It's been a week since I last saw James. I haven't had any contact with him since. I'm assuming his mother took his phone away. I would try stopping by his house, but I doubt that would end well. I can't stop thinking about him, I'm so worried.
"Guy?"
I snap out of my trance to see Tessa trying to gain my attention.
"Sorry, I zoned out."
"Yeah, we can tell," says Lola.
Tessa, Lola, Ava and I are walking around town. They told me that I should enjoy our holiday and take my mind off of everything. I am trying, I just can't.
"Let's go to the dairy," says Ava.
Tessa's eyes widen, "Yes, we should."
I shake my head. I know that they go crazy on sugar, but there is no point trying to stop them.
We make our way over to the nearest dairy. We pass the local park and a few second hand stores. As much as people here complain about how small and 'boring' our town is, it really is a beautiful place to live. I wish it was appreciated more.
When we arrive outside the dairy Tessa heads right in.
"You coming?" asks Ava.
"Nah," says Lola.
Ava darts in after Tessa, leaving Lola and I outside. We walk around the corner of the dairy and lean up against the wall.
Lola takes this opportunity to bring up something I had been avoiding, "You seriously still haven't told her about Amelia and Mason?"
"Nope... I'm waiting for the right time," I say in defence.
I know I should tell her. I know she probably saw it coming, but that doesn't mean that it won't still hurt. Ava doesn't deserve to be treated this way, I wish I could do something to help her.
Lola is about to protest when we hear a voice call out beside us, "Lola, there you are."
Lola whips her head around, "You say that like you were looking for me."
I'll give her credit, she's quick with her comebacks. I turn my head to see Chad. Great.
"I meant I haven't seen you in a while," he says.
He's seriously lost his marbles. I can't believe he even has the nerve to talk to her after everything that has happened.
Lola rolls her eyes, "Yeah, there's a reason for that."
Chad inches closer to her, "What did I do?"
"You know what you did."
"Really now?"
I've had enough of this.
"Look just leave her alone, she's done with you," I say.
Chad turns to me, "Why do you have to get involved?"
"Because I'm sick of this. You've picked on James for no reason for years now, you've bullied me because my mother is dead. When you were with Lola you treated her terribly, and now you won't leave any of us alone."
I expected Chad to react, but of course he ignores everything I've said.
"I meant that you should stay out of this."
I take a step towards him, "Not gonna happen."
Chad pushes me against the wall. Right now I'm praying for a miracle. I don't want either of us to resort to violence, especially not here.
Suddenly I hear a voice call out behind us, "Chad, get your hands off my boyfriend!"
Chad lets go of me and turns around, James is standing behind him.
Chad walks right up to James, he invades his personal space. He's trying to intimidate him, but I can tell by the look on James's face that it isn't working.
Chad glares at him, "What did you say?"
For a moment I'm scared that James will back down, but he doesn't.
"I said, get your hands off my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend huh? I should have known you were gay."
"Yeah, you should have."
James is staying calm, not biting back.
He continues, "Do you believe that I wasn't trying to steal Lola from you now?"
"Sure. Are you happy now?"
"Not yet."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to leave all of us alone. If you want to feel better about yourself then you need to sort your shit out. You can't keep taking your anger out on us. I won't let you."
Chad looks taken aback, he's never seen James react this way before. None of us have.
"Fine. Have it your way."
And with that Chad walks away. James keeps his eyes on him until he's out of sight.
When he turns around to face me I can see that James has a massive smirk on his face that he is trying to hide. He's proud of himself, I'm proud of him too.
He looks different. He's slightly more pale than usual, and he isn't dressed the same as usual. He used to wear button up shirts and pants. Right now he's wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He's still as handsome as ever.
"Hey Nelson," he says.
I can't stop myself from turning red and a massive grin spreads across my face. I've missed him so much.
I pull him into a hug. When I pull back to look at him he's blushing too. He gives me a quick kiss.
"I missed you," he says.
"I missed you too."
I'm about to ask him how he got here, but suddenly Tessa and Ava come around the corner.
"You guys will never guess what I found..." Tessa trails off when she sees James.
"James, are you okay?" asks Ava.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
I free him from our hug, "Are you sure?"
James looks around, "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's go to my house."
-----------------------------------
James, Ava and I are sitting on the floor in my living room. Lola and Tessa had to go home. I asked Ava to come along because I think it's time that I tell her the truth about Amelia.
"I don't have long, my mum will be here in ten minutes," says Ava.
"That should be enough time," I say.
"Enough time to talk about James?"
"Actually there is something else I've been meaning tell you."
I don't want to have to do this, but it would be wrong not to.
"I'm listening."
"It's about Amelia."
"Let me guess, she's back with Mason?"
"How did you..."
"I've seen them hanging around together. I don't know for sure if they've gotten back together, but they seem pretty cosy."
"Ava, I'm so sorry."
"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault. I expected it anyway."
"I think that's the worst part."
"Yeah."
We are silent for a moment. I'm not sure what to say. I feel so bad for Ava. Suddenly I hear a car pull up outside.
"My mum must be early," says Ava, getting up, "And hey, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
With that she leaves the house.
"I can't believe you hadn't told her yet," says James.
"Yeah, I know it was stupid of me to wait."
"Hey, I never said you were stupid."
James and I sit there for a moment, gazing into each others eyes.
I can't wait any longer to ask, "What happened with your mum?"
He sighs, "That night she took me home like usual. She didn't even talk to me. Just escorted me to my room. The next morning I went to talk to her. The first thing she told me was that she and my dad are officially divorced now."
I speechless, so James continues, "That's when I remembered that once you are over sixteen you can choose which parent you live with if they are divorced."
I'm not surprised that James knew that. He's always been interested in the law, and things like that. I always liked how nerdy he is.
"So I told her that I was going to live with my dad. She was mad, of course but there was nothing she could do about it. I put a few of my things in my backpack and I left. She wouldn't let me take my phone so I didn't have a way of contacting you. I would have stopped by your house but I've been all over the place lately. Today was the first time I'd gone outside on my own since I moved in with my dad. I was lucky I found you when I did."
"Dang, that sucks you had to go through all that. I seriously never thought she would have reacted that way."
James's mother had always been such a kind and caring woman, she wasn't religious either. Maybe she is just uneducated on our community. Maybe it was just the way she was raised.
"Is it weird that I did expect it?"
"No, sometimes you just have a feeling. I can't believe you stood up to her like that."
"I know right?"
"And today with Chad too."
"Yeah, I guess I just got to a point where I'd had enough."
"It's not just that. I mean, overall you are becoming so much more confident."
"I am?"
"Yeah, I'm proud of you."
James's face turns red.
I grin, "Babe, are you blushing?"
He pouts dramatically and I pull him into a kiss. I missed this. I don't want to ever let him go again.