Avalon smiled smugly, shrugging her shoulders.
"Try me." She dared threateningly, looking Justin dead in the eyes.
"Fine." He said simply, before grabbing her by the arm and bringing her closer towards Aaron who merely looked on, confusion apparent on his face. Justin looked at Aaron, an apologetic look on his face as he spoke.
"I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you before."
*****************
"What?" Aaron's eyebrows furrowed at this, his gaze switching between Justin and Avalon. For a quick second, his eyes looked at me questioningly in a way to ask if I knew what Justin was speaking of, but he could tell from my eyes that I was just as confused as he was.
What could it possibly be?
Aaron turned his gaze back to Justin, a thoughtful look on his face before motioning between the two, stood before him, with a finger.
"You're not..." Aaron's voice drawled off before he completed his sentence, probably in the hope that Justin would save him from the awkwardness that the sentence would inevitably elicit.
I knew what Aaron was going to say. Heck, even Danny knew what he was going to say, at this point. But, what seemed like probably the first time, a confused look struck Justin's face. He raised an eyebrow at Aaron in a means for Aaron to carry on and I resisted the urge to slap him upside the head.
How could Justin not know what Aaron was talking about?
It seemed as though Aaron shared similar thoughts to mine as he stared at Justin, incredulously. When no metaphorical 'light bulb' seemed to go off for Justin, Aaron shook his head and spoke again, his voice hesitant.
"You and Avalon... you're not... you haven't... been...?" Aaron ended his sentence with an awkward cough.
I didn't quite understand Aaron's words, but Justin sure did and the confused look was wiped off his face. He slowly glanced at Avalon before turning to Aaron, a blank look on his face.
"I don't take leftovers." He said simply with a casual shrug, but it was enough to make Danny double over in laughter, his eyes filled with tears as he clutched his stomach.
I smiled at his words, but only slightly. Yes, Justin's words were harsh and cold. But, many a time, the intentions behind his words of ice was quite the opposite. My first and initial impression of Justin had been a very negative one. I had thought of him as just another obnoxious popular boy who didn't talk to others as he thought they were inferior. Now, getting to know him, I knew of his nature and how he cared deeply for his loved ones.
The amount of care he held for the two boys in this very room was evident from the way he helped them over every obstacle that came their way.
I knew that Justin would not even think of doing such a thing to Aaron. If he were to do so, his actions would probably hurt himself more than they would have hurt Aaron.
But, we all knew that.
Aaron smiled at Justin's words before folding his arms.
"No harm in asking though, right?" He joked, laughter evident in his tone.
Avalon glared at Aaron, folding her arms. She opened her mouth to speak, probably to spew more of her unintelligible venom, but I interrupted her before she could. Moving closer, I turned my gaze to Justin.
"Well, if it's not that then what is it, Justin?" I asked, curiously to which both Aaron and Danny nodded. We were all curious to know.
Not one for dramatic pauses or suspense, Justin nodded back, moving closer to Aaron and looking him in the eyes. He sighed heavily before speaking.
"Aaron, I knew. I knew, that Avalon was upstairs with Elliot before you had found out, but I didn't tell you." Justin let out, his voice deep and ridden with guilt. He looked away from Aaron's gaze and towards the floor.
At this confession, Avalon looked to Justin with a mixture of shock and anger. It was clearly unbeknownst to her that Justin had known about this, before Aaron. I looked towards Danny to see if he had any clue about this matter at all, but he was just about clueless as well.. as he usually was.
Aaron sighed at Justin's words, a sad smile on his face before nudging Justin's arm with a hand.
"Hey, I know. I understand it was probably hard for you to tell me, but it's over now and I-"
Justin interrupted Aaron before he could finish off his sentence, shaking his head as he did so.
"That's not all, Aaron. There's more." He said with a sigh, the frustration evident in his dull grey eyes at which Aaron's eyebrows furrowed in confusion yet again.
Justin spared a glance towards Avalon's direction before turning back to Aaron, his voice resonating with anger as he spoke.
"It wasn't the first time, Aaron. I'd seen them before that incident. It was.... they were having a relationship behind your back." Justin finally breathed out, looking anywhere but at Aaron.
I gasped inaudibly at the revelation that had just left his lips. To say I was in shock was an understatement. I turned to Aaron to see his expression mirroring my emotions. He looked towards Justin; his tone was sad as he spoke.
"How?" Was all that left Aaron's lips. He had muttered it quietly as though he was saying it to himself, but it was heard by all of us.
In particular, Justin, who nodded his head in response.
"I remember, it had all happened on a Wednesday....."
