As I peeked through the crack, I saw Logan and some girl on her knees. I couldn't make out who it was, so I pushed the door open just a little bit more. I peeked my head in and saw that it was Bella! I knew that he was going to cheat on me sooner or later, but with Bella!?!? Of all the girls in our school, it had to be her. Bella was the most popular girl who attended our school and she's been after Logan for God knows how long.
I stepped back from the door in complete disgust.
Am I that surprised that I caught him cheating? I'm honestly not even that hurt, just at an ah. I mean, I've always had a feeling that he would cheat on me sooner or later just because of what's been going on between us, but with her?!?! Half of me didn't want to believe what I just saw and the other half knew that what I just saw was the truth left untold...
After a while, the moaning stopped. I got closer to the door to listen in on what was happening in the bedroom.
"So...when are you going to break up with that lonely bitch Claire?" Asked Bella. "Soon enough. I'm tired of her hanging around with that fucking queer all the damn time. Plus. she doesn't even wanna have sex. I can't be with a girl who doesn't wanna have sex...that's Relationship 101," Logan explained. "Ahhh...I knew it...she was just a booty call. I knew that the star quarterback of Gold-Coast High's Goldfinches wouldn't settle for a pathetic, lonely, loser like her," stated Bella. "I know right? Man what a complete waste of a two-month relationship," inputted Logan.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't believe that Logan would do this to me. Sure I have my suspicions about his love for me fading, but I never expected him to show fake love towards me from the beginning. He even got the time frame wrong. We got together six and a half months ago...not two.
I pulled the door to the bedroom shut making sure they knew that there was a presence there. I hurried down the stairs into the living room. I was filled with rage, sadness, and despair. I looked around searching for a way out, but I couldn't. I felt...trapped. I became extremely anxious as I struggled to find a way out. My chest began to tighten as I made my way through the crowd. There were people everywhere dancing, smoking, and drinking what smelled like alcohol. My stomach began to turn as well. The signs were clear. I need to leave as soon as possible before things take a turn for the worst.
"I need Andrew. I should've come with him. He would've stopped me from going up those stairs. He would've stopped me from peeping into that room. Most importantly, he would've stuck up for me because I'm too damn weak to do it myself. I should've never come by myself or at all," I mumbled to myself as I sat down giving up on everything.
As I was moping, I recalled seeing a latch door on the fence leading to the neighbor's outback. I got up and went through the patio doors. I scanned the backyard for a little bit until I spotted them on the other side of the pool. I began walking to the other side of the pool when I heard a familiar voice that made my heart drop straight to my stomach.
"Hey, bitch! Where do you think you're going?" Yelled the voice. I turned to see Bella and her two slaves, Mariah and Cleary. Of all the people, why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be...Bella?
"Of all the girls in our school, he just had to choose you. What the fuck is so special about you?" She asked. "What are you talking about Bella? Please...I don't want any trouble with you," I stated. "Don't play fucking dumb!" She yelled. What is she talking about? Everything is...hazy. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Logan wasted two months with you for what though? He could've spent all that precious, well lost time with me. I could've given him everything he needed...everything you couldn't give him," she smirked and stepped closer to me. She slowly leaned in and said, "I mean, at least I can satisfy him in ways you failed to do." She pulled away and began laughing with her lackeys. "He doesn't need a lonely leech-like thing latching onto him, so quit draining his life away and release like a good little doggy," she added.
I can't believe she just said all of that to me and in front of everyone. This is the kind of attention I don't need, especially not here and not now. My anxiety is spiking through the roof. At this moment I feel like I could just...swim away, but at the same time, it feels like I could just pass out at any moment. To make things even better Logan appeared on the second-floor balcony and seeing him put the cherry on top of everything I was feeling at that moment.
"You know what Bella...you're right," I agreed, "I don't need someone like him in my life. He's dirty and since you're so convinced that I'm a leech, well leeches don't latch onto filthy objects such as Logan because they tend to taste disgusting. It took me four and a half months to finally realize how nauseating and heinous he was. Anyways, I don't like to keep garbage around for too long since it tends to get a bit stinky over time, so do you want him or what? To be honest this is a golden opportunity for you to finally fulfill your only useful role in life." Holy crap! What did I just do? WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!?!? I'm just signing my death certificate at this point. Not to mention I said all of that in front of Logan and with the two of them combined they're going to make the rest of my high school days a living hell.
