Not made for each other - 22. True Love, Conflicted Emotions, and Inevitable Tragedy

Chapter 22: True Love, Conflicted Emotions, and Inevitable Tragedy.

“We really needed this.” I looked behind me at Jake, who was beaming in the backseat.

“You guys should thank me for planning this trip,” Carol boasted, slightly accelerating the speed of her vehicle.

“Yeah. A trip to…nowhere,” I asserted, closing my eyelids.

“A trip to hunt down some happiness,” Carol added. She was the one who planned this road trip and she was extremely enthusiastic about this thing: just the three of us, in her car, driving in an unknown direction, without any purpose, without any destination.

I lazily opened my eyes as Carol rolled down my window. The surging wind instantly began playing with my hair. I was trying to keep my eyes open but the gush of cool air was determined to make it impossible for me. I embraced my defeat with a smile. I pressed my hands to the back of my neck to massage my strained muscles. This calming atmosphere, solacing sunshine, and quite rebellious wind seemed perfect to me. I could live like this for the rest of my life.

I shifted in my seat, placed my right elbow on the window and slowly pulled my head out of the car. I tried to look ahead but couldn’t; I immediately closed my eyes, giving in against the exhilarating wind. I ran my other hand through my messy hair which was flying in every possible direction. I laughed at my own silly acts but decided to continue to do so. I pressed my other hand against the window too and looked back, drowsily opening my eyes. There were no vehicles around us, only trees and an amicable weather. I tilted my head to my right as my hair was hovering all over my face.

It appeared as if I was swiftly moving ahead, leaving every awful thing behind me. I would never want this journey to end. The place we left was too messy at the moment and the destination we were heading to seem obscure; so what we had was this journey and that’s what we needed right now: A non-happening journey.

When we found Jake three days ago and then came back home, things were not the same anymore and we all knew it. For a whole day everyone was quiet. No drama, no apologies, no guilt, no sorrow, no arguments, nothing. But things were bound to change, and the day before yesterday the sequence of apologies began. Kev was the first one to show up on my doorstep. And of course, I opened the door.

“Hey.” Kev’s hands were stuffed in the front pockets of his jeans. For a change, his face was clean-shaven and he seemed well-groomed but yet nervous. A sudden desire began to kick in my gut but I immediately shoved it back into the pit of my stomach and without a word stepped aside to let him come in.

Everyone was still in bed. I was up early today and I had no idea what to say or what to do.

“Everyone is still in their beds,” I informed him, following him into the living room but never looking at him.

“I’m here to see you.” He stopped in the middle of the living room and turned around to face me.

I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. “I’ll…I’ll bring you some tea.” I walked around him to head towards the kitchen but he abruptly got a hold of my hand and I halted. My breath caught in my throat. My heart was throbbing wildly in my chest.

For a few moments I remained where I was, staring down at the ground. I gathered myself, swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and looked behind me. Kev was staring directly into my eyes. Kev swallowed audibly. “A simple sorry and a few apologetic words won’t be enough to reverse everything, won’t be enough to mend this situation and I know it. I know that you’re pissed at me and you’ve every right to be. But…”

“But?” I could feel the hostility in my voice.

“But is there any chance at all that you’ll ever be…ever be able to forgive me?” My hand was still in his hand.

“Is there any chance at all that you’ll ever be able to forgive yourself?” I retorted, arching my left brow.

He let go of my hand, stared down at the floor and then back up at me. “I screwed up pretty badly this time. Haven’t I?” A flicker of disappointment and sorrow was audible in his voice. I didn’t say a word. “I’ll show up at your doorstep every day in hopes that someday you’ll be able to forgive me, that someday my feelings will be enough for you to leave the past behind and move ahead…with me.” I kept looking at him in bafflement.

“You…you don’t need to do that.” My voice wavered with the rush of perplexed emotions.

“I’ll come anyway. I’m not gonna give up on you, Zune. Sooner or later I’ll find a way to redeem myself…I’ll find a way back into your heart,” he concluded in a whisper, then he took a step towards me, leaned in, and lightly kissed my right cheek. “Bye, Zune.” And just like that he left and I stood there in the middle of my living room bewildered, staring in the direction where Kev just walked out.

When my face got numb with cold air, I pulled my head inside and reclined my upper body against my seat.

“Carol, your freaking, stupid ideas work sometimes,” I conceded, closing my eyes once again.

“Zuney baby, my freaking, stupid ideas always work.” I could hear the happiness in her voice.

“I wasn’t sure about this road trip thing but I’m glad I agreed on it,” Jake admitted, opening the cap of a water bottle.

“A simple thank you will be enough, guys.” Pride was dribbling from Carol’s voice. “Otherwise, both of you would still have been there drowned in the stack of apologies lined up for you two. You guys definitely deserved a break from your messed-up life.”

Carol was somewhat right. However, it was just not Jake’s and my life which were fucked up; Carol was going through hell too. I knew she hated Daryl for what he did to me but there’s another truth which no one could deny: Carol was in love with him and these nonplussed feelings just don’t go away on their own. There’s no magic stick to undo the spell of love. I had no clue when she would be able to get over Daryl.

