Hey guys! So, I'm not going to give you a sorry apology again because I know you already hate me for not updating all the time like I said I would. But, I'm going to say sorry anyways because I feel really really bad. I'm sorry and I really hope this chapter makes up for it! Please Enjoy The Twenty First Chapter Of What An Asshole...
A Special Thanks To My Beta Reader-lizzzxx0
Also, I plan on ending this by the 25th chapter, the latest!
WHAT AN ASSHOLE-CHAPTER 21
ELI'S PERSPECTIVE
I laid in this bed, letting out a huge sigh as the springs from the mattress dug into my back.
The funny thing is that, no matter how much physical pain I am in right now at this very second, I can't stop feeling an emotional pain that is ten times stronger.
"Yep, she told me or basically inferred that she had every intention of sleeping with you tonight," Adam's words rung through my head like every time a fucking bell rung when someone walked into a popular store. I couldn't stop thinking about her.
Was I actually in love with Clare?
What am I saying? I'm Elijah fucking Goldsworthy I don't actually have feelings...or do I?
Well, considering the picture I keep in my pocket since I first met Clare, I would say I do have pretty strong emotions towards this girl.
"You know if you keep talking to yourself you might go insane," a girl's voice echoed through my head and I turned over on my side. I saw an actual girl sitting on the floor with her back against the bed inches away from me.
I asked, "When did you get here?"
She smiled and said, "About an hour ago, I thought you were sleeping so I stayed quiet."
My last roommate got moved to a different closed off room where he can get himself together. Yeah right, if you ask me, that kid only thought with his fists and the pin that he stuck me in the arm with.
"Sorry," I mumbled and turned back over to face the wall.
I heard her sigh softly and say with a the most tender voice I've ever heard, "You're thinking about a girl, aren't you?"
My eyebrows tightened together and I asked, "What?"
She giggled and said, "I've seen that face before, on my ex-boyfriend. Whenever he thinks about me he has this intense look across his face. It usually makes me laugh until I found out he was only thinking about another girl..."
"I'm sorry," was the only words I could come up with at the moment.
The girl shook her head lightly, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes and said, "It doesn't matter now. What's in the past is what's in the past."
Why was this girl here?
She looked as if she could never hurt a fly, let alone a person.
"Not to be rude, but why are you here?" We both asked each other at the same time. For a split second, we just stared at each other, not saying a word until I bursted out in laughter. I didn't really remember the last time I laughed, so when I did, I let it last.
When my fit of laughter had calmed down she smiled and said, "Great minds think alike Eli."
"How do you know my name?" I asked kind of alarmed that this girl has only shared a room with me for an hour and she knew my name without telling her.
She smiled and said, "Name tag."
I smirked and mouthed, "Oh."
My eyes searched for her name tag but, she didn't have one.
"If you're looking for my name tag, I don't wear one. I've been here too long to be labeled on a tiny piece of paper on my shirt," she whispered.
Was I the only one who felt like she was going to pull a knife out on me at any second and just start jabbing it into my stomach as she would laugh at the blood spewing all over the walls? I don't know, maybe it's just me.
"What did you do to get in here?" she asked me a smile spreading across her face.
I shook my head and said, "First tell me your name. I don't really tell strangers my life story."
"My name is…noname," she whispered while licking the corner of her lips with her tongue.
I sighed with a smirk across my face, "Well, noname, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, now go on with your story," she said eager to hear my depressing and kind of embarrassing story.
I took in a steady breath and smiled, "Well, it all started with this girl named Clare..."
CLARE'S PERSPECTIVE
"Adam!" I screeched pushing Jake off of me and being a bit startled while I got up on my two feet.
Adam glared at me and asked, "What are you doing Clare? If you don't like Eli anymore just fucking tell him! He really doesn't need a two timing girlfriend at the moment."
Before Adam could protest I continued, "Adam, this is all a BIG misunderstanding. If you will let me explain-," Adam cut me off and said, "Save it Clare. You worry about taking care of Jake while your boyfriend rots in a cell."
Adam quickly left, slamming the door behind him and I glanced at Jake, "You fucking ruined everything...again."
"How was I supposed to know he was going to come in here and blow the fucking door down?" He asked huffing out a pathetic laugh like it was my fault.
The buzzer rang and I ripped out his sweater from the dryer and held it out.
"Give me the paper, in return of your sweater," I told him as he placed the paper in my hand and I threw his sweater at him.
I led him to the door, quickly opening it and said, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."
