14. Old friends

Chapter 14: Old friends

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Hey Aaron," I said, turning on my heels to face him.

In that moment I couldn't think of a more awkward situation, and a more confusing one for that matter.

My ex-boyfriend had just interrupted something between Ethan and I. Something which I still wasn't sure was about to happen.

Was it all in my head?

How was it even about to happen?

"Hey," He replied, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Upon realising he wasn't alone, my eyes instantly averted to his side, suddenly noticing the girl behind him, my mouth wide.

"Hey Kelsey," she said, slowly making her way towards me, leading me to make a step back.

"Leah?" I asked in shock, not able to believe my eyes.

"That's my name," she confirmed, sending me a small sad smile. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

I shook my head in disbelief.

Did she honestly think it was that easy? That she could just go there and tell me that she missed me and everything would be okay again?

I wanted to stay silent, or to walk away. To show her just how angry I was with her. Yet I couldn't. The girl standing there in front of me had taken a part of my heart with her when she moved away, and no matter how constantly I had told myself that I was okay and over it, I wasn't.

"I missed you too," I replied, unable to control my mouth, tears threatening to spill.

She ran over to me, engulfing me in a huge hug, my hands dangling next to her sides, not knowing how to react.

I wanted to hug her so badly. I wanted to hold her close to me and never let her go, yet I couldn't. She didn't deserve it.

Leah was Aaron's cousin. Neither of her parents were fit enough to raise her, so she ended up living with Aaron. We were the best of friends before Aaron's whole family moved. We always did everything together, along with Meg, and when she moved, she took a part of both of us with her.

She never called, she never texted.

She left me and Meg alone, with just the memories of her. We didn't even know if she was still alive. She completely disappeared, leaving us lost for the first couple of months.

After what seemed like forever, Ethan cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence that had enveloped us.

"Hi, I'm Ethan," he said, taking a step forward, offering his hand out to Leah.

"I'm Leah," she replied with a smile as they both shook hands.

"My other cousin is also here. I don't think you've ever met Jenna," Aaron said, gesturing to a very good-looking girl walking towards us.

She had long, light brown wavy hair and bright blue eyes. She was tanned but not too tanned. She was also really tall, much taller than me.

And also really pretty.

"Hi, nice to meet you," she said, more to Ethan than to me.

"I'm Ethan," he kindly said, shaking her hand which she didn't seem to want to let go from.

Seeing Ethan so close to Jenna took me back to what was about to happen when Aaron showed up.

Was Ethan really going to kiss me?

Why would he want to kiss me?

What did it even mean?

Could he have possibly liked me?

"So, is he your boyfriend?" Leah whispered to me once Jenna and Ethan stopped shaking hands.

"Oh no, I babysit for his siblings."

"You have a babysitter?" Jenna asked Ethan, snickering.

I already didn't like her.

"No, my siblings do," Ethan quickly replied in shame.

"Then why didn't you just take care of them? Why did your parents have to get a complete stranger to look after your siblings," she replied, making me feel bad about the fact that she was saying those things to him.

I should have never made it seem as if Ethan wasn't capable of looking after his own siblings, because in all honesty, he was more than capable.

"She's not a stranger," Ethan defended me through gritted teeth, clenching his fists, something he did whenever he was angry.

I found it really cute that he was sticking up for me.

If a couple of weeks before someone was to tell me that it would have happened, I wouldn't have believed them.

I couldn't even quite believe it after I saw it happening, let along before.

"She goes to my school and her best friend Meg is my neighbor. My parents know her dad, and know what an amazing person she is," he said, looking at me with an adorable dimpled smile, making me feel like poking one of his dimples.

I'm not weird.

"Oh?" Jenna replied, her face becoming red with the embarrassment she probably felt in that moment.

It was slightly amusing. She thought she was going to sound cool, and yet sounded like a fool instead.

"Eth, I'm gonna call Noah to make sure he's okay, should I tell him that we should go home and call Meg?" I asked him.

I felt like it was getting late, and I also wanted to avoid any further awkwardness with Aaron, Jenna, and most importantly, Leah.

"Meg's here? I want to see her," Leah said.

"Oh, erm, sure," I hesitantly replied, not knowing what else to say.

