Chapter 4DealBreakers

Yasmin's P.O.V

My eyelids burned red from the sun in my eyes, and my alarm went off. Miley Cyrus' One in a Million…Eitan's ringtone…Why I did that to myself, I'm not sure…normally at this time, I'd get a text from him or something, but not today. Even though the memories of our relationship ran through my mind, hearing this song, I let it play because…I don't know. I sat up, my head pounding. I thought that if I had slept from crying myself to sleep last night, I'd wake up feeling okay…but sleep betrayed me. I went over to the couch by the window, pulling the curtains back and studied the weather. It was beautiful, the sky was sherbet, the sun hidden behind the clouds. I opened it and immediately felt the cool breeze rush into my room. It felt just like autumn. Usually I'd take a day like this to my advantage and style up in fall fashion…but not today. Sweats seem a bit more befitting.

I know what I tweeted last night wasn't true. I don't want this to be it between Eitan and I…but what if it really is? I picked my iPad from the neighboring table and as I did, I noticed that my roses were wilting. The sight brought me down even more. I shook my head, uncovering the face of the iPad, turning it on. I went straight to Twitter. I checked Eitan's page, and he hasn't tweeted for days. I'm hoping that means he hasn't been on in that long. I took this chance to delete the tweets from last night including the song by Aaliyah…I know that's how I feel, but things will only get worse for me taking the heat from the girls and everyone else. No one else knows we broke up and they don't need to. The song finally finished and the Sarah Bareilles' "Bottle it Up" began to play. I love this song. Thinking of it, I realized that all of this drama between Eitan and I is unnecessary. I know that what the girls did yesterday wasn't called for, and I also know that they only tried to look out for me, but that shouldn't be what determines our fate as friends. I felt a bit better. We'll fix this. I wanted to take Eitan's advice from weeks ago…not feeling bad for wanting what I want…that's when we were happy…how we had each other to share our feelings with one another…

I stood from the edge of my bed, picking my robe from the post, wrapping it around myself. I went to my bathroom and got started with my daily rituals; brushing, washing my face, hanging my robe on the hook behind the door, hopping in the shower, washing my hair, and shaving what I needed to. I stepped out of the tub, approaching the foggy mirror.

"Only thing I ever could need, only one good thing worth trying to be in is love." I heard Sarah sing through my closed bathroom door. I smiled to myself, wiping the mist out of view. I got to thinking. Why wouldn't Eitan want me? He's seen me damn near naked, and we shared something…I can't let this ruin us. I went to my room and dressed into my bra and panties. I went back to the bathroom, plucked my robe from it's place and slid into it. I went into my pantry closet and took out my blow-dryer. It took me about 15 minutes to semi-dry it enough for it to curl on it's own. I sprayed gloss on my palms, rubbing them together, then running my fingers through my hair to evenly distribute. I'd usually clip it up, but I'll wear it down for Eitan. I skipped to my closet and picked out a cream colored cashmere crew-neck sweater, a waist-high pleated skirt that fell to mid-thigh, and gathered my solid black suede platform pumps with ankle straps from my rack. I set them all out neatly on my bed and placed my shoes to the floor. Something was missing…tights. I went to my dresser and withdrew a pair of sheer black socks that rose just above my knees. I got dressed quickly. Eitan should love me in this. I went back to my closet, over to my purse rack and pulled out a chestnut colored hobo with over sized pocket flaps, hooking it on my shoulder. I picked my phone from my bed, turning off my radio. I left my room, heading downstairs.

I found mom in her usual spot, but she was packing up to leave.

"Mom, where are you going?"

"I didn't tell you, I have to leave for a few days. I called Cloe's mom and you're staying with her while I'm gone."

"Wish you would've told me so I could pack."

"Lo siento, mi amor. It was sort of last minute. I'm going to take you to school, and Cloe will take you back here to pack, and you'll go home with her." She said, picking her briefcase up from the breakfast bar.

"Okay, mom."

"You look beautiful, princesa."

"Gracias mama, so do you." I smiled faintly, my eyes meeting hers. She motioned for me to leave first.

