Pretend

by Charlene Antrobus

  "Yeah I know but I needed to talk to you," he said. He seemed to have been running from the look of his red cheeks and the slight pant in his voice.

  "Aiden, I have nothing left to say to you," I said as I attempted to walk past him and walk out of the door.

  "Please," he said as he gently grabbed my arm, preventing me from leaving.

  "Just, hear me out.”

  "What, like you did with me last night? I wanted you to hear me out but instead you drove off,” I said in an angry tone.

  “I’m really sorry, I had no idea about Kyle’s sister,” he said in a guilty voice.

  “Well, you should have asked,” I fired back.

  “Yes, I should have and I’m sorry,” he replied.

  “And you ignored my text this morning," I said in a frustrated voice. I don’t know why but it was becoming harder to stay mad at him even though I was trying my hardest.

  "I left my phone at home, I haven't seen your text," he replied in a gentle voice.

  "Oh, how convenient," I said as I folded my arms across my chest and raised one eyebrow in the air.

  "It's true. Look, April, I know that I was a jerk last night and I'm sorry. I should have given you the chance to explain," he said as he stared at me.

  "Yes, you should have," I replied.

  "Come on, you can't stay mad at me forever, especially since I spent the entire night thinking about you anyway," he said with a smirk on his face.

  It took every bone in my body not to smile at that last comment, especially since the butterflies in my stomach were going absolutely crazy.

  "Yeah well, you're still an idiot," I said as I tried my hardest to look angry.

  "Yeah and you're still cute when you're mad," he said as he took a step closer to me.

  "You're also arrogant, big headed and you always think that you're funny," I said as I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach down as he got closer and closer.

  "Good to see that you know so much about me and there was me thinking that you didn't care," he said as the smirk on his face continued to grow.

  To say that I didn't want him right now would be a lie. As I stared down at his dark blue, denim jeans and his tight, black tee my heart started to beat at a pace that I could not control, even if I wanted to. Why did every muscle in his body have to be on display? Why did he have to look so damn sexy? As I stood there trying to resist the urge to kiss those beautiful lips, I suddenly realised how hard it must have been for Edward to resist Bella's blood. Ok, so I wasn't a vampire and I didn't want his blood but this was just as hard.

  "You're not as irresistible as you'd like to think," I managed to whisper after moments of standing there with probably the strangest expression on my face.

  "I'm not?" He said as he slipped his hand around my waist and gently pulled me closer. He still had that stupid smirk on his face.

  I forced myself to muster up all of the courage that I had in my feeble little body. Our faces were so close that I could literally feel his breath on my lips. If I lost concentration even just for a second he would be back in control and I was not about to let that happen. It was my turn to be in control and if I really wanted to be then it was now or never.

  "No, you're not," I said as I slipped my index finger up to his lips and gently pushed his face away from mine.

  He let out a slight laugh, which I have to admit was so sexy.

  I gently pulled myself out of his grasp and turned towards the door and began to walk away.

  "Bye, Aiden," I said as a smile filled my lips.

  "Bye, April," he said. I knew from the sound of his voice that he was still smirking.

  It felt so good to be in control.

  Just as I walked out of the door, I was greeted by the all too familiar sound of two voices, arguing.

  "No, I said it first! You copied me on purpose!"

  "Why would I copy you? I keep telling you that I'm the smart one, copying you would mean that I'm trying to lower my IQ!" Erica shouted back at Jinnie.

  "Oh, because you're so perfect aren't you!" Jinnie screamed.

  "Compared to you? Yeah!"

  "Whatever, Prince Eric!" Jinnie spat back as a smirk appeared on her face. She had practically just turned her sister into a dangerous bomb and she knew it.

  About a year ago, Erica liked a guy called Jayden. He was the school moron to put it nicely and when he found out that she liked him, he told everyone that he thought that she was ugly and nick named her prince Eric. She isn't ugly of course but some guys are just plain spiteful. People have only just started to forget about the nick name, until now that is.

