"Why aren't you wearing the necklace?"
C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N
AUDREY
We sat across from each other in my room. This is my shot. He needs to agree.
"Grandpa, I can't marry him," I said firmly. He sighed as he stared out at the window beside us.
"Audriana, you don't have a choice."
"Why don't I have a choice? I really can not because I am in a position where I can't and that is because-" I stop as I tried to think of an excuse. What could possibly prevent him from stopping this marriage?
"I have a boyfriend," he raised his eyebrows.
"Who is it?" He questioned now amused. I smiled trying to act as if I just remembered my non-existent boyfriend.
"Aaron Hayes." I simply said. This is bad, really really bad. I hope he does not ask me if he wants to meet him.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.
"I was scared, but now I'm not." I smiled and he hummed.
"I'd like to meet him." Oh god. I should have told Aaron before I told Grandpa, but maybe if I ask him, he will help me. If this works, then I won't have to marry Connor, and then Sarah won't be upset with me. Everything can go back to how it was before.
"Really? Thank you so much grandpa you will love him!" I said excitedly.
"We will see. I better get going. They probably are wondering where I am," Grandpa said and I quickly gave him a hug before he left. Once he left, I couldn't help but squeal I should tell Sarah. Just when I was about to leave Sarah stood in front of me. When did she get here? That does not matter I need to tell her.
"Sar-" before I could finish she slapped me. I felt the warmth on my right cheek radiate off my face. The sound of the loud slap echoed through the room. The imprint on my cheek was a reminder that she wasn't going to believe me no matter how much I would try. My eyes felt hot, and a trail of tears burned my skin making me feel worse than before.
Isn't she taking this too far.
"Why can't you just stay out of my life. Connor told me what you did today. I can't believe you would would go that low. You are so pathetic, go find someone else other than your best friend's boyfriend." She said as she took a step forward. She brushed the strands from my face and smiled at the imprint from earlier and whispered, "Got it?"
I looked away and closed my eyes tightly but she grabbed my face with her hand making me look at her. I bit my tongue as I felt my cheeks burn under her touch. My stomach swirled in pain and I wanted to push her away but I couldn't.
"Aww, is someone about to cry?" she spat.
"Why are you doing this to me? Don't you think you are taking this too far, Sarah! Why don't you believe me? I don't even want this guy! You have known me longer than him, Sarah. Why don't you trust me? I was going to tell you earlier, but I wanted to convince my grandfather before so that you wouldn't have to worry. Also, that's a low blow Sarah af-" before I could finish she slapped me again.
"What the hell- '' She slapped me a third time and I took a couple of steps back as my cheek stung. It hurt so bad and I didn't want to cry but my inner self wouldn't let me.
"Pathetic." For a split second her eyes showed guilt but it quickly went away. The anger that she was holding in came back.
"What's going on here?" Connor asked. I stared at Sarah through my blurry eyes as my cheek screamed in pain.
"Nothing. Isn't that right, Audrey?" She smirked at me.
"Right," I whispered. I turned around trying to catch my breath. She had never laid a hand on me before and I never in my life would have thought that she would. I felt hurt and distressed because I didn't know what to make of it. She knew about the abuse, and yet she did this to me.
"Sarah, your mom is calling you," he said. I turn my head a little to find him staring at me. His eyebrows raised up in confusion. I put a bit of my hair to cover the left side of my face so that he couldn't see the red handprint.
"Okay, let's go," she said and kissed his cheek.
"I have to use the bathroom. I'll be down in a bit," Sarah smiled. He caressed the side of her head giving her comfort. I bit inner palm harshly, concealing the pain; it hurt so much.
"What's in the bag?" Sarah asked. Why aren't they gone yet?
"Not sure my mom gave it," Connor said.
"Okay, come quickly then." With that, I heard the door shut. My body finally allowed me to breathe. The tears ran down irritating my skin. It hurt so much.
"Are you okay?" I nodded and waved him off so that he could leave but I heard footsteps creeping toward me. He can't see me like this; he'll only tell me that I deserve it and I already knew that I did. I quickly tried to walk away, but he grabbed my arm, stopped me, and whipped me around so that I was facing him.
"What happened to your cheek," he whispered as he held me close to him. I looked away as he touched my cheek. I flinched and got out of his hold.
"You need to ice it, is there any in that refrigerator?" he asked and I nodded slowly. He walked towards the small refrigerator beside the desk.
