Scars of Time

Chapter 32: "Bad liar"

Hope's POV

I told Alex I didn't want to be friends with him anymore.

"Don't push me away." he said. As if being friends is our only option. As, if I want to be more than friends, it means I'm not giving him a choice but to walk away.

"You're the only one I have left now."

In essence, his message to me is crystal clear: let's never bring this up again.

I don't want to lose him either so if that's what he wants, then it's okay. We can be friends. It's good enough if he is willing to spend his time with me, like this.

The moment that torturous movie came to an end, we unanimously agreed to call it a night and catch up on some much-needed shut-eye. We felt compelled to watch it till the end as if we would be breaking some unspoken rule if we didn't. As soon as it was over, we exchanged goodnight wishes and retired to our own rooms.

Why is it always this awkward between us? I feel like the only time we managed to break free from this awkwardness was the time he was drunk and poured his heart out about Jo cheating on him. That's when we made the regrettable decision to sleep together. It might have really been a mistake when you think about it. He was not wrong, that should never have happened.

He was with me only because he thought I was Josephine and I should never have let that happen. But that's just the kind of person I am, always desiring what belongs to someone else. I'm fully aware that he is never going to be mine.

It seems like I've been on a roll with making mistakes lately. I even told him he was the first one I had ever slept with. Yet he is kind enough to never bring it up again, fully aware that it was a lie.

The sound of my phone ringing caught my attention, and I quickly glanced at the screen. To my surprise, I noticed a number that I was familiar with, yet I made the conscious choice to let it ring.

After just a minute I heard a light knock on my door, wondering what Alex wanted now!

I opened the door and he had a questioning expression on his face as if he had already asked the question and I was supposed to answer it.

"What?"

"Who is calling?" he asked and I noticed my phone was still ringing.

"Just someone I know. Why?"

"Why are you not picking it up?"

"Just because. How did you hear this from Time's room??"

"I was going to the bathroom." He was soo bad at lying. Time has a bathroom in his room and I'm sure you can't hear anything from his room to mine.

"Alex, you don't have to be that attentive. I've already made sure that every door and window is secured. I appreciate your concern, but I don't need supervision. I'm not a child that needs to be protected. You're acting like Time."

He seemed to still hesitate to leave because my phone was still ringing. Well, it's typical of Kevin to be this annoying. I know he won't cease calling until I pick up. So I had no other choice but to answer it in front of Alex because he was not planning to move and Kevin was not planning to stop.

"What do you want, Kevin?"

"You took everything from me" he seemed to be drunk.

"I'm hanging up. Call me when you're sober."

"I never liked you. You know that, right?" he continued on and hearing those words only served as a reminder of how how much I had once admired him. Looking back, I must have been out of my mind.

"Then why am I the only one suffering, now that we broke up?"

.......................

Alex's POV

I didn't know who she was talking to, but even though she told him she was going to hang up, if she really wanted to, she would.

She was still listening to him talk and I felt like it might be time for me to leave her alone because this seemed like a private matter, but I know myself already. I would die of curiosity if I left now.

"Where are you right now?" she asked, and I was following her around the room to listen to his answer.

"I'll call a taxi for you. Your mom will be worried" she told him and it felt like I was playing a game of "Guess What They're Saying" with a broken hearing aid. I couldn't make out a single word he uttered.

"No.....Time is not with me....I won't tell him you called. Okay. Hang up now.....Yes, the taxi will be there....you should wait exactly where you are okay?....I'm hanging up now..."

I got annoyed so I decided to take her phone and hung it up for her.

"What are you doing?"

"He seemed to be drunk. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to."

"Again. You're acting like Time! I know how to hang up a phone."

With annoyance evident in her actions, she swiftly confiscated the phone from my hand and wasted no time in calling a taxi to the place he was at.

Despite her chilly tone, it was evident that she held a genuine concern for him. I wonder who this guy is?

First it was Will and now Kevin? How many guy friends does she have?

I never saw a girl around her.

Coming to a sudden halt, she swiftly tied her arms together, never breaking her intense stare directed at me.

"What? What do you want?"

"Did Time tell you to do this?"

My heart raced as I stammered, "What? No! Time didn't say a word to me!"

"You are a very bad liar."

"Fine. He is worried about you. Both of us saw how scared you were of Ian." I blurted it out without thinking and instantly regretted it. Why did I have to bring up Ian? I was supposed to act like I believed it was some unknown intruder. She's absolutely correct. I'm an awful liar!

"So he told you."

Words failed me, causing me to lower my head in resignation. I can't even deny it anymore.

"Did he....tell you everything?" she seemed to hesitate to ask.

"He told me he has tried to harm you."

As her frustration grew, she directed her anger towards Time, believing that it was not not his place to tell me about it. I could understand her, but Time was really in a tough position and he had no other choice but to tell me.

Unexpectedly, her eyes began to fill with tears, even though she had been acting tough up until this moment. Knowing I wouldn't budge from the room, she had no choice but to let her guard down and let the tears flow.

My heart went out to her, compelling me to draw her nearer and gently brush away her tears.

"I can't believe there are people like that in this world. And to think that he is your uncle. I'm glad he wasn't able to do anything." I said, which seemed to make her cry even harder, which was the opposite of what I was trying to do.

At this moment I felt the urge to protect her, as I finally understood why she believed I was behaving like Time. It suddenly became clear that I could now relate to him on a deeper level. Maybe he isn't such a villain after all.