They Say Love Hides Behind Every Corner. I Must Be Walking in Circles

Chapter 8

Westley threw another punch, and it nearly hit me. Luckily, I turned out to be more flexible than I had thought. I bended backwards to dodge it, and it actually worked.

“Dude,” Forrest said, and I think I detected anger in his voice. “You nearly hit her.”

“Shay, you need to get out of the way,” Westley told me.

“You guys need to stop this!” I shouted.

Maddie, Jasmine and Ceci had rushed over to see what all of the fuss was about. I was just glad Damien wasn’t home. I didn’t want to explain this to him, or anyone for that matter. I ran towards my friends, giving up on stopping the fight. “Guys, take cover!” I whispered frantically as Forrest threw another punch, again, landing right on Westley’s nose. “They’ve gone crazy!”

Maddie’s eyes widened and she hid in the coat closet in my living room. Jasmine and Ceci followed suit, leaving me stranded. I groaned and looked over, and sure enough, Forrest and Westley were still fighting it out. Forrest was winning, as I had expected. I didn’t know where else to hide, because I wasn’t quite sure this was happening in the first place, so I just hid under the couch. I had to squeeze and suck in my stomach, though, so it wasn’t comfortable at all. I knew I shouldn’t have been eating so many Snickers. I knew it!

I wasn’t sure how long I hid under there. I just heard crashes, vases breaking, glass breaking, wood crashing, bodies thumping and crunches from punches that had landed.

Eventually, Westley said in an angry voice, “This isn’t over, douche!”

“Says the guy with the broken nose and black eye,” Forrest answered coolly. It was a little startling that he was so calm about all of this. But I wasn’t completely sure the fight was over, so I stayed put. When I heard snoring coming from the closet, I guessed my friends weren’t coming out anytime soon, either. The door slammed shut, but I still didn’t budge. I was too terrified. And I was guessing Westley was headed to the hospital, as well.

I felt a hand poking at my stomach and I burst out laughing because it tickled. Forrest laughed as well, and he said, “I think I can guess who’s hiding under here.”

I just continued laughing.

“Are you gonna get out?” he asked uncertainly.

I just laughed some more. I couldn’t get out, was the problem. And I told him so once I had calmed down.

He sighed. “Why’d you get under there if you know you don’t fit?”

"I fit,” I protested. “Sort of. And I was scared, alright?”

He sighed again, and said, “Give me your hand.”

I poked my hand out from under the couch, and he grabbed onto it, gently pulling me out of what could have been my doom.

“Oh, whew!” I said, “That was kinda scary.”

My eyes scanned the living room, and they widened. The place was trashed. There was glass at the sides, where someone had broken the big window at the side of the living room. Vases were broken, the floor was splintered, our glass coffee table was destroyed, and there were little dots of blood on the floor. When I looked up, I saw that Forrest was bleeding slightly. I couldn’t even imagine how Westley looked.

I sighed, and said, “Come on. Lemme go get the first aid kit.”

He followed me into the kitchen, where we had our first aid kit. I grabbed it and grabbed the disinfecting spray.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Forrest said quickly. “What’re you doing…?”

“Disinfecting your cuts?” I asked uncertainly. What did he think I was doing?

“Yeah, but…” He paused. “Won’t that sting, or hurt?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, suck it up, you sissy!”

I applied the spray, and, just as expected, he cried out in pain, mumbling profanities. I ignored him, covering the cuts with a Band-Aid. I was just glad there hadn’t been any glass in there. He chuckled slightly, and I asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said in a casual tone, “this Band-Aid just brings back some memories.”

It suddenly hit me. He meant when I stole his money and Band-Aid out of his wallet.

“Oh.”

He had a bruise on the side of his face, where Westley had tried to hit his eye but missed slightly. I put an ice pack to it, and when Forrest touched my hand to grab it himself, I could’ve sworn I felt an electric shock, but that might’ve just been from the bitter frostiness the ice pack was emanating. I quickly let go and turned back to the kit, putting the contents away.

“I don’t think we can be friends,” I told him as I put it away, not wanting to make eye contact. I would break, and I knew it.

“Why not?” he asked, and I very nearly slammed my head onto the counter he was sitting on in my frustration. Was he really that dense, or was he just acting like it?

“Did you not see what just happened?” I asked, still avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah,” he replied coolly, “and so what?”

I sighed, frustrated. “So, I can’t do this, where every single time I talk to you, I have to look both ways to make sure Westley isn’t anywhere near.”

“Why do you do that?” Forrest asked suddenly. There had been a silence for a few moments, but he broke it with that question.

“Do what?” I honestly had no inkling what he was talking about. He turned me around, and forced me to face him. I had no choice but to look him in the eye. His eyes were nice, I noticed. They were blue, but not the gray-blue that nowadays is overused. They were a dark blue, like a waterfall at night.

“Why do you put up with him?” he repeated. “It’s kinda obvious you don’t love him. Why do you put up with it?”

I was about to contradict him, when I realized something. He was absolutely right. I didn’t love Westley. I didn’t even like him that way. At first, I only went out with him because I was desperate. Then, I felt bad for him. But at that moment? I felt nothing. He brought nothing good to my life. All he did was cause problems, and I was tired of it. “You’re right,” I whispered, the memories of everything I had put up with racing back. Westley flirting with girls and guys wherever we went constantly; Westley pressuring me to sleep with him; Westley trying to get me to sleep with him when I was drunk; Westley fighting Forrest, for just talking to me. He was dominating my life, and I wasn’t going to put up with it any longer. “He’s not worth it.”

Forrest nodded, looking content, but he still wanted an answer. “But why do you do it?”

