Chapter Thirty Five

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Things were oddly quiet upstairs

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Things were oddly quiet upstairs.

Suspicious.

"Why hasn't there been any yelling yet?" I wondered aloud, pondering as to why there's been no fighting.

Suddenly, Camille gasped.

"Do you think," She began, "That Aileen knocked him out?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," I shrugged. To be honest, nothing Aileen did could surprise me anymore. I'd seen some weird things these last couple weeks.

"Maybe we should go check?" Carson suggested.

"Maybe," I agreed.

We all got up from the couch and walked quietly to the stairs and up them, until we reached Aileen's door.

"Now," I whispered to them in a low voice, "On the count of three, we all go in. Ready? One..."

"Three!" Carson said, and busted open the door.

"Hey!" I protested, but he and Camille were already inside. I sighed, and walked in after them.

Then I froze when my eyes took in the odd sight before me.

Aileen was sitting right next to Jacob, their arms around each other, and she was smiling.

And it wasn't her usual, 'I'm evil and I'm going to kill you' smile, it was a real, HAPPY one.

And just when I thought she couldn't surprise me anymore, she goes ahead and smiles at Jacob, of all people.

"What the heck happened in here?" Carson exclaimed, looking shocked.

I leaned over to him and whispered. "You know what they say- anger is a sign of passionate lovers."

His face scrunched up in a grimace. "TMI."

Aileen quickly pushed Jacob away, and with an "Oof!" He fell onto his back.

Then she stood up and quickly wiped her eyes.

Wait. Was she... crying?

"What are you guys doing here?" She scowled at us. Huh. Then again, maybe her eyes were itchy.

"We were wondering why you were shouting yet," I answered honestly.

"Shout?" Jacob protected meekly. "I never shout."

Aileen rolled her eyes at him, but again, not in the usual 'shut up I hate you' way, but in a playful way.

Was the whole world turning upside down?

Did Aileen actually tolerate Jacob now?

No way. This was just too weird for me.

"I'm a little confused," Camille said, looked at them with a furrowed brow.

"We were just wrestling," Aileen explained, "And then we were tired and decided to stop. Most likely."

"That... doesn't seem true," I said doubtfully, eyeing her.

"Well, that's what happened," She said. "Probably."

"I think I need to sit down," I said aloud, turning around and heading back out the door.

"I'll come with you," Aileen announced loudly, coming over to me and walking close by.

I gave her a surprised glance, but did not object.

She steered us towards my room, and as I opened the door, she pushed past, headed straight for the bed, and flopped down on it face first.

I stood at the door awkwardly, as she let out a loud, "Uuhhaaaghhhgghhha."

"Are you ok?" I hedged.

She raised her head of the mattress for a few seconds before dropping it back down.

I looked closer at her. Her curly hair was messier than usual, and I assumed that my earlier prediction of her crying was correct.

Either way, I wouldn't ask. Aileen didn't seem like the type of person who'd want to be seen crying.

"My life is a mess!" She complained, her voice muffled.

"Tell me about it," I agreed.

"Everything sucks!" She said.

"I know, I know," I nodded. "Is this about Jacob?"

"It's about everything!" She exclaimed, picking her head up off the bed for second. "Including him."

"Look, things might be bad right now, but it's going to be fine," I comforted as Aileen let her head fall back onto the bed.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Aileen? Hayley? Are you guys okay?" Camille's voice hesitantly asked from outside. "We are going to go out to lunch if you wanna come..."

We both perked up. Go out? Were they crazy?

But if they were willing to let us out of the house, I wasn't about to protest!

"We'll be there in a bit," I called out, watching as Aileen slowly rolled herself of the bed.

She fell off the side of the bed and landed on the floor in a thump.

"What was that?" Camille asked.

"I bumped my knee," I said, still watching as Aileen rolled herself over to me and landed at my feet.

"Um, ok," She said. "See you in a bit."

"Yeah, see you," I said, still looking as the mess of a girl at me feet. "Now what am I going to do with you?"

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