Maybe Carol was always on my side, always believed me, but how much would it hurt to know the ugly truth of someone you are in love with? It’s hard to imagine. Carol never showed that she was in pain, that she was a wreck inside but I knew, we all knew that her mind was rummaging through havoc to keep herself hanging with the edge of reality.

Two days ago, Matt informed Carol on the phone that Daryl was still in the hospital but he had criminal charges against him for trading me to the brothel; however, he never gave any of our names out for the condition of his contorted body. Matt met with him and Daryl told him that he would never make a complaint against any of us but he, just once, wanted to see Carol…alone. Carol agreed and met him yesterday. When she got back she was not herself. She seemed dispirited.

“How’s he?” Jake asked eyeing Carol. He was sitting Indian style on the floor, leaning against the bed.

“He’ll be fine. The doctors said that he’ll be discharged in seven to eight days,” Carol answered, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. She plopped down on the couch, a few feet away from the bed.

I was looking for the admission details on some of the colleges’ websites Jake and Carol earlier suggested I should look at. I closed the browser and shifted my chair in Carol’s direction. I was a bit apprehensive about how to ask her what happened there.

“What did…what did he say?” I finally gathered the courage to voice my question.

Carol lifted her gaze to look at me. Her eyes were glistening. “He said that he’s sorry for everything he did to you; he’ll confess his every crime in court. He…he also assured me that…that he’ll never lodge any complaint against us for beating him and…and…” She left her words hanging in the air. She was silent and none of us dared to say a word for some long moments. This silence, for some unknown reason, was frightening.

“And?” Jake, at last, broke off the eerie silence.

“And he said that…that he…he will always love me.” Her voice faltered.

“And what did you say?” I asked.

“That…that I will always…always hate him.” The ‘hate him’ part was barely audible.

I rose from my chair and walked over to her. I knelt down on my knees and wrapped my hands around her hands.

“Are you okay?” I asked in a whisper.

“Don’t you think that’s a really stupid question?” Jake interjected from behind me. Carol couldn’t hold back her chuckle. Jake and I soon joined her.

“Pack a few necessary things; we are going on a road trip tomorrow,” Carol declared.

“To where?” Jake and I asked in unison.

“To…to nowhere.”

That was it. Jake and I didn’t argue because we knew the three of us needed that: An escape from this present mess. No one knew about this trip but my mom.

“I am starving,” Carol announced as her stomach rumbled.

“Ditto.” Jake stretched his hands above his head, as far as the confinement of car allowed him to.

Carol parked her car outside a café. We jumped out and headed to the entrance. Carol was leading the way. She pushed the glass door and we went in. The place was plain but comfortable. Every table in the café was empty except for a few placed around us.

We took a table for three. Jake and I were on one side of the table while Carol was sitting across from us. We ordered three burgers, three Cokes, and a few cheese sandwiches. Our eyes roamed around the room and we were silent as we took in our surroundings.

“I guess it’ll take some time before we get our food.” Jake propped his chin on his right hand while his elbow was resting on the table.

“It seems so.” Carol glanced in the direction of the food counter. “I think I’ll get myself a strawberry pastry in the meantime.” Carol stood up placing her hands on her hips. “Do you guys need anything?” We shook our heads. Carol shrugged and headed towards the counter.

I looked at Jake. He was staring outside ambivalently. I heaved a deep breath and moved my gaze to an old couple seated right at the next table from us. They were talking about something in a hushed tone. Their intertwined fingers were visible under the table. Their gazes were locked onto each other. A refulgent smile lingered on their wrinkled faces. They looked like soul-mates: Two people who were made for each other. It’s so difficult to find a soul-mate for yourself in this world. There might be several Mr. Perfects around us, but what we need is a person who might not be Mr. Perfect but is perfect for us – our Mr. Right. Mom says that we don’t find our soul-mate but our destiny finds us for each other. Was she right? If yes, then was Matt the one for her? Were they soul-mates? Were they made for each other? I had no idea. Things were complicated between Mom and Matt. I didn’t think there was anything left between them, but maybe I was wrong.

Yesterday, Matt came to meet Mom and me. First of all, he informed us that Mitchell had confessed his crimes but he was not ready to open up his mouth against Ma’am and the rest of her clan. The police were hopeful after two arrests that my remaining culprits would be in their custody soon. I wished the same.

Later, he didn’t say much to Mom and me, except that he had no words that would be enough for an apology.

“I don’t know how to apologize to you and Zune, Jenny.” Matt’s grimacing face and despairing voice was the proof that he meant each and every word more seriously than they sounded.

“Then don’t.” Mom’s face was as stoic as her voice.

“Still, I need to apologize, Jenny, though I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“You’re damn right. You don’t deserve our forgiveness. You don’t deserve anything from us, so please leave.” Mom’s stony voice never quavered once.