"It's going to hurt okay?" He placed the icepack on the side of my cheek. I grabbed his hand trying to pull it away, but he caressed my hair, shushing me.
"Just one more minute okay?" he softly said. He shouldn't be here, helping me like this.
"Audrey, I-nevermind it isn't the time. Why is your cheek red? What happened?" He asked and I kept quiet. There isn't a point in telling him what his girlfriend did to me because he won't believe me.
"Nothing happened," I said and he sighed. Before he could say anything else I beat him to it, "The bathroom is right beside this room."
He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "That's not why I am here."
"Then what are you doing here?" I asked him.
He stared at me unsurely and asked, "Did you break off the marriage?"
"No, but I-" he cut me off before I could finish what I had to say.
"Why didn't you? You were with your grandfather, weren't you? Are you tricking me into believing you? Do you actually want to marry me? Was-" I tossed the ice pack onto the table and sighed out of frustration which made him stop.
"What do I have to do for you all to believe me, huh?" I questioned.
"Break the marriage," he answered.
"This isn't the first time I'm saying this but I will say it again Connor. I am trying okay?" I said calmly. I could still feel the pain on my cheek as if he knew I was in pain. He caressed my cheek again and the stinging slowly disappeared, soothing me.
"It seems like you want to take your time and want to marry me," he said. Raising my head I stared into those eyes.
"After everything that has happened you still think I want to marry you?" I asked him.
"Y-Yes." He said hesitantly. It seemed like he wasn't sure himself. He could have just said he didn't know, but it seems to me he has already made a choice.
"You don't know me; how can you make a judgment that quickly," I asked. He seemed a bit taken aback by my question, but that didn't matter anyway. At the end, he will believe Sarah. I wanted to tell him that I may have a potential plan if Aaron goes on board but there is no point.
"Okay," I choked out.
"You aren't going to say anything?" He asked.
"There's nothing to say, you won't believe me anyway, but what I don't understand is why she won't believe me. I knew her all my life and just because of this she is throwing it all away," I sighed.
"You knew her when you were little?" he asked. I had one job and that was to stay quiet.
"You know what just kill me, maybe all my problems will be gone." I'm also surprised that he didn't check the box. If he really wanted to he could have looked through it.
"You're right," he said and I looked at him confused.
He took a step closer to me, grabbed me, and spun me around so that my back could hit his chest. His right arm headlocked me. I tried to remove his arm but I couldn't. He wouldn't move. He moved the strands of my hair away with his left hand. His lips hovered over my left ear and he whispered, "Should I do it?" Then he wrapped his arm around my stomach, pushing me against him. My breathing got heavy. Out of nowhere, he let go of me as if my touch burned him and took a step back.
"Why are you breathing so heavily. you actually thought I would choke you to death?" He asked. No, I didn't but all I knew is that I had to get rid of this feeling.
"I did but if you aren't planning on it then I'll do it to you instead," I said.
"You're too short for that." He snickered and put his hand on top of my head. Reminding me that I am indeed shorter than him. I glared at him and whacked his hand away. This is the version of him I liked.
"Really? Watch me. You won't say that when you are unconscious," I fired back. He laughed at my remark and I couldn't help but laugh along with him.
"You should laugh more often." I stopped laughing realizing that I shouldn't be talking to him.
A knock on the door dropped my smile it was Chloe, "Connor. Mom is calling you," I coughed akwardly and took a step backwards. I felt a little saddened by the thought.
"Uh-you should go," I said and he nodded awkwardly as well. He placed something on the table and walked out but stopped abruptly.
"My mom wanted me to give you that," he motioned towards the bag and with that, he left.
It was just me and Chloe now in the room. Did she need something? Or did she also come to tell me to break the marriage.
"I'm working on breaking the marriage if that's why you're here," I said.
"That's not why I'm here. My mother told me to help you get ready. So where's your room?" We walked out of the office and made my way to my room. Chloe grabbed her makeup box out and placed it onto the table. I didn't realize that she was ready. She looked beautiful.
"Let me do your makeup and hair then you can change," she said.
"I'm sorry," I felt the need to tell her.
"For what?" she asked me as she did my face.
"That you have to do this. I'm sure you have better things to do than to help me get ready," I said.
She ignored me and continued to do my makeup. Each step she did cautiously and percisley.
