The Game of Love

The Game of Love Chapter 37

I'm on a roll today. Three in a row xD Well, this one's pretty short, but vote and comment if you like it!

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Sarah:

It never crossed my mind that I’d be proposed to like this. Still though, I wasn’t sure if this was a genuine proposal. When I don’t answer, Leon calls my name, “Sarah.” I blinked a few times before I snapped back to reality.

And before I could stop my words, I blurted out, “Are you only proposing because you want to have sex with me?”

Leon held a confused expression before shaking his head. “No, Sarah. I’m sorry, that didn’t come out at the right time.”

“I’ll say,” I carried on, “here we are, about to do it when we talk about our promise to remain chaste until marriage, and then you ask my hand in marriage.”

He could sense the doubt in my voice—sensing that I don’t believe what he said earlier. Leon sighed. “You seriously think I’d propose to you just for the sex?” I don’t answer—it was pretty damn obvious. “Look, I told you that I wasn’t doing it for the sex!”

I asked, “Then what for?”

“I’m doing it because I love you! We’re legal age anyway, Sarah. We could do it—get married.” He was holding onto my hand, his eyes pleading. “I’ve wanted to marry you a few days after I met you.”

“Oh sure, like I was supposed to see through that because you were being so psychopath and abusive then!” argued I. “How can I be really sure! It’s like you said: Anyone can give out lip service easily.”

“I thought you’re able to read through my gestures! I’ve done so much for you because I love you! I said I was willing to wait for you! I’m not going to rush things with you. You’re the one who so wanted it!”

“I told you that I can wait!” I screamed at him.

“Really, can you really wait? If you could, you would’ve stopped me a long time ago.” He had a point, but for crying out loud!

“I lost it for a moment! Excuse me!” And just as we’re carrying on our argument, I snatch my clothes, putting them back on messily; when I come across some of his clothes, I chucked it at Leon. When I’m heading out his apartment, I feel his hand grip my wrist—and tight enough to break my bones. “What?”

“Please, just”—

I cut him off, “Listen, if you really love me, then you wouldn’t push me to do something I don’t want to do yet! Get that to your stupid head, Leon.” I snatched my hand away and left his apartment with a loud slam of the door.

The last thing I remember is the pleading and pained look on his face…

* * * *

Despite the repetitive calls from Leon, I never bothered to answer. The damn bastard was leading me on this whole time. Did he really ever love me? Well, I’m pretty sure considering the sincerity in his words—but he could’ve been practicing this entire act to just get in my pants! Still, I can’t doubt the theory that he really loves me. But did he seriously have to propose? I’m not doing this so we can both just have sex! So what if he’s wanted to marry from the very beginning of our meeting? If it’s just bad timing, then I get that, but he should understand why I can’t do this marriage thing anyway.

When I got home, I hung my prom dress in my closet, now wondering why I bothered buying it if I’m in a fight with Leon. I might just end up dateless for prom. At times like these, I wish my best friend was here—but he has a girlfriend so there’s no one left.

Damn.

Flopping on my bed, I called Leanne, the one I’d ever call for situations like this since she’s more reasonable than Sophia. “What’s up?” she asked casually.

“It’s about Leon,” I replied.

She heaved a sigh—she knew that this was damn serious. After a quick moment of silence, she says to me, “I’ll be there in ten,” and hung up.

By the time she got here, she’s brought a pack of Coke—knowing it’ll ease my nerves as I’m talking about this. I just stared at the pack before saying, “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” she returned flatly. “It’s better than bringing Sophia here. Whatever it is, she’d blame you for not doing whatever jackass Leon was telling you to do.”

Somehow—despite the fact that she’s grateful Leon and I got together—I get this strange feeling that she doesn’t approve of our relationship one bit. She’s a strange girl, and hard to read as well. Whatever; as she we sat on the couch, letting the TV run mute, tell her, “Leon and I—we almost…did it.”

“Yeah, okay. What’s the problem?” she asked. Leanne—the one who just wants you to get straight to the point; I swear she could make a perfect critic for books, movies, and restaurants because of her damn straightforwardness. Still, she’s one of my best friends—at least she doesn’t sugarcoat things like Sophia would and like Seth and Leon would sometimes do.

“Okay,” I began, “so I asked if he had anything—protection—and when he said he didn’t, we had this fight. We then started talking about our promise to be chaste and that we wouldn’t have sex until we’re married; then Leon proposed to me. I asked him if he was doing that so we could have sex, he said no—that it’s because he loves me and he’s been wanting to marry since we met. I still continued to argue, telling him that we should just wait, but he’s being pushy!” I took a deep breath; everything just came out in a rush. “Leanne…what should I do?”

After listening intently, she contemplated for a good five minutes. Once she’s left every word of information sink into her mind, she turned to me, answering, “Go back and just ask him to wait. Knowing him, he’s probably sulking like a depressed person who’s loved one died. I’m pretty sure it’s evident to you that he’s hurt.”

“Well I know he’s hurt, but”—

“I get that you’re doing this to punish him,” she interrupted. “The point is, you shouldn’t leave an argument like this—it’s ugly and messy. Fix it. Clean it up. Try and get him to understand. I know that you’ve reached the same response as I have before you even called me.”

“Yeah, but”—

“Just shut up and listen,” she demanded irritably. “Any person would be stupid not to realize that he’s head over heels in love with you. Whenever you weren’t around, he wouldn’t shut up around Sophia and me about how he’s been painting portraits of you and him. You know he really loves you—you’re just ridiculously in denial. And don’t try to deny it,” she added when I opened my mouth to speak. “Look, I don’t see why you need me here to confirm your thoughts. It’s just bad timing. I know you’ve been thinking about your answer—this is it, right?”

Leanne was. She was spot on. It didn’t cross my mind yet, but that’s the answer that was lying in me the whole time. Still, I listened to her rant on. “He doesn’t mean to be pushy or anything—he’s just being an ignorant boy. Tell him to wait. I’m sure he’ll understand—I’m sure he’ll agree. He’ll probably still be hurt by your rejection, but he’ll definitely agree if it’s what you want.”

It fell silent for an excruciatingly long time before I said in a teasing manner, “You and your words of wisdom.”

That was enough to tug at the corner of her lips to form a smirk—or a smile. “I’m just taking the big sister role.” And right after saying that, she ruffled my hair before leaving.

Albeit her words struck me, I still wasn’t ready to talk to Leon. For one thing, I’m freaking guilty that I hurt Leon like that. For another, I’m still effing pissed off. So I’m going to wait it out—I’m going to just let myself calm down until I’m ready to discuss this with Leon.