“Jenny—”

“Matt, I have given you enough chances but now I am out of patience. I’m tired now. I have had enough. It’s not, in any way, easy for me to gather myself again and again every time you leave us behind. I’m not ready to make a fool of myself and trust you again. I regret my decision of allowing you back into my life and I won’t repeat that mistake again, Matt. Do me a favor, and please just leave us alone.”

That was the end of the discussion. Matt visited us again a couple of times but Mom always brushed him off. She went so far as to ignore his presence around her.

“This is my pastry, BITCH!” Carol’s yelling made me to come out of my reverie.

“I saw it first, SLUT!” A fat girl, with a ponytail behind her head, was standing in front of Carol. A single piece of strawberry pastry was placed on the top of the food counter and it looked like Carol and that fat girl were fighting over it. Jake and I exchanged a worried look and rushed towards the ‘battlefield’. “And I’ll get IT!”

“Over my dead body!” Carol took a threatening step towards her. The barista on the other side of the counter immediately came around.

“Girls, please. Don’t fight here,” the barista requested feebly, shuffling his gaze between the ‘warriors’.

“Carol, come on. This is just a piece of pastry. We’ll get another one.” Jake tried to reason with her.

“This is the last piece left and I NEED IT!” Carol was throwing a tantrum like a five-year-old.

“NO WAY!” the fat girl hissed.

“Girls—”

Carol grabbed the barista’s collar and yanked him towards her. “This pastry is mine!” The barista swallowed audibly in terror.

“Carol, no, no, no.” I tried to stop her.

The fat girl gripped the barista’s hand and jerked him in her direction. “That pastry belongs to me!” As the girl said ‘belongs to me’, she pointed towards herself with her free hand.

“Carol, Carol, you are a mature girl. You are a good girl, right?” Jake attempted to calm her down.

“I am a badass and I STILL NEED THAT PASTRY!” It was next to impossible to make Carol understand. The barista’s collar was still seized by Carol while his right hand was writhing under the claw of the fat girl.

“It’s a war then, slut!” The fat girl challenged, pushing the barista away in Carol’s direction.

“Bring it on, bitch!” Carol retorted, throwing the barista aside. The poor barista. He was kinda cute.

As these two girls were ready to jump on each other, Jake quickly moved behind the fat girl to stop her. He grabbed her from the stomach and pulled her back and I did the same with Carol but they both were adamant on ripping each other’s throats out.

“I’ll squeeze your head like a lemon!” Carol roared.

“I’ll crush you like a bug!” the fat girl hollered.

Both of them were fighting hard to get freed so they could pounce on each other.

“I’ll roast your fat ass!”

“I’ll grill your fake tits!”

They continued to hurl insults towards each other.

“I’ll wipe this floor with your rotten face!” Carol’s anger had reached its boiling point and that was not a good sign.

“I’ll flush your shitty face in the toilet!”

The situation was getting way out of hand and now even that barista was nowhere to be seen; probably he would have ran to get the manager.

Suddenly Carol stopped struggling in my grasp. “Okay. Okay.” She lifted her hands in the air, palms out, indicating peace. “Zune, let go of me. I won’t attack this mini elephant.”

“How dare you?!” That fat girl was furious.

I cautiously let Carol go but I was ready to grab her again in case she tricked me.

“You want this piece of pastry, right?” Carol asked the fat girl, eyeing the pastry placed intact on the top of food counter to her left.

“Hell yeah!”

“Ok then.” Carol gently lifted the piece of pastry. “You want the pastry. You’ll get the pastry.” And with that ‘the mean Carol’ plastered the pastry on the face of the poor fat girl. Jake and I glanced at each other.

The wide-eyed fat girl looked aghast at this sudden attack. Her face was immersed in pink cream. “You-are-DEAD!” She lunged towards Carol and in no time they were wrestling on the floor cursing and clutching handfuls of each other’s hair.

After some rigorous efforts Jake and I disentangled them. Jake hurriedly put the money for our orders and the pastry on the food counter and grabbed some tissue papers while I pulled Carol to her feet again. We didn’t wait a moment longer and began dragging Carol out of the café while that fat girl was still scrambling on the floor.

“SORRY!” The good boy Jake shouted behind us.

“COME BACK, YOU SLUT!” The fat girl screamed, shooting daggers towards Carol with her eyes.

“FUCK OFF, BITCH!” Carol flipped her off with both middle fingers.

Both girls kept throwing insults at each other until we were out the door.

“What was that?” Jake asked, handing her a few tissues to rub off the traces of pink cream from her face from the cat-fight.

“If you guys hadn’t been there, I would have killed her,” Carol snarled.

“Yeah sure.” I shook my head in amusement. I couldn’t hide my smile. The three of us stared at each other and a few moments later we all burst into laughter. I agree, whatever happened inside shouldn’t have happened, but it was hilarious.

We were still hungry so when Carol promised to be civilized, we headed to another café and ate like starving dogs. And yes, we ordered two strawberry pastries for Carol.

When we were stuffed we left the café after paying for our food.

“Where are we?” Jake squinted, looking around as we came out of the café.

“I don’t know.” Carol shrugged.

“And I don’t want to know,” I asserted moving towards the car.