"What did you just say to me?" She asked. "Oh...I said 'do you want him?' I need a garbage can to take out the trash and from the looks of everything, you're the only nearby candidate that fits that description since you're just as odious as he is. It's just as I said Bella, so deal with it. Like come on now...just fulfill your only role in life. It's not that hard to understand, so catch up already. At this rate you'll never graduate from high school," I said with confidence.
I can tell just by the look on Bella and her crew's faces that I fucked up. I should've just kept my mouth shut. I mean, I would've kept my mouth shut and walked away from the situation, but after what I saw upstairs not too long ago, I couldn't. Seeing Bella's face just as well as Logans, triggered me. I never stood up to anyone before. Me standing up to Bella is a first for me. I will admit that I did say some pretty good shit. I embarrassed her and Logan in front of everyone, but I was just setting myself up for a round trip to what death feels like. All I did was motivate her into doing what she always wanted to do to me.
"What the fuck did you just say to me," she raged in pure anger as she and her crew walked towards me backing me onto the edge of the pool. I was beginning to get nervous since I can't swim and I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next. She continued, "who the fuck do you think you are? You must think that since Logan is your boyfriend, you can talk to me anyway."
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND ANYMORE! WHAT PART DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!" I yelled. Everyone was in shock. I hear nothing but murmuring throughout the entire crowd. Bella looked around listening to what everyone was saying. "Everyone needs to shut up!" She yelled, "okay listen here bitch..." I interrupted, "Wait Bella...I don't think that---," she cut me off, not caring about a thing I have to say anymore, and whispered into my ear, "I can tear down your reputation just as fast as he built it for you, so just do us all a favor, alright? Stop playing popular and just die already."
In a blink of an eye, Bella and her friends shoved me as hard as they could, sending me straight into the pool.
I struggled and struggled to try to keep myself above water. "Help! Help me please!" I yelled struggling to breathe. I can just hear the three of them laughing which started a chain reaction of laughter throughout the crowd. I couldn't believe that everyone was laughing instead of helping me. I screamed and screamed, but to my luck, it was no use. I grew tired and yelled out of pure fear, "Andrew!" Then, soon after...I was underwater.
Seconds, what felt like minutes, went by and I was still submerged underwater. I felt myself beginning to lose consciousness. As I was slowly slipping away, I saw a white light and from this light emerged a soft, echoing voice of a female, "it's okay my child. I'll keep you safe. As long as you're submerged under any body of water, I will protect you at all times. You are safe with me. Just relax, there's no need to struggle anymore. You'll be ok soon."
I stopped struggling and waited it out. Soon after I felt a touch of warmth on my face and a heavyweight on my chest. "Claire..." I heard a voice say. Claire? Who's Claire? Is that me? "Claire!" Yelled the voice. There it goes again. To be honest I don't want to go back...there's no point. My life is ruined.
"Claire...please!" Yelled the voice again.
Wait, I recognize that voice from anywhere. Andrew, he saved me. "If you don't wake the fuck up already, I'll bring you back to life just to kill you for thinking it was ok to leave me behind all alone," he said. "AnDreW..." I tried to call out to him, but nothing else was coming out. "It looks like it's time for you to return to reality," said the voice, "remember my child, anytime you're in danger, I'll be here to protect you."
"Wait! Who are you?" I asked. "Don't worry my child, we will meet again soon," the voice said as it began to fade away. As I regained full consciousness, I began to cough out a lot of water. Why am I coughing up water? I was able to say Andrew's name with no problem before. I looked at Andrew just to see him looking at me in confusion, but his confusion soon passed and he picked me up in his arms and held me. "Claire! I'm so fucking glad you're okay! I thought you had died," he said while tearing up. "I'm okay, really I am. It's like I could breathe underwater," I said. "Well, whatever it was, I'm just glad you're okay. Now that we got that out of the way," he said with a smile putting his face to mine, "who the fuck did this to you? Naw...better yet, where's that fucker Logan and why the fuck didn't he help you?!?!?"
