Undying Love (The Introduction) (9 page)

In the mid-morning, I turn my phone on. As soon as I power it back on it starts to ring
again.
It's Skylar. I ignore the call. Voicemails and text messages pop
up
instantaneously. I ignore them all. I search for Rachel's name and I call her.
 

"Where are you?" She asks hurriedly.
 

"That's not important," I say lifelessly.
 

"Yeah, it is. Everyone is searching for you. Why are you hiding? What's wrong Ari?"
 

I burst into tears.
 

She soothes, "Oh, Ari honey. Where are you? Let me come to you."
 

"No, I need to be alone. Please."
 

Forcefully she says, "No honey, you need your best friend."
 

"Okay ... But don't tell anyone where I am. Especially Skylar."
 

"Okay, I can do that. Where are you?
 

"I'm at the tree house …," I say in a low voice.
 

"I'll be there in a few minutes."
 

I hang up, and he starts calling again. So, I
power off
the phone
again. After about ten minutes, I hear Rachel
starting to
climb
the tree house. She lays next to me without saying a word. We do this for a while until I break the silence.
 

"Thanks for coming." I whisper.
 

"You don't have to thank me. You would do the same for me … Are you ready to talk?"
 

I sigh. "Early this morning someone sent me pictures of Skylar and another girl from his phone. He was passed out, and he didn't have a shirt on. I … I feel broken from looking at those pictures."
 

"Oh honey, I'm sorry."
 

"Me too."
 

A few moments later Rachel's phone
starts
ringing.
When she answers, I know exactly who it is.
 

"She's fine. I think you need to give her some time … and space … She's hurt by you so you need to give her some time … I'll try, but I can't promise you anything … Okay, but I'm still going to castrate you for hurting her … Yeah, you are."
 

With hesitancy in her voice she says, "He wants to explain what happened … so he wants to know where you are."
 

"I might as well get it over with. You can tell him."
 

"Okay." She sends him a text message and less than five minutes
later
I hear his voice. It's like a dagger through my heart.
 

"Hey pretty girl." He says tenderly.
 

Rachel looks from me to Sky. "I'm going to let you two talk … But you and I have some unfinished business, pretty boy."  
 

He nods towards her as she leaves. As soon as she is out of sight, he moves to touch me and I back away. "Please don't touch me Sky, I need to have a clear head and you hurt me."
 

He grits his teeth. “Okay, I'll respect that … for now."
 

"How could you do that to us Sky?"
I cry out.
 

Hurriedly he pleads, "It's not what you think Ari. Yes, I got drunk and stayed out late with the guys but that's it. Some of the guys invited those girls, but I didn't touch them. I passed out and that's probably when they took those pictures. Trust me, I hate myself for getting so wasted
that I passed out and gave them the opportunity to do that. But NOTHING happened baby, you have to believe me."
 

I stare into his eyes and see the vulnerability. I want to believe him, and to some degree, I do.
 

"
Please pretty girl,
you have to believe me." He begs.
 

"I believe you, but it doesn't make a difference. We still can't be together."
 

Confused he asks, "Why? If you believe me, and you know that I didn't cheat on you, why do we have to break up? That doesn't make
any
sense."
 

"It does. It shows me when you go to college in the fall I won't be anything but miserable—because I'll always think the worse. I can't do that to you or me. It’s best if we cut our losses now Sky. I can't deal with the ache that I feel in my chest. It's killing me. I'll be jealous of every female who will be at the college. I'm only human. It'll kill me Sky."
 

"You don't have to worry about that, I'll stop drinking. I'll even go to a community college here. I'll do anything to be with you." He
beg
s.
 

"You'll resent me later if you stay. You're going to college and you'll be great. But we can't be together. This ends here Sky. If you make me love you more and then we part ways, I won't be whole, I'll be empty."
I say weakly.
 

"I can't let you leave me, Ari. I can't survive without you. Don’t do this. We can be together and love harder than we ever did before. Trust me Ari, distance and time can't keep me from you. Give me one more chance … and if I mess up, you can leave me. But I can't breathe without you. I can't survive Ari." He begs while his eyes shine with tears that are on the brim of his eyelids.
He touches the key on my charm bracelet.
"You have the key to my heart Ari, or did you forget that you own me?”
 

I stare at him as tears stream down his face and I know that I can't say no to him. Even though my gut tells me it won't end well.
"Okay."
 

"Okay? You won't leave me?" He says with hope in his voice.
 

I shake my head.
"No."
 

He moves to touch me hesitantly and I don't move. He kisses me on the forehead and each of my eyes. He whispers his undying devotion to me, and I absorb everything numbly from
the whole ordeal.
W
e sit there for hours holding
each
other. W
hile we
listen to the sound of our heartbeats
beat as one.
 

Chapter Thirteen
 

Skylar
 

It's been a few days since the whole incident occurred, and I'm still on edge. Tonight is the first game since the whole ordeal
happened
and I'm more than nervous. Ari seems to have just given us an extension on our time together. It doesn't feel like she thinks we’re permanent. But what she doesn't realize is that I won't give up on us.
 

The game is about to start and I'm warming up on the field, when I get a sick feeling in my gut. When I look up in the bleachers, I see Colin and Abel sitting next to Ari and they are laughing. She hasn't been laughing much lately and seeing her laugh with Colin is scaring me.
 