“Hey, look over there.” I stopped in my tracks and turned around. Jake was walking towards a bicycle shop adjacent to the café. Carol and I stared at each other and then at Jake. We huffed and followed him.

Jake’s face lit up as he saw colorful bicycles in the shop. Even I was impressed with the variety of bicycles around. The storekeeper told us that he also rents bicycles for a day; the rates sounded reasonable too. Jake was damn enthusiastic about this bicycle thing so Carol and I gave in. We rented three bicycles for the day; Jake got a green colored bicycle, Carol chose a black one, and after much contemplation, I took a purple one.

Carol parked her car outside the bicycle shop with the permission of the storekeeper. We put on our helmets and clambered on our bicycles. I was sure that none of us remembered the last time we rode bicycles. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about this whole bicycle thing but Jake was overly excited about it so I decided to go with it. The three of us put our right foot on the peddle of our respective bicycles and the other foot on the ground. We all took deep breaths, looked at each other in excitement, and smiled. We stared ahead and started cycling.

In the beginning we were peddling very cautiously. But soon we loosened up a bit. We began riding more comfortably, shoving each other with our elbows to imbalance the other one. Whenever any of us lost their balance because of the shoves, the other two would fall into fits of laughter. It was real fun.

The biggest thing about this bicycle ride was seeing Jake’s exuberant face. In the past few days Jake had been through a lot. His whole world had turned upside down; the love of his life cheated on him without much remorse, his own friend lashed out at him with nasty words, he experienced the horror of spending a day with Mitchell, he survived the fear of living his remaining life in a brothel, and now, his ex-boyfriend, who treated him like the scum on the bottom of his shoe, wanted him back in his life.

When Ron knocked on our door the day before yesterday, I opened it. He was struggling to raise his gaze from the floor. He just uttered one word ‘Jake’. I stepped aside and let him in, responding to him in two words of my own: ‘my room’. Carol was in the living room. She growled as she saw him. As Ron heard her he hastily ran upstairs to my room where Jake was.

Jake and Ron spent a good thirty minutes inside the room while Carol and I waited downstairs for them. Finally the door opened and a confused Ron came out. He looked at us but hurriedly shifted his gaze to the floor and without a single word left. Ron’s ‘epic’ exit piqued Carol’s and my curiosity. We ran to my room.

Jake was leaning against the window frame, staring outside, probably watching Ron leave.

“So how did it go?” Carol asked, munching into the red shining apple in her right hand.

Jake turned around with a gloomy sigh. “It’s complicated.”

“Sometimes life is not as complicated as we think it is,” Carol remarked, taking another bite of her apple.

Jake hijacked her apple and took a bite. “Sometimes life is not as simple as we think it is,” he said while handing her apple back. “And this thing between Ron and me is definitely not simple at all.”

“What did he say?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Jake stared at the ceiling. “He begged for forgiveness.”

“And guess what? Our sweet Jake forgave him, is that it?” Carol commented with a sardonic smile.

“Yes. I did forgive him but I’m not back with him,” Jake clarified, shuffling his gaze between Carol and me.

“So what have you decided?” I asked, looking up at him.

“I love him; that’s true, but I’m not ready yet to be with him again. I forgave him because there’s nothing we could get by holding grudges against each other. But to get back with him is altogether another issue.”

“What did you tell him?” Carol took a seat on the chair to her left but her gaze remained fixed on Jake.

“I told him that…that he has to prove me that he’s the one I fell in love with, he has to show me that this is not just from the heat of the moment and he truly loves me. He has to win my trust back.”

“And?” I leaned forward a bit.

“And he agreed. He said he’ll somehow find a way back to my heart.” Jake blushed. Those were the same words Kev told me earlier. I smiled inwardly.

“I guess Edward was lucky then. You didn’t make him sweat for your forgiveness. But…but why?” Carol asked, crossing her legs.

Yes, Jake forgave Edward. Edward literally was on his knees when he clasped his hands together and begged Jake to forgive him. He cursed himself. He kept apologizing until Jake forgave him.

“I forgave Ed in a heartbeat because whatever he said to me was because he was worried about Zune. I know he didn’t mean any of those words, but Ron…he didn’t have any valid reason to treat me like shit,” Jake answered sitting beside me on the bed.

Carol threw the residue of apple in the trash bin and smirked at Jake. “Point taken.”

“So you and Ed are good?” I asked, raising my brows.

“As good as ever,” he reassured me and I sighed in relief.

Edward also tried to get back in Carol’s good graces by apologizing to her; Ron and Kev attempted to talk to her but Carol was not in the mood to listen to their babbling. Our ‘Mother hen-Carol’ was angry with the three of them because they had hurt Jake and me. It will take some continuous apologies and convincing from the three of them if they want Carol to forgive them.

Carol, Jake, and I had no clue how Edward, Ron, and Kev could redeem themselves; I guess only time will tell what happens next. So what we had to do was wait and watch.

