CHAPTER 7

       “What?” Emily asked in disbelief. “Oh no,you've got to be kidding. You mean the brother who always avoid you like you are some kind of disease?" She laughed mockingly.

Carly maintained an indifferent look then shrugged without a word.Emily stopped when she noticed she wasn't joking.Her face turned, contorted with anger.

           “Let's see how long you go without me.Soon,you'll realize I'm the only friend who actually appreciates you.” 

    If trophies were given for the best actresses in the false pretense field,Carly would definitely have voted for Emily.She wanted to respond to that but then realized it would be no use so she just took her backpack and followed Taylor out of the class.She also knew that it was one thing to stand up to Emily but cutting her off completely was another. Emily wouldn't stop at that. There would be repercussions.

   ‘But who cares,let her do her worst.’ she thought as she caught up with Taylor.

They walked along the hallway together silently for a while before Carly broke the silence.

           “I have to say that, that was a very courageous thing to do.Standing up to Emily, you are really brave.”

            “It all comes with making the right decisions and following through. You weren't so bad yourself. Only that you are extremely cautious of breaking hearts,which of course would make sense if only Emily rich bitch had a heart,” Taylor said laughing. “I actually almost thought you wouldn't say a thing.”

    Carly laughed, “Oh,she has a heart alright. Only that it's ice cold to some but melts completely to others like with our English teacher.” They both laughed remembering the incident and when they stopped, Carly turned serious.

           “ I sometimes do feel sorry for her. She's just a jumbled mess of feelings and problems like most of us.She just haven't realized it yet,” she said.

     Taylor smiled, “See,extremely cautious of breaking hearts. I like that,”she paused then, “But it makes me wonder why you were with Emily in the first place.” 

            “ I just wanted a friend, just like you and the others.To belong somewhere.”

             “Really?” Taylor asked as if she didn't believe her.

             “Uh-huh,” Carly replied even though she knew that was not entirely true but decided to ask,“Why?”

  Taylor stopped outside at the bottom of the stairs that led towards the school building and turned to her.

             “Let's just say that I know some things about you. Some I can relate,”she replied. Carly looked at her in surprise wondering what she possibly meant by that statement. 

          “Do you now?” she asked.

           “Trust me,we all have secrets that are bound to come out sooner or later,” Taylor said then shoved her hands in her jeans.“We should get together, do something together for once that is not around or about Emily.You know, become friends.”

   Carly didn't even wait a second. What Taylor had said had affected her in a big way and she didn't want any of her secrets out in the world before she was ready.And since Taylor wasn't a bad person as far as she knew, she nodded vigorously.

           “We definitely should.”

   Taylor smiled, “I believe we'll talk soon?”

           “You can count on that because there's no way I'm going to let that pass.”

             “I'm counting on that Carly, ”Taylor replied then began walking away towards her bike.“Oh and say hi to your brother for me,yeah?”

            “I will.” Carly stood staring after her until she got on her bike and waved goodbye then rode off.  “I'm so busted!” she said out loud and then hurried off to meet her brother in the parking lot.

                            ★★★

    Each step she took made her begin to question if it was really a good idea to hang out with Carl.The conversation that morning had been nice and agreeing to hang out had come easy.Maybe he missed her as much as she missed him, hiding it every day in their usual arguments and neither of them daring to admit it.But after the conversation with Taylor, she couldn't control the anxiety and the feeling that she hadn't been so secretive as she had thought. What if he knew? What if some of their arguments were not just because of their grandpa? What if he had been angry with her for other things,like her attraction to girls?If Taylor knew about that,as she suspected that was what she was talking about, there was no telling that  Carl didn't know about it too.She pushed forward regardless and found him waiting by the car.

              “Ready for this? ”he asked.

             “Yeah,I have been thinking about it since morning,” she answered.The second part was true,but the first one, she wasn't so sure anymore. She walked around the car and jumped in then sat silently waiting for her brother to drive.

         The drive to the beach diner was made in silence. Each of them waiting upon the other to start a conversation. Small talk seemed awkward at this point. It was a good half hour away from the school and an hour from where they lived.

       They made it in time before it was too crowded. There were only a few cars in the parking lot and the people inside weren't too many.There used to be huge crowds after six back when they used to come with their grandfather. There was no reason it wouldn't be, in a few minutes to come. They found an empty booth next to a window where they had a clear view of the waves hitting the beach.

             “This is nice,” Carl finally said, breaking the silence then added,“Being here,listening to the sound of waves and sea gulls flying about.”

              “Yeah,” Carly agreed and closed her eyes,taking in the sounds and breathing in the soft breeze with the smell of salty water. It was something she loved doing even when they were younger.“God,I missed this,” she said then opened her eyes but didn't look at him when she asked,“Did you ever come back here after grandpa... after he...well,after we lost him?”

           “Once,”Carl replied. “Though I didn't stay more than five minutes, I couldn't. The memories were too raw,”he added in a low voice.

