Pretend (39 page)

             
Then as I thought about Aiden going to find Jake in the state that they had both just been in, a feeling of fear came over me. I panicked as I thought about what Jake might do to Aiden. If he ever got hurt because of me, I would never forgive myself.

             
“What are you doing?” Crystal asked as she entered the room and saw me pull out my phone.

             
“Hello, I need a cab,” I screamed down the phone.

             
“Ok
love calm down, where to?” The voice down the receiver asked.

             
I looked up at Crystal for an answer.

             
“Where does Jake live?” I said in a panicked tone.

             
When I felt that feeling of fear run through me as I thought about the possibility of Aiden ever getting hurt I realised something.
That was the moment that it suddenly hit me… I was in love with Aiden Daniels.

"No April," Crystal said as she turned to look at me.

             
"What do you mean no? Aiden and Anthony could be in real trouble and it's
entire
ly my
fault. I have to try and fix it. Just tell me where Jake lives!" I screamed as the frustration filled my entire body.

             
"And what good is it going to do if you turn up in a cab, hmm? Are you going to stand in the middle of them all?"

             
"
Errr
, hello is someone going to order a cab or what?" The voice down the phone asked.

             
"Just a minute," I said in a frustrated tone.

             
"If I have to, then yes!" I shouted as I turned back around to face Crystal.

             
"Look, right now everyone's mad ok, so if you go there after Aiden and Anthony, how much angrier are they going to be when they see you, your wrist and Jake all in the same place?"

             
She had a point.

             
"Ok, so what I suggest is that you wait here and just let things settle down. Aiden can handle himself and Anthony won't let him get into any trouble," she said as she sat down next to me and rested her hand on top of mine.

             
"Goodbye!" The voice down the phone shouted.

             
We couldn't help but burst out laughing as we heard the dial tone, down the phone.

             
"Guess he agrees with me," Crystal said as she smiled at me.

             
"Yeah, you're right. I just hope
that
they'll all be ok, even Jake," I muttered.

             
"They will be fine and I don't know why
you're worried about that jerk."

             
"I don't believe that he's a bad guy you know, I guess he just got his heart broken a few too many times and I know how much that hurts, believe me. What he did was wrong but I suppose he had his reasons," I said.

             
"Maybe but I'm just glad that you're ok. I was really worried about you when I came outside you know. Why did he do that anyway?"

             
"I told him that I just wanted to be friends and that we weren't going to work out, he begged me to keep trying, I said no a
nd he kind of just flipped out."

             
I decided to leave out the whole me having feelings for someone else bit, for now, it was only going to lead to a round of questions that I didn't want to answer.

             
"Strange,
it’s not as if you two were even dating, that’s just creepy. Anyway
I'm sure that everything will work out just fine," she said as she gave my hand a little squeeze.

             
"Yeah," I whispered as I allowed my head to rest on her shoulder.

             
I really hope that she's right.

AIDEN’S POINT OF VIEW

             
"Listen
dude
,
you need to slow down man, you reached the speed limit like ten minutes ago," Anthony said as I sped down the road, towards Jake's house.

             
I ignored him, I couldn't talk right now. All I could see was
April's arm and the marks that
that jerk had left there. Mad was an understatement of how I was feeling right now.
 

             
"Dude, you need to calm down," Anthony pleaded.
 

             
I had never heard him sound so worried before. Usually if I was in a fight then he was down, no questions asked, just sheer excitement at the thought of beating up some dudes for fun but he was acting different this time. I knew that this was different, I had never been so angry but he was going to pay for what he had done to April. I was angrier with myself than Jake though!

How did everyone
else seem to
know this story about him and his ex and yet I didn't?
I would have never left him alone with April if I knew that!

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. As the red light stopped me again, I let my fist make contact with my side window.

             
"Dude!"
Anthony shouted in shock.

             
"Seriously, you need to calm down, you're scaring the hell out of me man, I've never seen you like this," he said.

             
"I can't," I mumbled as I started to drive again.

             
"You're going to have to man. What you going to do, kill the guy?"

