Addie’s POV
I sit on my bed, curled up under the duvet with a book. The book is getting intense and my body is tense as I turn the page. I hear voices from behind my bedroom door, but I dismiss them. The only important thing to me right now is the survival of the main character of this book. However, my focus is quickly taken away from the action on the pages, and to the loud stomping on the stairs and my mom’s shouting. What is going on?! I think.
I get up from my bed, put the bookmark on the page and close the book, leaving it on my unmade bed, as I peek from my door. I catch a glimpse of my mom. She looks older without her make up. Wrinkles of years of worry are shown on her forehead. She runs her hand through her black hair and walks to the kitchen. She stops when she sees me.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, caught.
“Yes Addie. Everything is fine.” She smiles at me. Yeah, ok sure. “How are you?”
Since I told her about the attempted rape, she let me go into my room and didn’t press me to tell her what happened. Mostly because she could read off my face that I really didn’t feel like talking about it, but also because she respected me enough to wait for me to come to her.
“I’m okay.” Yeah, ok sure.
She smiles at me just as her phone buzzes. She checks it, and then leaves it on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I sit on a high chair, and get an apple from the fruit bowl.
“Hand me knife?” I say, and she turns to hand me a knife and a plate. I start cutting the apple, as her phone vibrates again. Another message.
I look at her, but she ignores it. Instead, she is taking out a pot and fills it with water.
The phone vibrates again, and I see her jaw clenching, as she turns the stove on.
“Someone’s trying to reach you” I state the obvious.
“Yeah” She tries to disguise the annoyance in her voice. “It’s your aunt”
My aunt is my mom’s older sister. She was present in Aggie’s and mine upbringing, but for the last couple of years, she hasn’t really been around. She re-married two years ago, and moved to California with my cousin and new husband.
“Why are you not answering her?” I ask, putting the knife down, and taking a slice of apple.
“She thinks it’s…impulsive that we moved to Sydney.” She says putting a lid over the pot.
Her phone starts ringing. She turns and looks at it and then at me. I get the hint.
“Call me when there’s food” I say and take the plate of the sliced apple with me to my room.