“Hey guys, look there.” Carol made me to come out of my trance. The three of us braked our bicycles and Jake and I followed Carol’s gaze. She was pointing towards a torn banner hanging outside an old house. The words ‘Future in Crystal Ball’ were scribbled over the banner in italics.

“Are you serious?” There was no way she was suggesting we go in.

“Come on guys, it will be fun.” Carol tried to convince us.

“Carol, please. There’s no way we are going in there.” Jake instantly opposed her.

“But why?” Carol was being childish now.

“Because this place looks like a haunted house, because we don’t know what kind of creepy people or animals are in there, and because the tag line littered on that banner is damn tacky.” Jake ticked off each item on his fingers trying to convince Carol not to go in.

“And why the hell do you want to go in there? It’s not like any of us believe in crystal balls or anything,” I added in exasperation.

“I think we should do it just for the heck of it.” Carol never listened to anyone and this time was no exception. She leaned her bicycle and helmet against the wall right in front of the old house and began walking inside. Jake and I had no other choice so we snorted, placed our bicycles beside Carol’s along with our helmets, and followed her in.

Jake was absolutely right; this place actually seemed like a haunted house we would see in the movies: old wooden double-doors, dust-covered floors, broken windows, tainted walls with spider-webs in the corners, and semi-darkness all around. There was only a single blue bulb hanging through the ceiling in the middle of the room. There was nothing else in the room, not even a single piece of furniture. The room looked…naked.

“Keep walking,” a strong feminine voice commanded from somewhere, and the three of us jumped in surprise.

“Coming in here was a bad idea,” Jake concluded, his eyes roaming around.

“I couldn’t agree more.” I put in my two cents.

“Calm down, guys. Don’t fear when I’m here.” Carol boosted our courage which had vanished as soon as we heard the voice, and kept moving; we just trailed behind her like lost puppies.

As the three of us entered the next room through another wooden double-door, it felt like we stumbled upon another world. The empty walls around us were now painted in dark blue colors. Numerous blue bulbs fitted up on the ceiling were illuminating the whole room. A ‘Game of Thrones’ kind of chair was in the middle of the room with an elegant, small, square-sized table in front of it. Three simple wooden chairs were scattered around the other three sides of the table. But my gaze was fixed on the transparent crystal ball placed at the center of the table; there was a certain appeal about that ball which was pulling me towards it like a magnet.

“Look Rose, we have company today.” This was the same strong voice which ordered us to ‘keep walking’ a few moments ago. I lifted my eyes to see a stunning woman who just appeared in the room from seemingly nowhere. She was standing right behind the ‘Game of Thrones’ chair.

She was tall and beautiful. Her long black hair was loosely tied in a braid. A big beautiful red rose was clipped in the right side of her head. Her luscious red lips were gleaming on her porcelain face. Her perfect curves were visible behind a long-sleeved, black blouse and a long red skirt she was wearing. There was not a piece of jewelry on her body but she didn’t need any.

“Where did she come from?” I asked Jake and Carol, not being able to look away from this mystified beauty.

“I have no idea. I was looking at the crystal ball and the next second—” Jake began to answer but Carol cut in.

“—and the next second she was here.”

We were confounded. The three of us exchanged confused looks and then stared ahead. The gorgeous woman walked around the ‘Game of Thrones’ chair, clicking her high heels on the black marble floor and sat gracefully on it. She hunched forward a bit towards the crystal ball and set her left ear close to it as if the ball was telling her something. Weird!

After a few seconds she leaned back with a magical smile. “Rose says that you guys should sit down as she is really excited to reveal some very interesting things about you.”

We hesitated and looked at each other indecisively.

“I have never seen Rose so enthusiastic about anyone before; the three of you seem special. Please relax and have a seat. By the way, I’m Sheila,” she persuaded us further and then introduced herself.

Carol slightly nodded towards Jake and I, and we took her cue. The three of us sat on the three chairs, glancing around. Jake was sitting across from Sheila, I sat on her right, while Carol was on her left.

The three of us were quietly sitting around that small table, staring at each other in uncertainty. Our anxiety was quite noticeable.

“We don’t believe in crystal balls or anything.” As expected, Carol’s voice was the first one to pierce through the silence.

Sheila lightly chuckled. “Rose could probably change your way of thinking.”

“I’m afraid a crystal ball can’t change my opinion about a crystal ball,” Carol responded with simple directness.

“We’ll see, honey.” Sheila put both her hands on the crystal ball and closed her eyes. “You are with a broken heart,” she mumbled. Her eyes were still closed.

Jake and I glanced at Carol, who was staring at Sheila with an awestruck face. “How did you know?” Carol asked, resting her elbows on the table. Sheila opened her eyes and looked in Carol’s direction but her hands were still on the crystal ball.

“I can tell about your past with just your presence in this room and with a little help from Rose,” Sheila revealed with a thousand watt smile.

“Okay, then tell about these two,” Carol challenged her, signaling Jake and me.

“As you wish,” Sheila said. “First I’ll tell about you.” Sheila eyed Jake. Jake wiped off the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Sheila closed her eyes again. “The ones closest to you always hurt you; it may be your parents, your friends, or your lover,” she murmured.

