Y/n wiped her eyes as she walked around town, avoiding home at all costs. She tried to stop the crying, but every time she thought she had calmed down, another guilty thought entered her mind, and she began to hiccup again with black-coated mascara tears. She couldn't stop thinking about how angry she had made Trent, until her phone started to buzz in her coat pocket. She looked at the screen. It was Bebe.
"Hello..?" She answered shakily as she tried to reel in her emotions for a second.
"Hello?? Y/n?! Are you okay?! Where are you?!" She answered urgently.
"I-I'm... fine.." She answered with a small cry and a sniffle.
"Oh my god! Are you crying?! I can't believe him! We were all having such a good time, you told him a million times why you weren't going to date him, I CANNOT believe him- he's such a-" Y/n held her breath as she heard Wendy say something to her on the other end.
"Y/n?" Wendy had taken the phone from the uncontrollable whirlwind of Bebe's emotional grasp.
"Hey, Wendy..." She answered, sitting on a bench that she had walked upon.
"Hey, are you okay sweetie?" She asked softly.
"Yeah... I mean... I don't know..." Y/n told her with a sniffle.
"It's gonna be okay, Y/n. Don't feel sorry for him. He was way out of line." She told her reassuringly.
"Yeah... I just don't understand why he got so upset. I really wanted to take things slow. We've only been talking and hanging out for a week. I-I kinda thought he understood that." She trembled, although she was starting to feel a little better, being comforted by her sweet friend.
"Yeah, I know. It sucks. Boys suck. I've been thinking about how I've been treating Stan. Maybe I was wrong for being so two-faced. It's not my fault I can't make up my mind, it's just how I am! You understand, right? I get why he wants to move on, but it doesn't make it right that he's trying to make me jealous! He's being such a dick about it!" She said before sighing.
"Sorry. I'm making this about me. But my point is, men are just stupid!! We've been hanging out with Trent so much lately, we hardly get girl time anymore anyway." She said.
"Yeah. Maybe we should just focus on ourselves for a while. Chicks before dicks." Y/n said, quoting one of Bebe's most famous catch phrases.
"Yeah." Wendy laughed, "Let's have a sleepover at my house tonight. We can do our nails and rewatch Stranger Things? Maybe we can go see that movie tomorrow, that Nicole's been going on about."
"I'd love that." Y/n sniffled.
"Great. Meet us at my house then. Love you, girl!" Wendy told her.
"Love you too." Y/n said before hanging up the phone. At least she had amazing friends. And going to her house to rant about it made the night that much better. The best part was, she didn't have to go back home and face her parents again.
"I'm so excited for this movie!! Do you have any idea how many times I've watched the trailer?!" Nicole exclaimed as they walked into the theatre.
"Yes, Nicole, we get it. Zac Efron is the hottest guy you've ever seen besides Token." Bebe rolled her eyes with a smile.
"You guys want popcorn? My treat." Y/n smiled, pulling out her wallet from her purse.
"Don't be silly, we all stuffed dollar-store candy in our bags." Red whispered, making the other girls giggle.
"Well, you can't fit a bag of popcorn in there, can you?" Y/n grinned, walking up to pay for three big bags to share. She started handing them out when she noticed a familiar someone gawking at her from across the room.
When her and Kyle locked eyes, he looked away at the girl standing next to him, gossiping away, and typing frantically on her pink cell phone. Y/n smiled a bit.
"Oh great. Kyle's here with one of the Shakey's Pizza girls." Bebe glared at him.
"Well, at least Stan's not here." Wendy sighed.
"Hell yeah, we got middle row seats!" Nicole exclaimed as she studied the movie tickets.
"Yeah, duh." Red smiled.
"Come on, let's find them before the theatre gets too crowded." Bebe instructed as they all walked off. Y/n couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the tall, pretty Junior girl talking Kyle's ear off. Kyle seemed bored and depressed, like he had been looking every day since he got out of the hospital.
"Hold on, girls..." Y/n said, making them pause.
"What? You wanna talk to Kyle?" Red asked as they turned around.
"Well, I guess he has been acting different lately..." Y/n frowned.
"Yeah. I guess it would be cool to get in on some of the drama with those stupid girls they've been talking to." Bebe smiled evilly.
"Maybe we can find out if Stan's going out with that other girl." Wendy added. Without any further questions, Y/n decided to approach them.
"Hey." She greeted him with a smile, making him look at her again with surprise. Katy finally shut up and raised an eyebrow as she realized who was talking to them.
"Hey... What're you doing here?" Kyle asked, although what he really wanted to know was why she was talking to him.
"Oh... Just having a girls night out! And... just trying to get my mind off of some things..." She added, looking a little more sad.