            “I'm so sorry Carl,” she said then reached out for his hand.

Carl looked up in surprise. They never did that before but then, how could they?

            “For what?”

              “Grandpa and everything that happened after that.”

                “Yeah,I'm sorry too.”

                “It was my fault, my stubbornness.I'm the one who should be sorry,not you.”

             “Maybe we should stop looking at everything as black and white.There was more to it than we both dare to admit. Some things I didn't really put into consideration before blaming you.”

            “What do you mean?” Carly asked in surprise.

Before he got the chance to reply, their long ordered chicken burgers were brought.

Carly looked up and almost gasped but in the next minute,she was willing to sink under the table or better still,for the ground to open up and swallow her whole because she wasn't sure she would get through the next minute.Some surprises were welcome but now this was becoming too much to handle in one day.

   ‘Looks like the mother of fates is having a field day today.I'll be dammed.’ she thought to herself but braced herself to act normal for the next several minutes or so,for the sake of her brother.She failed miserably.

             “Hey Dylan, what are you doing here?” she asked the first question that came to her mind without thinking.Even before she had placed their burgers on the table.

             “Oh,hi Lee,” Dylan replied without even looking at her. “Doesn't my uniform give me away?”

             “Right,dumb question to ask.” Carly looked down in embarrassment. It seemed like Dylan wouldn't make it easy for her.Even her brother looked between them with a puzzled look and she suddenly wished she was elsewhere. She was sure her nervousness was showing and Dylan's next statement confirmed it.

           “Relax,will you,” she said as she placed the plate between them.“I have been working the afternoon shift since the beginning of the year.This job has been helping me save up for college.”

          “Well,that's great,” she said carefully trying not to say another unnecessary thing. “Carl and I thought we could drop by and have an early dinner.”

            “Nice to see you Carl.”

   Carly didn't know how but the next few seconds carried her away from the present. Could it be called a leap into the past? Well yeah,but not entirely. The memory of Dylan was always a part of her present. No matter how hard she tried to dump it away with other memories. Even when she distanced herself as far away as she could, spending time with the cheerleaders and making new friendships with the people she could never have dreamed of. Staying as far as she could during the classes that they shared.It never came as a success. There was no way in the world of forgetting those blue eyes that she always got lost into for so many times. That mischievous smile on Dylan's face every time Carly fell for her pranks and oh,those arms that had held her more times than she could count.Don't even start about the lips she so loved on her own.The good old days.

   She realized that she had been smiling absently when Carl tugged on her arm.She looked up and found them looking at her and realized that she must have missed something they said.

           “I'm sorry,did you just say something?”

              “I asked if you needed anything else, ” Dylan repeated.

             “A double chocolate milkshake please.”

             “Still your favourite I guess?” Dylan asked with a raised eyebrow.

              “Yeah,”she said simply then looked away,avoiding her eyes every way she could.

              “Alright,coming right away. ”

   When Dylan left to bring their milkshakes. Carly finally faced her brother, dreading what he would ask her.There had been  a lot to gather from the conversation with Dylan for a keen person.She shouldn't have worried though. It seemed like it had all slipped past her brother's eyes just like everything else. She didn't know if that was an advantage or a disadvantage but she decided to take it as an advantage in that situation.

            “So,it seems like you and Dylan were friends at some point, ”he  paused.“What made you stop being friends?You seemed quite surprised when you saw her.”

    Well not everything slipped past him but this was better.She didn't want him to keep speculating so she answered.

            “We used to hang out back in sophomore year and stopped after I started hanging out with Emily and the cheer squad.” That was not entirely true but she wasn't about to confess of their relationship. “Next thing I knew, Dylan had changed classes. We never saw of each other again;not at close range anyway until today.That's why I was surprised.”

            “Well,Emily rich bitch is like a blade that cuts between two good things without remorse.”

            “You call her that too?” Carly asked laughing.

             “Everyone calls her that and a thousand other names,”he replied smiling. “She is a nightmare.”

     Carly thought silently why she had ever decided to join Emily's circle of friends and even became her ‘best’ friend. There was a bunch of reasons.Yeah,her mother had forced her into cheer leading but she hadn't forced her to become friends with Emily. She hadn't been during her sophomore year until that moment her relationship with Dylan began to become faulty.And she went in deeper when they broke up.

          “And Lee?I didn't know you had changed your name,” Carl asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

            “Only Dylan calls me that.Short for Carly, ” she replied.

             “It's cool."        

                           ★★★

         "A banana milkshake for the man and a double choco for the queen," Dylan teased smiling mischievously at Carly while placing the milkshakes between the two.

           "I swear to God if you call me that once more,I will punch you in the face so hard that you will never forget," Carly said and she half meant it.

    Hi guys,I hope you are enjoying the story.I'm back with new chapters which I will be updating, one per day.Please don't forget to rate and leave a review.For more interaction, contact me via whatsapp,+25406111557.Thanks you all!