~Robin~
The Prank.
Warning: Strong Language.
"I love my grandparents", I said, the sarcasm dripping from every pore of my body.
I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. Or that I hadn't had a stroke or something to that affect.
Bieber. Justin Bieber. Everywhere.
Not even the recent Bieber that no one really hated on any more, but the teenager, heart throb, swag-in-a-bag boy Bieber with issues that everyone either hated with a passion or loved possessively. Where he was turning into a bit of an asshole more and more every time he went out in public. No, the face of the one person in the world that I hated passionately for my teenage years stared back at me in hundreds of photos lazily slapped over my walls. If I had to guess, I would say there were two people sat downstairs just waiting for my reaction, wishing they could be a fly on the wall to see my face.
Which was open mouthed, dumbstruck.
How? Just how? I mean, really, how? I had barely been gone and yet posters, pictures, simple print outs, were all slung everywhere. Even on my lightshade! HOW?
This from two people that barely knew how to update their phones!
I struggled to keep my eyes on one photo before I darted to the next, worse photo. Not a single thing had remained untouched not even my- OH GOD! MY BEDSHEET!
"WHY?" I yelled as I threw back my sheets. Unbelievably, even the fitted sheet had his face, soullessly looking back. The Ombre blue sheets I had changed not even three days ago were no where to be seen.
Where did they even get this? How long had they been planning? There was a mixture of everything. Posters, pictures, the bed sheets, cut outs! Was... Was that his face, photoshoped onto a horse? They don't even know how to use photoshop! Even my TV played a silent video of what looked like an old interview!
HOW?
I ripped the nearest poster down, its edges staying stapled to the walls. GOD! That was going to make it so much harder to take down! I huffed. They put them up, they can take them down! Swinging my door open, it felt like I made it to the top of the stairs in one swift go, ready to bolt down the whole stairs. I froze, one foot about to take the top step.
There they stood, side by side with Ben's hand resting gently on Grans shoulder. The picture of innocence. As if butter wouldn't melt. Bullshit.
"What's wrong, honey?" Gran said, batting her eyelashes dramatically. Ever the actress.
I crumpled the picture, my fist shaking as I did so. Suddenly, realization dawned. All that noise in the kitchen, she was hiding the evidence! I hadn't known it, but I had walked in just as she was finishing the deed. Like a criminal putting on an act as the police rolled up.
I'd fallen for it, too.
Well, shame on me for that. There was never anything innocent when Gran was involved.
"Had a little fun, did we?" I said, holding up the poster.
Gran eyed the crumpled mess I held out. Her mouth quivering as she tried to hold back the giggles. She turned to Ben and they shared a look. One I knew meant they were trying to help each other keep it together. She shrugged, her face a little more controlled.
"I have no idea what you mean, Hun. I didn't know you had such... tastes, in celebrity men". Her voice nearly broke and it took everything in me not to cry out.
Deep breath in, deep breath out, and relax.
I pointed my finger at them, trying not to come across as too nasty about it.
"You two put them up, you two can take them down. Now, if you wouldn't mind..." I said, grimacing as I glanced at the poster. What a man baby.
Gran rested her hand over her heart in fake offence. "Me? Us? We haven't pulled a prank in ages! We're too old for this kind of stuff! Aren't we, Ben?" She looked over her shoulder at her husband for support. Ben nodded, trying to hold back his own smile, failing at it too. He was on the verge of laughing himself.
"Far too old, Hun. Bad backs, bad knees, hips, shoulders, you name it. Barely get out of bed some mornings..." Both of them nodded, before turning and walking together into the front room. Leaving me standing there.
"Uh, hello? Where are you going?" I shouted louder. "I am not doing this!" The poster waved in my hand. I got silence back as my reply.
Sighing, I balled the poster up. I should have known. I should have known that those two would do something. These were the people who pulled a prank at their own wedding, for crying out loud! I also should have known that they wouldn't help me take this mess down. I guess if I wanted rid of his face I'd have to rid myself of it.
I paused, an idea forming.
They had put a lot of effort into this, clearly. Why let that all go to waste on a one use prank? I pulled them all off, as neatly as possible despite the urge to just tear them down, and placed them in piles. Ready for a second use. Ready for me to return the favour. It couldn't be the first or second opportunity, but after a few when their guards were down. Months from now, when they expected guests, I would play the ever dotting grand daughter and offer to help decorate. Then, BAM! Bieber...
JUSTIN BIEBER!
See how funny they think it is then.