"That's cool. I'm surprised you're not here with Trent." Kyle said with boredom, making her feel even worse.
"Ugh!! Don't even mention him." Bebe spat.
"That's who we're trying to get her mind off of." Wendy told him, making his face light up a bit with a new, sudden interest.
"Oh... really? Why?" He sat up and looked back at Y/n.
"Because he has fucking anger issues!" Bebe exclaimed.
"Yeah. He tried to pressure her into dating him by blowing up in her face and questioning why she would compare him to her stupid ex." Nicole explained by what she had heard them say last night.
"Which she didn't do, by the way. Not even Trent can compare to that douche flavored slurpie!" Bebe added with her arms crossed.
Kyle felt like he had done something similar at at hospital, and he felt guilty that she had to go through it again. But at least he hadn't pressured her to date anyone.
"I guess you can say that Trent and I are taking a break..." Y/n sighed, staring at the floor.
"Oh... I'm really sorry," He told her, but he noticed her eyes start to well up with tears. She kept everything bottled up from the girls, although they all had a lot to say about it last night. They even went on about it when they woke up that morning. Every mention of it, all day, made her more exhausted and hurt, but she didn't want to lose control over herself.
When she looked back up at his concerned face though, and thought about how she made him feel by being with Trent all the time, her world began to fall apart. She sniffled, holding it all back from him.
"But... hey, it's okay. I mean, I'm sure he'll apologize and everything. It'll be alright." He said, wanting to make her feel better at all costs. Defending Trent for her only seemed to make things worse.
"It's okay..." She sighed heavily as her ugly cry face started to show itself, "I just... the thing is... I just don't want to hurt his feelings. Or yours. I know you've been avoiding me because of him. I do like him... but when I think about what my ex, Simon, did to me... he made me feel so small and insignificant... he made me do so many things that I didn't really want to do. I'm just... so afraid Trent's gonna be the same way... but it's so much worse, because he's so much bigger than me, and he gets so angry, and I just don't know if I'd be able to-" She squeaked out every word as she frantically wiped her pouring tears.
She was completely spilling out to him. But it felt right. The girls looked at each other in surprise, because she hadn't even talked to them about that stuff last night. Kyle was astounded by her raw emotion. He felt honored that she somehow came to him about it.
She thought deeply about Simon. How she used her mind to snap his legs and leave him stranded in the forest. At the time she wanted revenge so badly, but the more it weighed on her over the years, the more guilty she felt about everything.
"I just... don't want to hurt anyone again..." She held her breath, covering her tearful face in embarrassment. She really didn't want anyone to see her like this, but it was far too late.
"Hey..." Kyle reached out for her, but hesitantly paused as she quickly looked up at him. He got a good look at her red cheeks and sparkly wet eyelashes. He felt horrible. He never wanted to see her upset like that. He thought Trent must've really hurt her. He wonder what bad memories she could've possibly gone through.
"Don't... Don't cry..." He spoke to her in a sweet, sad tone. His arms were still reaching out towards hers. His words made her whine a little as more tears fell. She brought her hands to her mouth as she looked at the ground. He just wanted to hold her.
"You don't... have to feel bad about him..." He said, finally placing delicate hands on each of her elbows. She looked at his eyes again.
"I know I got weirdly upset about you helping him when you visited me in the hospital. I never meant that I thought you couldn't handle helping him get through his shit. A-and I'm not avoiding you because of that either. I guess I was just... I don't know... mad at him? But Y/n, you're so strong, you could help anyone. It doesn't matter what I think." He said with an uplifting smile, making her lower her hands from her pink, glossy lips.
"I just... knew he would fall for you. Of course he would..." He laughed, which finally caused her to show him a coy smile while her eyes scanned the floor, "I just hoped you wouldn't fall for him. I'm not saying Trent's a bad person- by any means. But I do know that he has emotional issues, and you shouldn't have to take that as a burden just because your kind enough to want to help him. Just because he has problems doesn't mean he has to be your problem." Kyle told her. She gripped his arms too, taking in a deep, calming breath.
"I know... but now I feel like it's too late. I can't just abandon him after I've helped him this much... I feel like he needs me." She said.
"What he needs is to be more independent. If he's constantly relying on you to make his life better, what's he gonna do if you decide you don't want to help him any more? This is your life. Besides, think about yourself for a second. If you don't want to be with him, you can be with anyone you want. You're so-" Kyle paused, remembering there was a girl behind him that he was supposed to be on a date with. He shook his head as he scratched the thought. He didn't care about her anymore.