  "You spiteful little-"

  "Woahh, ok guys lets all just calm down," I said as I stepped, in between them.

  "Calm down! Did you just hear what she said!" Erica screamed as she gave Jinnie a death glare.

  "Yes I did," I said as I looked over at Jinnie who still had a smirk plastered on her face.

  "And it was a very spiteful thing to say," I said as I raised my eyebrows at her.

  "Yeah, well it's not as if she's any nicer to me," Jinnie defended herself.

  "Look, you're sisters and sisters shouldn't argue like this," I said.

  "Yeah well as far as I'm concerned, she's not my sister, she's dead to me!" Erica shouted.

  "Yeah, same to you!"" Jinnie spat back.

  "You guys are so ridiculous," I said as the anger started to bubble up inside of me. I could see the shocked expression on their faces but I didn't care.

  "Excuse me," they both said as they gave me the exact same angry look. As I looked into their big brown eyes, I could see how angry they both were. As I watched the lines form in their smooth, brown skin as they scrunched up their faces and stared at me, I took a deep breath and continued.

  "You heard! I have spent all night trying to comfort Kyle because his sister is lying unconscious in a hospital bed, fighting for her life and you two are wishing each other dead! You make me sick," I said as I stormed off.

  I heard the patter of feet behind me and before I knew it they had both taken my arms into their hands.

  "Please, wait, we're so sorry," Erica said in a low voice as the guilt became evident on her face.

  "Yeah, we didn't mean it. We were just being stupid," Jinnie said.

  "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about Mimi. I didn't mean to take that out on you guys," I said as they both threw their arms around me. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as the thought of Mimi came flooding back.

  "Come on, let's get to class before we're even later than we already are," Erica said as she tried to talk over the sound of the bell.

  I smiled at them both as they linked their arms through mine and lead the way.

  * * *

  As the bell rang, signifying the end of the day, I let out a sigh of relief. Today had been one of the longest days of my entire life. Concentrating on all of my lessons was one of the hardest tasks, especially when I had Mimi, Aiden and Crystal on my mind all day.

  As I walked out of Mr Baker's History lesson, I heard my name being called.

  "April," Crystal said as she ran in my direction.

  I continued to walk as I ignored her calling me.

  "April, please talk to me. I know that you're still mad but just hear me out.”

  Where have I heard that before? It must be in their blood.

  Without saying a word, I turned to face her with my arms folded across my chest.

  "Thank you. Look, I know that I messed up this morning and that I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions but I didn't want Kyle to manipulate you again," she said as a look of sadness came over her.

  "Ok," I replied.

  "I know that you probably hate me and I know that I've got a big mouth. I only did what I did because I don't want to see you get hurt again. April, you're my best friend and it may sound silly but I just want to protect you sometimes because I know how nice you can be and sometimes being nice gets your heart broken," she s
aid as her eyes began to well up with tears.

  "Yes, you have got a big mouth but I don't hate you and I'm glad that you tried to protect me but sometimes you have to learn to back off a little. I'm not a little kid Crystal and I can make my own decisions and as my friend you should trust me instead of jumping to the first crazy idea that pops into your head," I said in a calm tone.

  "I know but I just don't want to lose my best friend," she said as the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

  "You won't. Come here, you doughnut," I said as I threw my arms around her and let her squeeze me half to death.

  "You forgive me?" She said as she gently pulled away from me.

  "Of course I do, where would I find another best friend at such short notice," I said as we both giggled.

  "So, you'll still come to mine then?"

  "To yours? Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that, sorry. Look, I don't know," I said, remembering that I would have to spend an entire evening with Aiden.

  "Please," she said as she blinked her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes at me.

  "Ok, ok I'll come if you stop flirting with me," I said as I burst out laughing.

  "I wasn't flirting," she said as she scrunched up her nose.