"So, I'm guessing everything is back to normal with Eitan?" She asked as she ushered me out. I stopped outside the door to face her as she locked up.

"Not exactly. We agreed to be friends."

"Okay, and no hard feelings?" She asked, stopping by me. I took a deep breath, and continued to her car. I could hear her heels clicking behind me, following close behind. "Hija? Are you going to answer me?" She asked, opening her door. I opened mine and followed her in.

"I am hurt…mom. I just don't want him to know it."

"Why?"

"I don't want him to worry for me…I want him to be happy. I'm not sure how happy I'll be being friends, but I think I'll get used to it."

"Hmm. Looks to me like you're planing on changing his mind."

"I'm just being myself, mom. What do you expect me to do? Come to school in sweats and look miserable?"

She shook her head, smiling.

"Something in you changed, hija."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a lot more forward with your feelings…verbally. I always knew that you were okay with expressing yourself through fashion, but you seem a bit more confident."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Great thing. Do I have Eitan to thank for that?"

"Maybe you do…I'm not sure." I lied. She nodded, looking ahead.

"Mom?'

"Yes?"

"Are we moving?"

Her eyes went back and forth between me and the road as we approached a stop-light.

"Is this what this is all about?"

"What?"

"You and Eitan. Is he not with you because I said that we were moving?"

"I honestly don't know. Good observation though…"

"I'm the best…but I don't know for sure, mi vida. We might, we might not."

"When will you know for sure?"

"Give me a few months…"

A few months…that's time enough…I think. We were pulling up to the school and I searched the parking lot for Eitan's Fiesta.

I pulled out my blackberry and text Cloe.

"So I'm staying with you for the next couple of days?" I text.

My alert tone went off the next second.

"Yep! I can't wait girl, we're going to have so much fun!" She sent.

We are going to have fun. I wonder if Eitan is in class.

"Is Eitan in class?"

I didn't know what she was going to say.

"Yeah, he's here. Why? I thought we agreed?"

"Yeah, we did…"

"He wants to be friends with you outside of us, Yasmin. I thought that was a deal breaker?"

"I know Eitan didn't mean it, Cloe".

"Okay. If you say so. Only you know him better than the three of us."

"Thanks Cloe. I'll see you inside."

"Okay, hurry in! First period is about to start! I'll meet you at your locker!"

"Okay mom, I'll see you soon." I said, gathering my purse and phone as she parked.

"Okay, mi linda. I love you." She said, pecking my cheek. I hugged my mom tight.

"I love you too, mom."

"Porbrecita, you'll be okay. You have your friends."

"I know, mom. I'll miss you." I said, still holding on.

"Go on. I'll call you once I'm in Chicago." She whispered, pulling away.

I opened my door and got out. She pulled off the next second. I turned to find Sasha taking my hand.

"You okay, girl?" She asked.

"Better than I was yesterday." I smiled.

"Good, we were all worried about you last night."

"Why?"

"Twitter." She answered, rolling her neck. I giggled to myself.

"Well, we got 7 minutes before class starts, we should get going. You look cute, girl."

"Thanks, so do you." I said eying her somewhat baggy ever-long white dolman shirt, blue jeans, and tan colored beanie. We had on matching colored bags except her's was a cross-shoulder that she wore like a hobo. Her jewelry was simple. Just silver bangles and her earrings were hidden in her tresses that fell just below her bra-strap in loose waves. All of a sudden Cade walked up, snaking his arm around her waist from behind.

"Hey Yasmin" He said to me, burying his face in her neck. "Hey babe." He murmured, holding her close.

"Cade? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, Cade moved in with Dylan. He wanted to finish senior year with us." Sasha smiled, holding onto his arms that held her. They were so cute.

"Wow! How cool!"

"Stop it, babe!" She said, flinching away from his touch. He took her hand, his eyes never leaving her.

