Jason's room was still intact, something I was glad to see. Turns out the only reason he went crazy was that when he was at grandma's he ran across some videos online that spoke about Spongebob conspiracy theories and now he was traumatized. Poor Jay, these videos scarred me when I was a kid. I sat with him for what seemed like an hour, explaining to him that these videos don't have to change his views on his favorite show, nor does he have to act like they're the truth, they're just opinions and theories of random people on the internet.
He calmed down after a bit and went back to watching Spongebob, meaning I could go down and have my lunch in peace. When I went down, Cole was there and I was surprised to see him, as he had told me he was going to go to Jade's place, but he was still here.
"Everything alright with Jason?" he asked me, taking a sip of the coffee he had just made, steam surrounding the cup. "Yup, Youtube got to him" I explained, moving over to the cupboards to get myself a plate. "I told mum he's spending way too much time on grandma's laptop" he shook his head and took another sip, and I was shocked at how his tongue hadn't caught on fire yet.
"How was school today?" he asked, jumping from one topic to the other. "You know, the usual" I replied, getting the mac and cheese grandma had made out of the oven and serving it on a plate. "How are your friends doing?" he continued, taking another sip of coffee. "They're good" I said, reaching for the fridge to get some juice. "Weren't you going to go to Jade's?" I asked, hoping they didn't fight again. "I'm going to go, I just wanted to make sure you and I got some things sorted first"
I gulped, freezing in my spot. This can't be good, I thought, hoping that it had nothing to do with Mr You-know-who, but knowing my brother, it probably did. Making it worse for me, he took a seat on the other side of the table, meaning I had to have him look at me while I ate and got a lecture. Double the fun, yay!
"What do you want to sort?" I asked, playing it cool. I am innocent, I am innocent. "I know about what Lindsay told you at the diner". The minute the words left his mouth, shock ran over me, and for a second I felt like I'd drop the glass I was holding. As calmly as I possibly could, I walked over to the table and took a seat on the other side of the table, putting the glass down-just to be safe.
"How do you-"
"-Does it matter? You lied to me, told me Black wasn't there, and turns out not only was he there, but his girlfriend was too" he answered, angry but calmer than I had anticipated.
"I know I lied when I promised I wouldn't but she caught me off guard and I didn't know how to handle it. I mean how would you react if someone told you I was a criminal?" I justified myself and this time I was telling the truth. I don't know if under different circumstances I would've told him about Aiden being there, but that doesn't change the fact that had Lindsay not said anything, I would've handled it way differently.
"You could've told me something so I could explain myself, Eve. There was no reason for you to feel puzzled and caught off-guard unless of course, you believe her" he rejected my explanation and I looked away from him, taking another bite off my pasta yo make myself seem unable to speak. Honestly, I don't know what would come out of my mouth if I did.
"You do, don't you?" he took my silence as an answer, and I almost choked on my lunch. I threw my fork somewhere on my plate, shaking my head. A hand covered my eyes, a frustrated sigh leaving my lips. "I don't know, should I?" I asked him, facing him this time.
"What kind of question's that? Of course not" his eyes widened and look at me in disbelief. "Then why would she say that? Out of all the things that she could've said to spite me, why would she pick that?" I questioned, sitting back on my chair and crossing my arms over my chest. I wanted to listen to him and to trust and believe him, but so far he hadn't given me a reason to. We had grown closer to one another, yes, but I wasn't just going to take his word for it without an explanation.
Did I think Cole was a criminal? No. Was I getting skeptical after having heard that statement over and over? Yes.
"Have you got any idea who Lindsay is?" he asked me, chuckling. "Aiden's girlfriend?" I asked him, puzzled. I wasn't sure how to answer the question. He laughed at my expense "Of course that's all you know about her. Lindsay's running a business, Evelyn. I don't know how it got to her but it did and she's getting a lot of power out of it, money too. How do you think she's done that?" he asked me, and I shrugged my shoulders, my mouth full with pasta.
"Let me introduce you to a thing we call manipulation and abuse of power. She's powerful, there's no doubt about it, but not as powerful as she makes people think she is." he paused, giving me some time to process what he was saying. It's true, I thought, my mind wandering to out fights. The phrase, "Do you know who I am" was no stranger to her.
The question remained in my head. "Why would she want to turn me against you though? Why would she call you a criminal out of everything?" I asked him. It was good that he was talking to me for once, I just wanted to make sure I got the full truth.
"I want you to remember the one thing, Aiden had been telling you ever since he came back, regarding myself." He told me and my eyes wandered away, a frown settling in my face. That's when it hit me, and a wave of Aiden's claims about Cole came rushing to my head. 'He has you fooled, 'He's lying straight to your face', 'He's not innocent'.
"Exactly" he said, leaning back on his chair. "Are you implying what I think you are?" I asked, annoyed. Not the Black-is-a-liar-he-should-rot bullshit again. "Hear me out" he rested his hands on top of the table and I crossed mine, nodding. "You and Aiden have been talking since he came back, right?" I nodded "Did he ever mention having a girlfriend?" I shook my head. "Why would he do that? Why would he get you hooked on him and then throw the bomb that he's in a relationship?" he paused, but I didn't answer. It was shitty of him to do that, I already knew, but I tried to tell myself he didn't have malicious intentions.