I'm just thankful I wasn't the one bringing people into the house. I could have walked in with anyone... Well, I didn't have many people who I'd bring to my bedroom, but the point stands. What if people had seen it. My room, a make shift shrine to that knobhead.
I kicked the box full of crap under the bed and moved another one in front. Hopefully they wouldn't find it, not that they would waste energy looking under there, they had no reason to be there, but you never knew with Gran and her cleaning habits.
But now that that was done, a rest was well earned. Who knew being Biebered would take so much out of you.
That, or I guess the summer had made me lazy.
The entire summer had been uneventful, admittedly boring. Almost all the plans had fallen through and the temp job I had had taken up whatever time I had to spare. Even then, my free time I had, Mum had been off doing her own thing with work, or hobbies, or men, whatever it was she had on and even my plans with Adam had been dead in the water most of the time. He hadn't had much free time. His job had taken time away from our plans we made, most of it never happened. It was a good thing, I had thought back then, that meant he could save because usually his work physically couldn't give him any more hours to earn any mo-... I paused mid thought.
Shit.
I felt my chest tighten.
For all that extra work, he'd never had extra money, and his work had never had extra hours before. A shaking sense of realization dawned over me like a slow, cold wave.
He'd been with her.
I had encouraged him, nearly begged him to take the extra hours, never questioned it. On days when he said work called him, I told him to go and not waste the opportunity just for me. The likely hood was, he'd been bailing on me, for her.
Because I was just an idiot.
Even now, I only saw the puzzle pieces coming together AFTER the truth had already been told.
I should have seen things sooner, after all, he was too much of a waster to earn more money. Money passed through his hands as soon as he earned it.
Pulling a staple out of the wall with a knife, I stopped again for a second. This prank had been pretty annoying, but it had taken my mind off the situation. That was a good thing, weather they intended to or not, Gran and Ben had helped, again.
I really did love them.
Out of everyone, they were the only ones that cared no matter what. Not mum, not my so called friends and definitely not Adam.
Fuck this, them and fuck him. Fuck this whole bullshit!
Putting the knife and staples down I pulled back the sheets, which rather un fortunately still had his face on, and stumbled into bed.
When all else fails, nap time.
............
Sleep hadn't come as easy as I'd hoped it would. Nor did it rest me as well. My eyes were sore, throat rough and scratchy and just to top it all off, a headache blasted the front half of my head. Nausea passing over me once in a while.
When I tried to sleep more, I tossed and turned, drifting between sleep and being awake. No matter what I tried, how I moved, my body ached in every position possible. The frustration of it made me want to scream yet no part of me even thought of trying to get up. Move. Stand. Nothing.
Eventually, I just led there.
Frustrated, tired, my head started to swim with thoughts again.
Like a depressed teenage girl I couldn't stop myself from staring at the ceiling and thinking about the guy that broke my heart.
He wasn't just gone, he was gone gone. This wasn't just some long break where he goes away and I just have to wait to see him again. After so long with him he was a part of my life and now, now he just wasn't.
I wouldn't take him back, and now that I knew what he'd done, our entire relationship was tainted, but I mourned the life I had been living. Something major had changed and there was nothing I could do about it other than be sad.
It was sobering. I'd had no idea the last time I saw him, would actually be the last time I saw him. We had plans. We we're going to have take away, watch a film, he would stay over... Now nothing.
It was all just gone.
There was no body next to me. No arm over my shoulder, no leg swung over mine. My body was use to another person being there. There was nothing I could do to stop my body from yearning for that.
Without condoning it, I suddenly understood why some women threw themselves at any man they could, right after a break up.
As shallow as it sounded I was missing his body being there more than I missed him. Tonight though, I was alone and he wasn't my comfort, he was my pain.
Crap.
I had to stop this.
I was making myself upset. What was the point in sitting here and going over it? Acting like self pity queen. On instinct I reached for the phone on the bed side table. Despite my better judgement I wanted to see what people were saying. What he had said or what had just gone on while I had ignored it all.
It wasn't worth it, but it was better than being lost inside my own head to the point I focused on the bits that hurt the most. That wasn't healthy.
I bit my lip.
Sure, never mind the fact I had been mentally telling myself not to do just this, but one evil was better than the other.
I just wanted to know what he had to say. I wasn't even going to respond. I knew that half a day of ignoring him would have probably made him angry. He hated being ignored. Hated it with a passion. I bet there'd be a whole plethora of messages.
