Not made for each other - 12. Stephen

I’m so sorry that it took me so long to update. Actually, I broke my hand but I’m fine now and yes I have a good news, I got a job 

Chapter 12: Stephen

When I made it to the cafeteria, I discovered a huge crowd clustered around the middle section of it. I knew what was going on there. I rushed towards Edward and Kev, tearing through the crowd.

When I was finally able to get in there I found Edward on the floor and Kev was on him, smacking his face ruthlessly. Edward clutched Kev’s shirt and kicked him in his abdomen, making him fall on his back to the floor. Before Kev could recover, Edward straightened himself up and grabbed Kev’s collar, pulling him to his feet.

Edward’s fist was about to collide with Kev’s face when I screamed, “EDWARD!” Edward glanced at me. I slowly shook my head and silently begged him to stop. His face softened and his anger melted away. I found his jaw relaxed and his grip on Kev’s collar loosened. This just fueled Kev’s anger. His face was red with wrath. He pushed Edward back and began slamming punches in his gut. Edward neither made any attempt to block Kev’s attacks nor tried to retaliate. He was just gazing at me with a faded smile.

“Come on you pussy, hit me back,” Kev challenged him but Edward remained tranquilized the whole time and never stopped staring at me. Kev glared at him and then at me. He was seething with anger. He started pounding his fist on Edward’s face with more force and hatred. Edward’s nose and the corner of his mouth was bleeding but he was still smiling and looking at me. I couldn’t just stand there and witness all this. I ran towards them and got in between them to stop Kev.

“Kev, please, stop it,” I pleaded but Kev’s senses were engulfed in his anger and hatred. My words had no effect on him. Kev tried to push me aside but when I remained persistent to hold my ground, he grasped my right arm and roughly threw me away towards his left side. I fell on my left hand onto a table. I heard a crack and a painful moan escaped my lips. I was quite certain that my left hand was fractured. I closed my eyes and held my left hand with my right one. I found someone’s gentle hold on my shoulders. I slowly opened my lids a little and found a worried Jake standing with me.

“Zune, are you, are you okay?” he asked with panic in his voice.

“I, I don’t know,” I whispered honestly.

Kev and Edward rushed towards me.

Jake snapped his head to look at them. “Don’t you guys dare come an inch closer to him!” he warned them angrily. It was the first time I had seen him that pissed off. The other two boys didn’t take a step further towards me but their eyes remained on me.

Within seconds, Mr. Hayens showed up and cautiously took me to the nurse’s office. Ms. Stevens iced my left arm carefully and gave me some ibuprofen before Mr. Hayens and Jake took me to the hospital. Jake called my parents on the way.

When I fell I didn’t feel that much pain, but I started to feel more when the adrenaline wore off.

Mom and Matt were already at the hospital worrying and panicking when I arrived. I assured them that I was fine but of course they didn’t believe me.

The triage nurses sent us to the patient waiting room. After about half an hour a doctor called me into an examination room and had a look at my hand. He concluded that it needed an x-ray and told me to go back to the waiting room until I was called in for that. About twenty minutes later, they called me in for x-rays. It hurt even worse when they had to twist my broken hand upside down to get the right angle. After the x-rays, they once again sent me back to the waiting room. Half an hour later the orthopedist called me in and confirmed that I had a minor fracture but it was nothing serious and I could go back to school in a day or two.

For my fractured hand, they immobilized it by wrapping it and giving me a sling to keep it elevated. I was glad I didn’t need a cast. For pain they recommended Tylenol and if I really needed something stronger they would write me a prescription for Vicodin. They told me to keep my fractured hand dry, not to use it as a weapon, not to stick anything in it, keep it elevated above my heart whenever possible, and to come back in five weeks at which time I’d probably be good to go.

When we got home mom asked me what happened in school, as if she hadn’t already pulled every single detail out of Mr. Hayens. Obviously I was not going to tell her everything. I told her that Kev and Edward were fighting over something really stupid (I guess that would be me), and when I tried to stop them I accidently fell onto a table and fractured my hand. It took me a whole excruciating hour to make her believe that there’s nothing I was hiding from her and there’s nothing she should be worried about.

I was on my bed sitting up and leaning back against the wall reading ‘Oliver’s Story’, when someone knocked on my door.