"I'm so sorry Andrew," I said while starting to cry, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I should've never lied to you or my mom about the party. I should've stayed at home instead of coming to this party attempting to prove myself to that fucking prick, Logan." Andrew grabbed my face and looked into my eyes, "I don't care that you lied to me this one time. Just promise me you won't do it anymore." Tears began to roll down my face as Andrew said all of that to me. "I promise," I said. "Good. Now, it's clear that jerk Logan did something to you, but imma get to that here in a few," he said, "right now, I need to know who did this to you, okay?"
"Alright...it was Bella, but you don't have to do anything. I just got too close to the edge and slipped in. Besides, it's not like they did something serious as to stabbing me if they were guilty," I explained to Andrew. "No," interrupted Bella, "but we were planning to do it on your way home. Also, we so totally pushed her into the pool! It was just a bonus for us that she couldn't swim." As she said that she laughed.
She just said that in front of everybody and with ease. She's a psychopath who's getting off to her own sick and twisted game where I happen to be her main pawn.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Andrew asked Bella in a whole different tone. A tone that I've never heard before. "Wait!" I yelled. Everyone stopped and turned towards me. "Bella, I would advise that you choose your next words carefully," I added. "Don't tell me what to do bitch," she answered back to me. I looked toward Andrew and saw nothing but pure anger in his eyes. At this point, there was no stopping him and from here on out I wasn't able to get a single word in anymore.
"The only bitch around here is you, you fucking slut," Andrew said with pure anger, "I'm only going to ask you one more time since your stupid ass can't process when a question's being asked the first damn time, what the fuck just came out of your slutty ass mouth?" The look on Bella's face changed. It went from looking extremely confident to a scared little bitch in two seconds. I even noticed that her slaves had crept away without anyone noticing. I kinda feel bad for Bella for having to face this side of Andrew, but at the same time, I don't. I feel pleasure in Bella's karma and kind of want Andrew to punch her in the face. I don't know where this feeling came from but... I like it. Logan never stood up for me like this or at all.
"Yo... where's Logan at?" said a random guy whispering to his friend. "I know right? Ain't that his girl, claire? Shouldn't he be on protective boyfriend shit, you know, even if it is a bitch that's fucking with her?" replied his friend in confusion.
"I don't know. All I know is that Logan's ass ain't playing the role 'boyfriend' right. He better be careful because I might just swoop in and snatch Claire right up off her feet," said the first guy. "Right. Star quarterback who? He just ain't met his maker yet," the other guy said with a chuckle, "hell, I don't even think Claire has a boyfriend anymore because, at this point, Logan seems to not even care about what happens to her and he's never around anymore when she needs him the most. I mean, she almost died for Christ's sake and he did nothing to help her. He's probably around here just watching all of this happen. I can't even believe that Gold Coast has someone like him enrolled there.
I mean...they're right...I don't even know what I was thinking about dating someone like Logan Prescott, the star freaking quarterback of Coastal High. Logan has never been there for me. I'm just an accessory to make him look good. He never loved me. I diverted my attention back to what was going on between Andrew and Bella.
Bella glared at me and I could see the fear and hate in her eyes. I can tell that she finally realized that she fucked up big time and hated me for it when I tried to warn her.
"Naw bitch don't look at her! Don't ever look at her! Just answer my question!" Andrew yelled at her. "Umm...you aren't deaf," Bella replied, "you heard what I said. If It wasn't for you, she'd be dead already."
"What the fuck! Are you fucking crazy?" Andrew asked in complete shock.
"Nope," she replied, "are you? Why would you or anyone for that matter want to keep a leech, especially Claire, around? No wonder Logan had sex with me and not her." Bella turned to me with the stupidest grin ever. "You hear that Claire? I had sex with Logan and it wasn't just once. I have sex with him all the time. Oh, what the heck, we just finished about 20 minutes ago, and guess what Claire...," she walked up to me, grabbed my face, and whispered in my ear, "He came inside me every...single...time. He never loved you. All he wanted from you was sex and when you want giving it to him, which was like since you guys got together, he came to me. Tragic, isn't it?"
Tears began to roll down my face. I can feel my heart shattering into a million pieces. Sex? I didn't know they were doing it since we got together...24/7...behind my back. I looked at Andrew. He was pissed. He started toward me and Bella and in a blink of an eye, Andrew snatched her hand from my face and gripped her by her throat. I looked around to see if anyone was going to jump in, but nobody moved a muscle. I mean why would they? Nobody jumped in to save me when I was drowning. These people love living up to being just a bystander.
