Part Four.
Smash mouth.
Rhys watched as Aspen's face went through a number of expressions in a split second, shock, confusion, surprise before settling on rage, pure unbridled rage. Her jade green eyes lit up with a fire that he had only seen once, when he had eaten her icecream sandwich she had been saving… he had always attributed that degree of rage to her being on her period at that time
But hell, it was scary seeing her normally pale face go red and her eyes shine like that.
Her fists clenched and she jumped off her stool "Where is that fucker?" she seethed
Rhys couldn't help but blurt out "Are you on your period?"
Aspen's brows furrowed as her rage was temporarily taken over by confusion "What?,what does me being on my period have to do with this?" she shook her head as if clearing out her thoughts "Forget about that" her fists clenched again "Where is that fucker?"
Rhys snapped back to reality and grabbed at her wrist again "Wait! Hold up Aspen, You actually want to go meet him?"
"Why shouldn't I? that asshole had the nerve to come here, he deserves to have me scream in his face" She shrugged off his hand and stomped off, before pivoting back, a dark look in her jade eyes "Where is he? Don't make me wander around this whole gym like a raving lunatic"
Rhys was confused, "Wait a second, why are you so mad? Did he do something to you?"
Aspen opened her mouth to speak but got cut off "He cheated on her"
Soren strode towards the pair, stopping beside Aspen, his arms folded and his expression sour
'wait a minute' Rhys thought silently 'I know this person'
"Soren Ishida?" he let out hesitantly, how in the world had he become so hot? And what was he doing with Aspen?
But Soren didn't pay him any heed, instead he turned to Aspen and said "Come on, I'll help you find him"
She nodded and the pair started off but Rhys regained his senses in time to jump infront of them, his arms stretched out as if he was crucified "Wait a goddamn minute"
He was starting to sound like a broken record "That fucker cheated on you?"
"Yes!" she yelled out, making a few heads turn in their direction, she was getting tired of being stopped every five seconds when all she really wanted to do was stomp over to Caleb and rip his stupid face off "He cheated on me with Barbie's slutty cousin!"
How dare he come here? After all he did, he knew she was going to be here and yet he still had the newly dropped balls to come, oh! He totally deserves whats coming to him!
"What?" Rhys stuttered out, his expression confused "he cheated on you?"
"Can you get out of the way?" Aspen say icily, shuffling from one enraged foot to another, she just wanted to brain Caleb with her heels right now, not answer questions
"Not until you tell me what's going on, what the fuck happened between the two of you?"
He saw her eyes flit over his shoulder before settling back on him "I'd love to talk about how I found my boyfriend of ten years with his dick inside of a plastic doll" she paused as she stooped down to slip off her heels "We can do that over a round of drinks, after I kill him ofcourse"
She pushed her heels into Rhys's chest and sprinted off into the crowd barefooted, shouting over her shoulder "Take care of those! They're Gucci!"
Rhysand watched dumbfounded for a few seconds as he watched Aspen's red head disappear into the crowd, closely tailed by Soren's pitch black one, while he held on to a pair of pumps cradled against his chest.
When he finally snapped back to reality, he tossed the shoes somewhere and raced after them, shoving people out of the way while yelling at the top of his face "Wait Aspen!"
Aspen pushed through the crowd, panting slightly as she made her way over to the other end of the gym where she spotted Caleb standing, chatting away with an unseen person. She heard her name being yelled behind her but she ignored the voices, her mind fixed entirely on the dismemberment of Caleb Beckett.
She shoved away the final person between her and him, stomping into his view, she probably looked like a livid bull, she felt like a livid bull and her anger only grew when the man of the hour turned away from his conversation, a wide smile spreading across his face when he saw her
"Baby! You're here! I looked all over for you but I couldn't find you" he stepped closer and gripped her shoulders, still smiling "Where did you run off to?"
How dare he?! how dare he be smiling now and acting like the perfect boyfriend right now! She seethed silently
Her hand itched and lifted of its own volition, about to smack the taste out of his lying, cheating mouth when someone caught her wrist.
She whirled around to see who dared to stop her and met shining inky eyes staring back at her
Soren.
He just grinned and stepped forward, letting go of her hand "Allow me mistress" he drawled before turning and sending his fist straight into Caleb's stunned face.
Aspen watched in fascination as Caleb stumbled back, cradling his cheek before ultimately tripping over his feet and landing on his ass, an outraged look on his face as he looked up at Soren stalking over to him, a scary look on his face
"What the hell is this?!" he screamed
His scream attracted many eyes to their location and a small circle formed around the scene.
"Shut the fuck up" Soren seethed, his voice soft and barely audible. Stooping, he grabbed Caleb's collar and hauled him to his feet, swatting away his flailing arms with relative ease. He was just about to land another punch when someone grabbed his arms and yanked him away from Caleb.
He whirled and was met with dull caramel eyes, Hames.
"Fuck off" he hissed at him, turning to grab Caleb again but Hames stopped him
"What the fuck are you doing?" Hames asked, his voice quiet
Soren balled his fists and closed the space between them "What is it to you huh? Why are you protecting this piece of shit?"