"Yeah, I'm glad to be back with you guys." He said, looking ahead. "Who the hell is that?" He asked. Sasha and I followed his stare back to this girl standing by Eitan. What was he doing outside? He looked good. He was talking to her, her arm hooked to his. She was ivory skinned just like Eitan. Two-toned hair, dark brown from her scalp to her ears and medium copper the rest of the way down her back in full sultry waves. She was pushing Eitan along into the building, her hair blowing in the wind, her slightly over sized tan parka hanging off her shoulder, a spacious fitting black and white striped shirt underneath it. She had on black leggings and black leather boots that rose just above her ankles and a matching cross shoulder purse that hung carelessly off her shoulder. She looked stunning. She was beautiful, and she was with Eitan…laughing and playfully pushing him. My heart froze.

"Yasmin…" Sasha started.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go talk to him." Cade said, leaving us to catch up to them, disappearing into the school.

Sasha wrapped her arm around my shoulder, walking me into the school. Just as we turned to corner to get to my locker, I froze. Eitan was standing five lockers away talking to that girl, Cade hanging by his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Pretty Princess. Cade will get the deets." She whispered, keeping her eyes ahead of us. Cloe met us half way, her eyes wide.

"Yasmin! Do you see that girl Eitan's with?" She asked. I looked ahead and surprisingly met his gaze. I looked away immediately. I didn't bother answering Cloe. I went to my locker, did my combination and took my books out for Spanish and Math, shut it and turned my back to him. I spotted Jade turning the corner, approaching us hand in hand with Kobe. I couldn't help it, I stepped to Cloe and she took me in her arms. I couldn't believe that I thought everything we had was real. Seeing Eitan with that girl made it clear to me that he didn't want me. He searched for an excuse to leave and didn't care at all when the girls mentioned Thad. I guess that's why he encouraged me to date other people…he already had someone.

"Shh, Yasmin. Don't let him see you like this. You have to be strong." She whispered in my ear as I wept soundly in her arms.

"She's right, honey." Sasha said, her hand going to my shoulder. I heard quickened heels approaching us.

"Yasmin! What's wrong?" Jade asked. I didn't answer, and soon I felt her rest her head against my back, I then saw Sasha's hand on Cloe's shoulder, hugging her. There we were, the four of us huddled together…how could I even begin to want something with him if he asked me to choose between him and my friends. My friends are always here for me, and Eitan…has done nothing but hurt me lately. At that moment, I had decided that I was done with him.

"I don't want to be here." I finally said, pulling back.

"Shh." Cloe said, taking my face between her hands. Jade and Sasha wiped my tears away.

"You're going to stay here and be strong." Sasha encouraged.

"Exactly. You have your own education to pursue, and you're not going to ruin it over a guy like him." Jade added, taking my books from me.

"Julissa deserves him, Yas. You don't. You deserve better." Cloe whispered, turning while wrapping her arm around me. She patiently led me away to my class. She sat me down, Jade placed my books on my desk, and Sasha took a seat beside me as she usually did.

"We'll see you 4th period, okay?" Cloe asked, kissing my hair. I nodded as Jade tapped my shoulder in comfort. They stopped at Sasha's desk, exchanged a few words, and with that, they left.

How was I going to make it through this? I thought as the bell rang.

End of Yasmin's P.O.V.

Eitan's P.O.V.

"What the hell was that with Yasmin, dude?" Kobe asked, coming over to me.

"I don't want to talk about it." I answered. I guess she's still upset about yesterday. She still hates me. The next second, Jade and Cloe were standing before me. I inhaled sharply, awaiting what they were here for.

"Stay away from Yasmin, Eitan. Don't even breath a word to her." Jade warned.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"You should already know, you jackass!"

"Look, what I said yesterday—"

"We don't care! We don't want anymore of your lame excuses! Yasmin wants nothing to do with you, so do your part, and don't bother speaking to her."

I kept my mouth shut.

"I had such high hopes for you two, Eitan." Cloe said as Cam walked up behind her.

"Hey, what's up guys?" He said, touching his lips to her cheek.

