The Twists and Turns of Life
Chapter 4: New Lock
She took in a deep breath as she woke from her light slumber. She peered over at her clock. 4:45. At least she got some sleep. She turned back and shut her eyes, burying herself deep into her blankets and pillow.
"Rory," she heard a soft voice call out from the corner. She groaned out loud after realizing whose voice it was.
"I need to get those locks changed," she said out loud to herself as she pulled the covers over her head.
"Rory, please just let me explain." His voice was pleading, pleading that she would at least hear him out.
She pulled the covers around her more, not wanting to answer him. "Go away, Tristan."
He made his way over to her bed, sitting beside her. "No. You have to understand why I said what I said."
"I don't care why you said it. What matters is that you did. How could you after we've been friends for that long? Do you really think you could do that to me? That I would actually let you?" She took in another deep breath, not even bothering to remove her shield of blankets to face him.
"Rory-"
"No, just go…please."
He waited for a few more seconds before he walked away from her bed and descended down the ladder.
* * *
He sat on his bed, slapping himself over and over and over. What was he thinking? Right, of course - he wasn't thinking. He yelled at himself repeatedly. How could he so carelessly say something like that? He was sure that he lost the only relationship that actually meant something to him.
* * *
There. New lock. No more unexpected visits from him. She smiled to herself at what she just accomplished. She figured that it would raise too many questions if she asked her parents for a new lock, so she just did it herself. She got up from her crouching position on the ground and stepped inside, shutting the door to her balcony behind her. She looked up, seeing Tristan on the other side. He was watching her change her lock. She stared at him for a few moments before turning away and shutting her drapes.
* * *
What was wrong with her? This was supposed to feel good. She shut Tristan out of her life. After what he did, who could blame her? But after last week when he saw her actually locking him out of her room, she felt guilty. She saw the look of hurt on his face, but she told herself that he deserved it. He deserved to feel some of the hurt that he had inflicted upon her…didn't he?
"Rory?"
She looked up from her plate at her dad. "Yeah?" she asked, returning her attention to the peas she was pushing around on her plate.
"Are you alright? You've barely eaten anything."
She nodded slightly, not wanting to explain what had happened to her earlier that day. She knew her mom would tell him later, so there was no use in her telling him.