‘Was she a psychic?’ I thought in my mind.

“You could say that.” Sheila’s eyes snapped open and now were on me. I felt as if she read my mind. I swallowed hard. “Now it’s your turn.” She shut her eyes for the third time. “Three things have been constant in your life so far: Pain, betrayal, and the people who love and care about you.” She was damn right.

“Okay. Okay. Maybe you are somewhat right about our pasts but what about our futures? Can you tell us something about them?” Carol asked. Her voice was dripping with curiosity.

“Why not? But for that you have to put your hand on Rose too,” Sheila disclosed curving her lips.

The three of us again shared a nervous look. I saw determination in Carol’s eyes; I was sure she’d go for it. “Fine.” And I was right.

Sheila removed her left hand from the ball. Carol hesitantly placed her right hand on the ball. This time Sheila didn’t close her eyes. “Rose,” she whispered staring intently at the ball, and in a blink of an eye a vibrant-pink smoke filled the crystal ball. It was spectacular.

“What’s happening?” Jake was panicking.

“Shh…” Sheila immediately shushed him and shifted her gaze to Carol. “True love. The person who broke your heart was not your soul-mate; someone else is the love of your life and that person has already entered your life; you probably haven’t realized it yet but soon you will. New horizons of love will shake your world. You’ll cross the foreign boundaries of love. You’ll discover a new identity in yourself. Though love will play its little games, you’ll conquer them all.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Carol asked incredulously.

“No, I’m not. Be ready to embrace the love of your life, honey.” Sheila moved her gaze to me and arched her right brow. Carol removed her hand from the ball and in a second the ball was transparent again.

“There’s no way I’m doing that.” I refused putting my hand on that thing.

“Come on, Zune. Don’t be a spoilsport. It’s not like we are going to believe ‘Rose’ or anything. And if I did it then you have to do it too.” Stubborn Carol-the bitch.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance but relented. Sheila put back her left hand on Rose and withdrew the other hand. I raised my hand and after a slight protest, set it on the ball.

“Rose,” Sheila whispered again and the transparent ball turned blue in an instant. “Conflicted emotions,” she uttered with an expressionless face.

“What do you mean by ‘conflicted emotions’?” My curiosity was at peak now.

“Several complicated emotions will make life harder for you. These conflicting emotions will compel you to make wrong decisions and these wrong decisions will try to lead you away from your soul-mate. But your wrong decisions won’t be strong enough to separate you and your lover.”

“Then what would separate us?” I asked without blinking.

“All I can say is that a horrible link between you and your soul-mate will separate you from the love of your life and you won’t be able to do a thing about it.”

“And who’s my soul-mate?”

“Once you are able to see beyond these conflicted emotions, you will know who he is,” Sheila replied.

It was so quiet in the room we could have heard a pin drop. ‘Soul-mate? Was she talking about Kev? What horrible link? What the hell was she talking about?’

“Now it’s Jake’s turn,” Carol blurted intentionally, to make me come out of the web weaved by Sheila’s words.

I pulled my hand back in a haze, and in a flash the ball was transparent as ever. I stared at Sheila dumbfounded and she peeked in my direction. “Time is the master of us all, so just go with the flow. And let me assure you after all these problems you have had, there will be a happy ending for you.” Her last few words brought some relief to me.

Sheila looked ahead at Jake who was sweating in anticipation. Irresolutely, Jake placed his shaky hands on Rose.

“Rose,” Sheila muttered and the ball began to change its color. It seemed like pitch-black ink was dissolving in water. It looked more black than dark. “Inevitable tragedy.” Sheila’s voice went cold. It was almost impossible to trace any glimpse of emotion in her voice or on her face.

“Tragedy?” Fear was looming over Jake’s face and it was apparent in his voice. He was watching Sheila like his life was dependent on her.

Sheila raised her eyes to meet Jake’s gaze. “Yes. A tragedy, which is inevitable, will hit you soon. You’ll be devastated. However, in the near future, someone special will enter your life to make you learn to live again, but will end up bringing another apocalypse in your life.”

“What tragedy?” Jake asked in an unstable voice, pulling his hand away from the ball and all the blackness instantly disappeared from Rose.

“I can’t tell you that. Time will answer your all questions.” That’s the only answer we got from Sheila.

“What about the three of us? I mean, will we always be together as best friends?” Carol’s inquisitiveness knew no bounds.

“To know that each one of you had to put your one hand on Rose,” she divulged, eyeing us one by one.

“Fine,” Carol answered for the three of us. Stupid bitch.

Sheila’s hand was still on Rose, and together the three of us put one of our hands on the crystal ball.

“Rose.” Sheila repeated her ‘Rose-spell’ and this time the transparent ball turned dark-red. A lively smile played over Sheila’s pretty face. “The four of you will remain the best of the friends for the rest of your lives. No problem will be too big for you to face together. Your friendship will prevail over every obstacle and stay intact. It will grow stronger with time. You guys have no idea how the four of you are going to stick together and be there for each other. You’ll be each other’s shield, each other’s strength, and most importantly, each other’s weakness; always keep that in mind and you guys will be just fine,” she stated with her chin up.

