12pm

five

Dalton

"Yeah, I still hate you"

She looked different. Her hair was brown from the last time I seen her, but now it's dark. Her eyes weren't like they were before, they were dull and her sparkle was gone.

"Are you done staring?" She crossed her arms leaning up against her car.

"Sorry" I cleared my throat and she sighed.

She was talking but I was zoned out by her eyes. She lost her light, her eyes were no longer full of happiness and love, they were full of grayness and faded memories.

"Dalton, Can you stop staring please".

I wanted to say something other than 'sorry' but I said it anyways. "Sorry"

She sighed and slammed the car door.

"Stop it, stop saying you're "sorry" cause you're not, you never were and here you are apologizing" She raised her voice pinching both her hands.

"I don't want to see you, okay, I hate you and your stupid apology isn't going to fix anything!" I looked down and her hands were now bruised up with a little bit of blood.

I didn't say anything, I just stared at her.

"Sor- I mean okay" I almost said the word 'sorry' I couldn't help it, by her body language and the way her voice sounds when she spoke to me, she was hurt, she was hurt by me.

I broke her.

"I hate you, you know" I reminded her. She scoffed

"Like I would forget you hating me, for thinking my life was happiness". She laughed a little. Her laugh was still there.

"I've spent every night and day, trying to figure out why you hate me, but now I see why"

She didn't even let me get a word out, instead she got into her car leaving me standing in the cold.

"I deserve that" I began walking to my luxury apartment and started thinking.

Not even four years yet, and I feel weird around her. Not in a good way, but in a bad one.

I don't feel bad for hurting her, I feel bad because I'm miserable without her.

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FLASHBACK

Date: January 21

I remember Iris calling me because her parents were fighting. Her parents were worse then mine but I got up from my seat and walked to her house.

As I was about to knock on the door, she came out with her eyes all red and puffy.

"Iris-" She put her hand up and I stopped talking. "Can we just go" She said and I nodded.

We got to the park and just wondered around.

I hated her. But she didn't know. I hated her because, her life was perfect minus her parents fighting.

I noticed her pinching her hands so I took them and looked at them. "Why are your hands so bruised up?" I asked rubbing my thumb around the red hands.

She shrugged.

She explained why they were like that. I just looked at her with blank expressions and she tried reading me like a profiler.

"You know, you don't have to hate me. My life isn't all filled with happiness and butterflies. Your parents got a divorced and their both happy". She stared me deeply in the eyes. "You can't hate me, It's supposed to be the other way around" She told me.

I was leaning up against the tree when she told me that. "I hate you" I said bluntly

She shrugged. "I don't care and I know"

I was taken back by her words. People say words have meanings but the way she said it, she said with no meaning at all.

"I know you hate me, why do you think I barely call you, you think I want to be friend with someone who hates me?" She shook her head touching the cold grass.

"You could hate me all you want, but I'm only you're friend because you need someone to pry off your pity and feelings, but instead you're taking their "happiness" for granted Dalton"

Once she said that I turned my face to hers but she wasn't looking at me. "Wow" Was all I said.

She shook her head. "Yeah, Wow" She sighed and got up. I looked up at her and she bent down to my level. "It's okay to take my happiness for granted Dalton, that's all you do but I don't say anything because you're the only person who listens"

And with that she left and I had to rethink life and what she said.

The crazy think is that day, the words she said, It didn't hit me, But when I saw her... It did