"You were telling me about the future Mrs Daniels," I replied with a smile on my face.
"Oh, that," he replied as he shut the cabinet door and slowly began to stand up.
"I was saying..." He said as he stood about three inches from my face, placing his left hand on the marble counter, right next to my hip, "that she was here," he continued.
"Here? You mean, tonight?" I stuttered as the gap between us slowly began to close.
"Yes," he said in a low, deep tone that for some reason sent tingles flying up and down my spine.
His hand slowly, lifted higher until it was a few millimetres from my face. He allowed his finger to form into a point next to my face as he continued his sentence.
"She's right there," he said, now pointing towards the window with a smile on his lips.
I turned around and immediately spotted his silver mustang that was parked outside of his house. I couldn't help but let out a laugh. I turned back around to face him.
"Your car is the future Mrs Daniels?” I asked as I watched him with a smile on my lips.
He shook his head to say yes as the amusement was clear on his face.
“You really are something else, Aidan Daniels," I said as I stared into his eyes.
"You asked. She's the only lady, other than my mom, that has never let me down. Sally's a diamond," he replied with a smirk spread across his face.
"Sally? Are you serious? That's really original isn't it, a mustang named Sally," I said as I shook my head and laughed at him again.
"Hey, she's a classic, she deserves the best," he replied.
"Whatever you say, Mr Daniels. So, are we taking this cake out or what, because I'm pretty sure that Crystal's going to want to know where we have both disappeared to, don't you?"
"Yep," he said as he began to place the candles in the cake, one by one.
"Can you pass me the matches please? They're just in that cabinet there," he said, pointing towards the cabinet, underneath the toaster.
I quickly retrieved the matches and handed them to him.
"Here you go," I said.
"Thanks," he replied before lighting the candles and picking the cake up, ready to surprise Crystal.
"Can you just grab me some plates from the cabinet up there please?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure.”
As we walked into the living room, I felt Kyle's eyes on me immediately. I ignored him and switched off the lights. Everyone started to sing happy birthday as they each began to spot the cake in Aiden's hand.
As the singing came to an end, claps, screams and whistles filled the air. Crystal winked at me just as she was about to blow her candles out. I threw her a small smile and then flicked the lights back on.
"So, who wants cake?" She shouted as everyone began screaming and laughing with excitement.
"Oh, I forgot to get a knife, so that you could slice the cake," Aiden said as he placed the cake down on the coffee table that had been pushed against the wall, to allow for extra space.
"I'll get it," I mouthed to him.
He threw me a smile and then I headed back towards the kitchen.
As I began to search inside of the drawer for a knife, I heard the kitchen door open and close very quickly. My stomach dropped as my eyes focused on the person who was now stood in front of me.
"I want to talk to you.”
"Ok," I replied, feeling rather caught off guard by the whole situation.
"I'm just here to let you know that Kyle is not interested. So whatever stupid game that you and Aiden have been playing tonight, you can stop, now, understood?"
"Rachel, I'm not playing a game," I replied in a soft voice. The last thing that I wanted was to cause a scene especially when this night was supposed to be about Crystal.
"Look at you, standing there like butter wouldn't melt. I've got you sussed so you can drop the sweet girl act. Whatever plan that you have to do with Kyle, can stop right now.”
"Plan? I don't have a plan and in case you had forgotten, it was you that took Kyle from me. He chose you, what more do you want?" I said, feeling rather frustrated by her sudden attack.
"Yeah, well just you remember that because it doesn't matter what you do, he's mine. You're just a pathetic, little loser that he felt sorry for once upon a time but that's over now. He doesn't love you, it's time to move on," she said as she took a couple more steps towards me.
As the words flew out of her mouth they cut like a knife but I refused to let it show.
"Err, what the hell is going on here?" Crystal said as she burst through the kitchen door. As I looked past Crystal's shoulder, I could see a crowd slowly beginning to emerge. I really didn't need this right now.
"Nothing, just getting a few things straight with your little friend here," Rachel said as she gave me a dirty look.
"Excuse me!" Crystal said with a look of rage on her face.
"Just leave it," I pleaded as I anticipated Crystal's next move. I was silly to think that I could stop her when she was in a mood like this.
"Let me get a few things straight with you Goldilocks! One, this is my house. Two, this is my party. Three, she is my best friend and four, you have about two minutes to get out of here before I kick your-"
"Crystal!" I interrupted.
"I'm gone, it wasn't as if it was a good party anyway," Rachel said before turning around and heading back out of the kitchen.
"Kyle, we're going!"
As I stared at the several different pairs of eyes watching me, my stomach dropped. A sudden rush of embarrassment filled my entire body. From the look on Crystal's face, she knew exactly what I was thinking.
"Ok, there is nothing left to see here. The party is that way, off you go," she said as she directed the crowd back into the living room and shut the doors.
"Hey," she said as she walked back towards me.
"You ok?"
I looked up at her, unable to even answer her stupid question.
"Sorry, of course you're not. Look, Rachel's just jealous of you and she's scared that Kyle will eventually leave her for you one day but you're not even interested in him anymore so who cares, right?" She asked as she stared into my eyes.
