A/N:

Oh my gosh, thank you all so much for your support! I decided to immediately reward you with another chapter. I would have gotten it to you sooner, ctuallyreally, though my internet has been really stubborn for some reason. I apologize; once my technical worker (…okay, my dad) figures out the problem, I hope it will make things easier for the future.

Chapter Two

Questions

Patricia finished her explanation about what happened with Eddie and how he was back and how she was on the brink of hysteria over it. At least she didn't sound as weird as she thought it was…did she? She stared at Carol for a reaction, which was not received one bit but with another kindly smile that she believed read, Yeah, I'm listening, but don't worry; it'll be alright, even though I was never in your shoes. There was a lot she had to say and she finished all in ten minutes, feeling exhausted by going on about it. Carol grinned at her but then turned away, pondering with her lip puckered.

"This does seem so bad, Trish. You just saw him for a few seconds while you were out," said Carol after a long minute. Patricia entirely fell on her bed and let out a small raspberry to reveal struggle in her mind. "I don't see the big deal."

"Well, I thought he was back in America. He told me he'd never come back after graduation. I'm just surprised, that's all," Patricia said smoothly, all of it true-she just made sure to keep it as unspecified as possible. "And I wonder why he's back…" she added, but it was in a whisper, so Carol couldn't hear. And she didn't.

"But he is back. And he talked to you on the phone just now-though it didn't sound as friendly as I thought it would. As always, you sounded like you hated the guy's guts," she said with a questioning look to conform it.

Patricia processed this and glared at Carol, whose eyes widened as she noticed the former's reaction. "How much did you hear?" she asked.

"Don't get angry. It's not like we have room to walk from when someone's having a private phone call," Carol countered, rolling her eyes. "Besides, I still needed to finish dressing. Next time, at least make sure you know what you're picking up."

"I'll make sure to put that on my list of things I should do, but don't," Patricia said in a slight snide tone only her closest friends wouldn't take seriously.

Still, Carol went on. "I mean, I thought maybe you'd be happy to hear from someone from high school. I'd love to hear from Gabriella again."

Patricia gave her a disgusted look of disapproval. "Yes, but this is my ex-boyfriend we're talking about, Carol! We hate each other-I hate him, and I'm certain he hates me," Patricia sneered, standing up and finding herself pacing around.

"Then why did he call you? Why are you so freaked out over seeing him? Come on, I feel like you're ignoring my questions for a reason," Carol said, getting up a few moments after she did. In the center of the room, she grabbed Trisha's shoulders to stop her. She was much shorter than Patricia, only a bit over five feet, but she made a supposedly threatening glare that made the height forgotten.

Patricia wasn't fazed, though. In fact, she fought back with her own glare-when it came to threats, she always had a way to be winner from her intimidating aura. "Why are you asking me this stuff? Just leave this alone, will you. You're being bloody annoying, you know? And it's driving me nuts," Patricia snapped. Carol's eyes grew again but the blond sighed irritably.

"You just aren't making any sense. You're looking around like it's driving you crazy but you say it's nothing. I mean…maybe you are confused about Eddie coming back. That it's suddenly surprising you-"

"I told you that. He said he would never come back," she repeated in a complaining tone. She hated repeating all of this. It brought depressed, dark memories. She leaned her arm on the dressed beside her bed and rested her head on her palm.

"No, I mean another kind of confused, like…you don't know how you're feeling-" Carol began, but Patricia jumped from the bed beyond horrified, and that shut Carol up with a slightly scared look.

"No, it doesn't mean anything like that! We broke up, and we made it clear we'd never talk to each other again," Patricia explained seriously, pointing at nothing as if to emphasize her meaning. And when Carol opened her mouth, Patricia directed her fingers at her, cutting her off again. "And we're dropping this right now, okay? Enough; end of case; et cetra."

Carol mumbled something about her starting it but she let it go. Her roommate nodded slowly, and both girls went back into the living room. Carol turned the television on to some pointless comedy movie, and then silence swallowed the room for a while…until someone knocked at the door about thirty minutes later.

"You didn't tell him to come here, did you?" Carol asked in shock.

"No, of course not. I'm sure you would have heard. …I think it's Jon," Patricia guessed and went into the living room. She peeked into the peephole and checked who it was. The minute she saw a pair of dark eyes and dark hair, she turned to her friend in the doorway of their room and mouthed, Just Jon.

"Good. Go out with him for a bit. Forget Eddie for a bit," Carol suggested and shut the door to her bedroom without another word. Oh, now she decides to leave me alone.

Patricia opened the door and her tall, handsome (tall, dark, and handsome boy, as Carol liked to joke) boyfriend, Jon Bierry, entered her apartment. "'Ello, Jon. How are you doing?" she greeted more cheerfully than she intended.

But naïve Jon didn't notice. He gave her a kiss on the nose and said, "Hey, T. I was thinking about going to dinner just down the street, and I got to finish my work at the office early. You up for it?" He smirked.