“You said the four of us?” Carol asked the same question that was swirling in my mind and probably nagging Jake too.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I said four.” I guess Sheila was having fun while playing with our little brains.

“But we’re three,” I informed her of the obvious.

She smirked mysteriously. “Soon the fourth wheel of your friendship will join you. Very soon.”

“Do we know him or her?” Jake asked furrowing his brows.

“Yes and no.” Can’t she answer a question in clear words? She was being a terrible nuisance at the moment.

“What is that suppose to mean?” Carol asked in pure irritation.

“I can’t say any more. As I said earlier, time will let you know everything, have patience,” she responded, slowly rubbing her hands together.

“Enough of this crap! Come on guys, let’s go!” Carol roughly pushed her chair back and took long strides towards the exit. Jake and I quickly followed her.

“We’ll meet again!” I heard Sheila exclaiming behind us.

“We should at least pay her,” Jake suggested once we were in the ‘naked-room’ again.

Carol stopped abruptly. “You and your fucking morals.” She huffed. “Fine!” The three of us reluctantly went into that mystic room once again but there was no one there; even ‘Rose’ was not on the table.

“This doesn’t seem normal to me.” Jake sounded scared. “Where the hell did she go?” He raked his hands through his hair.

“We should leave.” Carol took both Jake’s and my frozen hands in hers and literally hauled us out of that place.

“What was that?” I asked to no one, once we were out of that haunted house.

“I have no idea but it scared the hell out of me.” Jake put his helmet on. Carol and I did the same.

“She was talking to us like she’s known us for a long time. And how the hell did she know about our pasts?” Jake’s agitation was audible in his voice.

“I don’t know how she knew about our pasts. The thing that’s worrying me is what she said about our futures.” What if she was correct about our futures? Then I was fucked up!

“True love.” Carol repeated Sheila’s words.

“Conflicted emotions.” I was next.

“Inevitable tragedy.” Jake was last. “And do you guys remember what she said when we were leaving?”

I nodded. “Yes. She said we’ll meet again.”

“Come on guys, stop talking about that psychic. She was nothing but a manipulative bitch. What she told us about our pasts was just her wild but lucky guesses. And what she told us about our futures was nothing more than her creative imagination, so stop being so superstitious.” Carol sounded nonchalant but I knew it was just pretence.

Though none of us ever believed in crystal balls and stuff, it seemed that somehow too much indulgence with ‘Rose’ snatched the peace of our minds. The three of us climbed on our bicycles and began to cycle back to the bicycle shop.

Sheila’s demeanor, her words, and her crystal ball, had an abysmal impact on me. My mind was laughing at me for being so irrational about this whole crystal ball thing but a voice deep inside me was scaring me; that voice was warning me that Sheila was not just a psychic, manipulative bitch; she was way more than that.

“Eight.” Carol had the unsaid responsibility to break off the silence whenever it became too heavy around us. Jake and I followed her gaze. She was gawking at the guy changing a flat tire on his car. She rated him.

“He’s so not more than five.” I provided my valuable opinion.

“He’ll easily get a ten from me.” Jake was goggling at the guy’s smudged face. That guy was seriously HOT!

As we passed him on our bicycles Carol whistled at him. The guy looked at her and winked. Jake and I rolled our eyes in envy.

On our way back to the bicycle shop we kept rating guys we saw on the scale of one to ten. Carol even pinched random guys’ asses along the way. She’s so shameless. Well, I had my share of fun too; I blew kisses to many smoking hot guys and our Jake…he just kept blushing all the way.

Our happy moods were back. We got in Carol’s car after returning bicycles and headed towards home. Carol called Matt to inform him that she’s spending the night with us, to which Matt agreed instantly.

The three of us were laughing, talking, and having a fun time in the car. We were elated. Sheila’s indecipherable words were long forgotten now; we were engrossed in our own little world of gossip and hot guys. It was great. Things seemed to be back on track.

We were back into our city. We would be home in twenty minutes.

“Hey look.” Jake signaled us from the backseat to look ahead. A guy, almost my height, was asking for a lift by sticking his thumb out like a hitchhiker.

“Another hot guy, I guess I’m gonna get laid tonight.” Carol expressed her perverted thoughts.

“I hope he’s gay.” I poured cold water on Carol’s wild desires by voicing my wish. She gave me a ‘he-better-be-not-gay-otherwise-I’ll-kick-your-ass’ look. Jake giggled. Soon Carol and I also erupted in laughter.

Carol finally stopped the car few feet away from the guy. He ran towards the Carol’s window, bent a bit to look inside and then we saw his face. He eyed me then shifted his gaze to Carol. He had dark emerald eyes just like mine.

“We need help!” Those were his first words. His voice was a bit feminine.

“We?” Carol inquired.

“Yeah. My cousin and I. We were just moving to the city today but we’re having some problems with our car and we are struck here. Could you please drop us in Y-block near Sausens?” he asked politely.