“At first, I just wanted to see what it felt like to have a boyfriend,” I admitted, taken aback at myself for admitting this to Forrest, of all people. “Then, I felt bad for him. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“And now?”

“I feel no inclination towards him. Not in the least.”

Forrest hopped out of the seat, and said, “I’ll leave you to think about that.”

Before I could steal something of his, he reached into his left pocket and grabbed something. He reached out his hand, signaling me to do the same. I reached my hand out, and he gave me a small container of Nesquik. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. He grinned, and said, “I’ll see you later, Shay.” And with that, he left.

“Aw!” Maddie trilled happily. “That was the most romantic thing, ever!”

“Maddie.” I rolled my eyes. “He gave me Nesquik, not a dozen roses.”

“Still! It’s just so romantic!”

I rolled my eyes again, and said, “I’m going out. I’ve gotta do something.”

Maddie nodded, still musing the possibilities of Forrest and me as a couple, and I went on my way. I was going to go find Westley and break up with him, as soon as possible. I couldn’t put this off any longer. He was dangerous.

()(*()

I found Westley at his house, and his parents weren’t home. Lucky me.

“Hey, babe,” he said, apparently forgetting everything that had just occurred. He leaned forward to kiss me, but I moved out of the way.

“We need to talk,” I stated simply.

He frowned. “About?”

“Us,” I answered.

His eyes narrowed, and I grew timid for a moment. But I got over it. I had to this. I had to do it, and I wasn’t backing down.

“I don’t think we’re working out,” I told him honestly, “I just don’t see you that way.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I want to break up,” I said bluntly.

“You want to take a break?”

I groaned. This was going to be harder than I had thought. “No! I mean, I want to break up, for good. This isn’t something we can fix.”

“You’re leaving me for that douche, aren’t you?” Westley asked, anger growing in his voice very obviously.

“No,” I said as I shook my head. “Besides, we haven’t been going out that long. It’s not so bad, is it?”

“No, it is,” Westley replied, “because two months was enough for me to fall for you. I need you, Shay.”

I felt bad, but I wasn’t going to back down now. “No. I’m sorry, Westley, but things are over between us.”

He took a step towards me, and I started getting scared. “No, you don’t get it, babe. You’re mine. You promised.”

“No,” I told him, disgusted at the idea of being someone’s property. Shay Barron belonged to nobody.

“You promised me, on our first date, so I wouldn’t beat Forrest up.”

“Well, you broke your promise, too.” I shook my head. “You got into a fight with Forrest today, and I’m breaking up with you today. It’s even now.”

He took another step forward, and then another. “No, you still don’t get it. You’re mine now.” He grabbed me by the arm, and I struggled to get out of his grip. He grabbed on harder, and when I realized he wasn’t going to let go, and it was hurting me, I decided to deck him. I hit him square in the jaw.

“Damn it!” he cursed, and gave me a deadly glare. I tried to run, but he grabbed me by the arm and hit me, straight across my face. I cried out in pain. I knew I should’ve finished my self-defense classes last year. I should’ve. I was so stupid! What was I thinking, coming here alone, anyways? God, I was just as bad as those blonde bimbos who go look in the attic when they hear a strange noise at midnight. I was officially just as bad!

“Let go of me, Westley!” I shrieked. “Don’t you get it? It’s over! I don’t want to go out with you! What will it take to get that through your thick head?”

He wouldn’t let go, though. He pulled me into a hug that was squeezing my internal organs, I was sure. If I died because of internal bleeding, he was going to court, I swear to God. “Don’t worry, you’ll never be alone, babe. I’m here.”

“I don’t want you to be here!” I screamed at him, pissed off as hell. “I don’t want you! At all! Leave me alone, you freak!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he told me and I could have sworn I detected sadness in his voice. The mother-effer. He was a good liar, too. I knew he wasn’t sad, obviously. He was way too big of a douche bag to feel that sentiment. “I fell for you, Shay. And I’m not letting go of you, no matter what. That douche will just have to get over his loss.”

“No, I’m not anyone’s property, alright?” I said, “Not yours, not Forrest’s, not anyone’s. Now let go of me.”

He held on tighter, so I bit his arm, which made him cry out in pain. “Damn it, Shay, you’re making this harder than it has to be.”

“You’re the one who’s making this way harder than it has to be,” I retorted. “Just let me go. Holding onto me here isn’t gonna change anything.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I told you. I’m not leaving you, Shay.”

I kneed him in the balls, turned around, twisted out of his grip, and made a run for it. But I felt a sharp pain on my back. He had thrown a glass vase at me. And it frigging hurt.

“You’re insane!” I shouted at him. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911 as I lay on the ground. “Hello?” I answered. “Please help me; my psychotic ex-boyfriend is holding me hostage here.”

The man asked me for the address, and I said, “401 Lane Street.”

“Help will arrive soon,” he told me.

I flinched as Westley snatched the phone away. “Now what’d you do that for? Now, you’re going to have to tell them it was a joke.”

“No,” I said, surprised at his stupidity. Did he really think I was that dense, or something?

“Yes, you will, or your beloved little friend, Madeline, and your beloved little sister, Cecilia will suffer for it.” He had a gun behind his back, and I knew what he meant. I took a deep breath.

“What do you mean for me to do?” I asked quietly.

“I’ll let you go right now, I’ll take care of the cops, and we’ll forget this little ordeal ever happened, and we’ll live happily ever after, having tons of beautiful kids, alright?”

I fake smiled and nodded, secretly planning his death and my revenge in my head. If he thought he was gonna get away with this, he was nuts.

I ran out the door, and heard the sirens. I had to run, and do what he said for now. But this wasn’t going to stay like this. Not if I had something to do with it. Westley showed me the gun through the window as I looked back. I glared and started running again.

That bastard.

I oughta deck him.