"He's playing you, I've been trying to tell you from the start but of course you fell for his lies and the hero facade. What he knows, Lindsay knows too. He made you think you're special just because he could"
I shook my head, Aiden wouldn't do that. Would he? He had no reason to, anyway. Or did he? No, he didn't. It was a vulnerable moment for the both of us when we kissed, and that second time was to prove a point. I couldn't know exactly what was going on in that head of his, but he was smart and our relationship was pretty fragile, I don't think he'd do something to negatively affect that. He's been trying to fix things between us, not make them worse, even if sometimes he picks the wrong ways to do so.
"He wouldn't do that to me" I responded, sticking up for my...friend? I was still pissed at him, the things he told Ivory hadn't slipped my mind for a second, but what Cole was saying was simply ridiculous.
"Why are you defending him? What has he done to prove his intentions?" Cole challenged me. "What have you done to prove yours? I want to believe you, Cole, even if I don't like what you're saying. You're my brother and I want to trust your word, but you've been bashing him for years. How can I know that you aren't the one who's trying to turn me against him?"
I expected Cole to get mad at my statement and the fact that I was questioning his word, but instead he stayed calm. "Maybe this will help" he stated and I frowned. Huh? He pulled out his phone and started looking through it.
"What are you-" I started, but he cut me off, raising his finger and signalling for me to be quiet. "Give me a sec" he kept looking through his phone, my anxiety skyrocketing as I waiting for him to show me whatever it was that he was looking for.
He finally put the phone down and motioned for me to get closer to it. A recording? I frowned and he chuckled, pointing towards the play button in the center of the screen. "Cole what is this I-" he fell back on his chair, sighing. "Can you just play it?"
I shook my head, taking a deep breath as my finger hovered over the play button. I was more anxious than ever, a small part of me not wanting to play it. But a bigger part, the one I listened to, told me to quit being a coward. I pressed play, and Aiden's voice boomed in my ears.
"Why are you even asking me this stuff, man, you know she means nothing" a pause followed, as well as the sound of a lighter and a pack of cigarettes being thrown on the table.
"That's what you call passion? Nah, I'm afraid I disagree" another pause, followed by a chuckle. "Why? Come on, you know me better than that. There's no way in hell I'd make out with her, the only reason I did it was 'cause if I didn't, she'd burst out crying" he stopped, taking a drag out of his cigarette.
"I'm telling you, she was practically begging" another drag "Hm...was it any good..." he dragged each syllable, giving himself time to think about his answer. "Let's just say the hype was for nothing" he laughed "She's pretty man, I've always known that, and there's not doubt she can pull guys but...something was missing" the pause lasted longer this time.
"Of course I haven't forgotten about her, dude, she's my girl. I'm telling you, she has me whipped around her finger, hell, I'd do anything for her".
"Suck it up dude, you're jealous it's not you she's into" he laughed, and the sound of drawers opening and closing could be heard.
"Don't even continue with that, I've already told you, it's all a game. There's only one girl I care about, and it's definitely not her. I thought she was smarter than that, though, you'd think she would've figured it out by now"
"Well she's not stupid either, and she's known me for so long, I'm surprised she fell for it. And I didn't even have to try, she did all the work for me"
"You got that right... three years and nothing's changed, she's still the easiest person to trick"
The audio was cut off so I didn't know if there was more of the conversation, but I didn't want to know either. "Got the answers you wanted?" Cole asked. "He's not good for you, Evelyn. I've been trying to tell you for so long." I nodded, unable to speak as I was afraid that if I did, the tears that were pooling in my eyes would spill.
Quietly I grabbed my plate, still full as I didn't get the chance to finish it, and put it in the oven. My appetite was gone, and I felt sick to my stomach. It was all a lie. Tears were blurring my vision and my head was spinning so much I couldn't grasp what Cole was telling me.
I ran for the stairs and locked myself in my room, my back hitting the door. A loud sob escaped my lips as I finally stopped trying to hold it in. My hands went to my hair and I started pulling it like crazy, trying to distract myself from the ache my heart was hit with.
Slowly I fell on the floor, bringing my knees to my face. Aiden's words were replaying in my head and I felt disgusted. I trusted him, I valued him and he betrayed me. I couldn't believe that he was making fun of me, laughing in my expense when I thought he had feelings for me. I felt broken, humiliated and ridiculed.
My eyes fell on his window and anger coursed through me. How could he? How dare he use me like that? How dare he call me a game and laugh about me when I've given him so much of my time and energy and...love. All I've done was love him and what did he do? Throw my love away like it meant nothing. But of course it doesn't, he doesn't need me, he has Lindsay now. It was my fault for even bothering and trying to make something happen.
She had won. But little did I know, it was never a competition in the first place.
My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing, but I was so dizzy from crying that getting up was tough for me. By the time I found my phone it had stopped ringing and had gone to voicemail instead. I played the message and a voice I was glad to hear filled the room.
"Hey... Sorry if I'm bothering, I just wanted to remind you the offer's still up for Wednesday and I'd love to spend some time with you. Call me anytime"
~~~
Hello fellow hoomans:)
I'm not going to ramble much today, I'm only here to say be prepared, because the next chapter(s) will be spiceyyy;)
As always if you enjoyed the chapter Vote and Comment to support me:)
Once again, sending love to all<3