"Down the street? I dunno, it's such a far walk away," she replied but her smile was her true answer.

Jon chuckled. "Well, get your things. And an umbrella, it's still soaking out," he instructed her kindly and leaned against the wall, pointing outside. Sure enough, it was raining as hard as it was since she came inside. Such a damn depressing day; it was like some sign. Or maybe it's just the weather like every other day-calm down, crazy… She chastised herself .

At this thought, Patricia suddenly felt her energy for going out deplete, and she hesitated. "Umm, actually, Jon, I don't know about right now."

Jon's brow quirked. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just not in the mood to go out right now. It-it's not you, Jon," she added quickly, hoping not to tug at a dramatic string in her relationship. "I'm just not in such a good mood. Not feeling well, I don't think."

"It's cool. I'll call you tomorrow, then? Or you call me when you feel better." Jon's smile was one of the first things she noticed about him. It hardly ever went away and brightened a room-and her mood so long as it wasn't anything too dark.

"I will," she promised with sincerity. She had broken a lot of promises before, with dire consequences afterward. She would try as much as she could do keep this one. She reached on her toes and kissed Jon tenderly on the lips for a few long seconds. Enough to give him some hope this crazy girl still cared for him.

"Good." He flashed her an alluring smile and added, "Later." He opened the door revealing the pouring rain. She watched him go down the stairs and didn't leave until he was out of sight. By then, she wondered when she would scream for mercy on the drama unfolding. What had she done, letting her boyfriend go like that? And for what, seeing an ex in an hour or so? Had she actually even thought of going? She wanted to punch a wall but stopped herself; she already did that once and it cost money. Not what she wanted on her plate at the moment.

Carol appeared instantly back into the living room, so quickly; some sort of freaky petite ninja, she was. She sat on the couch with an accusing look toward the door. "I thought you were going out with him?" she said.

"Oh, well, I couldn't! It's too…wet out." Was she this bad with lying as a teenager, or did she just lose her touch? She exhaled irritably. "I just didn't feel like it, alright?" She walked away from Carol, hoping to just drop the conversation there. But when she sat at their table, Carol sat down across from her with a glare that spoke, This isn't over yet.

"You turned down a night with Jon to go out with your ex?" Carol asked, not so much surprised, but sounding like she wanted the summary to come out for Patricia to hear it clearly. Her mouth gaped, wanting to go on, but she stopped herself.

"It's not going out. I'm just seeing a friend from high school. Besides, I can always see Jon. I dunno how long Eddie's staying; I hope he doesn't stay long," she added, crossing her arms. "This is only one time. I doubt I'll talk to him ever again."

"Where are you meeting him? And is it now? Want me to come with?" her roommate gabbed. And if Patricia didn't stop her, she was sure the girl would have went on with hopeless questions like a gossiping school girl.

"No way! Can't I just deal with him alone?" Patricia argued defensively. If she was going to see Eddie, it would be just between the two of them. That made plenty of sense, though probably not to Carol.

Carol shrugged. "Sure, I didn't really care. I just wanted to meet this boy and see how hot he is."

"Carol!" Patricia fumed, her nostrils flaring.

The blond then grabbed Patricia shoulders and pulled her from the chair. She pretty much dragged her toward the door. "Just get your shoes and go see this damn boy and get this over with!" Carol commanded.

"What have you got against him so much? You don't even have the reasons I do," Patricia questioned. Carol's attitude towards most people was mutual, so her hating someone was a rare occurrence. There must have been some sort of bad of experience to be put on her short list of haters.

Carol shrugged. "I don't know him, yeah. But you do, and you hate him. It's just kind of a rule for friends. Hate the ex unless you see him and immediately want to get a bit of action, ya know?" she added with a glimmer of something in her eyes.

Patricia gave an awkward laugh. "I suppose."

"Plus, anyone who bothers your time with Jon really doesn't know what he's in for. Jon's an awesome guy, I've been constantly saying whenever you guys get into fights. This one guy you hate," she said, emphasizing hate despite Patricia's glower, "is no reason to cause tension between you two. Am I wrong?"

Patricia stared at her, but Carol was already heading into the kitchen for a snack. How bad could it be to see her ex-boyfriend who she hurt, loved, lost, retook, pained, and conflicted with, and he doing the same, in her school years? Yeah, the way she put that, she couldn't wait to see him!

But still, she couldn't find it in her not to go. She was somewhere in the middle, unsure of which side to take with a devil and angel against her shoulders, fighting with one another on whether or not to go. There were the pros and cons, both perfectly reasonable. But what would win?

After standing at the door for a whole painstaking two minutes, she grabbed her umbrella and stepped into the world, and called for a cab to take her to Eddison Sweet's apartment. Throughout the ride, she imagined how it could go, bad or good, pointless or worth the money to see him. Would it even be worth it? What did he need to see her for? Why did he bother talking to her?

Eddie…the boy who broke her heart, and the one that made her just plain insane, and yet she was willing to waste time to see him again.