Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (51)

Jack wanted one of his drivers drive me home the next morning, but I wanted to walk home instead. I’d be able to think more if I walked through town and by my old school. I really just needed time to think.

I walked by the diner I used to work at, remembering how Jack had fought for me when that guy had slapped my ass. I then went by the place we had first told each other that we loved each other, and I felt kind of sad. Everything was different then. I couldn’t stand Eli, and Jack meant absolutely everything to me. Back then, I thought we were going to get married. I thought we’d be together forever.

That was before I knew Jack even knew Emma. That was before everything went wrong. Now, my entire life was crashing down around me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I stopped in front of my old school, not believing that I hadn’t been there for so long. If I had stayed there, all of my current problems wouldn’t exist. I wouldn’t have cared that Courtney was pregnant because I wouldn’t have been in love with the father of her baby. I wouldn’t have fallen in love and got my heart broken by Jack, and I wouldn’t have fallen in love and gotten my heart broken by Eli either. I’d still be the girl that only Simon loved. Even though I wouldn’t have known about his feelings for me if we were still at that school…

There were just too many memories in this stupid town. I wanted to go away, far away and never return. I just wanted all my problems to disappear for once.

When I used to walk around town, people would cross the street when they saw me coming. Everyone thought I was so tough and brutal, but that was the last thing I was right then. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to act like that outer character ever again. I was too scarred to act all big and tough again.

No one even looked at me while I walked down the street. It was like I wasn’t even there. I hadn’t ever realized it until now, now that I was really thinking about everything. Everything was so different compared to how it used to be. It made me kind of side to think I had changed so much from the beginning of this long, hard journey.

Jack said he would come over later that day, which I was glad he was doing because I just didn’t want to be left alone, especially when there was a huge chance that I would see Eli, considering the fact that he lived in the same house as me.

But when I got inside the house, everything was completely silent. Jersey Shore wasn’t on TV, so I knew both Claudia and Cassidy weren’t out there, and I was pretty sure my dad was at work. The door to my room was closed, so I didn’t know if Eli was there or not.

Not knowing why, I decided to go upstairs and toward my room, even though there was a huge chance that Eli would be inside. If he was, we’d be the only two people in the house, which definitely wasn’t good, considering the situation we were in.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open without any type of warning, only to see that there was no one inside. I let out a sigh, happy that he wasn’t there like I thought he was.

I didn’t know how I was supposed to avoid him when he lived in the same house as me and I didn’t even have a room to hide away in. He was the one staying in my room, so I couldn’t stay there, and I knew Cassidy wasn’t going to be nice enough to let me hide in her room. Knowing her, she’d let me in and then lock Eli in there with me.

I stepped forward into my room, looking around to see that pretty much everything was the same as it had been when I left it. Eli really didn’t change that much, and I guessed it was because he didn’t want me arranging everything again once he left. He really could be sweet sometimes…

But that didn’t change what he had done. He had still gone and made me fall in love with him even though he knew that Courtney could have pregnant. He was even worse than Jack. He was so much worse than Jack.