YOLO Means You Only Love Once

Chapter 6

"Can we start over?" Mack asks peering over at me from behind the counter and he pours Ciai's drink.

"I don't think that's the best idea, Mack." I reply as I look down at my shoes.

"And why not, Faye?" Mack asks with an angry tone.

"This 'relationship' isn't something that you can forget all wrong and start over. We can't do that," I pause, choosing what to say next, "I'm sorry Mack. I don't want to make small talk with you nor have a friendship." I finish off.

"I thought that we had something real, Faye." Mack says to me as he slides Ciai's drink towards her.

"Let's go Faye. We wouldn't want to cause a scene, now would we?" Ciai says trying to break the daunting stare from Mack.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go. I don't want to be near him any longer." I reply as I give Mack one last glare once-over.

***

"So you're probably wondering why I invited all of you, right?" Ciai asks Aaron, James, and I.

"Yeah." We all reply.

"Well, think of this as a celebration," Ciai starts.

"For what?" I ask.

"Well, I made the cover of Vogue! I wanted you guys to  be the first people to know." Ciai exclaims.

"You did!?" I ask slightly surprised.

"Yup! Remember last month when I went to that 'party' at Moonside park?" She asks.

"Slightly." I reply remembering the drunk Ciai I had to drag away from a night light store.

"Well, I actually went to a photo shoot. You know that I've always wanted to be a model!" Ciai explains.

"I'm so proud of you babe," Aaron smiles.

"Congrats girl!" James exclaims.

"Wow! Ciai, I am so proud of you!" I smile reassuringly.

"I'll get us some more drinks." James says.

***

"And now," Aaron starts, "is the turning point in our lifes." I chuckle as Aaron says that last part while we all stand outside of the after party.

"You girls look gorgeous," A guy says as he comes out of the house with drinks in some red solo cups.

"Thanks," I say with a smile on my face as I take a smooth sip of the drink.

"James is the designated driver, so no drinking!" Ciai shouts as we run inside like giddy little children.

"What? Why me?!" James exclaims with a horrified expression.

"Why do you think we brought you along?" Ciai giggles jokingly.

"She's kidding, James. I'm the designated driver." Aaron speaks up.

"Yeah, Aaron doesn't really drink."  Ciai says.

"Thank god," James exclaims as he lets out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you were standing there. What's your name?" I ask the man who have me the drink.

"It's fine, Darling. The name's Zeke, Zeke Winston." He says.

"W-What?" I asked stunned.

"I wanted fair game. You, my dear, are absolutely stunning. Can we go dance? It is a party after all." He replies.

"Hold up," I start as I stare up at his tall figure. "I meant what are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be in Massachusetts?" I ask stunned.

"Your mother told me that I'm permitted to date you, as you wish." Zeke says.

"Hold on. She told you what?" I respond with my smile faulting into a frown.

"You didn't know?" Zeke asks with furrowed brows.

"No," I say as I stare down at my feet. "She never tells me anything anymore, I'm just her little puppet." I mumble.

"How about we go inside?" Zeke suggests. "Only if you want to. I can always go back to Minnesota if you'd like. Just say the words and I'll never be a bother to you again." Zeke rambles.

"No, no," I start. "You're fine! I'm just a little bit surprised I guess." I finish.

"Is that a good surprised or..?" Zeke asks joking.

"A good surprised," I start. "I want to ask again if you don't mind." I offer.

"Go on." Zeke answers.

"Why exactly are you here?" I ask.

Zeke shifts on his feet nervously with his hands in his dark blue jeans while looking down at his feet before speaking. "I- um. Can we go talk somewhere else? Somewhere more... private?" Zeke asks.

"Yeah.." I respond.

***

"So, what's up?" I ask Zeke once we're at a Cafè somewhere downtown.

"What do you mean 'what's up', Faye?" He asks as I frown and look down at my feet.

"You and I both know that you're not okay. Have you even spoken to Noah?" Zeke asks.

"No, I haven't. He has no idea about JHH. I can't tell him. I don't know how he'd react when he figures out what Hardin did to me." I respond sheepishly.

"Talk to me, Faye. What's going on in that pretty mind of yours? You know that I'm only here as a friend, nothing more." Zeke says.

I let out a breath of air after taking a sip of my coffee.

"I don't know where to start. I just want to be able to feel again. I can't go around feeling numb and pretending and convincing myself and others that I'm fine, that I'm perfect, that I'm okay. The thing is that I'm not fine, and I don't think that I ever will be." I respond.

"Are you still taking your Venlafaxine?" Zeke asks.

"Yeah. Lord knows I need it." I respond as I fiddle with my coffee cup.

"Faye." Zeke asks.

"Yeah?" I look up at him as he runs a hand through his messy dirty blonde hair.

"Nobody expects you to be this perfect person. Not even your mum and dad. That's what matters, you should know that it's okay to slip up. You've been through a trauma, and it's going to be okay. We're all going to be here to support you." Zeke says.

"I just feel like they always expect me to be perfect, to exceed their expectations." I say.

"Faye. You know that's not true, right?"

"I don't know what's real and what's not anymore."

"Tell me what happened that day of the trauma."

"Okay." I respond.

****
Mrahahaha! Cliffhanger. I'm going to start writing the next chapter after this! I am so happy that you guys are going to be able to find out why Faye is the way she is. Why she's rude, what's going on with her parents, and more. You'll understand soon enough and you'll know why they push her past her limits.

Thank you imtheoddgirl for the brand new cover and theme for my profile! I JUST LOVE SUNFLOWERS AND SHE MADE IT 10× BETTER!!