“Mom?”

No reply.

“Mom, is that you? The door’s unlocked. Come on in.”

The door opened slowly and a nervous Carol made her way into my room. She sat on the edge of my bed facing me but she wasn’t looking at me, instead she was gazing intently at an invisible spot on my light-blue bed sheet. We remained quiet for many moments. I knew what she was thinking and the dilemma she was in. She was torn between Kev and I. On one side, there’s her childhood friend and I was on the other side, her brother. She was in a very difficult situation and I wish I could have helped her.

“I am fine, Carol,” I assured her breaking the silence.

She lifted her eyes to meet my gaze. She leaned in, kissed my forehead, and left my room muttering ‘take care’. This was the best thing that had happened to me in the last month. I hoped this meant that things would be better between Carol and I in the coming days.

Next day, After getting ready to go to school with help from Matt, Carol and I left for school in her car. This time Carol didn’t stop her vehicle until we reached the school’s parking area. I unbuckled my seatbelt and was about to open the passenger ’s door, when Carol whispered, ‘take care’. I looked at her but she was staring down at her lap.

I smiled and carefully made my way towards the locker room. Jake was waiting for me, leaning on the outside wall.

“Hey,” he greeted me as saw me coming.

“Hey,” I responded with a weak smile and we entered the locker room together.

“How’s your hand now?”

“It’s better than yesterday.”

We took our necessary books and sauntered towards our respective classes. As usual my first class was with Carol and Kev. While Carol was glancing in my direction every two minutes; Kev’s eyes were glued to his book. I was just waiting for this class to be over.

At lunch, Jake sat with me in the cafeteria. In the farthest corner I saw Carol and Kev, but instead of eating they were arguing about something.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Jake diverted my attention back to my lunch.

Jake was the only one of my friends who was talking to me like before. He was smiling and trying to make me smile. He was always trying to hold up a light conversation with me.

“Why are you doing this, Jake?” I gave voice to the question constantly nagging my mind since yesterday. He snapped his head to look at me. His smile faded away from his face.

“I know you care about me and all, but still…I mean…why you are going against everyone to hang out with me?” I asked inquisitively, knitting my brows together.

Jake gently put his fork down and cleared his throat. He seemed nervous but determined.

“Zune, I have been studying in this school since forever. When I came out, things were not great for me. But then you came. That morning when we first met you were the only one in this whole school who stood up for me without thinking about yourself. You were the one who thought about me. And now, when you need someone, I can’t leave you on your own. I know you made a mistake and for that I tried not to talk to you for a whole month, but it doesn’t mean I should shun you from my life when you needed someone to be with you the most. The past month that I didn’t talk to you was enough to make me realize that I can’t stay away from my best friend anymore. Now, are you satisfied with my answer or should I continue my babbling?”

A genuine smile spread over my face.

“You know Zune, maybe things are not great for you right now but believe me, no one hates you. Carol, Daryl, and Ron love you to death and you know that, but they also love Kev, and you have hurt him badly. They are just…”

“…torn between Kev and I.” I completed for him and he nodded.

“Has…has Kev have stopped talking to you since you are hanging out with me?” I asked hesitantly after few moments.

Jake ducked his head and gave me a slight nod.

“I’m so sorry, Jake.”

“Zune, I want you to know one thing. No matter what everyone else thinks of you, I’ll never leave your side…ever.” His words warmed my heart.

“Thanks. Thanks a lot, Jake. I don’t know what else to say.”

“Then don’t say anything and dig into your food,” he ordered in a playful manner.

The rest of the day was normal. Jake stuck around me the whole day and as usual Kev avoided my presence. Surprisingly, I never saw Edward the whole day.

I was still learning to live my life with my left arm in a sling, and believe me it’s no fun. During the week, Jake called me every day and even came over twice to see me. Daryl and Ron came to meet me too but they seemed hesitant to carry on any conversation with me. Carol had begun talking to me, not as comfortably as before, but yes, the situation was definitely better than it had been.