I must’ve dozed off, because I was shocked back to consciousness when Aggie shouted from my door.
“Food time!” She said and slammed the door shut. What’s her problem?
I drag myself out of bed and walk to the dining table. It’s set for three people and there is a pot of Pasta salad with chicken, and a separate bowl with just pasta salad and dressing. I sit down on an empty chair. Mom is sitting next to me, and Aggie is across. I put pasta salad and dressing in my plate and pour water in my cup.
Aggie is wearing a frown on her face, and mom seems like she doesn’t notice it. We eat in almost silence, the only noise is the cutlery hitting against each other and the plate. I feel tension in the air, and am not sure what is happening, and quite frankly, I’m scared to ask.
After what seems like an eternity, my mom announces that she is done with her food, that we should do the dishes and that she is going to go over to Mrs. Hood for a cup of coffee. She then walks upstairs to her bedroom to change.
I thought the tension would ease, because it was obvious between my mom and Aggie, but it didn’t. I felt like I’ve done something wrong, and I didn’t know what it was.
“Are you going out tonight?” I asked, making conversation.
“Don’t talk to me” She says, looking at her food, but not eating it.
I raise an eyebrow, putting pasta in my mouth.
“Do I need a written permission to address you?” I say, taking a sip from my glass of water.
She rolls her eyes, and stands up taking her plate with her. I get up after a moment and bring my plate to the kitchen.
“You okay?” I ask, washing the dish with hot water.
She ignores me, putting foil over her plate and placing it in the fridge.
“What’s your problem?!” I finally ask, irritated, putting dish soap on a sponge.
“What’s my problem?!” She echoes. I roll my eyes, and dry the plate after I rinse off the soap.
“You know what, forget I asked.” I say and turn around to mom’s dish, and wash it with hot water.
I hear mom coming down the stairs. She says a goodbye to us, and puts on her shoes and then goes out the front door.
“How could you tell mom!?” Aggie says finally. I turn towards. Oh hell no!
“About what exactly?!” I say. I just need her to confirm what I’m already guessing, and then I’ll explode.
“About Chris! She gave me so much shit about whom I hang out with. She doesn’t want me to be friend with them anymore! I’m 18 and grounded because you didn’t want to be alone in your lonely misery! ” She says in one breath. I’m so angry with her right now; I’m having trouble controlling my breathing. I don’t say anything, figuring that’s the smartest thing to do. “Right. That’s how you deal with things. You stay quiet and loathe. Well I hope you’re happy now! I hope this whole situation gives you the satisfaction you’re looking for.”
“Oh my god” I say, drying the plate. She crosses her arms and puts all her weight on one leg arching her eyebrow in expectance. “Shut up Aggie. Just stop talking, okay?! First of all, I’m not the one who is friends with rapists. That will be you. And mom grounding you is the best-case scenario you will get out of that. Second, I really hope you wrap your brain around the fact that not everything I do is about you, and that not everything always has to be about you. I’m not trying to ruin your senior year, I’m not trying to get mom to turn against your friends, as you did in freshman year, let’s not forget that. All I did was tell her that Chris and his friends tried to rape me. Sure, laugh, and joke about it with them if you want, but I was so scared and there was no one to help me. I was on my own, in a room with three hormonal assholes who threatened to gag me if I call for help! I was trapped and I had to strip to get out. While you were getting high with your new bff, I was scared out of my mind.” I realized I was crying, but I didn’t stop “And then when I tell you and Marissa, she says it’s ‘just Chris’ and that whole ‘boys will be boys’ shit! And worst of all, you buy it, Aggie. I have to look at you, everyday, hanging out with that sort of people, people who don’t understand what the word no means. And thank god it didn’t escalate that night to something more. So many women go through this and worse, everyday, and have no one to turn to. I just never thought that would happen to me!” I was shaking now. Saying this out loud made me re-live it.
“Addie-“ She started saying, but I cut her off.
“Don’t! Don’t even try to defend them. You have no idea what went through my head in those short moments when I was practically imprisoned in a bedroom in the middle of a loud party with three idiots with the lack of self-control and a brain the size of a grape! Don’t talk to me.” I say and start walking to my room, my cheeks damp, but surprisingly my voice was strong and firm when I spoke again, turning around “Oh and, don’t worry. You’re grounded for a week? I’ll have that memory for the rest of my existence. And no, I’m not satisfied. I’m not happy. And sure as hell am not gonna apologize for telling mom”
I stalk to my room and lock the door behind me. Not that I expect her to come in and say something, but I don’t want to risk it. I open the door in my room, and find the soft breeze relaxing. I go in the bathroom and wash my face. My hair is all over the place, and I braid it. I hear a loud car from outside. As I tie my hair at the end, I walk into my room, and peek out the door.
I see Ash’s car in front of Calum’s house. Calum jogs to his front door and disappears behind it. Mike is seated on the passenger’s seat, waiting for Calum to return. I stand at my door, unable to move. Expecting something to happen.
Then Calum comes out and gets in the driver’s seat and drives off. As they drive off, my eyes meet Mikey’s and then they are gone. I come back inside and sit on my bed, and open the book, picking up where I left of.

Mickey POV
We drive to Ashton’s. Elena and him are lying on a blanket in the yard, drinking juice. Calum is tensed. After our long talk about Marissa and him, he finally decided to confront her about Stephen
“Finally! What did you do, got swallowed in a black hole?” Ash says, as he sees us approaching. Elena laughs. “Ohhh look who decided to come” Ash says smiling at Cal. He smiles at him. We join them on the blanket and Cal and Elena start talking.
I take out my phone and write a quick text to Addie. I read it a couple of times before I send it.
‘How did it go?’
I put toss my phone aside and engage in the conversation already happening.
“Well finally” Ash says. Cal just announced that he’s gonna talk to Marissa about Stephen.
“I just don’t want to come off as jealous or…needy or whatever” He says, looking down.
“If you want, I can have that conversation with her. It will be my pleasure. Although, I doubt that it will be pleasurable for her” I say, trying to get Cal to smile. He does but it’s a sad smile. My phone buzzes. Cal takes it before I do and then quickly gives it to me, as if he saw something he shouldn’t.
It’s a text from Addie.
‘better than I expected. I’m not grounded or anything, woo!’
I smile. And before I can realize, I text her back ‘come to Ash’s.’
I put the phone down, and I catch Cal looking at it, and realizing he is caught, he averts his eyes quickly. Weird.
“So when is this big talk going to happen?” Elena says. Her accent is slightly Dutch. It’s cute.
“I don’t know. The sooner the better” Cal says, taking out his phone.
Elena smiles, and me and Ash exchange a smile as well. My phone buzzes, and Cal glances at it. I pick it up and it’s from Addie again.
‘not sure how to get there…everything looks the same’. I laugh and quickly text her that I’m gonna pick her up. Calum is on the phone when I stand up.
“Fine” He says, and hangs up.
“Can you drive me home, I need to get my car.” He says to Ash.
“You can drive me” I say “I’m going to pick up Addie”. He nods and get’s Ash’s car keys.
“I like how you use my car as a taxi. Put gas on the way!” He calls after us.