The game starts and I do my best not to look in their direction. Because, every time she smiles at them, I feel myself breaking out into a cold sweat. I'm not playing my best
game
even though I should because there are a lot of scouts
out
here to watch me. I don't score and we end the game tied 0-0. Usually after each game, she comes on the field to give me a kiss. Whether its win, lose or draw but she doesn't tonight. She is still on the bleachers talking to Colin and
Abel
. I sulk back into the locker
room,
not feeling my best. Coach Black sees me and by the look on his face, he doesn't look too happy with me.
 

"Montgomery what was that out there. That was pure shit." Coach Black fumes.
 

"Yeah, I know coach, I wasn't feeling well."
 

"Well, you should have said something so I wouldn't have kept you on the field to play such a crappy game."
 

"Okay coach."
 

"Boy let me tell you something. If you want to succeed in this game, you can't be distracted by anything or anyone no matter how pretty it may be. You understand?" He says with a tight voice.
 

"Yeah, I hear you.”
 

"I'm not asking if you hear me because I know you hear me. I know you’re not deaf. I'm asking if you understand me."
 

I murmur, "Yeah I do." I head to my locker not giving Coach Black a second thought or look.
 

I do my best to take a quick shower
so that I can
get out of the locker room
fast
. As I'm about to leave my teammate Kyle stops me. "Hey man, a few of us are going down to the lake to hang out. You down?"
 

"Nah. Maybe next time."
 

He smirks
at me.
"Yeah I wouldn't want to hang around us either with that hot piece-of-ass you got waiting for you."
 

I lose my cool and I snatch him
up
by the collar pushing him against the lockers. "If I were you I would never refer to her as a hot piece-of-ass in my presence because I won't be able to control myself, or how I react. You know what scratch that. Don't even think about her. You may live longer if you do that. Got it?"
 

Terrified he says, "Yeah, man I got it. No disrespect."
 

With that, I leave the locker room even more pissed off than when I entered.
 

As I'm walking out of the locker rooms, I look up and notice that Ari is nowhere to be found. I call her cell but she doesn't respond. I start heading towards the parking lot and I hear her laughing. She's standing by the gates with Colin and Rachel. As I'm approaching them I hear Colin say, "You know you seem to be getting prettier and prettier every time I see you."
 

I hear Arianna reply, "Colin will you behave with all the compliments. You know I have a boyfriend."
 

Approaching them, I hug Ari from behind. "Yeah, Colin you should stop." I say while glaring at him.
 

He rolls his eyes and doesn't even respond to me.
He
continues, "Yeah like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted …"
 

Arianna shakes her head. "Behave, Colin."
 

He
sighs.
"Fine, only because it's you asking."
 

I say, "Let's go, babe."
 

She wrinkles her nose. "I thought you were going to hang out with your team tonight. So, I was going to chill with Rachel,
Abel,
and Colin."
 

"Nah, not tonight. I wanted to chill with you. Alone."
 

"I see … but I can't just bail on them."
 

I groan inwardly and say, "Fine, I'll join you guys then."
 

She looks at Colin, then me. "Maybe I should take a rain check you guys."
 

Rachel says, "I would take a rain check too if I were you."
 

Arianna laughs at Rachel. "Behave, Rachel."
 

"Fine, go with your soccer star I'll see
you
later." Rachel pouts.
 

I don't wait for her to respond and
I
pull her towards my car. When we get there, I push her to the side of the car and I kiss her. I kiss her as if I'm heading to war and I'm not sure if I'll return. I kiss her with my soul, hoping she remembers how bright our love burns. I pull a few inches away and leave our foreheads together so that I can stare into her eyes. Although, I see love there, I also see doubt and that scares me straight to my core. I reach down and touch her bracelet.
 

"Am I losing you, Ari?" I whimper.
 

"You'll always have me Sky no matter where you are."
 

"But will you always have me? Because I feel like I'm losing you. Like you're trying to kick me out of your heart, and I won't let you. If it's the sole thing in life I accomplish, you will be my wife, Ari. We will get married and grow old together. I promise you this."
 

She whispers, "Don't make promises you can't keep Sky. It would hurt more expecting everything with you and getting nothing from you."
 

"We will have our everything, Ari, but you can't give up on us. I feel you breaking our connection. I feel you slipping away."
 

"We used to be so happy Sky, and lately all I do is cry. Is that healthy? We're so young, maybe we’re not in love, or maybe we're not meant to be together. "
 

"I can plead to you till' the kingdom comes and you won't believe me. I'll prove it to you one day
. You'll see
that you are it for me, and one day I'll tell you I told you so." I say as I brush my hand lightly over her face.
 

She closes her eyes and says,
"I hope you do get that chance Sky."
***
 

After the talk in the parking lot after my game, I feel better about Ari. But, I have a feeling that Colin is trying to steal my girl. He's always around her every time I turn around, and I don't like it. He's starting to piss me off.
 

I spot him in the cafeteria; surprisingly he isn't with Ari. I head straight towards him and
when I'm a few feet away I
say, "Hey man, can I talk to you right quick?"
 

He raises a brow at me and says, "About? Because we're not friends so what can we possibly have to talk about?"
 

"Ari."