Spectrum

58

Grayson's POV

"You liar!" She screams, pushing me away. 

I didn't do this. I didn't do this. 

No, no, no.

"It wasn't me, Natalia! I swear! It wasn't me!" I yell in reply.

"Really? It wasn't you?" She laughs in reply.

"Yes!" I reply.

"So this guy- who looks just like you- just so happens to be at the same bar as you? Wearing the same outfit you left in?" She asks, crossing her arms.

"No! I mean, it's me but it isn't me! I don't remember any of that! I don't remember that night at all, really!" I defend

"Wow." She says, walking away.

"No, stop. Don't walk away, please." I say, grabbing her arm gently to pull her back to me.

"Don't fucking touch me!" She screams, jerking her arm away.

"Nat, please." I say, holding my hands up in surrender. "Let's just talk, please!" 

"No! I trusted you! You promised that you would never do something like this. I fucking trusted you and now I look like an idiot!" She yells.

I hear the front door unlock and Sofia walks in, smile on her face. Her smile only fades once she sees Natalia's tear stained face and the frustration on mine.

"I..are you okay?" She asks, looking concerned.

"This isn't a good time, Sofia. Please." I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Come back later."

"No! Stay." Natalia says, holding her hand up to stop my words. "I have some stuff I want to ask you." She says, stepping towards Sofia.

"Natalia, no. Let's just figure this out first, please." I say.

"Did you know that Grayson kissed some other girl last night?" She asks, crossing her arms.

Sofia looks at me with panic in her eyes before clearing her throat and shaking her head in reply.

"No. No, I didn't." She says.

"Wow. Great. This is just fucking great." Natalia laughs, running a hand over her face.

"Nat, stop." I say louder.

"I can't believe you're going to stand here and lie straight to my face!" She exclaims. "I saw you! You were in the background of the picture! Shane was, too. What? Were you two just covering for him? You're covering for your cheating brother?" She yells.

"Nat, it's not like that. He was drunk. He-" Sofia says, trying to stop Natalia's angry words.

"No! It's exactly like that! You both knew what he was doing and didn't say anything! I can't believe this! I can't trust any of you. I thought of all people, I could trust you!" She yells.

Sofia shrinks back at her word and I only get frustrated once I see tears teetering on the edge of her eyes.

"Nat, he doesn't know any of this even happened! This isn't any of our fault!" She yells in defense.

Shane walks in a second later and looks between the three of us with confusion before taking his spot next to Sofia protectively.

"What the hell is going on?" Shane asks, voice loud enough to grab the attention of everyone in the room.

"This is exactly your fault! Neither one of you had the decency to even tell me?" She yells in reply.

"What about your brother? The brother that you think is so fucking perfect? Well he kept throwing drinks Grayson's way and encouraging all of this. If anything, he owed you the truth before any of us!" Sofia yells in reply.

"What the fuck is going on?" Shane asks, stepping in-between the girls that are stepping closer and closer to each other.

"You!" Natalia sneers, pointing a finger in Shane's face. "You brought him back to my house after you knew he got a lap dance and started kissing some fucking girl at the bar? What the fuck is wrong with you!" She yells at him.

"Natalia, step down. Now." He says in warning.

"Fuck you, Shane. Fuck you, Sofia. And fuck you, Grayson." She yells. "You're all pieces of shit. You know, at least Nathanial told me! Yeah, maybe it was days after. But if he didn't, I'm sure none of you would ever have!" She yells. 

"Natalia, he was drunk out of his mind. All because Nathan kept throwing drinks in his face! We tried to get him to stop, but he wasn't exactly in the right state of mind to even listen to what we had to say. This isn't his fault. This isn't my fault or Sofia's fault. It just fucking happened, okay? He doesn't even remember that the entire thing happened!" Shane defends.

"Stop. Everyone stop." I yell, holding my hands up to try and stop their words. "Just stop, please." I nearly beg.

"No. I'm not going to sit here and let her talk about you or Sofia like this! This isn't your fault!" Shane replies.

"I don't even care. I'm done. We're done. All of us." Natalia says, grabbing her purse and walking towards the door.

"No, stop!" I say, grabbing her arm once more. She tries jerking away but I don't let her. Not yet, at least.

"No! I'm done! I'm going somewhere else! Anywhere else but here!" She yells.

"And where exactly are you going to go? You just told everyone that you told your roommate that his boyfriend could move in!" I reply.

"I'll stay with Nathanial! Hell, maybe Miami isn't such a bad idea after all." She yells in reply. 

"Stop being so dramatic! Please!" I beg.

"Excuse me?" She sneers.

"Just stay and talk through this with me! I'm just as hurt as you are, I promise! Please, Nat. Don't just leave me like this!" I nearly cry.

"I'm done with all of you! I can't even think of this anymore. God, I'm such a fucking idiot!" She exclaims in frustration.

"Nat, stop. Please! Come on, you know me. I wouldn't even hurt you on purpose. You're my friend. Just listen to us, please!" Sofia pleads.

"Your friend? Are you serious?" Natalia laughs. "No. We aren't friends. After this, we will never be friends again." 

"Hey! Don't start this shit without knowing the entire truth! Look deeper and you'll see that it's your piece of shit brother who started it all!" Shane fights back.

"Excuse me? Nathanial isn't a piece of shit! He's my brother! He knows me better than anyone else. He would never hurt me on purpose! Got it? Sorry you guys have such a warped perception of him, but that's your own fault. Maybe the real problem here has always been you guys. You think you're so much better than everyone else. Just do me a favor and leave us alone!" She yells in reply before walking about the door and slamming it closed.

We all stay silent for a second, taking in everything that just happened. Sofia is crying and Shane is cursing under his breath.

"Tell me." I say, breaking my silence after a minute of nothing. "Did I really kiss that girl?" 

Shane sighs and takes a step towards me. "Yeah."

"Oh my God." I say, pacing around the apartment.

"But it wasn't your fault! She was right there and you were so drunk...you didn't know what you were doing. You were asking for Natalia the entire night and that fucking asshole Nathan just kept trying to get you to stay. He set the entire thing up. I know he fucking did." Shane spits in reply.

"I kissed that girl." I repeat, hoping that somehow the words change.

"No. She kissed you. She took advantage of you. Everyone there did. Nathan especially." Shane says. "He knew you were fucked up! He was the one who kept handing shots and drinks your way!" 

"I kissed her." I say once last time. "And now Natalia's gone."