Chapter 8: The Ian Issue
(Wanda's POV)
*beep beep beep* ...huh? *beep beep beep*
I lift my head from the pillow to see my alarm flashing in my eyes... 8:45am. 'what?' I mumble as I crawl into a sitting position, lazily rubbing the sleep from my eyes I try again... 8:46am. WHAT?! CRAP! I'M LATE! Today is NOT the best day to be late...
I ran through to the bathroom, cleaned my teeth and washed my face in double quick time, thank god that I'm not one of those girls who wears a ton of makeup. I knew that my hair would look like it's been dragged through a hedge but I don't care, all I care about right now is not being late, I've already missed my tutor training session this morning - nothing I can do about that now, I'll have to find the group at lunch and apologize. I hopped through the upstairs hallway trying to put my shoes on and move forward at the same time. My watch showing 8:52am...If I run I might make it... oh who am I kidding, I'll never make my 9am class, even if I had a car started and ready to go right this second I'd still be late. Resigned to my fate I plopped down on the top step of the stairs and tied my shoes.
Wait, why didn't Mel wake me? Ugh, I bet she left early to go by the diner and see Jared first thing...a whole two weeks have passed and they've been getting closer every day, whereas I've heard nothing from Ian. Not even a word through Jared. I had my doubts that he even wanted to date me in the first palce but I at least thought we could be friends - not through lack of trying on my end, I've left him messages and texts but nothing...at least I've taken the hint. Jared's stopped bringing him up in conversation too.
I guessed that Ian had said something to Jared, who in turn told Mel, that the dinner-date was off. A couple of days after I hung out with Ian at the diner she immediately stopped talking about it...and to say it was all she could talk about made it clear something was up. It surprised me how much I was actually looking forward to going out with him again...even if it was just a friend thing.
Sighing I stand up and make my way downstairs into the kitchen, at least now I wasn't rushing I could eat something. My next lesson starts at 10am so I've got time to try and tame my hair too.
(Mel's POV)
Walking out of the girls bathroom to rejoin my History class I noticed Wanda as I turned the corner, 'Hey, Wanda!' her face immediately reddened and looked guilty as she saw me, I jogged over to where she was standing at her locker 'What are you doing? Why aren't you in class?' One part of me was shocked that she'd skip, but the other half was worried...Wanda skipping a lesson was unheard of,something bad must have happened...I must have looked as worried as I felt as she immediately gave me a reassuring smile.
'...I kind of overslept. It won't happen again.. I guess i've just been working myself too much with my school clubs...' she shrugged and turned back to her locker... 'No way Wanda, this isn't you... you piled the work on last year and you never missed a class! Now that I mention it, you've not been yourself for days... what's wrong?' I gently turned her toward me so I could look at her face... she's normally like an open book when it comes to showing her emotions.
'I don't know' another shrug 'I guess I just can't take on as much as last year. Anyway, I've got to go, we'll talk later if you're home - or lunch?' 'I'll hold you to that!' I call after her as she darts down the hall to her next class, she's hiding how she feels...probably about the whole Ian thing...I don't know what's wrong with him; Wanda's amazing! Who wouldn't want to spend time with her, even as just a friend? I've been feeling so much guilt for pushing them together in the first place and constantly reassuring Wanda...but the way they looked at each other, that surely can't be just gone? Maybe I should be speaking to Ian rather than Wanda about this.
Wanda found me at our usual spot outside for lunch, though she claimed she needed five minutes to see a club about a lesson or something...I wasn't really listening, she knows i'm not interested in all her extra-curricular activities. I said I'd meet her in the diner and made my way over.
My stomach fluttered as I saw Jared working, he hadn't seen me yet so I walked over to our usual booth and just watched him...it wasn't long untill he strolled my way and bent down to kiss my cheek, 'hey, when did you sneak in?' he smiled down at me 'Not long' I replied matching his smile with mine, 'I was wondering if I could talk to you? It's about Ian...' Jared's face fell and his eyebrows furrowed, he quickly took a seat after glancing over his shoulder and giving the two-minute sign with his fingers at his boss who just nodded. 'What about Ian?' he looked down at his hands the entire time, I was instantly concerned.
'I want to know what the hell's going on with him! Wanda missed class this morning and she's been acting wierd for days' I huffed 'I was mad that you told me out of the blue that we couldn't go out as a four again but I just don't understand why!'
I crossed my arms, it seems that Jared saw this rant coming, he just let out a huge sigh and looked into my eyes, he almost looked pained. 'Listen, me and Ian, we got into a fight... a stupid fight and now he's not talking to me...I tried calling but he wouldn't hear me out, I'm pretty sure he threw his phone against a wall...' He shook his head and looked down at his knotted fingers again. 'We were fighting about...' Stopping just when he was going to give me the main reason...I sighed and leaned across and grabbed one of his hands, 'you can tell me...' I was pushing him but I didn't care, I had to know.
'Look, I don't even know how it happened, one minute we were talking about playing football, the next we were yelling. I didn't mean to get into it, I just don't think it's a good idea for him to see Wanda okay! It's not like hes not got a line of girls wanting to date him! You know how guys like him are! He just flipped out, threw the football at my head and stormed off!' He squeezed my hand tight and ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair.
...I tried to process what he had just said to me. Well at least we now know the reason why Ian has been ignoring us all, his phone is probably in pieces in the garbage by now.
Jared looked at me, trying to look innocent in all this, 'I can't believe you Jared...' I barely managed to whisper, I didn't know how I felt about him hurting Wanda this way.. surely he must have known, he saw how they were together right from the beginning! 'Mel, c'mon, I-I thought I was doing the best thin...'
'The best thing! Jared, you should have lived with Wanda these past few days, she's like a zombie! Yeah she puts on a smile for the outside world, but if you knew her like I do you'd know how crushed she is! This was the first guy she might have actually liked and you've ruined it!' Jared tried to speak again but quickly shut his mouth when I raised my hand 'No! Don't even say anything! I'm going to try and sort this out and I don't need your help!' I made to stand up and leave but he clung to my hand and spun me back round to him, my hand landing on his bicep for support so I wouldn't fall, his face inches from mine, 'Mel, I really didn't mean for this to happen, I just didn't want Ian to mess around with Wanda... you know I'd never purposefully hurt her, we've been friends for ages, I was just looking out for her...' His hand moved up to caress my face as his eyes searched mine, we were too close, all I could see were his eyes and lips...I couldn't focus on anything else.
Sighing, I leaned my head to the side to rest on his shoulder and took a few deep breaths, he followed suit and leaned his head into my neck, his nose moving back and forth over my skin, his hand skimming over the top of my arm 'I know...I just have to do something, I can't just watch her live like this. I'm going to explain everything to Wanda and try to track down Ian' I lifted my head to look at him, he nodded in approval which was a relief 'do you have Ian's address?' We both heard the door bell rattle to anounce someone had just walked in, I turned away from Jareds body to see Wanda - I waved her over. 'Sure, sit down and I'll bring it over with your order' he gave me a fleeting smile, kissed my forehead and walked away, as annoyed as I was about some petty argument that he caused, I couldn't be mad at Jared...I just couldn't.
...I was not looking forward to this conversation with Wanda, but at least she'll know that Ian's not mad at her...I hope he's not mad at her anyway.