"Okay I'm done. You can go put your dress on." She cleaned the table. I opened the back Lauren had given me it was a gorgeous dress. I really loved it but felt insecure about wearing it.
"Are you done?" she asked. I looked at the door and back, hesitant if I should wear it. Will Lauren be upset if I don't wear the dress she gave me?
"Do you need help?" she asked.
"N-No I got it," I said and changed into the dress. I tried not to look at myself in the mirror but I had. I looked big; I could see the chunks of skin on my arms and legs. Even though the dress covered my arms it was really tight. Everyone could see how fat I was. I can't wear this; I look absolutely disgusting. I could feel my stomach swirl in knots and I felt the need to throw up. Even my body feels disgusted with me.
"Is everything okay? What's taking so lo-why do you look like you are about to cry?" She asked as she walked inside. I quickly blinked my eyes trying to get the tears away.
"I'm s-sorry I know you worked really hard on the makeup. I promise I am not crying; I won't ruin it." I said quickly as I placed my dirty clothes into the basket.
I walked out of the room and opened my closet trying to find another dress because this one didn't fit me.
"I don't want to look like her"
"She's to big"
"What are you doing?" She asked. I stopped midway, "A d-dress, this dress doesn't fit m-me." I should have skipped eating today; I could have looked somewhat decent in the dress.
"What do you mea- if it's about this morning then I am so sorry I didn't mean to-" I cut her off before she could finish.
"It's okay! You were just telling the truth; I am glad you told me," I said as I tried to find a dress that would fit.
"Don't change; the shoes are in the bag," she gave me the bag and sighed, "I was upset earlier about something else and I-I shouldn't have said that, anyway, I'll be in the guest room if you need anything just shout my name and I'll come." She gave me a faint smile and with that she left.
I heard laughter from afar, it sounded like Kylie and Sarah. I made my way towards the door to hear clearly and I was right. I would have been happy, but after the incident that happened in the room, I was hurt. I shut the door and sat down on my bed with my head against the headboard.
I needed to distract myself. I grabbed my violin and sat down on the edge of my bed and played it. I heard a creak but ignored it. I continued to play my violin and I felt the bed creak. My back was against them so I couldn't see who it was. Sighing I placed the violin beside me.
"How long have you been playing for?" Connor asked.
Ignoring his question I asked, "What are you doing here?"
"My mother told me to keep you company." The tone he used seemed like he was forced to be here.
I turned to the side a little to find his back faced against me and said, "Sarah is down the hall." He turned around and looked at me. He looked breathtakingly beautiful.
"She's getting ready; I don't want to disturb her," Connor said and I hummed in response.
"Chloe is in the guest room."
"Do you not want me to stay?" he asked.
Taken aback by his question sighing I said, "When you said that your mom told you to keep me company. It seemed like you were upset about it so I was giving you options as to where you could go. I didn't want you to think that you had to stay here and that you didn't have a choice."
His eyes had darkened he seemed to be upset by why would he be? After all I am the reason for all the problems. He got up. With that I turned around since he was going to leave now. I looked down at my violin. These past couple of interactions have made me feel uneasy. Do I like him? I shook my head back and forth. No I can't. Black dress shoes caught my sight and I looked up to see Connor standing in front of me. He bent down a little making direct eye contact. My breathing hitched as he grabbed the violin that was beside me. A smile made its way to his face as he held the violin.
"Can you teach me how to play?" he asked. I got up rather quickly trying to create some distance between us.
"S-sure." I picked up the bow and handed it to him.
"How do you hold it?" he asked as he tried to figure out a way to hold it without making it fall.
"That's not how you hold it, here let me help you." I grabbed the violin and tried to place it on him, but he was too tall. I put both hands on either side of his shoulder and pushed him down so that he could sit down.
"You could have just asked you know." I shrugged and placed the violin on his shoulder and put his head to the side. So that he was closer to the violin. I gave him the bow and he held it. He tried to play it, but he flinched back and yelped, "Ow, I hurt myself."
"Where?" I asked worriedly and he chuckled. I slapped his arm really hard and he jerked back a little.
"Hey! What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his arm and I laughed. He had a small frown on his face and resembled a little boy who had gotten hurt. I have to admit, it was adorable.
"You're so cute," Connor said. I looked away blushing as he smiled. I heard someone knock on the door, it was Lauren.
"Connor, I need to talk to Audrey. Do you mind leaving for a bit?" Connor placed the violin beside the bed and plopped himself onto the bed. He grabbed the pillow and hugged it and got himself comfortable.