"Why are you hitting this piece of shit?" Hames countered, his eyes boring into Soren's "Being the knight in shining armor again for a girl who won't even look your way? How blind are you going to be? Its been almost 20 years dude"
"Fuck off" Soren hissed, rage bubbling right under the surface of his stoic expression "You don't get to say that to me, we're not friends anymore incase you forgot"
"I didn't forget, how could I?" he paused, rubbing at the bridge of his nose "When you tossed me away the second I told you the goddamn truth" he stopped and let out a breath, settling his piercing gaze on a sullen looking Soren "But even though we aren't friends anymore, I'm not going to stop telling you the truth"
With a tattooed hand, he motioned to where Aspen stood, oblivious to their conversation.
"Stop pining over her, wake up and smell the goddamn coffee, she will never feel the same way, she will never date you, she will never be yours, stop fucking deluding yourself"
Every word Hames said felt like knives piercing into Soren's skin, like barbed wire wrapped around his throat, choking and slicing him at the same time.
It hurt even more because he knew what he said was true, he allowed himself to have hope, that someday, maybe even tonight, she would become his
He allowed himself the luxury of thought that if he waited long enough, she would eventually be his.
He was stupid, he was the stupid one here. He had pined over the same woman for 20 years, 20 good years. He even mustered up the courage to confess but received no reply, that was 10 years ago.
But he decided to keep waiting, he decided not to give up hope
And here he was, years later, still pining over her.
'maybe I should just give up' he thought miserably, his clenched fist unraveling slowly
He was just about step back when a faint feminine voice echoed in his head "Don't give up, you shit!!"
Was that his consciousness? Who was that?
But his thoughts were interrupted by a low shout coming from behind him.
He whirled and his eyes widened
It seemed while he and Hames argued, Aspen had slipped past them and was currently attacking Caleb, grabbing and pulling at his hair while the latter screamed and tried to push her away.
Aspen yelled obscenities at the top of her voice as she pulled at Caleb's hair, this fucker! He had the nerve, after cheating on her, after allowing her to waste her life for a decade
This fucker is gonna die for that!
"How dare you cheat on me!!!" she screamed "How dare you cheat on me with a silicone cut out!!"
Suddenly someone was grabbing her away, setting her away from him.
She whirled, her hands claws, ready to attack the person who dared disturb her
Rhys stared down at her, his eyes wide "What are you doing?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders
"Let go of me!" she yelled "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making that fucker pay for what he did to me, what he made me do" she struggled against his hands but he only tightened his grip, keeping her in place
Caleb's scalp was stinging, he was just having a conversation with Hames, next thing he knew, he was being punched by Soren and getting his hair ripped out by Aspen, what on earth is going on?
"What is wrong with you Aspen? Have you gone crazy?"
Aspen's rage doubled and she made at him but Rhys held her back with a firm grip "Crazy?!" she yelled at him "Yeah you made me go fucking crazy, you fucking dildo!"
Caleb had the nerve to pull a confused face "Why are you saying that? What did I do? I have no idea what's going on here, I was looking for you and when I finally found you, I was being attacked by you and this mad dog" he cut a viscous glance at Soren who started forward but was immediately held back by Hames.
"Tell me what's going on here Aspen, did I do something to upset you? Tell me so we can work this out" he paused and looked hesitantly at the crowd surrounding them, looking interestingly at the scenes happening
The one thing Caleb couldn't stand is having his dirty laundry aired outside, here, seeing his former classmates who had thought highly of him witnessing this ugly scene, was his worst nightmare "Lets go somewhere and talk about this okay baby?" he let out on a hurried breath
Aspen let out a loud scoff, rolling her blazing jade eyes upwards "Baby? How dare you call me that? You dirty cheater!" she clenched her fists "thirteen years! Thirteen fucking years I wasted on your dumb, stupid, cheating ass, I can't believe you have the fucking balls to cheat on me after everything I've done for you"
Caleb grew panicked when the mummers around them increased, malicious unheard words aimed at him, he had to get Aspen to stop
"Please stop this, lets talk about this in private" he pleaded
A light dinged right over Aspen's head and she sneered "Oh I remember, you don't like other people knowing your nefarious doings huh?" she paused and spun out of Rhys' arms, turning to the crowd surrounding them
"Hey everyone!" she yelled "You wont believe what your golden prince Caleb Beckett has been up to these past few years"
Without thinking, Caleb rushed forward, trying to make her stop talking but Rhys intercepted him and shoved him back
Rhys was rather enjoying the show and didn't want it to end so quickly, he did worship chaos after all
What he didn't expect was Caleb rushing him, cursing, landing a punch on his cheek
Rhys saw red, how dare he?
'how dare this fucker punch my beautiful face?' he thought viciously, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists
Aspen turned to lash out at Caleb but the words died in her throat when she spotted Rhys' dark expression.