"When you hurt her, it becomes our problem too, so you might as well steer clear of us as well." She said, walking into psych. Damn, even hopeful Cloe didn't give me any words of encouragement…

"Eitan, what the hell?" Cam asked. Soon Cade, Dylan, Kobe, Cam, and Paloma were crowded around me. I kept my eyes down. Everything began to feel overwhelming to the point of me skipping the fucking day…but I couldn't. Mom wouldn't have it.

"Eitan, you okay?" Paloma asked, her hand landing on my shoulder. I shrugged out of her touch and went to psych.

Everyone is pissing me off today. I don't know how long I can take being around everyone. It's only Tuesday and things are getting worse and worse.

Soon it came time for AP English. I wanted to see Yasmin to at least finalize things, but when everyone filed in, I didn't see her. The bell rang and Mrs. Flemming was closing the door behind her. She must've left. Sasha, Jade, and Cloe were here, glaring at me.

"Okay class, We're going to start a new book as a class today." She said as we heard knocking at the door. She ran to open it and it was Yasmin, walking in, presenting her with a Counselor's pass. "You okay, Yasmin?" She asked as she walked to her desk beside mine. Yasmin simply nodded, taking her seat. She looked beautiful as always. She wore her hair down…I was mesmerized. You'd think that if she was as sad as everyone made her out to be, she'd be dressed in sweats or rags or something. She looks perfectly pristine, pretty and polished as always.

"As I was saying, class…we're going to be reading 'The Great Gatsby'. Anyone ever heard of it?" She asked.

Yasmin and I were the only ones who raised our hands.

"Eitan, do you want to tell us what you know about the book?"

"Well…it's a love story." I said, not wanting to explain any further.

"Very insightful, Eitan." Mrs. Flemming chuckled. The class laughed along. Yasmin didn't budge.

"Yasmin? Would you like to explain the book to the class?"

Yasmin sat back in her seat and crossed her legs…I was distracted, truthfully.

"Its about a man named Jay Gatsby. He happens to be very wealthy when the story starts off. It's about him and how he worked connections to get in contact with his lost love. Her cousin, I believe, who's point of view is told in this story. I could go into detail after detail, but I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone." She murmured.

"Okay, thank you Yasmin and Eitan. Do either of you know what to look out for in this story?"

"Symbolism." Both of us answered.

"Good! We will be writing critical analysis papers for this book, so I want you all to keep an eye out for symbolism!" She said, going over to her desk. "Who would like to pass out books?" She called.

"I'll do it." Jade volunteered. Great. I already know how I'll get my book…maybe I won't get one at all. Surprisingly, Jade handed me one in the same fashion as everyone else. These girls are confusing.

After Soccer practice.

"Okay, you've been avoiding us all day dude, tell us what the fuck is going on!" Dylan hollered over the phone. The guy had been texting me all day, claiming that he had to go home to his mom to finish chores. He insisted on having me call him after practice so we could all talk.

"Yasmin and I are over for good." I shrugged, stalking over to the showers.

"Well yeah, Cloe told me that you told her to choose between you and her friends."

"I didn't do that. I just told her that we could be friends…just outside of her friends."

"Same thing, dumb fuck." Dylan said over speaker phone. I rolled my eyes, placing the phone on the bench by my locker. I pulled out my duffel bag, taking out the briefs I packed and towel.

"So you and that girl in a relationship now?" Kobe asked.

"What girl?"

"The sexy one you were with all day." Dylan answered.

"Oh Paloma. That's my annoying aunt."

"Your aunt?" All of them asked together.

"Yeah. Dad's youngest sister. She lives with me now. Speaking of which, I have to go get her from the gym."

"The gym?"

"Drama club met there and she was asked to join them. She's into that shit."

"Drama nerd, huh? Like Yasmin…"

"Stop talking to me about Yasmin. I don't want to hear anything about her, understood?"

"Damn, dude. That bad?"

"Just…don't talk to Yasmin about me, and don't talk to me about her. It's already difficult to share a school with her—"

"And classes…" Kobe added.

"Right. And I expect you guys to help me out with this one."

"Don't we always?" Dyl asked.

"Exactly." Cam included.

