Conner slammed his locker
shut. He stalked towards the cafeteria.
These past two weeks had been total crap. Tia wasn't talking to him; he
was sleeping on Andy's floor where Andy's dog liked to slobber in his face.
Plus, no one except Andy and Evan would even look at him. Not that he
really cared; he had never been much of a socializer. What really hurt
was that Elizabeth
didn't have anyone. Every time he
saw her, she was alone.
Plus, everyone had been treating her even worse than they had been
treating him. It was that stupid double standard. Never mind that he had
been just as guilty as Elizabeth, actually, even more so. But since
Elizabeth
was a girl, they had labeled her a slut. He hated to admit it, but
he still wanted her. But Jessica's threat scared him. Not because of what
Jessica would do to him, but what she might do to Elizabeth.
Conner could not get one girl in the whole school to go out with him; Jessica
had taken care of that. But after asking that one girl out, he realized he
didn't
want another girlfriend. Somehow, without even realizing it, he had fallen
in love with Elizabeth Wakefield. He missed her body and her kisses, but
what he missed most was talking to her, just being near her. The way she
smiled before each sentence. The way she ate Reese Cups by biting around
the edge before eating the peanut butter center. He just missed her.
He
entered the cafeteria and sat down next to Andy. "Hey, what's going-" he
stopped when he saw that sitting across from Andy was Tia.
Tia shifted uncomfortably and glanced over at Andy apologetically.
"Listen, I have to go…I'll call you later."
"No," Conner pleaded.
Tia glanced him, surprised, probably because Conner never
pleaded.
"I hate this," He said frustrated. "You're my best friend and I…I need
you
Tia. We've never let anything come between us before."
"I-" Tia said holding back tears.
"Come on, Tee. Talk to me. Forget about Jess."
Tia glared at him angrily. "You almost had me. Jessica is my friend and
I don't like what you did to her," Tia said not looking at him. "You've
always been an idiot when it came to girls and this time you just got in
over your head. And for what? A quick lay on the side?"
"Elizabeth
is…she's different," Conner struggled to explain. "I was just
having fun with Jessica. But I never meant to hurt her."
"That's just it Conner. You never mean to, but sometimes you just do. Was
it worth it Conner?" Tia got up to leave.
"Dammit Tee, yes it was, okay? Jessica doesn't mean anything to me. I'm
in love with Elizabeth Wakefield."
A look of shock appeared on Tia's face. But before she could open her
mouth, a loud burst of laughter came from the other side of the cafeteria.
Conner's gaze flew over to where Elizabeth
was standing. Someone had
tripped her and she had dropped her lunch all over the floor. And she was
crying. Conner's heart clenched and he felt a surge of anger go through his
body. Would they ever let up?
"You make a mess of everything, don't you Elizabeth?" Cherie shrill voice
mocked. "The cafeteria….your sister's life."
"How could you be so naïve," Lila said calmly. "Conner never wanted you.
He just used you to fu-"
"Shut up." Conner could hardly believe that he had said it. For the last two
weeks he had just ignored what everyone had said hoping they would lose
interest and move onto the next thing. But this was the last straw. They were
determined to break Elizabeth Wakefield and hell would freeze over before
he let them do that. He stalked over to where Jessica and her cronies stood.
"I don't believe anyone asked you," Gina said coolly.
"When you say those things to her, you say them to me as well. Elizabeth
didn't
force herself on me, I went willingly."
Jessica paled but Conner didn't feel sorry for her. If she had just kept her
mouth shut all this wouldn't be happening.
"Yeah, to her bed," Cherie sneered. "While you were still with Jessica."
"I wasn't in love with Jessica. Things hadn't been right between us for a
while.
I was planning on breaking up with her."
"Oh, that makes everything okay," Amy said in a sarcastic voice.
"How could you?" Jessica said so softly that Conner almost didn't hear it.
"With my sister? My best friend?"
Conner looked over at Elizabeth. She looked away. That small gesture nearly
broke his heart. This ended now. He didn't want people thinking about Elizabeth
that way. He knew that all Jessica's friends didn't know the truth. They
were
just spreading rumors unaware of how true they were. But they didn't
need to
know that. What he and Elizabeth had shared had been special, there
was no denying that. But he needed to deny it so that Elizabeth and Jessica
could move on in their lives. Even if it meant never getting to be with Elizabeth
again. He wasn't sure what hurt more, never having had Elizabeth
or having to
live with the memories of Elizabeth's soft body against his, all her soft curves
against his hard muscles and knowing he would never feel it again.
"I never slept with Elizabeth."
Elizabeth's eyes widened as if she couldn't believe what he had just said.
"I want you to leave her alone, if you have to do this to anybody then do it
to me."
He didn't stay to check their reactions; he just turned around and left.
"I'm sorry we couldn't
get together sooner," Jeremy said smiling at Jessica.
"It's just with your football games and my football games there's been
no-"
"No free time," Jessica chimed in. "It's been awful because I've been
looking
foreword to being with you."
"I thought you didn't like me," Jeremy said grinning at her.
