Chapter Seventeen

It has been three days and I have heard nothing from Fabian. Literally nothing.

He said he was going to call, but I didn’t even receive a text. I was quite annoyed with him for avoiding me like this, since I literally had no idea what Colton could’ve told him. Then again, I felt horrible. If what Colton told him was enough to have him avoiding me, then what the hell was really happening?

It was the way he said goodbye that told me that he didn’t want to be avoiding me, but obviously what Colton said was taking a hard time on him. He kissed me, held onto me so tight as if he didn’t want to let go, and then when he did, the sadness was evident in his eyes.

I desperately wanted to know what the hell Colton told him, but Fabian wouldn't return my text or calls, and Colton refused to tell me.

So, I refused to talk to Colton. Simple.

I decided that as long a Fabian is ghosting me, I would ghost Colton. And since he refused to tell me what he told my date, there would be no communication between us.

“Paris, just talk to the poor guy. It is getting creepy now,” Shanae insisted for the hundredth time since lunch started. He was seated across from the room, staring directly at our table like some creepy stalker. But I refused to look back.

“Fabian is not speaking to me because of something he said to him. So excuse me if I might seem petty.” I smiled innocently before popping a fry in my mouth.

Shanae rolled her eyes. “You are not just torturing him you know? It’s all of us. He had called me seventy-two times in three days, Paris. Seventy-two bloody times!” She complained and I actually laughed.

Well mine was three times that. I didn’t answer even once.

“What exactly happened that day? I thought you guys made up on Monday,” Ariana said as she stole a fry from my plate. I glared at her before answering.

“We did make up. In fact we're doing just great. When we were at Lukas’ diner, things were tense at first, but eventually it got smoothed out. That’s what I thought, until we were all outside and Colton pulled Fabian aside to talk to him. And since then, I haven’t heard from Fabian.”

Ariana scoffed. “No offense Paris, but Fabian is sort of a wanker for ghosting you only because Colton said so.”

For some reason her statement annoyed me. I didn’t believe that Fabian was avoiding me because Colton said so. That doesn’t sound like Fabian at all. He wouldn’t give a crap if Colton held a gun to his head and threatened him.

I believed it was something far deeper—something that would make him WANT to stay away from me. The thought alone scared me. What did Colton know about him that I didn’t?

And why would he refuse to tell me? If he somehow has some leverage over Fabian that he used to blackmail him into staying away from me, then it must be huge right? So as my best friend, he should’ve told me when I asked.

In fact, he should’ve told me instead of using it against Fabian.

The worst part was, I didn't know what to do.

The roller-skating rink had been closed for the past three days. My luck just keeps getting better and better, and I had no other way to contact him.

“Why don’t you just go to his house?” Nick asked and I threw him a glare.

“Wow because I haven’t thought of that.”

“Hey, don’t take out your relationship issues on my boo,” Shanae defended Nick, making me realise just how rude I sounded.

I sighed. “Sorry Nick. I just…I don’t know where he lives and there’s this one place that he likes, but he’s not there either.”

“Have you tried going to Hamilton High?” Ariana asked, stealing yet another fry from my plate.

“Oh because it’s quite normal to go to another school’s entrance and just stand there like some creeper stalker.” I scoffed.

“Geesh it was just a suggestion,” Ariana mumbled, quickly retreating her hand when she tried to steal another one of my fries.

“Don’t worry, Ariana. She is just PMSing,” Shanae whispered but it was loud enough for me to hear.

“I am not PMSing!”

The table fell in silence for a while again, and I no longer had an appetite for food.

I missed him—more than I can admit to myself.

I missed his talks, his teasing, his aura and his kisses…

We didn’t even go on our date! I was really looking forward to it.

“You have this guy’s number, Paris?” Nick spoke again, and I thought he was going to make some lame suggestion about trying to call him, but I saw that he was going somewhere else.

“Yea.”

“You know his last name?”

I nodded. “Smith,” I said as I wondered where he was going with this.

“Great. Now all you need is the internet and I can find him for you.”

I was stunned. It was that simple?

That’s it? I’ve been torturing myself for three days and that’s all it took?

“How?” I asked, wanting desperately to know.

He reached for my phone, and I watched carefully as he did some tech things that should be illegal. At last, the map was zoomed on a white house with the address at the top of my screen, and I was more than exhilarated at what Nick found.

“See, I knew Shanae chose the perfect boyfriend.” I beamed, feeling relieved and excited, yet a little bit nervous as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

I'll stop by after school and see where this goes.

***

“Paris!”

I kept walking. I knew that voice too well and I had no intention of staying to hear what he had to say this time.

I pulled my car door open, but to my demise, he reached in front of me and closed it before I could get inside.

“Paris please talk to me,” Colton mumbled with a sigh as I turned to face him.

I curled my arms over my chest stubbornly.

“Why should I?”

“Because…”

“Because you told the guy I like to stay away from me and expect me to be okay with it? You can't control my life, Colton. I didn’t tell you to stop talking to Anastasia, did I?”

He sighed deeply as he ran his hands through his hair with his jaw ticking a bit. “That’s different.”

“Is it?” I questioned with narrowed eyes. I didn’t wait for him to say anything else, I pushed his hand away from my door and pulled it open. “Unless you are here to tell me what you told Fabian, I am not interested.”

“It is better if you don’t know,” he said, and had been saying that every time I asked. With an exaggerated eye roll, I hopped in my car and roared the engine to life, signaling the end of this conversation.

“I’ll see you around, Col.”

“What ever happened to never letting anything or anyone get between us? I thought-“

“Well I thought I could’ve trusted you. Look, I love you Col. You’re my best friend. But I hate that you thought it was YOUR responsibility to scare away someone who I am obviously interested in. If you discovered something about him, you should’ve come to me about it. I’ve realized that you don’t understand boundaries, and if you should ever lose me, that will be why.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. I sped away with tears burning my eyes.

I miss Colton as much as I miss Fabian, but I can't hide that I’m hurt at what he did. If something is so concerning about Fabian that he  thought we shouldn’t see each other anymore, coming to me directly would’ve been the best way to go about it.

Even if things with Fabian don’t work out, what happens when the next Fabian comes? What will he do then? Scare them all away, just because they are interested in me but they aren’t perfect?

Screw protective. He wasn’t protective, he was only possessive. And until he learns how to deal with that, we will never be able to move forward.

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Ah guys the toxicity is killing me! Today they’re good tomorrow they aren’t lol ( Colton and Paris).

Happy reading! Thank you for being so faithful. <3