Edward called me many times but I never answered him. Becca also called me to ask about my healing hand. Perhaps Edward told her about my fractured hand. I never spoke to Becca about what happened between Edward and I, and I guess neither did Edward. As far as she knew, Edward and I were still friends. I had no idea how to tell her that Edward and I are not friends anymore, and what I would say when she asked me what had happened between us that led us to break our short-lived friendship?

Kev didn’t come to see me, nor did he make any attempt to contact me in any way. Does he not care about me now? Well, I couldn’t blame him.

I wish…I so wish I could go back in the past so I could have stopped myself from making that mistake which ruined everything between Kev and I. Sometimes I think it’s a shame that it took such an incident for me to realize that I loved Kev.

Few Days Later

After a boring day, when school was finally over, Jake and I headed towards the parking lot to meet Carol.

Jake stopped abruptly, staring ahead. When I followed his gaze I found Kev walking towards us.

“Hm…Zune, I guess I should go.” Jake walked off towards the buses, leaving me alone with Kev.

Kev stopped a few steps away from me, handed me a piece of paper, and left. What the hell just happened?

I read the scribbled message he wrote me.

Meet me at Love Life Cafe around seven.

Okay, I was confused now. Why would Kev wanna meet me? He’s probably gonna forgive me; he’s probably thinking about giving me another chance, he probably still cared about me, or maybe he just wanted to apologize about my fractured hand. Oh God! I so hated this guessing game, but I knew that I was definitely going to meet him.

Jake came by early in the evening and I told him and Carol about the note and my meeting with Kev.

“So?” Jake asked raising his left brow slightly.

“I’ll go,” I concluded, fidgeting a bit in my seat.

“Are you sure about this?” Carol asked with a worried look.

“I don’t know, but…but he’s probably thinking about ‘us’ again. He might be at least ready to give ‘us’ a chance again.”

“I…I’m not sure about this. I feel something is wrong. Something is out of place.” Jake voiced his doubts staring at the coffee table.

“I can’t lose this chance, Jake.”

“Even if it results in you hurting more?” Carol questioned narrowing her eyes.

“Even if it results in me hurting some more,” I answered honestly. She huffed and left to go to her bedroom.

“Jake, I love him. Kev’s note gave me a little hope today that we might be able to be together again and I can’t lose that hope because that’s all I have left now,” I asserted with a constricted throat. Jake scooted towards me and put his arms around me. I leaned into his hug, put my head on his shoulder, and cried silently.

I was getting ready in my bedroom but my fractured hand was making it difficult for me to do anything. I was struggling to take my t-shirt off when Carol came into my bedroom without knocking.

“I guess you could use some help,” Carol suggested. I just lamely shrugged. She helped me get rid of my t-shirt and began searching for a new one in my closet.

“Zune, I still think it’s not a good idea to meet him tonight,” Carol said still fumbling in my closet for a suitable t-shirt.

“I love him, Carol.” Carol froze in place and turned around to face me. “I know I screwed up big time, but…but I love him and I’m ready to do anything that could bring us together…once again,” I announced looking directly into her eyes. She slowly and steadily walked towards me and hugged me carefully enough not to hurt my damaged hand.

“Zune, I, I just don’t want either of you to get hurt anymore.” She was sniffling and clinging to me.

“You know Carol, you are the best sister and a best friend anyone could ask for,” I murmured, hugging her more tightly.

Fifteen minutes later I was all set to meet Kev. Mom and Matt were at work. Jake was still at our house and he and Carol were in the living room talking in hushed tones, probably about me. Before leaving the house, Carol and Jake instructed me to take care and call them if something happened. I nodded and left.

I was at Love Life Café on time. Now all I was doing was waiting for Kev, and that’s what I did until ten. Yes, he never showed. I called him countless times but he never picked up. I had a total of fifty-nine missed calls from Carol and Jake. I never took their calls. I wanted to be alone.

It was time for the cafe to close so I walked out with a heavy heart. It was getting hard not to cry, not to feel stupid, and not to curse myself once again for making that horrible mistake which changed everything between us. Why? Why had he told me to meet him if he had already planned never to show up? Was it a kind of revenge? Or it could be possible he was sick and couldn’t come. Perhaps, that’s why he didn’t pick my calls. Yes, definitely this could have happened. Kev would never do that to me. I wiped away my tears and began hurriedly walking towards his house.