I was sure there would be the normal range from the 'I'm sorry please don't do this' to the angry 'oh for fuck's sake' that he used on me a lot. They would normally make me feel pressured and like I was in the wrong and that would normally lead me to forgive him.
He'd be even stupider than he looks if he thought that would work now.
The phone started up and I held my breath. I know it's stupid. I know I shouldn't have cared but this was just too soon, these messages made me feel like I had something, self control over ignoring him.
Or they could just as easily make me feel a million times worse with no control at all.
Either way, I didn't have the self control not to read them. So it was a fine balance.
While the phone loaded, slower than normal it felt, the hairs on my arms started to rise. Warm tingles, little zaps that felt good, ran across my skin and I couldn't help the shiver that shook me. Oddly, for a moment... I felt at peace.
I sat up.
In a second, it felt like something was different. It was like the room was warmer, but a cold breeze was softly blowing the curtain and the evening was heavily on the cooler side. I shifted, leaning over to pull the window shut. It was coming up to the time that little bugs would start flying about for the night and the last thing I wanted was a winged bastard flapping round my face like it was waiting for the chance to dive into my open mouth.
Yuck.
I would have to get a window screen for this room. Back at mums, the houses had been poorly built. My bedroom window had faced the wall of another house and that was just about it for the view, so it was hardly ever opened.
Here on the other hand, Ben had bought this house from his uncle just after him and Gran married, before any large scale contract homes had swept in and taken the land. The land to the house went back, all the way back. The view went back too, past all the trees and curves of the land, no house wall or blocked view, just nature for ages. The nearest house you could see was Marie's, and that just looked like a soft coloured blob from here.
I had spent so many childhood nights looking out this window, either at the stars that littered the sky, no light pollution to ruin it like back at mums or some times, just simply, watching Marie's goats as they wondered down to graze.
Ben was happy to let them, the fact that they kept the land mostly neat was an added benefit and I shared that sentiment.
The whole area had stayed the same, as far back as I could remember and probably well before that, too.
Nothing much changed around here. Unless you count the seasons.
Despite that, something felt... off.
My skin prickled again, this time stronger. The sun had set enough that only the blue and white hue of the sunset remained as it faded to night sky. It should have been a serene moment, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, like something had changed.
Silence. I realised.
I listened hard but, silence.
No birds or bugs, wild animal or farm sounds from over field, just a stretched silence that didn't fill me with the usual peace that dusk tended to. Unnatural.
Then I felt it.
The buzz of my phone.
I jumped, knocked out of the moment I was in, I shut the window.
I felt nervous. I knew who it would be from and what would probably be said. Probably a whole lot of gas lighting and manipulation. Nothing nice, but my heart still jumped at the expected reply.
ADAM <3 Displayed over my alerts.
I sneered, that would have to change straight away. I felt my heart dip. This was the only message from him since my phone was turned off. I had expected more and admittedly, it felt disappointing to see only one.
No more messages, no miscalls, voice messages or facebook shit. Just one. I'd gotten more from him when we'd been in rooms right next to each other or I was taking too long at the shops. Somehow, that stung.
ADAM <3
9.15 Tue
Listen. I can't be fucking about with this drama Robs either your in or your out. Pick one. Message me when you sort it out.
It was pointless being mad, I told myself.
I didn't even know what I had been expecting but... that? Was that it? No fight? No effort? Nothing? I felt mad but more, disappointed? Frustrated? He was just letting me go? I mean, I didn't want to go back but after all this time he was just willing to let me walk? That was all he had to say? Fuck. There was no doubt now he didn't love me. I'm not sure what he thought he felt for me but it wasn't love.
My fingers shook.
I guess a part of me expected this, maybe not quit this, but a dead response. That was his thing after all. If he didn't get his way or the response he wanted? Shut it down. Wait it out until you caved under the silent treatment.
God, he was a manipulative asshole.
Why had I let him?
Well, not this time.
Hell no.
Not now, not ever again.
My fingers were skimming over the keys on screen, hardly even touching it, the line 'go fuck yourself' almost complete when another message came through.
Aha! Here it was! The rest, the whole forget what I just said I didn't mean it I was angry! Babe please, I love you! Bla bla bla!
He could try and convince me but this time I wasn't even-
My eyes scanned the new message, an unknown number and my breath caught on the words and I wondered if I was actually reading them right.
Unknown
9.20
Robin, I implore you. Refrain from that message. He has drunk himself stupor and fallen into rage. He shall not take well to that vulgar insult. It would do well to leave well enough alone. - A.
I looked at my screen, confused as all hell.
Huh?