"You're so frickin' gorgeous. Any guy would be the luckiest dude on Earth to call you their girlfriend. Especially Trent." He said. She beamed at him with a happy little laugh, sniffling a bit too. Kyle smiled at her dreamily as his heart melted with accomplishment. He suddenly held his breath as she jumped on him with a big hug. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders like she would fall and die if she let go. She dried her wet face in the scruff of his hood, sighing into the fabric. She felt a million times better.
"Thank you, Kyle." She spoke into his coat, making the hairs on his neck stand up.
"Yeah..." He said as he quickly melted into the hug. His arm wrapped securely around her back, and his other hand hesitantly wandered on top of her beautiful hair. She smelled like birthday cake and kittens. It was like hugging a sparkly dream. For a pleasant moment, he forgot about Katy. He could feel Y/n's warm, comfortable breath through his hood, and onto his skin. He hoped it would never end. Y/n's friends all smiled sweetly at him.
Right then, he completely abandoned the idea that he couldn't have her anymore. He felt like he had a chance to make her fall for him again. In fact, he felt like she already did. Until Katy cleared her throat and pulled him away from her by the back of his coat.
"Ahem, that was a very long hug. Well the movie's about to start. Should we go?" She smiled down at Kyle with wide, jealous eyes.
"Uh... yeah, give me a second." He said, coldly brushing her hand from his shoulder. Katy crossed her arms and glared daggers that the younger girls.
"So um... I hope you start feeling better." Kyle smiled at Y/n, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I already do." She smiled back at him, swaying her arms with butterflies in her stomach.
"Good." He laughed. They stared at each other for a very long second. Y/n knew exactly how she felt about him. Not even Trent was this caring about her feelings, even when she told him about Simon. In fact, she started to remember how quickly Trent changed the subject after half-ass consoling her about it.
"Well. See ya." Kyle said, grabbing her hand and letting his fingers brush away, and then walking away with the other girl.
"Bye!" Y/n waved giddily.
"Oh. My. God." Bebe began.
"What?" She laughed.
"Did you just fall in love with Kyle?!" Wendy whispered as they disappeared from earshot.
"Uh... I don't know..." Y/n smiled at the floor as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
"You totally did!!" Nichole squealed.
"Are you gonna ask him out to make Trent jealous?!" Bebe grinned.
"Bebe!" Wendy gasped.
"What? The boys did it to us! Why can't we do it to them?!" She argued.
"Let's not worry about it right now, girls. Come on, the trailers probably already started!" Y/n laughed.
"You're no fun!" Nicole smiled as they walked off. But let's get real... All Y/n could think about, whenever Zac Efron did something romantic with that other beautiful actress, Y/n couldn't help picture Kyle's cute freckled face. The girls whispered and giggled through the movie. Y/n felt like things could go back to normal easier than she thought.
Kyle wasn't having such a great time. Katy whispered and giggled through out the movie too, but he found it incredibly annoying. It wasn't even the fact that he wanted to watch the shitty film staring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. She was just saying the stupidest crap.
"Ugh. How much Butter did they put in this?" She complained as she shoved popcorn into her mouth.
"I don't know. A lot I guess." Kyle sighed.
"Don't let me eat anymore. I'm trying to watch my trans fats." She said, handing him the bag.
"Whatever dude." He said, trying to enjoy himself. He was annoyed that he paid for the biggest size popcorn bag and she wasn't going to eat any of it. Until she started reaching into the bag again thirty seconds later. He rolled his eyes.
"Ugh! Kyle, I told you not to let me eat anymore!" She whisper-yelled.
"Sorry!" He shrugged, setting the bag on the ground.
"You know, I'm thinking about going vegan. Or that thing where I only eat fish. Pescatarian I think it's called... You know that fish is the best meat source in the world?" She blabbered on.
"Cool." Kyle sighed again.
"Do you think people might start considering fish vegan? I mean, I read somewhere that fish can't feel pain. But what do scientists know, they don't know how the fish feel." She said. She was starting to get on his nerves. He just ignored her.
"Kyle. What color do you think I look better in? Angelina said I look good in red, but lately, I'm starting to like sea-foam green." She told him.
"God, will you just shut up and watch the movie please?!" Kyle finally snapped, making her gasp.
"Why are you being such a dick all of the sudden?!" She whispered.
"Why are you being so annoying all of the sudden?!" He whispered back.
"We'll keep up the attitude and I'm not gonna let you fuck me!" She said.
"What?? I don't want to do that!!" Kyle said as quietly as possible.
"You don't?" She blinked at him.
"No!! Why would you think that?!" He responded in offense.
"Oh, I don't know, because your a horny little freshman who doesn't-"
"SHHHH!!!" Someone hushed in front of them. They both crossed their arms and turned back to the screen. After a while Kyle glanced at his phone wondering how long this movie was. It had already been almost two hours and it didn't seem like it was getting very close to being over.