  "You were, that's exactly the same way that you bat your eyelashes at guys when you like them or want something," I said as we began to walk out of the school entrance.

  "I do?" She said as she began to laugh.

  "Yes, you really do," I replied.

  "Oh dear," she said as we finally got to Aiden's car.

  As I watched him leaning up against the bonnet and staring at me, my stomach began to do back flips. This was going to be a long night.

  "You sit in the front," Crystal said as a smirk spread across Aiden's face as he took in her words.

  "No, no I'll be fine at the back," I quickly replied as I opened the door and jumped inside of the car.

  Aiden slipped into the driver’s seat as Crystal stood outside, fiddling with her shoes.

  "Anyone would think that you were trying to get away from me," he said as he stared at me in the mirror with a smirk on his face.

  "Maybe I am," I said just before Crystal stepped into the car.

  The journey to Crystal's house was made up of me and Aiden sitting in silence whilst Crystal filled us in on what happened during her day. It was becoming increasing difficult to avoid Aiden's eyes staring at me in the mirror.

  "Why are you two so quiet?" Crystal asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  "I'm just tired," I lied.

  "And you?" She said, turning to face Aiden.

  "Well if you weren’t talking so much then maybe someone else might get the chance to actually speak," he replied in a frustrated tone.

  "What is your problem, really?" Crystal snapped at him.

  "Just drop it," he said as he continued to keep his eyes on the road ahead.

  "Yeah, well I just hope that you're not going to ruin our night with your stupid mood swings!"

  "Don't worry, your precious night will be safe, I'm going to Jake's later," he said in an angry tone.

  "Good! Would you believe that he's been like this since last night, just because I asked him why he let Cayce Hellman into our house in the middle of the night? It's not my fault that his stupid, ex girlfriend is the school bike," she said, turning around to face me.

  "No it's not," I said as a rush of anger came over me.

  What a hypocrite! He was angry because Kyle was at my house when he had Cayce ‘school bike’ Hellman at his! I knew it, he was no better than Kyle!

  I let out a small snigger as I watched him trying to avoid eye contact with me in the rear view mirror.

  As we pulled up outside of the Daniel's house, I stepped out of the car and stormed up the path behind Crystal, leaving Aiden inside his car. I was mad, scrap that I was furious!

  "Hey, you ok?" Crystal asked as she turned her key inside of her front door.

  "Yeah, I'm fine," I lied as we walked inside of the house.

  "Mom’s not here by the way, she had to work. She said to say sorry and that she’d see you next time,” she said in a sad voice.

  “It’s ok,” I said as I smiled at her. I wasn’t shocked. I grew up with Aiden and Crystal, and as the years went by I got used to the fact that there mom was around less and less. We all missed her but we got used to it, she had bills to pay and that’s what she was doing, I guess.

  “I've just got to go to the toilet, just go through to the living room," she said as she leapt up the stairs, taking two at a time.

  As I walked through the living room doors, I felt an all too familiar presence behind me.

  "You are such a hypocrite," I snapped, without even turning around.

  "Now who's not giving people the chance to explain," he said. I could hear that stupid smirk in his voice and it was making me mad.

  As I turned around to face him, I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.

  "Explain what? Everyone knows what happens when Cayce Hellman gets invited for a sleepover, it's not exactly rocket science," I said in a low enough voice for Crystal not to hear.

  "Oh and what's that?" He said with a smirk on his face.

  Why the hell was he smiling? He actually found this funny for some reason and it was making me so mad!

  "Oh, like I need to tell you. After last night I’m sure that you’re practically a pro in the subject," I spat back at him.

  "You're jealous aren't you? He said as a smile filled his stupid face.

  "No, why would I be jealous of Cayce and you? She can have you," I lied.

  "She can?" He asked as he moved towards me.

  "Yes, she can," I mumbled as my heart started to race.

  Every time that he got close to me it was like I lost all control of myself. It was a feeling that felt both good and bad but right now it was just bad.