             
"Maybe," I
spat
back at him.

             
"You're acting crazy man, what the hell has gotten into you?" He said in a frustrated tone.

             
"Did you see her arm?"

             
"Yeah but-"

             
"But nothing man, if he thinks he can get away with that, he's wrong!"

             
"So what are you going to do, end up in prison over an arm?" He asked as though I was being stupid.

             
I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't talk about this anymore.

             
"Look,
I get it
,
ok. Even if you didn't have this thing going on with April you'd be mad but you
’ve
got to be logical. Going in there like a bull on crack is not going to work. Someon
e's going to get hurt or worse."

             
"So
,
what am I supposed to do?" I asked in a frustrated tone.

             
"I don't know but not what you're thinking of right now. You're going to pull up at his house and do what exactly?"

             
"I'll do what he did to her but worse," I mumbled.
I need him to shut up, I can't think straight.

             
"Ok and what about his mom and his little sister, what about if they get in the way, you going to hit them too?"

             
I didn’t even know that Jake had a little sister. I guess he must have mentioned it to Anthony at some point but he was right I hadn’t even thought about that.

             
"Don't be stupid, I would never put my hand on a woman or a child,
you know that,
" I said in an angry voice.

             
"Exactly but things could get m
essy bro, I'm just warning you."

             
He had a point, I had to admit. I couldn't just run into his house like this, that wouldn't be fair. See
,
this is why I don't like it when Anthony starts
talking,
he talks too much sense, sometimes.

             
"Ok, so what?" I asked in a calmer tone.

             
"Let me do the talking, we'll deal with him, my way," Anthony said with a slight smirk on his lips.

             
I had no idea what he meant but I trusted him.

             
“Here’s his house,” I said as I began to slow down outside of Jake’s house.

             
"Keep, going," he said
.

             
"Dude, he lives there," I said in confusion.

             
"Trust me man," he said as I continued to drive.

             
"Now, you just wait here."

             
"And do what," I asked in an angry voice.

             
"You'll know what to do," he said as he disappeared around the corner.

             
Somehow Anthony had managed to calm me down but I knew that it wouldn't last very long, once I saw Jake's face. I can't believe that he put his hands on her and I let him.
I took out my
anger on poor sally again, this time the roof. It didn't matter right now, she could be fixed but I could never erase April's experience. Suddenly my phone made a sound to let me know that I had a message. A slight smile slipped onto my face as I saw April's name.

             
Please be careful. I'm sorry that I've caused all of this but if
             
you get hurt I'll never forgive myself, just don't do anything
             
stupid please.

             
As I went to hit the reply button and start typing my message, I was interrupted by the sound of Anthony's voice. I slid my phone into my pocket and waited. The very sound of Jake laughing made me want to kill him even more.

             
"So this was your little
plan, nice," Jake said, turning to Anthony with a smirk on his face.

             
"You think this is funny?" I asked as I fought with the urge to punch him in his face.

             
"What dude? I don't think I'm following you," he said as he continued to smile.

             
"He wants me to kill him Ant," I said as I stepped right up in his face.

             
"Calm down bro," I heard Anthony say in the distance.

             
"Yeah calm down bro," Jake said as he let a laugh escape his mouth.

             
I pushed him in the chest and watched as he fell backwards onto the floor.

             
"
Wohhhh
," Anthony said as he grabbed my arm and stopped the kick that I had strategically aimed at Jake's face.

             
"Get off me man!" I shouted as I pushed Anthony off of me.

             
"No
dude, look at me. This is what he wants, o
k? He's trying to play with you. D
on't be a sucker," Anthony said in a calm tone.

             
"Yeah, don't be a sucker
dude
. I guess it all fits into place now, the other guy that she has feelings for, it's you isn't it," he said as he continued to smile.

             
Was h
e actually trying to wind me up?

             
"Y
ou better shut the hell up," I growled as I struggled to get past Anthony. Damn he was strong.

             
"Calm down," he whispered in my ear.
I could literally feel my entire face going red and my heart racing as Jake got up from the floor smiling.