Jessica blushed and jammed a forkful of salad into her mouth. "I didn't, you
kind of annoyed me."
"So what changed?" he said softly.
"I did, I realized you annoyed me because I felt something for you and I
thought I felt the same thing for Conner."
"And did you?"
"He hurt me," Jessica said slowly. "But it doesn't bother me as much as
I
thought it would. I think I built our relationship up into something that it
wasn't
and I drove him away."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about what happened. That was a pretty harsh way to dump
you."
Jessica looked at him in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Elizabeth
told me, she's kind of a wreck," Jeremy said. "She's really sorry you
know," he said gazing at her.
Jessica looked away and didn't say anything.
They ate in silence for a minute and Jeremy said. "I just wish those people
who
are picking on her would stop. Elizabeth
doesn't deserve to be treated like that
and those jerks should mind their own business."
Jessica swallowed hard and felt a pang in her stomach. Jeremy didn't know
that she was the reason that people were treating Elizabeth
like that. If she
hadn't told Melissa and Tia…she wasn't even a hundred percent true that
the rumors were even true. Conner had denied it today but neither Conner nor
Elizabeth had denied it before. And plus, didn't Conner and Elizabeth
deserve this after what they did to her? Obviously Jeremy didn't think so
and that made Jessica feel ashamed. If he knew the truth would he want
to be with her?
"But what if the rumors are true?' Jessica said quietly.
"So what if they are?" Jeremy said spearing a piece of steak with his fork.
"It's no body's business but their own. Plus, I don't even believe that
it's true."
"I'm pretty sure it is," Jessica looked over at Jeremy. "When I
caught…saw
them together, I could see it in their eyes. Something different was there
and I can't explain it. Elizabeth
is my twin sister and we have like this
connection…and I could tell that something was different with her."
Jessica felt her eyes tear up.
"You're hurt that she's moved on without you and didn't tell you?"
Jeremy
said, taking her hand.
"I mean, I know why she didn't tell me," Jessica said with a harsh laugh.
"But we tell each other everything and I just thought that something that
important would be one of the things we would share."
"But what they share in the bedroom is between Conner and Elizabeth.
It's something private."
"I know, it just, you know," Jessica said.
Jeremy squeezed her hand. "I know." He smiled at her and Jessica
found herself smiling back.
Elizabeth
clutched the bag tightly to her chest. She wanted to get away from
the store, away from Sweet
Valley. Her life was a complete and utter mess.
She had thought there was hope last week after Conner's declaration in the
cafeteria. But then he had turned and left without even looking. Maybe
Conner had said that only because he was so disgusted with himself that he
wanted to pretend that it never had happened. But it had happened.
Elizabeth
had never felt so alone. Jessica was still not speaking to her
and Enid and Maria were being distant. The only person who had said
anything to her that wasn't mean was Jeremy at the House of Java.
Elizabeth
walked across the street to the park. It was empty and Elizabeth
relished the quietness and the beauty of the flowers. She wished she had
brought her journal so she could lose herself in her writing. She was in such a
daze that she didn't notice where she was going and crashed into a hard
body.
Elizabeth
blushed and looked up. It was a guy about her age and he
looked dangerous. He wasn't handsome like Conner. He wasn't even that
good looking. But he reeked maleness and Elizabeth
couldn't take her
eyes of his face. Yet she wasn't attracted to him. This was the kind of
guy that a girl would jump on but she was left cold. "I'm sorry, I wasn't
looking where I was going…"
"It's okay…I'm glad I ran into you. I'm not from around here and I
stopped
here to spend the night until I move on. Know any good places?"
"There's a Holiday Inn around the corner,"
Elizabeth
said. But curiosity got
best of her. "Where are you from?"
"Everywhere," he said and Elizabeth's eyes widened.
He laughed. "I'm from Vermont. I was supposed to start college this year
but I wasn't ready to stand up and say what I wanted to do for the rest of my
life. So I'm taking the year off to see the country and get to know myself
better."
"Wow," Elizabeth
said, impressed. "I don't think I could do that. What do your
parents say?"
"My mom is dead and my dad doesn't care about anything except his work.
He gave me $10,000 and told me to have a nice time. I've traveled all
along the north and I'm heading out to Los Angeles
tomorrow then head
southwest towards Arizona."
"Wow, I'm sorry," Elizabeth
said again. "I wish I could just take off.
My life kind of is a mess and I just need to get away."
He looked at her with intensity in his dark eyes. "Why don't you? Come with
me. As much as I've liked the alone time it's been a little lonely." He
looked her
over. "I think we could have a good time. It would just be for a couple
of months…we could see the country and get away from everything."
Elizabeth
looked at him with longing. It was like a miracle that this guy
showed up offering her exactly what she needed. "I don't know…I'm still
in high school and my family…"
"Listen, I'll be here until about
noon
tomorrow. If you change your mind
I'll be at the Holiday Inn."
He turned to walk away but
Elizabeth
called out "What's your name?"
He turned around and said "Gabe." He smiled. "Bye, Elizabeth."
"How did-"
He took his finger and bent it around her Elizabeth
necklace. He gave it a
soft tug and then walked away.
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