"Dyl, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, later dude…and hey!"

"What?"

"You think you could uh…introduce me to your uh…aunt …tomorrow?" He asked.

I hung up, sighing. I went back to my locker. Forget the shower. I packed my clothes in my duffel bag, and walked out the side doors, out to the field. I placed the bag on the bleachers and started laps around the track. I have to clear my head.

An hour later.

"Eitan!" I heard Paloma call as I sat on the bleachers, my head hung low. I grabbed my water bottle and poured it over the back of my head, shaking the excess cold water from my face.

I caught a glimpse of Paloma's shoes as she took a seat beside me.

"Eitan, it's 7 o clock, it's time to go home." She said.

I shook my head to myself, standing.

"Why are you following me? Mom gave you a key to my car, why don't you just leave?"

"Because…I'm not going to leave you here alone, Eitan." She said, following me. "I know you're hurting."

"You don't know shit, Paloma. Just give me some space."

"I don't understand why you hate me so much, Eitan." She murmured. I turned to eye her and she was sitting on the bleachers, her face hidden in her palms. Shit. Fucking females. I went to sit beside her, folding my arm around her shoulder. She turned and hugged me around my neck. "I'm sorry, Eitan. I never meant to hurt you. I was young and stupid. Please forgive me." She cried.

I did feel a bit guilty. Paloma never had to reach out to me. Compared to my other aunts, her efforts were genuine. I couldn't deny that. I have been so cold to her for so long. I guess I locked her away with the rest of dad's family with my animosity.

"Paloma, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Eitan. I know that you still harbor most of the pain from when Darien left, and my sisters didn't make things any better. But I promise, it'll be different this time."

I kept quiet.

"Yasmin, c'mon! Let's go." I heard Cloe call from her blue Honda Brio. I scanned my surroundings for her, and finally spotted her standing outside the back doors, holding her books to her chest, eying Paloma and I. "Sweetie, c'mon." Cloe said, pulling up by her. Cloe eyed us as well, shaking her head. Yasmin got in the car and they drove off.

"Maybe it'd be a good idea to let everyone know who I am." Paloma said, pulling away.

"Things are over between Yasmin and I. I'd owe her an explanation if we were together, but we aren't so.."

"You're not going to be cold toward her, are you?"

"No. But you heard her friends…she wants nothing to do with me…she's said it herself."

"How do you know?"

"Twitter."

"Eitan, that could've been how she felt at the time. You know how that goes. If she didn't say it to you, then—"

"Paloma, I'm going to take this opportunity to do as I said I would. Come here to finish school, play soccer, and work to save."

"Is that what you really want?"

"Yeah…jumping into a relationship right after another was a mistake. I wish things could've turned out differently, but everything happens for a reason."

"True. Just like I'm here for a reason."

"I can't say that I'm mad at that. You came at the perfect time. I'm going to need you more than ever, Paloma." I chuckled. She copied, a smile stretching across her face.

We finally made up. I can take this one victory and run with it because in truth, I missed her.

"Okay, I wasn't going to say anything, but you stink! Really bad!"

"Oh shut up! I just got done with practice, and I just jogged five miles."

"Doesn't change the fact that you smell." She laughed. I laughed along.

"Alright, I guess we can go home."

"Yeah, your mom ordered pizza!" She squealed.

"…Yeah." I said walking her to the car. I was glad that Paloma and I were on good terms…but I couldn't help but feel bad for Yasmin. Today must've been a really horrible day for her…and it's because of me. Seeing her before she left…her eyes filled with hurt, broke me…I can only hope that things get better, but until then, I'll have to do me.

End of Chapter 4

Okay, so I know these chapters are kinda short, but I really wanted to put something on here to make up for my absence! The week is starting and I'll be working the majority of it! -_- But I'm excited to continue this story! Thanks for reading! Please Read and Review! Will update ASAP! :D And for my readers that R&R faithfully, I just wanna say thanks! You inspire me to continue on with enthusiasm! Think I might start another one with a different story line, give something else! Hmm…we shall see! Until next chapter! ;P