  "Do you think that your stupid charm can just get you out of every situation?"

  "You noticed my charm?" He said, smiling even more.

  Oh, me and my stupid mouth. Get it together April! Stop looking at his muscular chest and his light brown eyes and the way...Stop! I was not about to let myself get drawn back in again. It was time to play him at his own game.

  "Of course," I said as a shocked expression came over his face.

  Walking right up to him, I looked deep into his eyes and ran one finger down the middle of his chest, very slowly. I smiled as I felt his body shudder at my touch. Typical guy. As I brought my face closer to his I could hear the speed of his breathing increase. I smirked to myself, this was too easy.

  I brought my lips right next to his ear, allowing them to brush the side of face very gently.

  "Can you do me a favour?" I whispered.

  I felt him nod his head, signifying yes.

  "When you go to Jake's tonight, tell him that I said, that I can’t wait to see him tomorrow," I said before brushing past him and heading towards the door with a big smirk spread across my face.

  Before I got the chance to open the door, Aiden quickly slammed it shut and turned me around so that my back was pressed against it. As I looked at the smirk on his face, I couldn't help but want to kiss him. I had never wanted someone so bad when they were making me so angry.

  Moving his lips to my ear just as I had done to him, he began to whisper.

  "I can do better than that, how about I pick you up tomorrow?" He said, still with the sound of his smirk ripe in his voice.

  As much as I felt like I now had some control, I couldn't help but feel weak at the knees. I attempted to answer but I was cut off as he continued to whisper something to me.

  "I'll get you, Jake and Cayce. I always wondered what it would be like to go on a double date," he said as he pulled away from me and allowed his smile to grow even larger than before.

  "I'm not going on a double date with you and Cayce," I snapped back.

  "Why? I thought you said that you weren’t jealous," he said as he headed over to the couch and
sat down with his hands behind his head.

  "I'm not," I lied.

  "Prove it," he said.

  As I watched him sat their smiling, my blood began to boil.

  "Fine," I finally said before walking out of the living room door and slamming it behind me, leaving him sat, smiling to himself.

  If Aiden wanted war then it was a war he was going to get!

  "Why are you just standing there?" Crystal asked as she walked down the stairs, towards me.

  "Erm...I was just going to get a drink," I lied.

  "Oh, why didn't you ask Aiden? Or was he too lazy to do it!" She shouted, loud enough for him to hear.

  I don't know why but Crystal and Aiden didn't seem to be getting on as well as they usually did for some reason.

  "Come on, I'll get you one," she said as she headed towards the kitchen.

  "Yeah, thanks," I said as I followed her.

  "So, what do you want?"

  "Huh?" I asked, feeling rather confused.

  "To drink?" Crystal asked impatiently. I see that she was back to her old, lovely self.

  "Oh, just water please," I replied.

  She handed me the glass of water and then sat on the stool, facing me. As I took a sip of my drink, I suddenly realised the glint in her eyes as she continued to look at me.

  "What?" I said with a confused expression on my face.

  "I don't know, something's different," she said with a smirk on her face.

  "How do you mean?" I asked, feeling rather self conscious.

  "Ok, well since we made up earlier, I haven't once heard you talk about Kyle," she said as her smile grew.

  "Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

  "Of course it is. I mean, I feel sorry for him and all but he's still a jerk," she said.

  "Ok, so where exactly are you going with all of this," I asked, feeling a little frustrated and curious.

  "Well, I know you and something's changed. You seem to be moving on from Kyle, which can only mean one thing, there's someone else," she exclaimed.

  Oh, she thinks that I like Jake.

  "And it's not Jake," she continued. Wrong.

  "What do you mean?" I asked as I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.

  "Well, I know that something's distracting your feelings towards Kyle but I can also see that you don't like Jake enough for it to be him. So, that leaves me wondering, who?" She said, now raising one eyebrow at me.