*********
21 months ago
"Well, I really think she digs me, you know?" Danny's voice boomed in Justin's ear, causing him to internally wince.
Had the boy never heard the term indoor voice?
Justin placed his physics book, in the locker before slamming it shut and turning to Danny, a blank look on his face.
"You know, Serena is Coach Thomas' daughter. You'd get kicked off the team, if you get caught." He reprimanded tiredly, a parental-like tone to his deep voice.
Danny waved his hand exaggeratedly, an obnoxious scoff escaping his mouth. He popped his non-existant collar as he spoke.
"Me? Get caught? Like that'll ever happen." He said smugly, winking at a passing girl.
Justin rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore his friends antics. Ignoring was the best policy when it came to both Danny and Aaron alike. Speaking of which...
Justin looked around, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Where's Aaron? I haven't seen him around." He questioned, pulling out his phone. The boys both walked in unison down the hallway.
Danny pointed towards the exit of the school.
"Aaron, Mason and Raven are waiting for us outside. It was the last day of term, so they thought it would be nice to have a meal or something, you know." Danny said with a shrug, spinning a basketball on the tip of his index finger.
Justin nodded mindlessly, his eyes still on his phone.
"And, Avalon? Where is she?" He asked, rolling his eyes when Danny began to dribble the ball across the floor, creating an incessant and loud 'boing' noise that echoed through the empty hallways.
Danny picked the ball of the floor before pointing in the direction behind them as he spoke.
"She has to stay behind for the award ceremony that happens after school, remember? It's for the graduates and all, but she volunteered to help with setting up the stage and everything. She said she'll join us at Aaron's house." Danny explained, walking out of the exit of the building.
Justin halted, before putting his phone away in his pocket.
"I'll stay with her. I wouldn't like her walking back after, alone. I'll help with the set up as well and meet you at Aaron's house." And, without a response, Justin was already off down the hallway towards the gymnasium which was often used as a multipurpose room for award ceremonies, pantomines and the likes.
Danny shook his head with a smile. He admired how close Justin and Avalon were. They never seemed to leave each others side and were always there for each other. It reminded him of his and Aaron's relationship. The smile stayed on his face as he walked outside towards his friends.
..........
17 minutes. Justin had been looking around for Avalon for 17minutes. Upon entering the gymnasium, he had asked some of the volunteering pupils about Avalon, but they knew not where she was. To add to this, one or two of them had stated that they did not recall seeing Avalon's name in the list of volunteers.
At this point, Justin was both confused and slightly scared. What if something had happened to Avalon? He had checked the school lounge, the canteen and the library. Heck, he had even shouted her name into all the female toilets, in the vicinity, with the hope that she was there retouching her lipstick as some girls tend to do. She couldn't have been in any classrooms as they were always shut by the end of the day, a fact he had confirmed by turning all the handles of every room as though one might be open and Avalon would come hopping out.
Worried, Justin looked to the last place he could hope she would be. The school fields that stretched behind the school. He had attempted to call and text her, but the call wasn't getting through and the texts were left unanswered.
He stood on the fields, shielding his eyes from the sun with a hand as his dead grey gaze scanned the area.
And, nothing gets past Justin.
A regrettable notion on his part, for what Justin had seen, he wished he could forget. He looked on in shock at Avalon settled, in the grass, at the trunk of a tree.
Not just that though as a boy of curly brown hair lay on her lap. She stroked blissfully through his hair; they looked into each other's eyes without a care in the world.
Without a care of the trail of broken hearts and trust they left in their midst.
Justin slowly and cautiously moved forward. If it were any other male in his position, the afternoon's event would have taken a rather aggressive turn, but Justin knew better than to lead with his fists. He needed to hear of what they had to say.
The field was empty of people, but the trees did good to hide him as he drew closer to the forbidden couple. Not that they would notice him, seeing how engrossed they were in each other. He listened intently to their conversation as they spoke.
"When, Ava? I need to know." The boy urged, his voice strained. He sat up abruptly before putting a hand on Avalon's waist. Justin did his best to keep composure. He needed to hear this.
The boy spoke again.
"I don't wanna hide it from anyone. Your body belongs to me and I want to shout that at the top of my lungs." He murmured sweetly, pressing his lips to her neck.
Avalon giggled at this and that was when Justin broke. Seeing her happiness with this male that wasn't Aaron, estranged him from the female he had known for all these years. He didn't know who she was anymore. One laugh and he knew all this and he had never felt so detached from the world as he did in that moment.