“Y-block? Near Sausens? We live in Y-block too. We can surely drop you guys there. After all, we are soon to be neighbors.” Jake seemed too eager to help them.

“Yeah, come on in. We’re going there too; we will drop you,” Carol chimed in. I nodded in agreement. Throughout this Carol’s eyes didn’t budge from the guy’s face as if trying to recall something.

His face lit up. “Thank you, guys. Thanks a lot.”

He fled to his car, which was a few steps ahead of our vehicle. Soon a fat girl came out of their car. I guess she was his cousin. Both of them walked towards us with a bag in each hand. The three of us jumped out of Carol’s car.

As the face of the girl came into our vision, we gaped.

That was the same fat girl with whom Carol had a cat-fight in the café earlier today. The fat girl and Carol’s stares collided and we all knew this meant WAR!

“You!” the fat girl shouted in shock as if Carol had grown a pair of horns on her head.

Carol’s nostrils flared in anger. “Yes. It’s me who kicked your ass today.”

“How dare you—” The fat girl began to throw some insults Carol’s way but her cousin pulled her back and whispered something in her ear.

“There’s no way I’m riding with this bitch,” she fumed, glaring at Carol then at her cousin.

“Do you want to spend the night in the middle of the road? It’s late and we have no other choice so swallow your pride and be polite,” he ordered her in a whisper.

The fat girl emitted a frustrated sigh. “Fine! I’ll get you for making me do this.”

“Okay fine. But right now start walking.”

When they approached us, I acted like I hadn’t just overheard their quibbling. While Jake and I helped the guy to put his stuff in the back of the car, Carol and the fat girl was busy giving each other assassinating looks.

“I think it would be better if you joined us in the backseat.” Finally Jake decided to intervene the exchange of death glares between the girls and addressed the fat girl.

With one final killing look she joined Jake in the backseat. The fat girl’s cousin slid into the front seat with Carol and with no option left I had to sit in the back with Jake and the fat girl. The fat girl was now seated between Jake and me.

Carol began driving. Carol and the fat girl were still passing nasty looks to each other through the rearview mirror.

Jake again intruded on their ‘look-war’. “So how come you guys decided to move here?”

“I had spent my childhood here but had to move away due to some reasons… but recently I decided to come back; though it’s Michelle’s first time here,” the guy revealed. So the name of Carol’s biggest enemy was Michelle. Nice name.

“So just like that you decided to come back, and she was ready to accompany you?” Jake was taking too much interest in both of them. It was so against his shy and timid nature.

The guy chuckled. “No. It was not an immediate decision. I was planning this for a long time now but recently I got admitted to one of the colleges here, and I can start the second semester, so I have a reason to come back. As for Michelle, she was looking for a change in her life so we settled for coming here together. She’ll attend the same college with me. We are in the same semester too.”

Later we learned that Michelle and her cousin were at the same college with Jake, Carol, Kev, and Edward.

We all fell into a comfortable silence. “Do I know you?” Carol asked the guy out of nowhere.

“I don’t know but I think I have seen you somewhere; I can’t put my finger on where though,” the guy said. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Carol. Carol Lewis,” Carol replied. Her voice indicated that she was musing over something. The guy stared at Carol like he’d seen a ghost. “What happened? Does my name ring any bell?”

“You’re Carol Lewis?” he asked in a trembling voice.

“Yeah.”

“You’re…you’re Kevin Ray’s friend?” His voice had a hint of accusation.

Carol instantly braked the car and turned to look at Michelle’s cousin. At first she stared at him in confusion and then her eyes became wide as if realization dawned on her. “Oh my God!”

The guy’s eyes were glistening now. His breaths seemed shaky. “Are you okay?” Michelle asked in a concerned voice, throwing a dirty look in Carol’s way. Her cousin never answered.

Carol fidgeted in her seat, looking everywhere but at the guy. Then she again glanced in the guy’s direction. “You’re back!”

The guy ducked his head down and responded in a whisper, “I had to come back.”

An uncomfortable and spooky stillness settled inside the car. This didn’t seem good. “What’s going on, Carol? Do you know him?” I asked looking back and forth between Carol and the guy.

“He’s…He’s—” Carol began to answer me but the guy interrupted her.

“I’m…I’m Stephen. Stephen Torres.”

It took me a minute to comprehend his words. The guy was Stephen Torres. Stephen Torres, Kevin’s ex-boyfriend and Edward’s best friend. The innocent guy betrayed by both of them. And now he was back.

I leaned back in my seat and Sheila’s ghostly words rushed back to me, echoing in my mind: True love, conflicted emotions, and inevitable tragedy.

 

TBC.

 

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Author's Note: So Stephen is back! And now things would take new turns.

Please let me know what you guys think of this chapter. Even if you didn’t like anything please tell me. It would help me a lot to improve.

A very BIG thanks to Lisa, Lilansui, Sammiam, Terry P, Ninecila, Dariyo, Gregg, Keswickgardens, Starboardtack, Bignick and all my readers for reading, reviewing, liking and following my story. Your support is my inspiration to keep writing. You guys are just great