"So... you actually don't want to have sex with me?" Katy questioned in a unconvinced whisper.
"No, I don't want to have sex with you! Stop asking me that, it makes me feel weird!" Kyle told her angrily. She rolled her eyes. A few minutes passed, and for once Kyle could actually hear what was going on. Although now he was pretty lost, it was nice to finally have some peace and silence.
Until he felt her hand on his right leg. At first she was just rubbing his knee, which was uncomfortable enough. But her hand quickly began to trail up his thigh. He had to stand up when she grabbed his crotch.
"I'm going to the bathroom!" He exclaimed, storming down the half-empty aisle. She scoffed and turned back to the movie with a pissed expression.
Kyle scrubbed his hands with outrage, huffing and puffing to himself. When a girl says no, it's all about the line between consent and rape, but when a guy says no, apparently his dick is free range to touch all over?!
"God the world is fucked." He said as he angrily crumpled up the paper towels he used to dry his hands. He stopped when he walked out of the men's room and saw the group of girls walking out of the theatre hall. Y/n paused of course when she saw him.
"Oh. What a coincidence." She laughed, which made him forget why he was even angry.
"Yeah. I'm glad I ran into you again." He sighed as he got closer.
"Jeez, why are you so red?" Bebe looked at him as she slurped on her soda.
"Yeah, and sweaty." Red cringed slightly.
"I'm just... kinda pissed..." He explained.
"I would be too, paying to see a movie starring the Rock. He's a really nice guy. Terrible actor." Nicole critiqued.
"No it's not that... it's my date." He said.
"Aw. What happened?" Y/n frowned.
"She's just. Really annoying." He said.
"What do you mean?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"Kyle, if a girl doesn't want to fuck on the first date, then no means no." Bebe told him slowly.
"E-exactly! Right? And if a guy doesn't want to fuck on the first date, no still means no! Right?!" He looked between them all. They all shared a glance.
"Yeah, sure, but what dude wouldn't want to fuck if a girl totally wants to?" Bebe asked, sipping her soda again.
"Me! This dude! She thinks I'm trying to hook up by bringing her here, but I was just trying to be nice when I decided to take her to the stupid movies. I mean, I didn't really think of it as a date when she brought it up to me." He shrugged.
"You didn't?" Y/n stared at him.
"No! Then Stan and Kenny told me it was a date, so I got stuck paying for everything, and then she touched my penis, even though I told her twice that I didn't want to have sex with her- and-"
"Woah, woah, calm down. It's okay, Kyle." Y/n said, putting her hands up with worry.
"It doesn't really feel okay!" He frowned.
"No, what she did was definitely not okay. But don't worry, I mean. You don't have to deal with her. Just like I don't have to deal with Trent." She explained, making his expression soften up.
"Huh... yeah... well, I guess you're right." He sighed, trying to calm himself down.
"Look, just go in there and tell her your Mom called, and it's an emergency, and you have to run home. No big deal." She shrugged.
"Uh... Okay." He nodded. It didn't actually seem like a bad plan. Besides, Kenny and Stan told him to dump her if he really didn't like her.
"Are you gonna be okay? Your not like... traumatized, right?" She put her hands on his shoulders, staring at him lovingly. Her sweet, caring smile made his sigh.
"No, no... It wasn't even that bad. I'll be fine, but-" He was cut off with a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Good. It's okay to be upset about this. What she did was wrong and violating. Nothing less. Look, we gotta go, cause Bebe's Dad is here, but call Wendy if you need to talk to any of us about it later. Or just, you know, talk to your friends. You'd probably be more comfortable doing that anyway." She smiled.
"I-I-I-" He placed a hand on the warm, glossy spot she left on his face, "Uh-Uh- y-yeah. Okay." He nodded. She giggled at him, happy to see his cute, flustered nature returning.
"Bye Kyle. Good luck." She waved. The group began to giggle together as they walked out of the theatre. Kyle stared at them in shock. His hand was still pressed against his face as they vanished from his sight. But pidgins still lingered in his stomach, flapping around his insides like they were begging for escape.
He had to tell Stan and Kenny about this.
He turned around to go face Katy again, but paused in thought. He didn't want to deal with her meltdown in the theatre when he told her he had to leave. Making up a lie, and making an even bigger mess with their shifty relationship was the very last thing he wanted to do to ruin this feeling he thought he'd lost.
So after some hesitant consideration, and a short talk with the more evil side of his brain, he tucked his hands into his pockets and left the theatre too, completely ditching Katy and that stupid extra large bag of popcorn.