I impatiently rang the doorbell. My wait ended after an excruciating twenty seconds and an almost-nude Kev opened the door. He was just in his boxers. As much as I would have appreciated to gawk at his next to perfect body, I reminded myself that I was there for something else.

“Are you…are you okay? You never showed, and…and I was worried, so I…”

The rest of the words caught in my throat when a pair of slender hands snaked around Kev’s waist from behind, and the smirking face of an equally naked Joey came into view over Kev’s right shoulder.

“Hey Zune, how are you?” Joey asked, kissing Kev’s bare shoulder. Kev was staring down at the floor and I had no idea what to think, what to say. “I wish we could invite you inside, but as you can see we are quite busy, so…see you soon,” Joey added with a winning grin on his face.

“I…I’m sorry.” With those words I turned around and in a haze I began walking. I don’t know why I said sorry. Was I sorry about having sex with Edward? Was I sorry about telling Kev about that? Was I sorry for hurting him? Was I sorry about thinking Kev probably wanted to give us another chance? Was I sorry about waiting for him like an idiot for three fucking hours? Was I sorry about seeing Kev with Joey, or…or was I just sorry about me?

Now I knew how Kev felt when I told him about Edward and I. Now I knew how much it hurt. I cried for a good hour before entering my house. Carol was in the living room watching a repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy”.

“Where the hell is your phone?” Carol asked in a dangerous voice. Her eyes were still glued to the television screen.

“I…I…”

“Where the hell were you?” Her voice was getting calmer and more serious.

“I…I was with…Kev,” I lied, looking down. I moved towards the refrigerator and pulled out a chilled bottle of water. As I turned around, Carol was right in front of me. I jumped back in surprise.

“You scared me,” I scolded, breathing heavily. She was just staring at me deeply like she was trying to figure something out.

“How was the meeting?” she asked with a suspicious look on her face.

“It was…it was really great,” I continued my lies with a faux smile, averting my eyes from her face.

“Oh really. So what happened? Tell me everything and look-at-me Zune,” she commanded in a dead-serious tone. I hesitantly lifted my eyes to meet her gaze.

“I…I got there at seven and he…” I took a deep breath, batting my eyelashes, “he was already there waiting for me with beautiful red roses. Then we talked and talked, and didn’t realize how the time got away from us. And…”

“What was he wearing?” Carol asked out of the blue, cutting me off.

“He was wearing…a red t-shirt and…and blue jeans.” A stinging pain began to form in the back of my eyes, warning me that it would be difficult for me to hold back my tears if this conversation kept going on like this. “Carol, I’m tired. I’ll talk to you in…”

“What-happened-Zune?” Carol’s voice gave me goose-bumps. I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to cry and right now all I needed was a shoulder to cry on. I suddenly hugged her, not caring about my hurt hand, and began crying my eyes out.

“Zune? What happened, bro? Please tell me. Zune, please.”

“He…he never showed. He never showed, Carol,” I muttered in between my pathetic sobs and with that I told her everything. She made me drink a whole glass of water, held my unbroken hand in a death grip, and dragged me to her car.

“Carol? Carol, where the hell are we going? Please tell me you are not taking me to Kev’s?” I pleaded.

“Zune, Just get into the car,” she ordered in a pissed off tone.

“Carol, I don’t…”

“I SAID, GET IN THE FUCKING CAR, ZUNE!” she hollered maniacally. I knew confronting the pissed-off Carol would be the last thing anyone would want to do. I silently and reluctantly get in the car. Carol sped to Kev’s in the quickest time possible.

She began pounding her fists on his door mercilessly, until it flung open and an irritated and almost naked Joey came into view.

“What the hell do you want, girl?” Joey asked annoyed, and then his eyes fell on me and a smirk spread out on his stupid face. “Oh. So poor brokenhearted CHEATER is here with his pathetic lawyer. I hope…”

Carol never gave him the chance to complete his sentence as she grabbed his thin neck with her right hand.

“Carol, no. Please leave him. Let him go,” I begged but she didn’t listen to me.

“This little turd can’t say shit about you and get away with it,” she announced while choking that slut to death who was vainly trying to get freed from her grasp.

“Carol, I beg of you.” Carol spared a look at me and then released him from her death grip. Joey coughed hard for few seconds, massaging his neck.

