstargazer
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