Out Of Bounds

8| New Lies

For once, mom was at home, but it felt like she wasn't because she locked herself in her bedroom, sleeping and watching tv. Parents would usually care if their children left the house without asking for permission, but mine didn't. As long as I texted and came back home, everything was fine.

So instead of staying in the house, and wondering when she'll come out of her bedroom to talk to me, I decided to surprise Shawn. I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie or hang out today, but he said he was feeling terrible and sick. So last night, I made him his favourite type of cookies, white chocolate macadamia cookies. I'm pretty sure cookies aren't good for you especially if you're sick but when in doubt, always make sweets.

It was a thirty-minute walk to his house. Once I reached his driveway, I found myself wanting to head over to Owen's house. Despite his rude behaviour, I wanted to get to know him more. There was something about him that interests me.

I knocked on their door. I felt uneasy. Something in my gut told me to leave and go back home. The worries were pushed away when his mother opened the door, phone held to her ear. I've seen his mom a few times at school events, but we never spoke. All I knew was that Shawn looked a lot like his mother. They had the same almond-shaped eyes and pointy noses.

"One second," she told the person on the phone. "Yes?"

"I'm here to see Shawn," I said. "I brought him cookies. He said he was sick."

Her thin eyebrows were knit together. She looked confused. "And you are?"

Her words caught me off guard. "Shawn didn't tell you? I'm his girlfriend. We've been dating for a couple of weeks now."

She hung up the phone after saying goodbye, focusing her attention and green eyes on me. "He never told me."

"Is he there?" I asked, my hands were starting to sweat against the cool feeling of the glass container that held the cookies.

"No, he's not sick. He's at the bowling alley with friends."

There it was, the sinking feeling in my gut, I should have stayed home and eaten all the cookies myself. Why would he lie to me about going bowling? There was nothing wrong with that unless he felt too trapped in this relationship. Maybe I was coming off too strong. Maybe he wanted to be free of me, so he pretended to be sick.

All these maybe's, and scary scenarios were circling in my mind. I was wondering which ones were true and which ones were made up. All I know is that I'm going to the bowling alley.

•••

I spent around four dollars on bus fare to get here. The bowling alley was too far from Shawn's house. I already had my daily dose of exercise when I walked to his house. I've never been bowling. The fear of losing my fingers always got to me. It's a realistic fear, what if your fingers fell off while you were playing bowling?

Children and teenagers crowded the bowling alley. I knew this was a popular hangout spot for many teenagers from our school and other schools. There were so many heads and not enough time to search for him alone. But for some damn reason, the first familiar face I recognized was Owen.

He was in the middle of laughing when he glanced sideways, at me. We made awkward eye contact, so I scurried through the crowd, trying to bury myself. He was with that girl again, Audrey, but this time they weren't alone. I also recognized his sister among the crowd, Natalia. There were also two other guys I didn't know. At least I didn't bump into him this time. It was hopeless trying to find Shawn, so I texted Rebecca.

To Rebecca:

Are you with Shawn or Logan rn?

When I looked up from my phone, it was like fate and luck were working on my side. The crowd dispersed just enough to create a small pathway that showed me Shawn. He was sitting on one of the stools laughing. He wasn't sick, and it wasn't him lying to me about being sick that got my blood boiling. There was a girl on his lap, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. She whispered something in his ear, and he laughed again as if he forgot I even existed. The threat I received in the bathroom during the Fire and Ice Ball should have clued me in.

"I want to make something clear; Shawn will always love me. We had the best of times, times that are hard to forget. So if you think you can go prancing into his life as his girlfriend, you're wrong, because knowing him, he's just using you as a rebound. It's a shame really, I have no problems with you, but we will have one if you don't back off."

Not only that, I was blinded by his 'love' and my infatuation for him to realize he always disappears. Just like the time at the Fire and Ice Ball, he was with Nikki. And just like today. I was glued to the floor. I stood there in awe as the pieces of my heart fell to the ground.

That's the thing about love. It may be great when you're falling in love, but when you soon realize the person you love doesn't love you, love betrays you and throws your heart on the ground. And you can't do anything but watch as the truth unfolds one lie at a time.

I snapped out of my haze when a stranger bumped into me.

"Watch where you're standing," she yelled as she continued on.

The world seemed to move a lot quicker. The room was spinning; people were laughing and talking. Life and time continued to go on even if I couldn't.

So I picked up what was left of my heart, straightened my back and held my head up high as I started to walk to Shawn. Shawn's reaction was priceless. His eyes widened, and his face turned red. He probably thought I was madly in love with him that a fool like me wouldn't notice his lies.

"Stella-"

"Shut up," I said. I swallowed hard. I could feel the tears starting to form and my voice starting to crack up. But at this moment, I can't show weakness. "Surprise to see me?"

Nikki laughed, "it's hilarious really. You thought he loved you, but a popular attractive guy can never love you. I told you, you were his rebound and now we're back together."

"Nikki stop," Shawn murmured.

"No Nikki, please do go on. Explain to me how much a fool I am. Tell me that Shawn loves you and not me. Let me hear it because at least Nikki told somewhat of the truth. At least she isn't an asshole like you who cheated on someone who liked you. You think love is just a game you can control so you can get the results you want in the end. But it's not, Shawn, one day, the game you once loved to play will be against your odds. And when that day comes, I'll be the one smiling."

"You're so dramatic, Stella. You should join a play." Nikki stifled in a laugh. The others, including Shawn, were shocked and speechless. They thought I was the quiet girl who would let others step on me. They were wrong. For once, I'm going to stand up for myself.

"Yeah I should, I can be the one who pours soda over the fake bitch," I said as I took the can of coke beside Shawn and poured it on the both of them. They were too afraid to move. "At least I accept and own the truth and acknowledge it, unlike you. We all know you got your nose done Nikki."

"How fucking-" she tried to stand up to slap me, but Shawn held her back.

"Oh and here, I made these for you when you lied to me about being sick. I hope you choke on the nuts you ungrateful piece of shit."

I walked away from them with the fear of Nikki suddenly running up to me to pour coke on me, but nothing happened. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face as I relived all the moments where Shawn lied to me to be with Nikki. 

Before I left the building, I turned back to look at the place where everything changed for me, but instead of looking back at people laughing, talking and playing; a familiar set of eyes met mine.

a/n Now that it's summer break, expect an update once a week or maybe even more!  ☀️ Comment, share and vote!