“Before I shred your balls into thousands of pieces and stuff them in your dirty mouth, get-the-hell-out-of-here you slut,” Carol warned him with a death glare. Joey hurriedly gathered his clothes and ran. I’m sure he would never want to face Carol again.

“What the hell is going on in my house?” A just-woken-up Kev asked exasperatedly, walking down the stairs. I was sure his mom was not at home.

“Yeah, that’s what I wanna know. What the hell is going on in your damn house, Kev?” Carol asked taking few steps towards him.

“That’s none of your business,” Kev barked and walked past by her. Carol quickly swirled around, grabbed his left shoulder and made him turn around.

“Everything related to my little bro IS my business, Mr. Kevin Samuel Ray,” Carol stated squarely.

“And everything that is going on in my house is not related to your LITTLE BRO, Miss Carol Lewis,” Kev retorted with bitterness. I was just standing there as a mute spectator.

“Why are you doing this, Kev?” Carol asked in a defeated tone as if she was tired of all this drama and wanted a solution for all of us. None of them even looked at me once.

“I don’t know,” Kev answered lowering his eyes.

“Do you wanna give Zune another chance?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know.”

Now Carol was losing her last bit of patience.

“Have you ever been in love with him, or was it just another fling for you?” Carol asked in pure irritation, probably trying to get a reaction from him.

Carol’s question made him look at her with anger flaring in his eyes but there was something else there besides anger. It was pain. He was looking at her like she had just punched him in the stomach.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch. I’m not the one who lied to his boyfriend for months. I’m not the hypocrite who never allowed his boyfriend to touch him, but then turned around and had sex with that homophobe. I’m not the one who cheated on his boyfriend behind his back, so stop questioning my feelings for your ‘little-innocent-bro’, and ask him whether he ever loved me, or was I just a stupid game for him all the time?” Kev shrilled, eyeing me with disgust.

Kev’s truthful and bitter words were making it hard for me to breathe, making it hard not to cry, but I guess as usual I failed.

“How do you know he cheated on you?” Carol asked in a calm voice. Her sudden question caught him off-guard.

“What?” Kev asked her in confusion.

“I asked, how do you know he cheated on you?”

“He told me himself.”

“Exactly. You know he cheated on you because HE told you, otherwise there was no way you would have never know that. He could have shut his mouth forever and been with you; he could have forgiven himself for his own mistake; he could have pretended that nothing bad had happened and he would have been happy today, but no, he didn’t do any of those things. He had the balls to confess that he had made a mistake knowing that we all would hate him for that, knowing that you would hate him. Can you tell me, why did he do that?”

Kev had no answer.

“After you threw him out of your house, after bearing our wrath and regular insults, he never stopped thinking about you, never stopped apologizing. Can you tell me why?

Kev was still silent as if pondering something.

“You are the reason his right hand is fractured, but he never blamed you. On the contrary, just reading your note, he was ready to meet you tonight. This stupid guy waited for you for three whole fucking hours, but instead of being angry, he was worried about you. Can you tell me why?”

There was a pin-drop silence in Kev’s living room. Kev was staring down at the floor again. Carol was scrutinizing him with her piercing eyes and I was gawking at Carol who was actually acting like my lawyer, as that slut Joey said. I love her.

“I guess you don’t have the answer or you don’t wanna admit it, so let me say this to you: He confessed to you about Edward, he lived with our insults and rage, he was worried about you because…because he loves you, AND don’t you dare question his feelings for you. I know he made a mistake, a big mistake, but he had suffered enough Kev, so open up your eyes and look at the guy who loves you more than his own life before it is late…too late.”

“Would it change the fact that he slept with him? Would it change the fact that he cheated on…”

“SHUT UP!!” Carol was furious beyond her limit now. She was out of her mind with anger. Kev seemed scared and so was I.

“Carol, let’s go home,” I pleaded meekly, taking a step towards her.

“Zune, I don’t wanna hurt you, so stay where you are.” I stopped immediately. She was still shooting daggers with her eyes towards Kev and Kev was moving back in fear because he knew Carol could hurt him really badly.

