You, Minus the Fame

Chapter 16

      Reece walked me to my front door, and I found myself hiding my smile. When we were now standing in front of the door, Reece brought his hand up to my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I blushed, looking away shyly as I noticed the gentleness in his eyes.  

      Weeks had passed and we were hanging out constantly. We did a bunch of different things together and Reece never tried to change who I was anymore. That led to me genuinely loving being with him, and thus my feelings for him grew. I now had a constant yearning for him, but I knew better than to act on my feelings. Our friendship was satisfying enough.

      Looking back up at Reece, my heart skipped a beat as he just stared at me. The affection in them was clear, and sometimes I wondered what he actually thought of me.

       Something had changed these few weeks, and that was how touchy Reece had become. He had always been open to touching me, but now he touched me frequently. Whether to hold my hand to lead me somewhere or caress my cheek, he'd find any excuse to touch me. I tried not to think about it too much because I didn't want to get hopeful, but times like this made me wonder what he really wanted from me.

      "Well, I'll see you soon," Reece finally said, smiling. "Bye."

      "Bye," I said, smiling as well.

      He ruffled my hair and walked to his car, and my smile grew as he shot me one last grin for the day. As he got into his car and drove off, I finally opened the door to my house and went in. I was still smiling as I felt my insides warming up with joy.

      Taking off my coat, I hung it and then took of my heels. My smile grew as I remembered the time we spent at the art gallery today. I had expected Reece to be bored there, but surprisingly everything had fascinated him. His eyes has been wide and full of admiration, and I had watched him the entire time instead of the art around me. I swear I would go back just to see him look like that again.

      My smile grew as I made my way upstairs. It was cold, so I was happy to be able to go to my warm bed. But then I heard someone call my name as I passed Britney's room. Stopping in my place, I looked to where the sound came from and saw Sarah. My mood dropped.

      Knowing I had to be polite, I stepped into Britney's room. Britney and Sarah were both sitting on Britney's bed, and Sarah was staring at me as if I were a mystery. Britney was also staring at me, but she seemed confused.

      "Hi," I simply said, looking at Sarah. 

      "Why were you smiling?" she asked. "It's kind of weird of you to smile on your own like that."

      "Sorry," I said tiredly. "I was in a good mood."

      I stepped back to leave, and Sarah raised an eyebrow. Britney frowned, and I narrowed my at her. I wished she would take the hint and let me leave happily.

      "Where did you go?" Sarah asked before I could leave. "You're actually dressed up for once."

      "I went to an art gallery," I said.

      "With?" Her eyes twinkled, and I could see the mischief in them.

      "A friend."

      "Is it that boy? The one you were with last time."

      I glanced at Britney, wondering why Sarah was interested in my life. Seeing Britney also looking so curious with her wide eyes, I then sighed. They were teenagers. Drama intrigued them and I could possibly have some. That was why.

      "Yes," I replied. "With him."

      "You've been hanging out with him a lot," Britney commented.

      My eyes narrowed at her. Her comment would have been fine if we were alone, but with Sarah I was annoyed. She knew I hated Sarah, but she didn't understand how to lay off.

      "Oh, really." Sarah smiled. "Are you two dating?"

      "No," I said flatly. "We're just friends."

      "Really?" She pouted. "Are you sure?"  

      "Yes."

      "But what guy spends this much time with a girl that's not his girlfriend." She looked confused. "You have to mean something to him."

      "We're just friends," I repeated, growing annoyed. "That's all."

      "Wait." She suddenly gasped. "Maybe he's using you as a way to pass time."

      I froze at her words. Once I had assumed that, but I pushed that idea away. As it was brought up again, I felt nervous.

       "Does he compliment you a lot? Does he touch you a lot?" Sarah asked, eyes wide. "Does he make you feel special?"

       I looked down, embarrassed by the fact that, that was all true. It gave me a bad feeling, and my stomach began to turn.

       "The answer is yes I see, and you're not his girlfriend," Sarah said.

      I looked up and opened my mouth to say something - anything to make Reece look better. But, nothing came out of my mouth. With my throat constricting, I didn't know what to say.

       "You poor thing!" Sarah exclaimed. "He's using you. You're his toy - a way to waste time. Ugh. What a douche."

      I flushed and felt my heat drop. In my mind I kept telling myself that, that wasn't Reece. He would never use a girl, but then I realized I didn't know anything about Reece's romantic life. There was this chance he could be a player, and that terrified me.

      "Sarah..." Britney said. "He's probably not like that. You're judging him wrongly."

      "I know guys," Sarah shot back. "I know how they can be. I know how they use girls. And look at your sister, she's an easy target. She doesn't play hard to get and she's not out of anyone's league, so he chose to toy with her. I know how a player's mind works."

      My eyes widened and I looked down, feeling my heart drop. Even though I knew Sarah had a tendency to be cruel, I also knew that what she said were not lies. She knew guys and she knew I was weak. I was an easy target and I wasn't pretty. The fact Reece ever chose to befriend me had been a mystery, but now I understood. To him I was a toy.

      I felt my eyes tear up as I realized why he always complimented me. Why he always touched me, but never asked for us to be anything more. He had wanted me to change too, but it was because he wanted me to satisfy his stupid, boy needs. I felt like a loser suddenly, and I turned around as I knew I would cry at anytime.

       "Sarah, you don't know this guy," Britney said. "He's really nice from what Cara says."

       "That's because he wants her to think of him like that," Sarah said. "He wants her to trust him, so that he could break her."

       I walked off at those words, feeling them crush me. It all made sense suddenly. Reece had always been too good to be true, and now I understood why. I was weak and he was strong. I was the prey and he was the predator. He had pounced on me and I was too naive to notice.

      Closing my bedroom door behind me, I pressed my back to the door and slid to the ground. I remembered why I avoided guys then. They were assholes. They only wanted to hurt others.

      But Reece. Golden Reece who had given me the best couple of months of my life. He could never be the criminal in my eyes. He could never hurt me. But then I remembered what Sarah said. He wanted me to believe that so that he could break me. That sounded unbelievably cruel, but I remembered that people can be cruel. You can't trust just anyone, and maybe that was Reece. Maybe I had been too blinded to know the real Reece. I closed my eyes, wishing I never realized this.