The problem was, Meg was a stubborn and hard headed person. If you did something to hurt her, she was bound to stay mad at you, and honestly, I didn't think it was such a good idea for her and Leah to see each other.

"Yeah, I think we better go, Ellie gets really cranky when she stays up late and Noah has that camp he has to prepare for," Ethan replied with a slight nod of the head.

I nodded and walked off a bit so I could call them quietly.

After calling Noah and Meg I walked back towards where the others were, only to find Ethan and Jenna gone

Were they off somewhere together?

Not that I cared.

But were they?

"Where'd they go?" I asked Leah, looking around slightly to see if I would be able to spot them.

"She wanted his help with something," she shrugged, making me feel slightly upset.

What could she have possibly needed help with?

Why was I suddenly jealous of Ethan being with Jenna?

"Hey we got here as fast a-Leah?" May said in surprise, coming up from behind me.

"May!" Leah said, walking over to her for a hug.

"Don't you dare touch my sister," Meg said, making everyone turn around.

Meg was really mad at Leah for not contacting us after she left. She did have a point. Leah left us both hurting, thinking that maybe we did something wrong and made her not want to be around us anymore. That maybe we weren't enough for her.

"Meg!" Leah said, a smile forming on her face.

"Don't act like you're happy to see me. You left and never called or texted, just like Aaron did to Kelsey. We were freaking best friends!" Meg spat.

I could tell she was about to cry and I walked up to her, placing my hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down a bit.

"Meg, maybe we should let her explain?" I said, trying to calm down the situation.

"Explain what Kels? Are you seriously taking her side right now? You cried for months after they left. You were broken because of them. I spent weeks trying to find ways how to make you feel better before I realized that it was all futile., Meg said. "I knew I could never replace the void that she left behind in your heart, because that was something only she could do."

I knew she was right. She was so right. But I couldn't walk away from everything I had with Leah. There was a time where she was the most special person in my life, along with Meg. I felt so comfortable around her, and I told her things that I hadn't even ever told Meg. It was so hard for me to walk away from that.

"Yes Meg, I know, but maybe we could-"

"Maybe nothing. Kels are you seriously thinking on giving her a second chance? She's going to leave again and leave us both broken," she said, making my heart clench.

She was right in a way. Leah hurt us both too much, and that was something that couldn't be forgiven easily.

But on the other hand, I missed her. I didn't want to let our friendship go.

"But Meg she was our best friend," I said, trying to reason with her.

I didn't want to push it, but by the look on her face I knew that it was too late.

"Wow, I can't believe you're taking her side on this. If you want to let her back in then fine but don't expect me to be here to wipe your tears when she hurts you again. Let's go May," Meg said, grabbing her sister's arm and dragging her away. "Bye Jake," she said to a dumbfounded Jake who was probably as confused as everyone else.

"Bye Noah," May innocently waved, sending him an apologetic smile

Was Meg seriously mad at me?

Why would she be mad at me?

It had always been hard for me to let go, especially of people who were as important to me as Leah was. If Meg were to do the same thing, I would have found it hard to let go of her too. I was never one with many friends, but Leah and Meg made all of that okay. We were the perfect trio, and deep down, I just wanted to bring that back.

Right when I was about to burst in to tears at the thought of losing my best friend, Ethan and Jenna showed up, laughing together, and sending me over the top.

"Where have you been?! Everyone was waiting for you and you just disappeared, you're so careless," I spat out at Ethan, making him pause in his tracks whilst he looked at the tears streaming down my face.

I didn't know why I was so cold towards Ethan when he didn't even deserve it. maybe it was for the fact that Meg was angry at me, or maybe it was because my old best friend was standing there in front of me and I didn't know whether or not I should let her back in. Or maybe it was simply the fact that I was mad that after Jenna tried to make him feel bad by using me and after him defending me, he actually went off with her and returned laughing.

"Relax Kelsey, Ethan and I were simply talking that's all, I asked him to show me around a little before you got back," she said smirking at Ethan.

"Whatever," I said walking off towards where Ethan parked the car.

I didn't mean it to be a dramatic exit, I just couldn't stand people watching me cry. It always made me feel so weak and vulnerable, and I hated that. I didn't want to seem like a baby in front of people, even if that was exactly the way I felt in that moment.