Andrew stared into her eyes with roaring anger making sure that the next words he said got to her, "Listen here bitch! I don't know what your problem with Claire is, but your first mistake was walking into her life, to begin with. Your second mistake was putting your filthy ass hands on her. I told you as clear as day to even look at her and on top of that you touched her...you must've lost your damn mind. What if I told you that you just met your fucking match?"
He released her neck and she began to gasp for air. "Are you fucking crazy!?" She yelled. "Maybe I am, but I'll do even crazier things if you bitches fuck with Claire again," Andrew said with determination. "Whatever you freaking psychopath. Let's go girls!" Yelled Bella as she stormed off while shoving and pushing everyone out of the way.
"Fucking bitch," mumbled Andrew. He diverted his attention towards me. I was worried about what he might say as he got closer to me. Once he reached me, he got on his knees and asked, "Are you ok Claire Bear?" I froze for a second, in shock from what just happened. My eyes began to fill with tears. I looked Andrew in his eyes...
"Andrew...I AM SO SORRY!" I yelled out crying, "I didn't know that coming to this party would be the second worst decision I would ever make in my life. Most importantly, I'm sorry for lying to you and it pains me to know that I did. I'm sorry Andrew."
"It's alright," he replied, "we can talk about it later. Right now I need to know if you're alright. I mean, you did drown after all or whatever that was, and...there's that thing between Bella and Logan. I just want, no, I need to know if you're alright." I stared at Andrew as my heart began to skip a beat from what he said. Andrew gripped my face with his left hand and said, "Claire, please tell me." I hugged Andrew and I felt safe in his arms. "Yes, I'm fine," I replied, "now that you're here." "That's good. Are you ready to go home now? We can still do a movie night at your house, " Andrew exclaimed. "Yea," I replied, "Can we just go now? I don't want to be here anymore."
Andrew took my hand and started towards that fence door I saw earlier. Everyone parted away, making a path for us. My anxiety peaked as everyone at the party stared at us as we were leaving. As we grew closer and closer to the fence, my anxiety grew less and less and I can feel a sense of relief wash over me. Within no time, Andrew and I made it to the fence. We finally left the party and went home.
°°°
Andrew and I finally arrived at my house after a long silent walk. We walked through the front door of my house and all I could hear was the stampeding feet of my mother trying to find her way to me. "Claire? Is that you?" Asked my mom. "Yea mom it's me and Andrew is here as well," I replied. I see my mother appear at the top of the stairs. She looked at both of us with shock on her face as we were standing at the bottom of the stairs soaking wet from the incident earlier.
"Why are the two of you soaking wet?" My mom asked. "Uhh...well they turned it into a last-minute pool party and I guess it's pretty obvious that we weren't prepared at all," I replied with a light chuckle. "Alright sweetie, well you should go hop in the shower and I'll just take your clothes and wash them for you. Andrew, feel free to use the shower. You have plenty of clothes here to put on afterward," said my mom while menacingly staring Andrew down. "Ok, mom we get it. Thank you!" I replied for both of us. I grabbed Andrew's hand and headed upstairs.
It's been a little over an hour now. Andrew and I both had showered and mom was washing our clothes for us. Neither of us has spoken a word to each other since we got home. I know he said everything was ok, but deep down inside I knew everything wasn't ok. What I did was wrong.
"Hey...Andrew..." I said to break the long silence. "So what do you want to watch," he interrupted, "I'm here all night so we can watch any and everything you want Claire."
No...
I'm not going to do anything to ruin this moment. Especially, since he's been doing everything in his power to help me out tonight and not to mention he saved my life.
"Can we watch 'What's Wrong With Secretary Kim'?" I asked. "Ahh. I see that you're in a kdrama mood," he responded. "Yea, it's very much needed after tonight," I responded with a sigh of relief. We sat on my bean bag couch. We cuddled up as usual and began watching the show. We used to always cuddle while watching tv, but this time it feels different. My heart is beating in a way it hasn't before, my stomach had butterflies, and I was nervous to be in his arms. I don't know why I'm feeling this way, but as I recalled the events that happened tonight and what Andrew did for me throughout our lives, my heart began to flutter again. I've fallen to my best friend.
No, I can't just jump to conclusions. I need to give it time and figure out my true feelings, but what happened tonight and what he did for me, I will always remember and I will forever be grateful.