“Yes. Yes, he cheated on you but he has been ashamed of himself since it happened and he has apologized to you for a zillion times, but what about you, Kev-Saint-Ray?” Carol barked, narrowing her brows dangerously, moving towards him.

“What, what about me?” I could see that there was a knowing look on both of their faces which was hinting towards an old dirty little secret.

“Do you really want me to remind you about that poor guy? How you played with him and his innocent feelings? How you never cared to apologize to him for all your mistakes?” Carol sputtered, holding back her anger. What the hell was going on?

“What the hell are you talking about, Carol?” I asked skeptically.

“Carol, don’t,” Kev warned/pleaded for her to shut her mouth, shaking his head a bit.

“Carol, tell me what the hell is going on here! What are you talking about?” I asked impatiently.

“Carol. No,” Kev begged again.

“Carol. For God Sake’s Speak Up!” I demanded.

“STEPHEN! I AM TALKING ABOUT STEPHEN TORRES!” Carol yelled, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

Kev began running his hands through his messed up hair muttering ‘shit’ again and again under his breath.

Stephen Torres. Edward’s best friend. What the hell did he have to do with Kev? My head began hurting from thinking too much.

“What…what about him?” I asked in bewilderment, giving both of them a questioning look.

“ANSWER ME!” I shouted, losing my patience. I was sure something very bad was going to be revealed.

Carol took a deep breath and raised her eyes to meet my gaze.

“A Few years ago…”

“Carol, please,” Kev requested for the last time in a lost and guilty voice.

“If you had the right to know everything about Zune, then this thing goes the same way for him,” Carol retorted, in a remorseless tone. She brought her attention back to me. “A few years back, there was a guy named Stephen Torres in our school. He was innocent, cute, helpful, and a real sweetheart. He was the best friend of school’s biggest homophobe, Edward. Kev was still in closet then. Kev was sure that Stephen was gay, while some of his asshole friends had a different opinion. One day out of utter stupidity, Kev made a bet with his good-for-nothing friends.”

“Wh…what bet?” I asked with a constricted throat.

“Kevin said that he would make Stephen fall for him and…and make him to out himself. After that Kev began wooing him with his false charms and in no time swept him off his feet. Stephen fell for him. Kev tricked him, provoked him to come out, and promised him as soon as he came out that he’ll also come out of the closet and they could act like a real couple. Not knowing Kev’s intentions, Stephen took a chance and told the biggest truth of his life, about his sexuality, to his best friend but he never told him anything about being in relationship with Kev. Edward outed him to the whole school. Stephen was still happy hoping that Kev would be there to stand up for him, but…but Kev crushed him and his dreams by telling him everything about the bet. Stephen was broken. If he would have wanted to, he could have easily outed Kev to the whole school but he didn’t say a word and moved away with his family. His best friend was not the only one who betrayed him; his ‘first love’ also deceived him.”

I was shocked. I was hurt. I was feeling Stephen’s pain. I don’t know why but I felt a strange connection with this boy I never met and probably would never meet. That innocent boy redeemed for the mistakes he never committed. He was the victim of a manipulative, fake boyfriend, Kev, and a homophobe not-so-true best friend, Edward, and there was no one to stand up for him. No one was there to offer him a shoulder to cry on, to understand his feelings, to tell him that one day things would be fine. He was alone, all alone.

I walked towards Kev with seething anger, swallowing the shame that I loved an emotionally-challenged guy like him.

“I cheated on you. I did wrong, very wrong by you but what you did to Stephen was horrible, Kevin. I’m ashamed of myself that I ever loved you. The person for whom a boy’s feelings, his dignity are not more than a bet, cannot have anything to do with me.” I had no idea what I was saying. I just wanted to hurt him and I was succeeding. His eyes were wet with tears and he was peering into my eyes with a silent plea, but I was too damn angry to think about him so I continued my ranting. “Mr. Kevin Samuel Ray, you are even worse than Edward. You are a betrayer, a ruthless, worthless, heartless piece of shit. From now on, I never wanna see your face again. Remember the day I confessed that I slept with Edward, you told me that ‘we are done’, tonight I am telling you the same thing, Kevin…we’re done.”

I turned around and stormed out of his house. My eyes were brimmed with tears and the only person I was thinking about at that moment was…Stephen.

TBC.