When he was far enough out I slammed the door and slid down with my back to the door.
I breathed in a shaky breath and slowly unfolded the paper and smiled looking down at a picture of Eli and I. He made this. Half of the picture was me, and half of the picture was him. It was two totally different pictures, but when combined, it looked like we were kissing.
I flipped it over and it read, "My other half."
Tears streamed down my face and I shook uncontrollably knowing that this came out of Eli's pocket when the police hauled him off to jail...
ADAM'S PERSPECTIVE
"What Clare?" I hissed pacing my room and finally decided to answer my phone since the ringtone was annoying me.
Clare was breathing heavily and she said, "I'm sorry Adam...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Her words were barely making sense to me and she was heaving through each word so I took it that she was hysterically crying.
"Clare, calm down," I sighed.
"Please don't be mad at me, okay?" she whispered into the speaker so loudly that I heard her clear as day.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Clare, I'm not mad at you okay? You're my best friend and you'll always be my best friend but you have to understand that so is Eli. I care about him okay, and to see you getting all hot and heavy with Jake in your living room while Eli is sitting in a room with a person who probably wants to chop his head off really isn't fair! I just think you're better than that Clare."
We remained quiet for fifty seconds, and then she broke the silence.
"I am better than that Adam! I didn't even kiss him back. He showed up at my doorstep and he wouldn't move so I let him in and then I dried his clothes. I tried to pick up the folded picture on the floor and Jake noticed it the same time I did and he tackled me to the floor for it. We ended up in that position and he kissed me. I was just so depressed that I was just making believe that...it was Eli. I don't even know, I'm so stupid," she mumbled.
I smiled, "Clare you're the most intelligent person I know. Just, don't be so naive next time."
"Are you willing to bury this hatchet?" I asked as I could feel Clare smiling over the other end.
"I don't want Eli to find out what happened, so let's just keep this a secret between me and you?" She asked hopefully.
"On one condition," I whispered and she said, "I'll do anything!"
My eyes averted to my wallet and I said, "We combine cash to get Eli out of jail…"
ELI'S PERSPECTIVE
"So that's how I ended up here," I told noname, finishing up my life story as she shook her head slowly.
I asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"You're an asshole," she remarked and I smiled questionably, "Thanks?"
She smiled and said, "Well from my perspective on this whole situation you got going here, you're an idiot. This girl was obviously in love with you and you were in love with her, yet you continued to manipulate and harass her. What were you thinking when you pushed her on the ground and then called her names on the internet? What are you, five?"
It was as if she spoke Clare's mind for her.
"I-I don't-," she cut me off and said, "Every guy has the same excuse."
Noname got up, mocking me and said, "I don't know," in a slow tone.
I laughed pathetically and said, "Listen you're one to judge, alright? What are you in here for?"
"I don't have to tell you anything, besides you're like a waste of air unless you're going to prove to that girl you love her and you'll never hurt her again," she hissed and I smirked.
Noname laughed at me and I asked, "Can you at least tell me your name so I can stop calling you noname in my head and if you're going to bash me like this the least I deserve is your name?"
She bit her lip, like Clare always bit her lip, and I sighed out blinking a couple of times and trying to keep my shit together. She glanced around the room, debating whether or not to tell me her name and then she whispered, "Imogen."
CLARE'S PERSPECTIVE
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
I heard someone bang on the door and assuming it was Adam, I opened it quickly.
"What are you doing here Jake?" I hissed looking up at him and noticing he was holding an envelope tightly in his hand.
For the past hour I had been crawling on my hands and knees for loose change and any money I could find. I even dug into my birthday money that I kept underneath my bed and that still wouldn't even give me one hundred dollars.
"I don't want to cause you any more harm or heart ache, I'm done fighting for you Clare and I want to seal the deal," he whispered holding out an envelope with my name on it.
I smiled and then said, "I am not going to sleep with you for money or something if that's what's in this."
"N-no, it's money to bail Eli out of jail. My dad might ground me for taking out a thousand dollars out of his bank account, but you guys are worth it. Good luck," he whispered and before Jake could get close to the sidewalk I called out his name.
"Thank you," I whispered knowing that Jake's money had saved both Eli and I.
He smiled and said, "No problem. By the way, when Eli asks you where you got the money, just say you had it. Don't tell him I gave you the money to bail him out, promise?"
I nodded and whispered, "Promise."
When I was about to close the door, Jake called out my name and I glanced up at him giving him my full attention.
