Chapter 28: Truth
Listen to the song Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.
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It's the bad decisions that teach us how to make the good ones.
--Anonymous.
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Raven's POV
"Could you zip me up?" I asked Cara as I stood infront of the full length mirror.
"Wow you look really gorgeous!" she sighed as she pulled up the zip of the floor length maroon gown I borrowed from her.
"Are you kidding me? You look way better" I chuckled as I stared in awe at her blue dress and her hair was pinned up into a perfect bun.
"God I hate this dress" she frowned as I rolled my eyes.
There was a knock at the door before an unknown man opened the door and stood there with a grim expression as he waited for us to acknowledge him.
"Dad hey" Cara said uninterested.
"Guests have arrived and your mom and I expect you and your friend here downstairs in two minutes" he said monotonously before barging out.
"Oh yeah that's my dad, the ruler of I don't give a fudge land" she said faking a smile.
"Umm I think we should go down" I said still afraid of the man that just left.
"Oh it's fine, two minutes is like 15 in my dictionary" she rolled her eyes as she put on a pair of ballet flats. There was another knock on the door this time the person didn't barge in.
"Dad I said I'm coming!" Cara starts angrily as she marched towards the door and swings it open.
"Zack" she said surprised as she saw a very dressed up Zack.
He was in a suit and a tie and he looked nothing like the Zack who normally wears a leather jacket and roams around town on a bike.
"How-Why-" she began.
"Your mom let me in and told me to go upstairs before your dad got there" he breathed out as he smiled nervously.
"Is the great Zachary Harvey nervous?" I asked laughing.
"No-yes okay fine I'm kind of nervous. Though your mom is an angel, I love her already! But she described your dad in a way that kind of makes me uneasy about this" he ranted nervously gritting his teeth.
"Oh you should be afraid of her dad, I'm scared of him and I'm not even dating her" I said bluntly.
"Raven!" Cara warned as she glared at me and tried to comfort Zack.
"I don't even care about my father's opinion so you need to calm down" Cara said placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Stop being so Taylor Swift!" he said nervously.
"Hey, you say anything bad about my queen and I'll kill you!" I warned him before leaving the couple in the room and walking downstairs.
"Hey Rave" a familiar voice called out and I looked behind only to see Jenny walking towards me.
"Jenny, umm hey" I gulped hoping Dallas wasn't here.
"Dallas isn't here, so you can breathe" she smiled.
"Oh I-I was just-" I stuttered.
"He told me what he did and honestly I think it was completely reckless on his path. But cut the guy some slack, he's still figuring out his feelings and it's not exactly been fair on you but I hope you understand" she said honestly as we entered a big hall with many people dressed in high end designer clothing and accessories.
"I do understand, and I'll talk to him" I smiled back at her as I let a little guilt crawl back into my heart.
"Raven hunny! You look beautiful!" Mrs.Williams called out as she rushed towards me with a familiar woman near her.
"So do you Mrs.Williams" I smiled gladly.
"Jennifer, I thought Dallas would be joining you" Mrs. Williams questioned Jenny.
"He had to finish a bit of his homework, so he couldn't make it. Though he sends his love" she smiled confidently, like she has been in this situation many times.
"That's a shame, girls I would like to introduce you to Mrs.Spencer Yardley, a friend of mine. She's a designer you know" Mrs Williams introduced the familiar woman dressed exquisitely in an ankle length black dress that had a slit up to her knee.
"I remember you, I love the dress by the the way" I said staring at the gorgeous woman.
"Yeah, you're the one who came to my boutique a month ago right?" she asked smiling brightly.
"That's me" I chuckled along with the rest of them.
"Mom, I'm going to steal Rave for a bit" Cara came from behind me before tugging me, "Hey Jenny!" she greeted.
"Hi Cara" she smiled genuinely before continuing the conversation with the two older women.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Ryan's here and I told him you two could talk in my bedroom, so he's waiting there for you" she spoke quickly as I caught Mark wave to me from the corner of my eye as I waved back.
"Where's Elisa?" I asked cautiously.
"Apparently Daniel, Mark's brother is taking her out to keep her company" Cara said equally confused about it as me.
"Okay fine, I'll go talk to him" I said taking a deep breath before pulling my dress up in my hands and walking fast up the stairs.
I knocked on the door hoping I could skip through whatever was going to come. But as the door I was faced with a suited up Ryan and if my mind wasn't clouded I'd have completely swooned over him.
"Hey" he gulped, "You look stunning"
"Ummm thanks, we need to talk about yesterday" I said getting straight to the point.
"Yes umm about what you heard" he began as I walked inside and closed the door behind me.
"I met Eli when I moved to DC, she was my high school tour guide..We started dating only when we were in end of freshman year, I'm not going to lie I was completely in love with her and at that point I didn't think that we would have had any problems at all" he started as he sat down on the bed.
