Red For Rebellious

House Visit

As Mark gapped at Colton, Colton glared at me. I watched both of the guys carefully, hoping that everything would stay under control. Or at least not spiral out of control. I assumed Mark would start screaming at Colton, but instead he turned to face me and shook his head.

“Your mom called me last night after you got home. She sounded upset, and when she told me you were out with some guy and lied about it to her, I didn’t expect that guy to be Colton.”

How in the world did she know I was lying? “I came to your house after school looking for you, that’s how she knew we weren’t together.”

I looked down at my feet, feeling ashamed and upset that I lied to my mother and Mark. “I don’t know what to say.”

Mark shook his head. “If you want to spend your time with this low life, go right ahead. I already warned you, so when he breaks your heart, don’t come crying to me.”

Without another word he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. I felt myself struggling for air, and I closed my eyes and counted to five.

“I’m done with all of this.”

I faced Colton, my heart racing. He was done with all of what?

“This lying and sneaking around was a bad idea, and I won’t be your secret friend anymore.”

“I never wanted to keep you a secret!” I exclaimed.

He laughed. “Then why did you?”

“You know why!”

“Because your friends think I’m a low life loser? You wouldn’t want them to think you hung out with a jerk like me right?” he hissed angrily.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I shook my head. “Colton I swear that’s not why.”

“You just kept me in a closet for forty five minutes because heaven forbid Mark knew we were friends.”

I knew from the very beginning this was all going to end badly. I knew and yet I kept pretending that everything was alright; like it was normal to hide Colton, someone who meant the world to me.

 “You can’t blame Mark for not liking you,” I said lamely.

Colton shook his head. “That’s not the point. When you want something in your life, you stand up for it and support it. You don’t hide it in fear of what other people will think.”

I wanted to say he was right, but the words never left my mouth. He was completely right and I knew it. This past week of lying had become so normal that I didn’t realize what I was doing was wrong. I wasn’t ashamed of Colton, I was afraid of losing my other friends. I couldn’t choose between my friends. Colton didn’t care that I was close to people that absolutely despised him, yet Mark and Vee were totally against Colton in every way.

“I’m going to go.”

I watched Colton move towards the balcony feeling frozen. What could I say to him? He was right, this was wrong, but I didn’t know how to fix it. Mark was furious, and Vee would be once he told her. Blaine would me more understanding, but I could feel the respect he had for me leaving already.

“Wait Colton you have to understand what I’m going through.”

He stopped and turned to face me. “How can you say that to me? You’re not the one who no one wants around. You’re not the one who parents hate with one look. You’re ashamed of me, so I’m going and I’m not coming back.”

Without even knowing it, I had moved forward and grabbed Colton’s arm. “I’m not ashamed of you and I never was. I was afraid of losing my friends. They made it pretty clear that it was them or you, and I couldn’t choose. I couldn’t choose because that meant losing another important person in my life.”