I hated it when people looked at me in pity like I was some charity case.

I didn't care if I had to stay and wait, I just needed to be alone.

'I asked him to show me around a little'

Show her around my butt. She could have easily asked Aaron to show her around. The fair hadn't changed. That was supposed to be a fun night to make the kids miss their parents less, but the only thing that happened was make me want to curl up in a hole and not get out.

"Hey," I heard someone say from behind me.

"Leave me alone Aaron, I really want to be alone right now," I replied, turning my head for a few seconds to look at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he sat down next to me on the rock wall I ended up sitting on.

How could he even ask me that question when he obviously knew the answer?

"Oh yeah, I had a fight with my best friend, and your cousin dislikes me for some reason, but I'm just peachy" I sarcastically said, making him chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is my misery amusing to you?" I bitterly asked, suddenly feeling like a complete bitch.

No one deserved to be treated the way I was treating them. Even if I was in a really bad mood.

I hated fighting with Meg, especially since I knew how hard it was to get her forgiveness. She can go months without talking to somebody if she wanted to, and I certainly didn't want that. Meg was my only best friend, and without her I couldn't help but feel alone.

"No, it's just that you haven't changed one bit," he said as his eyes met mine.

What was that supposed to mean?

Did he remember me as this complete bitter person that always cries as soon as life seemed to throw a rock at me?

"Where are the others?" I asked him after what seemed like ages, wanting to avoid asking him about what he had just said, not wanting to know the answer.

"Well, Ethan really wanted to come after you and check if you were okay, but the little blonde one really needed to use the bathroom," he said with a small chuckle..

"Her name is Ellie, the little blonde one I mean," I replied with a ghost of a smile playing on my lips.

The thought that Ethan wanted to come and check up on me after I had acted like a complete diva towards him made my heart swell with affection for him.

Not everyone would be willing to do that, especially when it involved such a difficult person as I was.

"Cheer up Kels-bells," Aaron said using the nickname he had given me when we were in 5th grade.

"I can try Ronny," I said smirking at him and making him laugh, which in turn made me crack a laugh as well.

He always hated the nickname I gave him, but I used it all the time anyways, and by time he ended up getting used to it as well. He would always be scared when I didn't use it because it would most probably mean that I was mad at him.

We talked for what seemed like hours. I had forgotten how much I used to love talking to Aaron about anything and everything and not make it feel weird or awkward.

"Ahem," someone said from behind us.

"Oh, hey guys," I said as I noticed all of the Walkers, Leah, Jake and Jenna looking at us.

"Right, so I think we should head back, see you around Kels-bells," Aaron said, winking at me.

"See you," I said. "It was nice seeing you again Leah," I told her, still not able to meet her eyes.

I wanted to let her explain, but I still didn't know if I was ready to forgive her yet. I also knew that if I talked to her then, it would have been harder for me to make it up to Meg. That decision was one we both had to take together, and I wished I had realised that sooner.

"You too Kels," she replied, giving me a small smile.

After bidding Jake goodbye, who said he wanted to walk home, we all filed into Ethan's car, an uncomfortable silence surrounding us.

"Kelsey are you okay? Why were you crying? I really wanted to go after you but I also really had to pee," Ellie said, making me smile.

"Oh that's okay El, I'm fine I just had something in my eye that's all," I lied.

I didn't want to tell her I was crying. We went there to cheer her and Lara up and not make them feel worse.

The rest of the ride was silent. Noah took my hand in his at one point to try and make me feel better. It was really sweet of him to care about me. I could notice Ethan glancing at me from time to time from the rear view mirror.

All I wanted to do was head to bed and sleep at that moment.

Why were things so hard at times?

Why couldn't life just let you be happy?

A/N: Hey jellybeans, I hope you're enjoying my book so far and I would like to thank you guys soo much for all of your positive comments. I try to reply to everyone of you and if I don't reply to someone I'm very sorry but sometimes my notification thingy doesn't show me everything. Anywho in this chapter we met with two new characters but I don't know who to cast yet, if you guys have any ideas feel free to comment down below, in the meantime I will try to think of something and tell you guys as soon as I get an idea.

Anywho thank you soo much I love you guys, I really do, ps sorry but I couldn't find an adequate picture for the top :3

~M