"Do you ever think you can forgive me for everything I did to you?" he asked me with hope filling his eyes.
I gripped the envelope that contained Eli's bail money and breathed in, "Maybe someday Jake."
He smiled as he slipped his hands into his jean pockets and started walking off into the distance. When I couldn't see his figure anymore, I smiled and jumped up and down excitingly. Even though Eli was away from me from a very short time, the fact he was in jail was enough to make my heart ache.
My only intentions now were to hand Adam the money to give to Eli and just wait, for what, I have no idea...
ELI'S PERSPECTIVE
"Imogen huh, nice name," I whispered while sitting back down to calm myself down while my blood boiled inside of me.
She smiled and asked, "Are you happy now?"
"Surprisingly, yes I am, now can you do me a favor and just be quiet so I can sleep?" I asked her just wanting to close my eyes and forget I was even in this hell hole.
Imogen laughed pathetically, and said, "Wow! All of you guys are alike, you can close your eyes knowing that Clare is at home probably crying her eyes out because of you! She was probably going to give into you too. You sold her the whole 'I'm in love with you, trust me, I'd never hurt you' bit. You're such a fucking..."
"Why do you care so much?" I hissed harshly.
Clearly, this was none of her business.
"Because Eli, I know what it feels like to be in Clare's situation. I dated an asshole just like you, except he beat me. But, then again with the tone you're using towards me, who knows if you're abusive or not," she whispered towards the end and crouching in the corner of the tiny room.
"Sorry," I whispered.
Imogen smiled and said, "No you're not. When any guy says 'sorry' they never mean it."
"Has it ever occurred to you that I might be different than those other guys?" I retorted quietly while turning over to face the wall and close my eyes tightly.
I heard her voice echo, "Now you're going to face the wall and see her face, you're going to think about how much you miss Clare and how much you wish she was in your arms right now, aren't you Eli? Then, you're going to shed a tear and think 'hey, maybe I'm not such an asshole after all if I can cry over her,' and maybe you aren't Eli. Maybe, you're different. But then again, most of them are all the same, abusive, manipulative, and are just in it for the sex. "
I closed my eyes tighter, wishing she would stop guilting me into talking to her more than I should.
"Okay, first of all, you know nothing about me! You don't know what I've been through, who I am, what kind of personality I have, what hell I go through every day and you know what? Maybe I do love Clare, and you know what, maybe I do wish she was here. But, let me ask you a question I-M-O-G-E-N, is that so bad?" I stretched out her name in order to get my point across and when she was about to talk I interrupted her, "Is it so bad that I love having the feeling of being wanted?"
She smiled as tears streamed down her face, "No, it isn't bad. It's just something I've always wanted...and from what you've told me about yourself, a jerk like you doesn't deserve to be loved."
I opened my mouth to fight back, but nothing came out of my mouth. I watched as she remained silent, climbing into her bed and facing the wall as she crawled up in a ball, pulling her knees to her chest. I listened to her cry, and my smirk soon turned to a straight line.
"I-I'm sorry," I whispered.
She continued to sob, ignoring my apologies and I lay back down and faced my wall.
I closed my eyes, but falling asleep wasn't going to happen with her constant heaving's and hysterical cries.
My bed creaked as I rose to my feet and I asked, "What can I do to make you stop crying?"
She sniffled and immediately stopped crying, "You don't have to hold anything back with me, I just want to know what to do so whatever is bothering you will go away and most importantly make you stop crying."
Imogen reached for her blanket and covered herself, remaining silent and I shrugged my shoulders.
All I did was try to help the girl.
"Sorry I tried to care," I whispered while bouncing back onto my bed and falling right through it causing my ass to hit the floor and I hissed in pain.
Imogen turned to see me on the floor, gripping my nuts and trying to hold back the shrieks of pain I wanted to release. Apparently, my current condition made her giggle as tears continued to stream down her face.
"Ha-ha very funny," I hissed while biting my lip and leaning my head on my lap.
She continued to laugh and said, "Thanks Eli."
"For what?" I asked.
Imogen smiled at me and said, "For helping me realize that not all assholes are the same. And, well, you know, for getting me to truly laugh in over two years."
I know, I know, crappy ending to this chapter. I didn't know how to end it because the next one will have a better/bigger cliffy! :D
Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!
540 REVIEWS=NEXT CHAPTER
Love you guys,
Cliffhanger girl
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HINT TO NEXT CLIFFHANGER: Just keep swimming.