Fire Phoenix

Chapter 33

"Do you think we spent too much of Dick's money?" I questioned taking a seat at the little table we were at in a nearby cafe.

"No, it is for a good cause, ourselves." Rachel joked, taking the seat across from me.

We sat there for a little while waiting for our food, laughing about the weird people in the cafe. "I say he has 5 girls and he's here to get all of their orders, but he was pissed about it so he got them slightly different to mess with them." I laughed watching the man walk out with a ton of coffees.

"It's good to see you smile." Rachel said, taking a sip of her drink. "It feels good to smile, I missed this...us." I took a sip of my own drink.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, making me almost spit out my coffee at the question I have been avoiding this whole time. "Did Dick tell you to ask me?" I said slightly pissed at this now ruined moment.

"No, he didn't. He isn't the only one worried, we all care Em. What happened?" Rachel questioned, seeming really concerned. I don't know what happens but Rachel has this thing where if she wants to know what happens I feel like I need to spill everything to her. I mean it could be her powers but I feel like it's more than that, like I can trust her with my life.

"I fell in love, that's what happened." I joked almost shedding a tear but holding back. "I have this problem where I fall in love way too fast and the person I am head over heels in love with doesn't feel the same way, so I get heartbroken." I added now starting to tear up, I would have broken down crying if it wasn't for us being in public.

"I fell in love with this guy, I was around 15, and we had been friends for a while. He was my first real friend since my parents. I thought he felt the same but was I wrong. I told him I liked him and then he left, he bullied me for months, and then left. And the worst thing is the kids didn't stop, they saw him as the leader of their group, so they followed after him even if he wasn't there. The guy I would cry to because these kids bullied me, ended up being one of them." I cried, now showing more emotion.

After crying for a little, I stopped hating the attention I was receiving from others. "I'm so sorry, he's an asshole." Rachel comforted me, making me laugh a little.

"But I don't think Jason's like that. Look I am not the biggest fan of him but I see him looking at you, he truly loves you." Rachel added. "Then how come he didn't say he liked me back after he kissed me." I argued, raising my voice but then lowering it not wanting to grab attention from the people in the cafe.

"Did you give him a chance to?" Rachel asked, I gave her a confused look, not understanding what she could be talking about. "Maybe you were afraid to get rejected so you didn't let him process it, maybe he wasn't ready at the moment, whereas you were so afraid of losing him just like how you lost your old crush, so you hurt him before he could hurt you."

I looked at her confused, he yelled at me back, he was pissed off at me, I am the one hurting, he was perfectly fine. "He yelled at me, Rach, he has been avoiding me not wanting to talk to me, he hates me"

"If he hates you so much why is he asking me how you are, training everyday non stop. I swear one time I heard him crying in his room." Rachel pointed out, making me cry even more.

I fucked it up, I ruined our relationship. The one good thing I had I ruined. I was so afraid of losing someone I loved, so I broke it off before he could. Rachel got up from her seat giving me a hug, normally I would hate the attention from the people around the room, but I didn't care.

After our little cry and finishing our food we headed back home. It was late so I decided to just head to bed, or more so cry in bed for an hour then fall asleep.

The next morning I slept into almost noon, I am pretty sure Rachel told Dick a brief summary of what happened since he didn't come in to wake me up for training.

It wasn't the only reason I slept so late, today was August 19, the day before hell started. I did this every year, the night before and the night of August 20th I would stay up.

Yes it sounds stupid, but I swear the only horrible nightmares I get are those two nights, or more so it happened the first year, so I have just been too afraid to fall asleep since.

After getting ready for the day, I headed out to the kitchen. Everyone was already out there, even Jason eating lunch. But this time was different, Jason didn't leave, I mean he was obviously quieter then he usually was, but he stayed.

"Look who decided to get up." Gar joked while taking a bite of his sandwich. "Yea, long night." I smiled, trying to make it seem like I was fine.

"How was your night?" I questioned making a sandwich of my own. "It was great, you guys?" Gar answered, seeming really happy, probably about the fact that we were all in a room together like before.

"It was good." I smiled looking over to Rachel then to Jason who was already looking at me, making us lock eyes.

Normally when we locked eyes it was like the world didn't exist and it was just us, but this time I had the feeling of regret, guilt building up. After staring for a few seconds I faced back down to my almost finished sandwich.

"Are you ready for training when you are done?" Dick asked, bringing me back into reality. "Yea definitely." I answered, then took a bite of my sandwich.

"Okay see you soon, and I will beat your ass again." Dick joked walking out of the room followed by Gar and Jason, leaving me and Rachel.

"Did you tell Jason?" I asked, taking a seat next to Rachel on the island. "No? Why do you ask?" Rachel questioned.

"Did you see, he didn't leave, he stayed. I haven't seen him in days, then all of sudden he stays in the same room as me and doesn't leave." I argued, kind of mad at Rachel if she did tell him because now he knew how she felt and he knew it was my fault for our argument.

"Maybe he overheard me and Dick talking, or maybe he finally thinks it's time to talk, and maybe you should think that too." Rachel suggested making me feel better about the situation.

"You're right, I just need to think about what to say to him, without hurting him even more." I said, finishing my sandwich, "But first training with Dick."

"Good luck." Rachel called out as I started to leave the room, "Don't need it, he isn't that good." I joked, hearing a laugh from Rachel in the kitchen.