She had never seen this look on his face before, he looked…deranged
She felt a chill run through her spine and she stumbled back as he released her. She watched as he shrugged off his obviously expensive coat and tossed it to her "Hold on to that for me dear"
She watched as he stalked to Caleb, cracking his knuckles menacingly "You know I've wanted to do this for the longest time"
Caleb's expression rapidly changed as he watched Rhys approach him with that deranged look on his face
Rhys' fist slammed into Caleb's face so hard, it knocked him back a few inches. The crowd around them let out a few gasps at the brutality they were witnessing, a fight between Cedar Creek's golden prince and one half of the infamous Terrible two, bets were being placed mentally.
It seemed like for every punch Caleb managed to land on Rhys, he reciprocated with double of his, clutching his collar tightly, his eyes blazing like fire
"This one is for Aspen" he hissed, sinking a fist into Caleb's gut, dragging him up to sock him in the nose "That one is for ruining my friendship"
Aspen watched from a safe distance, watched as her best friend in the world beat up her ex-boyfriend for her and she couldn't help the warmth that crept into her heart. She promised mentally right there and then, Nothing in the world would come between her and Rhys again.
But first, she had to completely ruin Caleb's life
Hames couldn't believe his eyes, his husband was beating the life out of Caleb. It was so unlike him to be this violent.
He had never seen him look this angry before, never in their 4 years of being together.
He was so stunned, he didn't even move to separate them until Soren pushed against him, breaking him out of his haze.
He rushed forward and pulled off Rhys off Caleb, strong-arming him away to a safe distance, Rhys fought all the way, screaming at the top of his voice for him to let him go but Hames didn't yield
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he finally yelled when he had enough, shoving him back a feet steps.
Rhys regarded him with blazing eyes, the corner of his mouth was bleeding, his left cheek was slightly swollen and his knuckles were bleeding, seemed like Caleb got the worst of the damage
"Fuck off!" he seethed back
"Why the fuck are you doing this? What has gotten into you?" Hames questioned further, ignoring the curious eyes all around them
Before Rhys could answer, loud microphone feedback cut him off. Immediately everyone's eyes cut to the small stage at the end of the gym, set up for the DJ but it seemed someone had commandeered it, someone familiar.
"Good evening Cedar Creek Alumni" Aspen cooed into the mic, a wide smile stretching her face, she looked the right picture of insanity, barefooted, an expensive Calvin Klein coat knotted around her waist, her sensible white work blouse and slacks rumpled, her red hair wild and her eyes shining with an unnatural light.
This was by far the most exciting school reunion in the history of Cedar creek high school.
Aspen had succeeded in getting everyone's attention, even a profusely bleeding Caleb who was struggling to get up from the floor.
She let out another smile and continued "It's been an exciting night so far huh? But its only going to get more exciting because I'm going to finally let you in on a couple secrets about your golden prince" she motioned in Caleb's direction, her voice echoing around the gym "Caleb Beckett"
Caleb's eyes widened and he struggled off the floor. He couldn't allow Aspen do this to him.
No! He had to stop her.
Before he could make his way over to the stage, a pair of strong arms grabbed him, pining his arms behind him and forcing him to his knees. He struggled fiercely against his captor but there was no give.
Finally he turned his head backwards to see who had the guts to restrain him and met scary inky eyes staring down at him.
Soren.
Aspen caught a glimpse of Soren holding down Caleb in the crowd and she couldn't help the wild smile she threw his way, giggling when he sent her a wink and a thumbs up
Back to business now.
"Dear Alumni, I'm sure you all know I've been with Caleb for 13 years ago and I can tell you truthfully every one of his dirty secrets he keeps hidden from everybody" she paused and made a show of tapping her chin, feigning deep thought "Where to start though?
Another smile "I know" she said and grinned "The job Caleb has probably been bragging about all night was gotten by him by his daddy" a titter ran through the crowd "Yeah, After spending four years in college, he didn't graduate with enough honors to get a job waiting tables so Daddy pulled some strings and got him a job at his company, talk about being Daddy's little boy"
A few laughs echoed through the crowd and Aspen forged on "Daddy's little boy sure is a diva, he spends an hour every morning perfecting that stupid as hell quiff he's so proud of" she rolled her eyes "Let me tell you something honey" she cooed in his direction "That stupid hair cut looks like someone took a giant blond dump on your head"
The laughter ran through the crowd, drowning out Caleb's sounds of protests
"I'm sure you guys think that Caleb's quite handsome right, well let me tell you, its not real." Aspen shook her head, trying to fight down the mirth bubbling up in her "A few years ago, Caleb got a face lift and some botox too, a couple collagen injections to give him that pouty Kardashian look because he absolutely loves the Kardashians don't you babe?"
Wild laughter filled the room, the loudest being Rhys. Even Soren's shoulders shook with mirth.
"And last but not least, let me get you in on a little secret." she paused and waved the crowd closer "You all must think Caleb is a sex god or something but let me tell you, his dick is approximately the size of a half chewed on pencil, and his come face"
She let out a fake groan "It looks like he's severely constipated or just very possessed, its not a pretty sight." she paused and motioned to Caleb "Try to at least look normal when you come babe, no girl wants to see that ugly mug above her in the heat of the moment, and you wondered why I always closed my eyes during sex"
The whole crowd broke down in tatters at that and Aspen blew a kiss at a livid looking Caleb and jumped off the stage, disappearing into the throng of cackling people
Tonight was a good night.