I remained silent.
"Right?" She repeated, now looking more confused.
"April look-"
"No! Please, just stop. I can't do this. I just need to go," I said as I headed towards the front door.
"Go? Where?"
"Home, I just need to get out of here.”
"What, just because of what Rachel said. Who cares, she doesn't even know what she is talking about half of the time," she tried to reassure me.
"No, you're wrong because she does know. Half of the things that she said were true. I am pathetic and I'm lonely. It may be crazy and stupid but I do still love Kyle, I don't want to but I do. I was just stupid enough to believe that for one minute he may have loved me too but who could love me Crystal, I'm a mess," I said as the tears began to roll down my cheeks.
I looked over at Crystal and to my surprise she too was crying.
"Don't you dare say that. You're beautiful, kind and wonderful. You're the best friend that anyone could ever ask for and I love you. You've got me, Jinnie, Jess, Erica and Aiden.”
"It's not enough Crystal, it's not enough," I said as I continued to walk down her path.
"Wait, you can't go home alone, it's after midnight. I'll get Aiden, just hang on," she shouted behind me.
"I'll be fine," I replied. It wasn't loud enough for her to hear but I didn't care anymore.
I continued to walk down the road towards my house. It was dark and cold. Great, I'd left my jacket inside of Aiden's car. Tonight just seemed like one mistake after another. I felt so stupid, pretending that Aiden was my boyfriend just to get at Kyle. I must have been crazy to even believe that he could ever care. I wasn't crying anymore, it was too cold and even if it wasn't, I had no more tears left to cry. I just felt angry and betrayed. Everything was just such a mess.
"Hey, you look cold," a voice said.
As I turned around to face the car I saw my jacket hanging out of the window of a silver mustang.
"Thought that you could use this," Aiden said as he continued to dangle my jacket from the window with a smile on his face.
"I'm fine," I grumbled as I continued to walk faster.
"Ok, suit yourself," he replied as I caught him placing the jacket back inside of the car out of the corner of my eye.
"I told Crystal that I'd be fine," I said without looking in his direction.
"Yeah and I told her that I would make sure that you got home safely," he said with a smile on his face.
His stupid, smiling face sent a rush of anger through me.
"Well I'm not getting in the car," I shot back at him.
"That's ok I'll just quietly drive next to you," he replied, still with a smile on his face.
"Great," I mumbled to myself as I continued to walk along the road.
As I tried to allow the air to clear my mind I was distracted by a low vibrating sound. When I turned to face the sound, I realised that Aiden was singing.
"Really?" I said as I stared into the car.
"Hey, it's not that bad," he said as he continued to sing.
"Can you stop?" I demanded.
"Are you going to get in the car?" He asked.
"No," I replied.
He continued to sing. I tried to ignore him but it was becoming increasingly annoying. I threw him a look and growled at him.
"Ok there?" He asked as he threw another smile in my direction.
"If I get in the car will you shut up?"
"Yeah, I suppose I can do that," he said as a smirk spread across his lips yet again.
I walked over to the car, opened the door, got in and slammed it behind me.
"Hey, door slamming hurts Sally's feelings," he said as he stared at me.
I couldn't help but allow a smile to spread across my lips. Somehow Aiden was very good at lightening even the darkest of moods.
"Just drive," I said as I began to stare out of the window in a bid to hide the smile on my face.
"Yes maam," he replied in a southern accent as he started the car back up and headed towards my house.
Part of me was glad that I had gotten inside of the car, I was freezing but I wasn’t about to admit that anytime soon.
“Are you warm enough?” He asked.
“Yeah I’m fine thanks,” I replied as I tried to disguise the fact that I was still shivering.
“Oh is that why you’re shivering, because you’re fine?” He asked with a smirk on his face.
“I am not shivering,” I lied.
“You know, you weren’t a good liar when I first met you and I can assure you that nothing has changed,” he said as he chuckled to himself.
“And you were a jerk when I first met you and I can assure you that nothing has changed,” I said, sarcastically.
“Wow, who let mean April out to play?” He asked as he raised his eyebrows at me.
“Sorry, I’m just not in a great mood,” I said in a guilty tone.
“Yeah, I gathered. Look you can tell me to mind my own business-“
“Mind your own business,” I interrupted as we both burst out laughing.
It felt good to laugh.
“Like I was saying, you can tell me to mind my own business but I’ll still ignore you and mind your business anyway,” he said as he threw me a smile.
“Yeah, I thought as much.”
“No but seriously, I don’t know exactly what went on tonight but I do know that the April that I know never gives up. You can knock her down a thousand times but she’ll always come back fighting. Just don’t forget that she still exists, ok?” He asked in a serious tone.
I sat in silence, thinking before finally answering him.
“I won’t,” I said as I gave him a weak smile.
It sounds crazy but he had no idea how much I needed to hear those words. I felt so weak and so alone lately. I felt as though I wasn’t even me anymore and perhaps it was time to change that, time to move forward.
"Home, sweet, home," Aiden said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I took a deep breath and just stared out of the window. It was like I was glued to the seat.