She pushed the boy away from her neck with a smile before taking ahold of his hand. Her voice was soft and sweet as she spoke, a tone that Justin had gotten familiar with hearing when she talked with Aaron. He thought back to countless times when he and Raven had teased her for her change in voice and she had laughed. At that point, Justin didn't know that- behind that melodious laughter- lay the sinful cackle of an unfaithful woman.
"I know, I'm yours, Eli. Please, understand that, okay? I'm yours." She whispered before leaning in to kiss the boy. He kissed back feverishly and Justin turned away from the sight. He felt as though he was doing wrong by just looking at them. He turned back to see both of the wrongdoers lying in the grass, facing each other. His hand was strewn across her waist and her hand rested on his face as she slowly caressed him.
Justin decided he had seen enough. He made his way back inside and towards the exit. He knew that many would have confronted the pair at this, but Justin thought against it.
If anyone was gonna be the first to give a piece of their mind to her, it should be her boyfriend. It should be Aaron. This whole situation would affect Aaron the most, so he would be the one making decisions on what should be done.
Aaron should be told the truth.
*********
Present Day
"So, why didn't you tell me then?" Aaron's voice was quiet as he stared at Justin in shock.
We were all in shock right now, even Avalon who seemed to know nothing about what Justin had found out previous to his confession. She sent a glare his way as though he had violated her rights by listening to her conversation that day and I resisted the urge to headbutt her.
How dare she think that? Even though she cheated, how could she try and turn the tables on us and make it out as though we were the wrong ones when Justin had done the right thing completely.
Justin shook his head slightly, a guilty look in his eyes.
"I was going to. After a while of thinking to myself, I went to your house to tell you the truth, but when I came into the room, you were already upset. Don't you remember? That day, your mother was upset. She'd heard that your dad was getting married again. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you." He said truthfully, looking towards Aaron.
Aaron opened his mouth to speak yet again, but Justin interrupted him.
"I didn't just drop it either though, Aaron. I went and had a talk with the boy. It wasn't exactly a friendly talk and the boy agreed to leave you and Avalon alone, but I guess they're right when they say that a cheetah never changes his spots. I'm sorry." He murmured apologetically before sending a glare towards Avalon.
Aaron waved his hand dismissively, a look of dull pain in his eyes.
"It's not your fault. I'm actually happy that you didn't tell me when I was so obsessed with her. It would have broken me. You told me at the right time." Aaron countered, reassuring Justin with a gentle tone and I smiled at the brotherly love between the two.
Avalon's scoff resonated across the room and she folded her arms, raising an eyebrow as she did so.
"So, what? It's my fault then, is it? Aaron, right now, it's you who has fallen out of love with me, not the other way around. So, who's really being unfaithful here?!" Avalon argued back, her voice spiteful. She glared at Aaron, expecting an answer.
Aaron dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. He did this too often a time for me not to know the emotions behind this action. Besides, we all were frustrated at her words. It was like talking to a wall.
Nevertheless, Aaron's anger got the better of him and he argued back.
"I'm unfaithful? I wasn't the one having two relationships at the same time." Aaron shouted, his voice strained. It seemed as though it was taking everything in him not to hit her and I didn't blame him. She was hell bent on driving us all nuts.
She scoffed yet again, a scowl on her face. She put her hands on her hips before speaking.
"In case, you didn't know, declaring your love for someone else is also classed as unfaithful. Face it, you're nothing but a cheat." She spat out with malice and hurtful intent.
I half expected Aaron to hit her and I mostly expected for him to continue arguing, but instead, he nodded, looking down to the ground.
"You're right, I am a cheat." He said simply with a shrug to which Avalon stared at him in confusion. This, I didn't blame her for because I didn't get what he was speaking of either.
He ran a hand through his hair yet again before speaking.
"I cheated a girl, not figuratively, but in the way that I didn't do right by her. She deserves better and I cheated her by not giving her all that I could...." Aaron drawled off and I thought he was finished. That was until his eyes settled on me and he opened his mouth to speak.
"But, I'm gonna fix that."
With those final words, he made his way over to me and pulled me into him.
And, then his lips were on mine.
___________________________________________
Hey, guys, what did you think? I hope you guys liked it!
Please vote if you did and comment what you would like to see.
I don't have much to say this week except that the video I have linked in below and at the top. It was created by a friend of mine and I was really hoping you guys would take out the time to like, comment and subscribe on it. This is completely optional, but it only takes a while of your time. He's really funny and deserves recognition. I'd love if you did that for me.
Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Up4Ztb8hc8g
Anyways, until next Friday!
I love you guys!
S. A. A