"Everything was fine till about mid junior year...
One year ago, Washington Prep, Washington DC. (Third Person's POV)
"I can't tell him, he'll hate me. I can't do this now-this is such bad timing and-" Elisa began to cry while she stared at the prominent two pink lines on the recently used pregnancy test.
"Elisa breathe" Lee tried to soothe her from the other end of the phone.
"What am I going to do Lee?" she broke down completely as she sat on the ground in her room.
"Right now you're going to stay where you are, I'm coming over" he replied.
The days passed on and Elisa didn't tell anyone about the little secret growing inside of her, she distanced herself from Ryan and only confided in Lee.
Feeling her slip away Ryan knew he had to confront the situation before it got worse so on Friday date night, he decided to confront her about what was going on.
"I love you, you know that right?" he asked staring at the gorgeous girl lying on his lap as they watched a movie.
"I love you" she said smiling as she sat up.
"What's going on?" he asked directly.
"What do you mean?" she asked defensively proving she was hiding something.
"Elisa I know you're hiding something from me, I just want you to know whatever it is I'll help, I won't get angry. I promise" he convinced her caressing her shoulder.
"I can't, you're going to hate me" she broke as she teared up.
"I could never. Babe you're my everything, I promise I won't hate you" he comforted.
"You don't get it, this is so bad! I'm pregnant Ryan" she cried into her hands.
It took Ryan a good minute to comprehend what he just heard, but after he did a million things ran through his head and he wasn't sure what he was feeling.
"Are you-you sure?" he asked.
"I went to the doctor yesterday, I'm sure" she whispered.
"We can work through it" he finally came to a conclusion.
"I'm not aborting if that's what you mean" she said firmly.
"I'd never want you to do that. I mean I would stand by any decision you made, and it's all up to you. But I'll stand by you" he promised her as he pulled her into his arms.
It took them two whole months before they told they're parents, at first nobody was happy but they knew better than to argue with two teenagers who were sure they could handle it.
Four months in and the rumors began to die down. Elisa considered herself to be happy, the people talking about her small bump didn't matter anymore.
Ryan was overwhelmeded by the fact that he could redo and change what his parents did with him, he promised himself to be a better parent.
Everything was perfect till one gloomy May morning, in the Walker house. Picking out her clothes Elisa ran to the bathroom as she heard Ryan enter the house and greet her mother.
Smiling she started to undress that's when she felt it, she hadn't noticed it earlier because she was in a hurry but her shorts were soaked, the green shorts were scarlet red.
Staring at the blood she screamed before falling down to the floor and screaming over and over again as she ran her hands through her hair. The tears spilt like a tap that was left on after being used.
Downstairs Ryan ran up the stairs as he heard the first scream with Mrs.Walker right behind him.
"Eli, are you okay!?" he asked banging on the bathroom door.
She didn't reply but you could hear her muffled cries from inside.
"Ryan" Mrs.Walker whispered touching my shoulder.
As he looked over to where she gestured he realised that the white sheets on Elisa's bed were stained with a bloody stain. All of a sudden his breathing got fast and he stared at the stain for the longest time ever.
"Move" Mr.Walker came out of nowhere before pushing him away and trying to open the bathroom door which soon opened, Elisa always had the bad habit of leaving doors unlocked however dangerous it may be.
"It's gone- g-gone" she cried into her father's hands as Ryan stared at her.
His muscles didn't move an inch, he just stared at her unsure of how to react. "You should go home" Mr.Walker glared at Ryan before closing the door.
"Honey, Mr.Walker's right. You should leave" Mrs.Walker tried to convince me nicely.
Having no choice, seeing that nobody wanted him there he drove home and locked himself up in his room. And never before had he cried this much, he cried through the whole day and night.
"Ryan? Are you okay?" Jackie asked as she knocked on the door.
She had gotten a call from Mrs.Walker and she came straight home after finding out. But Ryan never answered he just stayed in bed crying his eyes out.
"Leave me alone Jackie!" he said angrily.
"Honey talk to me" she said hopefully as a tear dropped down her cheek.
"What do you want me to say?" he asked openeing the door, "I lost the baby, before even having the baby!" he said.
"Come here" she whispered before hugging him as he continued to cry in her arms the rest of the night.
Neither Elisa nor Ryan spoke to each other the entire week. Nobody knew what to say, Lee kept Elisa company while Zack tried comforting Ryan but both boys were unsuccessful.
One more week till junior year was finally over but little did they know this story would go on into the start of summer. Out of force Ryan and Elisa finally went back to school.
"Hi" Elisa whispered when she bumped into him.
"Hi" he spoke staring at her dark circles and her red eyes. She had been crying, just like him the entire week.
This accident drove such a big wedge between the two of them that neither one of them could look at the other without wanting to burst into tears.
