Inevitable

Breaking the rules

"Em, what the hell are you doing with this asshole?!"

Henry turned to her with a furious look on his face. I didn't want this to be a big fight in the middle of the food court so I stood up and pulled Melissa away from the table.

"Henry explained everything to me and it sounds like it was a misunderstanding between you two. Plus, we are just hanging out as friends for now. He's really not a bad guy. I'm sorry you got hurt but I know what I'm doing. Please don't be mad at me."

She had a shocked look on her face and I could tell she wasn't going to make this easy.

"If you are just friends, why were you holding hands? Don't you see what's going on here? He's playing you. And I don't care what you say, he is a bad guy."

I was starting to get angry. I wasn't some naive little girl. I could handle myself.

"I'm not an idiot Melis. You are suppose to be my friend. Can't you just trust me to make my own decisions?"

"I'm sorry Em. I can't watch you make such a colossal mistake. He's going to break your heart. I'm sure of it."

She stormed off and left me standing there in shock. I never got into fights with my friends. I hated confrontation. I also wasn't the type of girl to let a guy come into my life and cause trouble. But that's exactly what was happening. It wasn't fair of my friends to put me in this position. I felt like they were forcing me to choose and that was just wrong. No one had the right to tell me who I could spend time with.
I walked back over to the table and sat down. I didn't know what to say to Henry. Melissa shouldn't have said what she said to him. I really didn't think he could have misled her the way she said he did. He had always been genuine with me.

"I'm sorry she was so mean to you. That was uncalled for. I just wish they could let me make my own choices. I know they think they are protecting me but it's starting to go too far."

He took my hand again and it instantly made me feel a little better.

"Em, you should never apologize for someone else's actions. I can handle Jess and Melissa. But I hate to see what it's doing to you. It's really none of their business who you spend time with."

"I know. I hate fighting with people. I hate drama. I wish they could just be happy that I'm happy."

At that moment, my phone started buzzing. It was Jess calling me. I guess Melissa wasted no time letting her know I was with Henry. I hit the ignore button. I wasn't ready for round two. Henry looked at me sympathetically. Would it ever just be easy for us? I didn't know the answer to that but I knew he was worth it.
    We finished our sandwiches and walked outside. I promised I would see him later on that night and started walking towards my next class.
    I was so excited to see Henry perform again. And of course the rest of the day dragged on. When my shift at the bookstore was finally over, I rushed back to my room to get ready. I was happy to see Jane was home. We had only seen each other in passing throughout the week. I told her everything that was going on with Henry.

"Em, I think he's being sincere. Bill told me that he's never seen Henry like this before. He really seems to be into you. Jess and Melissa need to back off."

I was so grateful to have Jane on my side. She really was the best person I knew. I made her tell me what was new with her and Bill. I wanted her to know I supported her as much as she was supporting me. We continued to gush over the boys while we got ready to go out. When Bill texted that he was downstairs, I was feeling much better about everything. Spending time with Jane was just what I needed.
     The frat house that Henry was playing at tonight was on the other side of campus so it took us about 20 minutes to walk there. The cooler weather was not letting go so I made sure I had a jacket with me tonight. When we finally got there, there was a really long line but unfortunately, we didn't know anyone here that could get us in. We ended up waiting thirty minutes to get to the front.
   When we were finally inside, I made my way to the room where Henry was playing. It was so packed I could barely see anything. I tried to push myself up to the front but it was just too crazy. I decided to go get a drink and then try again. I found Jane and Bill in the hallway and they followed me to the bar. The bar was also packed. It took forever to get someone's attention just to get a couple beers. I was starting to feel overwhelmed. There were too many people here. And I came to see Henry and I couldn't even get into the room where he was playing.
We headed back in the direction where the band was playing. I was looking forward to this all day. I couldn't just give up. I managed to squeeze my way into the middle of the crowd and now I could see Henry. He was wearing ripped jeans and a black t shirt again. His hair was all messed up like last week and he never looked hotter. There was something about seeing him up on stage that made him a million times more attractive. Jane and Bill managed to find me in the crowd and we all danced along to the music. I was finally starting to enjoy myself.
After a few songs, I was super hot and sweaty. Plus, I needed another drink. I let Jane know where I was going and pushed my way back into the hallway. When I walked back to the bar, I stopped in my tracks. Standing by the bar were Jess, Nick, Melissa, and Liam.