"You, ok?" He asked.
"Yeah, I've been so stupid tonight, thinking that things could change between me and Kyle," I said as I turned to meet his gaze.
"Believe me, you are not the stupid one. Some people just don't realise what they have," he replied in a more serious tone.
"I'm really grateful for what you did for me by the way," I said.
"Anytime, it was no problem at all. I was happy to see Kyle getting a taste of his own medicine. It was as much for you as it was for me.”
"Yeah, well I'm still grateful, even if Rachel probably worked it all out and told Kyle everything. It was nice to feel wanted again even if it was just for one night," I said as a feeling of sadness swept over me.
"It was nothing," he said as he threw me a smile.
"Well I guess I better be off. Thanks for making sure that I got in safely," I said as I stepped out of the car. I turned to Aiden one last time before closing the door.
"Night," I whispered before finally closing the car door.
"Night," he replied as he smiled at me through the window.
I walked up the path and opened the door with my key. I waved at Aiden one last time and then slipped inside of my house. I tried not to make too much noise as everyone seemed to be asleep.
I crept up the stairs quietly, trying not to be heard.
"April, is that you?"
"Yes Mom, it's me," I whispered through the crack of her bedroom door.
"Did you have a nice evening?" She asked, sounding half asleep.
I suddenly had to take a deep breath and stop my voice from shaking.
"Yes, it was great," I lied.
"Ok, that's lovely. Goodnight sweetheart.”
"Night Mom," I said before finally entering my room.
I closed the door behind me, put my things down and began to get changed into my pyjamas. As I stared at my reflection, I heard a vibrating sound coming from my purse. I walked over to my drawers where I had placed it and gently took it out of my bag. It was a text message from Kyle. After tonight's events, I couldn't handle hearing anything else to do with him. I placed the phone face down on my chest of drawers, turned off the light and slipped into my bed.
I lay curled up in a ball under my duvet and cried myself to sleep...
"Hey," he said as he gently slipped his hands around my waist. His skin touching mine, felt amazing.
I felt his warm breath on my cheek as he began to pull me closer to him. I could feel a tingling sensation shooting up my spine as his finger tips traced my lower back. My eyes were now closed as I waited in anticipation of his next move. He stroked my cheek before whispering something into my ear.
"April.”
"Yes," I barely whispered back.
"I love you.”
As the words danced around my mind, my lips formed into a smile. The moment was surreal, it was so perfect. I wanted to bottle up the memory forever.
As I opened my eyes, to stare at his beautiful face, I heard a low vibration.
Suddenly my eyes flicked open and I realised that it was coming from under my bed. It was just a dream.
My unknown, mysterious lover, faded into the depths of my imagination.
I grumbled to myself as the feeling of tiredness encompassed my body. I slipped my hand from under the warmth of my pink duvet and began to stroke the carpet in search of what I now realised, was my cell phone. After a minute or two of searching, I found it. I lifted it from underneath the bed and attempted to read the sc
reen. I didn't understand the numbers that were displayed on it. They were certainly not the type of numbers that I was used to seeing. As I allowed my eyes to focus, I realised that I was holding it upside down. If I wasn't so tired, I would have laughed at my own stupidity. Instead, I quickly turned it around to reveal a set of numbers that I still didn't recognise.
"Hello," I mumbled into the receiver as I still struggled to adapt to my new surroundings.
"You're still in bed!" A familiar voice shouted down the phone.
"Crystal?" I asked, still half asleep.
"Yes, I've got no allowance left on my cell, so I'm using Aiden's. Anyway I wanted to know if you wanted to come out to the park later.”
"The park?" I asked, still confused by the sudden jump from my dream to reality.
"Yes, you know that place with grass and trees. Jeez April, did Hayley give you some of her drink last night or something?" Crystal asked in a sarcastic tone.
Although Crystal was currently annoying the hell out of me by interrupting my sleep I still noticed the fact that she had made an effort to pretend as though last night had never happened. That was the one thing that I loved about our friendship.
"No, I'm just tired. Look, can we talk about this in like an hour?" I said as I began to drift off again.
"No we-"
I cut her off, turned my phone onto silent, placed it back on top of my chest of drawers and turned back around. I allowed myself to immerse in the warmth of my duvet in the hope that I would return to my dream and discover who the mysterious guy was. Unfortunately my plans were interrupted by a knock at my door.
Great!
"Come on kiddo, time to get up. We're leaving in an hour," Bob's voice said from behind the door.
I forgot that it was Sunday. It was the day that we all went for dinner at my grandma's house.
"Ok," I mumbled.
I slowly slipped my legs from underneath the covers and lifted my body up. My arms stretched through the air as I began to let out a loud yawn. That felt good. As I allowed my eyes to focus, I realised just how bright it actually was. I walked through my door and into the bathroom.
I set the shower and began to brush my teeth. As I stared into the mirror, images of Rachel's face appeared in my mind. I couldn't believe that last night, actually happened and although no one was around, my cheeks still changed to a deep shade of red. If only I could have swapped my recent dream for my reality, things would be so much easier.
Pretend Page 4