After we put gas, and I get behind the driver’s seat, after Calum got out and in his own car, I stopped in front of Addie’s house, and texted her that I’m up front.
She came out, wearing dark jeans a blue shirt and a denim jacket.
“Yo” she said as she climbed in the passenger’s seat.
I smiled and drove off to Ash’s.

Calum’s POV
Sitting in my car in front of Marissa’s house, I call her. It rings twice before she picks up.
“Yes?” She answers.
“I’m up front” I say and after a minute she comes out. I squeeze the steering wheel, my palms starting to sweat. This conversation will not go well.
We say nothing until I drive to the parking lot near the park. The sun is setting and the sky is full of colors. I turn off the engine and just now I realize how quiet we are. We haven’t said a word, and now that the engine is not making any noise, the silence is unbearable.
“You okay?” I ask her, not knowing how to begin.
“Yes.” She says, not looking at me.
“Why are you mad at me?” I say. She turns to me, her eyebrows narrow.
“Because I don’t know what girlfriend is happy when she hears her boyfriend say ‘we need to talk’” She answers me. I fight the urge to look away. “So…here we are. Now talk.”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing” I say.
“Whatever” She says, and looks ahead. “I know what you’re going to say” She says pressing her lips in a thin line.
“You do?” I ask. I seriously don’t know how to tell my girlfriend ‘Hey, I really really like you, but I think you’re fucking one of your friends, and have been doing that for a long time, and I don’t want to sound like I don’t trust you, but are you?’ in a nice way.
“Yes.” She answers me. She knows I’m finding it hard to talk about this right now, and she wants me to feel even worse.
“Well…” I say. Okay, just say it Calum. Stop being so intimidated by her. “Look. I’m just curious…do you want to be with me?” I ask.
She looks at me. I don’t think she expected me to start off like that.
“I wouldn’t be with you if it was otherwise” She says.
“I just feel like…sometimes…” I say, struggling to find words. She knows it.
“Yes?” She pushes.
“Just…I feel like you and Stephen are really close…like-“ I say, but she cuts me off.
“Oh.My.God. I cannot believe you Calum” She says. I stop talking “I cannot believe you started listening to your friends.” Disappointment is on her face.
“I’m not listening to them, it’s just-“ She cuts me off again.
“I did not expect this from you” She says “Michael, and Ash and Luke, sure, they’re jerks, but you? I thought you were better than this Cal! Seriously. Wow! How low can you go, right?” She looks away shaking her head in disapproval.
“Marissa…” I say but don’t know how to finish this sentence. She won’t face me. And now I’m the bad guy. Of course. Just like Mikey said – she will try to turn this situation around. “Look, I’m not accusing you of doing anything behind my back, or cheating on me or anything. I’m just giving you a chance to be honest with me, okay? I deserve that much from you.” I say. She faces me. She looks me in the eyes, jumping from one to the other.
“There is nothing going on between me and Stephen” She says. “You’re being paranoid, and I’m not angry at you, if that’s what you think. I’m just angry that you listen to your friends.”
I don’t look away from her. I don’t know what I’m searching for in her eyes, maybe a hint of a lie.
“I know they don’t like me, for whatever reason, and that’s fine. That’s why I don’t want to hang out with them, because I don’t want to be surrounded by people who don’t appreciate me. But I want to be around you, and I stomach these kind of accusations from them, but I don’t want to hear them from you as well.” She says, and takes my hand in hers “I just…I don’t want you to start looking at me the way they look at me. And I know, they are your friends, but their opinion of me is low, and of course they expect me to do things that are below me. I just…I don’t want you to think of me like that”
And with that, she kissed me, a soft kiss and then pulled away after a moment of lingering. Her mouth then curved into a smile, and I knew Mikey will not like how this conversation went. Oh boy…

Notes

Um...yeah...after like 8 months I decided to update this story. Sorry about the wait. If anyone is really reading this. I just re-read it and I completely forgot actually about it, but I wanted to update the story, since I kind of had an idea, and still have it, about how this story is going to go. So yeah...Enjoy. Please subscribe, rate and leave a comment.
Lots of love
Banana.