"I'll put my earbuds on. I don't feel like getting up," Connor said and quickly wore them before Lauren could say anything.
"Connor," Lauren said.
"Can't hear you," Connor crossed his legs as went on his phone.
"It's fine," I said and she rolled her eyes.
"You look so beautiful but why aren't you wearing the jewlery?" Lauren asked.
"What jewlery?" I asked. She grabbed the bag that was on the table and opened it up to show me a beautiful necklace aligned with a matching bracelet.
"Oh, Lauren I can't take this-"
"It's a gift and what did I say dear, call me mom." She said and gave me a tight hug.
"Happy birthday sweetheart," I hugged her tightly, not letting her go. My eyes teared up as she held me in her arms. If I could get these types of hugs every single day then I'd give everything I have away. I felt happy.
"Thank you." Mom. I wanted to call her mom but I couldn't because I knew that if I do call her that. I'll get attached to her. I would kill to have her as my mother but she never will be.
"You look gorgeous so don't cry you will make me cry along with you." I laughed. I blink away the tears that threatened to come out and smiled.
"Anyway, come down at five o'clock we are about to leave." She left the room and I felt my heart drop. I walked towards the mirror and sat down trying to hold back the tears.
"Why do you look like you are about to cry?" he asked.
"I'm not. It's just that Lauren is really nice. You're lucky to have her as your mom." I smiled.
"I mean your mother is nice also." What he said made me laugh a bit. Sure she is... if only he knew that she was only nice to Rachel. I wore the jewlery that Lauren gave me and I wanted to wear the necklace but it seemed a bit too much. I tried to wear the necklace on but couldn't.
"Come downstairs," Chloe yelled. I placed the necklace back in the box, maybe it was a sign that I shouldn't wear it. Just when I was about to get up Connor stopped me by grabbing my arm.
"Why aren't you wearing the necklace?"
"I couldn't-" He grabbed the box and took the necklace out of the box and pulled me towards him. He moved my hair with his cold hands making me flinch. His hands brushed my collar bones until he reached to the back of my neck. He pulled me closer to him since I was standing in front of him. I could feel his hot breath against my forehead. People would think that what he was doing is romantic but not in this case. I was trying to conceal my laughter but failed to do so.
"Why are you laughing?"
"It tickles," I giggled. He brought his hands back down and ruffled my hair.
"Hey! You ruined my hair," I groaned.
"No I didn't," he said while laughing.
"You look beautiful like," he said while smiling cheekily.
"You look beautiful as well, princess," I said without thinking.
"I know I am a princess," he said as he flipped his nonexistent hair.
"You wish you could be as pretty as me especially because you are extremely short," I knew he was trying to provoke me.
"Why are you so tall you probably had surgery. I think those legs are fake, here let me check." I kicked him in the shin, hard and I immediately regretted it because my foot was stinging probably because I was wearing heels.
"If I were you I would run," he said. I zoomed out of the room without thinking twice. I turned around to see him running towards me as I ran down the stairs only to trip on the last step. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up so that I wouldn't fall. Then, he picked me up and we ran off into the sunset just like in the cliche stories.
Well, that's not what happened. Instead, he stood there and watched me fall down. He stopped and laughed at me as I sat down on the floor.
"I-I c-can't-" he said in between laughs and I glared at him.
"Are you going to help me up?" I said gruffly and he clicked his tongue, "No way."
"Connor, please."
"Nah.".
"Connor, come on my feet hurt." He sighed and I grabbed onto his hand and pulled him down. I took the chance and got up and stuck my tongue out at him.
"You lit-" I put my heel against his neck and his eyes widened.
"You were saying?" I asked.
"You wouldn't da-" I press my heel against his neck, not trying to hurt him but to prove my point.
"Okay, you win, just move your foot," he said and I moved my foot back and laughed. He got up and glared.
"You just wait."
"Since we are going to just sit here and watch them, I'm going to go get some food," someone whispered. We look up to see everyone staring at us. Connor's eyes widened, his ears now red. I quickly made my way towards Kylie. She raised her eyebrows at me, but I shrugged it off. I looked around to find Connor and Sarah's friends here. What are they doing here?
"There are two cars parked outside, one for the adults and one for the kids."
There were ten of us.
Nothing can go wrong, right?
Q/A: Lot's of drama what you do if you were Audrey?