Elisa wanted to end things with Ryan, she couldn't look at him without being reminded of everything she lost. It wasn't his fault but what could she do?
Ryan just wanted to comfort her, but he knew her too well. He knew she wanted to end things with him and he didn't blame her. But he also knew there was no way she would actually break up because she would feel too bad to do that.
So to ease the pain he gave her a reason to end things with him. He asked Zack to start a rumor that he cheated on her. Zack refused at first but finally agreed to go through with it.
If they only knew the outcome would be bad. After hearing the rumors Elisa confronted him.
"Is it true!? After everything we've gone through that's how you choose to break my heart?" she asked angrily in a very public setting in the school parking lot.
"What do you mean?" he asked waiting for the outcome.
"Can't you just admit it! Can't you just say it! Tell me that you didn't cheat" she cried and he really wanted to but he knew he couldn't.
"I can't say that. Cause I did. I cheated" he whispered looking anywhere but into her eyes.
Everyone gathered around, were rather surprised. For two whole years these two have always been the ideal couple but now it all just made sense, afterall what high school relationships last?
Before leaving Elisa slapped him right across his face as everyone stared in complete shock. "I hate you for breaking me" she whispered before leaving the parking lot.
Back to The Present. Raven's POV.
"The pressure of finding out I cheated on her and losing the baby is actually what led her to attempt to hurt herself" he finally ended.
"Wow, that's alot" I whispered under my breath.
"It is" he smiled a bit nervously.
"Why do boys do that?" I asked unsurely.
"Do what?" he asked.
"You know, hurt us girls to push us away?" I asked.
"To protect you'll" he whispered in all sincerity, "We can't be with the girl because she deserves the best and we think it's better for her to find that in someone who treats her the way she deserves to be treated" he finished.
"Do me favor, never do that with me" I whispered underneath my breath walking towards him.
"But, I messed up so bad" he said guiltily.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked standing at the edge of the bed he was sitting on.
"I thought I would trigger you, I know you've not completely healed since the attempt. I was also embarrassed about how horrible of a person I was to Elisa, I really really wanted a chance to redeem myself and I saw that chance in you" he said sighing softly.
"You over think too much" I chuckled placing my hands on either side of his shoulders as I stared into his emerald green eyes.
"I do, don't I?" he smiled back as I kissed his forehead.
"I'm sorry" my smile dropped off as he pulled me into a hug indicating that the all was forgiven.
"Why?" he asked looking back up as I moved back and I tried my best too push the thought of Dallas kissing me, but the thought stuck with me.
"I did something wrong, something bad. After-after I heard you and Eli-" I started breathing heavily.
"You can tell me! I'll listen, I promise" he said standing up and walking towards me.
"I had a panic attack and D-Dallas found me" I started, I felt my heart prick as I saw his eyes go gloomy all over again.
"He took me to his house and calmed me down and he-he kissed me" I let it go awaiting the pain of rejection.
"He kissed you? Did you kiss him back?" Ryan asked hopefully still rooted to his spot.
"No! No way! I was thinking of you the whole time and how I was going to explain it to you! And I'm sorry- I'm sorry I put you in this position. I'm sorry I cheated on you" I broke.
"Don't be sorry, you didn't cheat" he smiled in the seriousness of the situation, "I don't blame you at all, how were you supposed to know he was going go kiss you? It's not your fault! You don't have to worry" he chuckled catching my hands.
"I never thought of it that way" I sighed happily.
"You're so cute when you're all worked up" he booped my nose as I scrunched.
"I'm sorry by the way" I said quietly as I heard the bustle downstairs.
"Why?" he asked pulling me into a hug.
"For the loss of your baby, if I had known-" I said sadly.
"It's fine, everything happens for a reason right?" he said pain laced on his fictional smile.
"I guess" I said kissing his cheek.
"Ready to rock the boring party downstairs?" he smirked still holding tightly onto my hand.
"As ready as I'll ever be" I smiled as we walked out of the room and down the stairs hand in hand.
As we walked through the doors of the grand hall I felt proud, so proud to have Ryan standing by my side. The past didn't matter when I was with him. I love the fact that when I am with him, he's all that matters.
"I'm glad you two worked it out" a smiling Mark spoke from behind me.
"Well, he did make a convincing argument" I joked slyly.
"What can I say, all I had to was show her my abs" Ryan smirked as I gave him a playful tap and laughed.
"Ryan?" a meek woman's voice called from nowhere.
Turning around we saw a very teary eyed Spencer Yardley staring in the direction of the boy on my right, Ryan. Ryan had become as stiff as stone as he watched the woman walk up to us.
"Mom" Ryan gritted angrily before leaving the room.
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Well I guess that was one of the first cliffhangers I gave in this book.. Though I gave like a hundred clues leading to this moment so if you didn't pick them up you're surely not paying attention.
Anyways, vote and share!